One of my favorite science fiction tropes is terraforming. The idea of transforming an uninhabitable planet into a beautiful, blue ball with oxygen and water is fascinating. The process worked relatively well in Firefly but had some catastrophic results in The Search for Spock. We are created in God’s image and, at his heart, he is a creator. So what better way to reflect the heart of God than by learning how to create inhabitable worlds and planets?
As humans we are very much concerned with the how of the universe’s creation. Most world religions have some sort of creation narrative that tells how the world came into being. Science also attempts to tell us how the universe started as a massive ball of matter that exploded outward and created everything. We are all so interested in the how of creation.
Even as Christians we are interested in the how of creation. Some people look at the creation narratives from Genesis and insist that God must have created the world in six 24-hour periods. Christians who don’t believe in a literal six-day creation can be labeled as heretics by the most extreme young earthers. Like everyone else, Christians want to know about the how of creation as well.
Did God create the world in six days?
Did God use evolution, macro or micro, to create the universe?
Did God run through the formless universe singing it into existence like Aslan did to Narnia?
The reality is we’ll never fully know the answer to the question of how God created the universe. However, the creation narratives in Genesis aren’t about the how but the who.
In church yesterday our pastor gave a sermon about creation and said that we shouldn’t focus on how God created the universe but the creator himself. Creation isn’t about the how; it’s about the who. Genesis isn’t trying to give us a detailed, scientific description of how God created the universe. Far more importantly, Genesis is trying to tell us that the God of the universe loves us, created us in his image and wants to be a part of our lives.
Instead of just terraforming a formless mass and stepping back, our God is involved. He created this universe for us and then handcrafted each and every one of us. God draws us to himself and breathes the breath of life into our souls. The who of creation is so much more important than the how. We can never know the how of creation but we can know the who – today, tomorrow and every day for the rest of our lives.
What helps you focus on the who instead of the how?
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