The creation of the earth and its living things was a series of unique acts. Although the actual work of Creation can be neither observed nor reproduced in the laboratory, much evidence of such creative activity exists; evidence that can be handled by the methods of science.
Created objects convey information about their creator. Even an arrowhead or a scraper, crude as it may be, shows design and reveals something about its maker. Living organisms with almost infinite complexity reveal much more.
Out of the great number of evidences of design that could be selected, this article deals with only a few as they relate to the simple but majestic statements of Creation in the first chapter of Genesis.
Day one
"And God said, Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3).
When God spoke light into existence darkness fell back defeated. Never since Creation week has light failed. Every morning, if the sky is clear, the horizon slowly intensifies from crimson to yellow until the whole east is glorious. The sun is about to begin its arc across the dome of the heavens. There always is hope, even in the polar regions, for another rising of the sun, for the return of light, even as there is always hope and expectation for another spring. Light is the vehicle by which most information reaches us. It allows us to be three dimensional, to bridge space, to touch distance, and to expand perception beyond our immediate circle.
Day two
"And God said, Let there be a firmament" (Gen. 1:6).
Take a deep breath. What is this essential, invisible substance called air? It is mostly nitrogen and oxygen. Small amounts of other substances such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and argon are also present. We might have to breathe less often or less deeply if the oxygen, now 21 percent of air, were 50 percent. But with that much oxygen the earth would become a tinderbox. Any fire would burn furiously and explosively. Lightning would ignite whole forests so quickly no one could escape. With less oxygen, campers would have much more trouble getting a fire started than they already have on a cold, damp morning! Large changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air also would disrupt the delicate balance and would have far-reaching negative ramifications for both animals and plants.
Day three
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth ... the fruit tree" (Gen. 1:11).
An unusual tree, almost a sacred object that has survived because of special care, the ginkgo lives in temple gardens in China and japan. Ginkgo leaves are truly distinctive, being unlike other tree leaves and highly diagnostic. They appear like miniature Japanese fans. Both the fossil and living ginkgo trees have these characteristic leaves. Ancestors with leaves intermediate between ginkgo and other trees are unknown.
Such an absence of intermediate forms is common to plants in general. On the third day God spoke different kinds of plants into existence and they have remained distinct ever since. Only variation within these basic kinds has occurred.
Day four
"And God said, Let there be lights" (Gen. 1:14).
Recently I stepped out into a fresh, crisp, spring morning and pondered the origin of the beauty and order around me. Are the rising sun, the fresh air, and the green hillsides only the results of undirected chance? Somehow this explanation is not satisfying; it does not ring true. All my common sense wells up to refute this idea.
This sun is just the right distance from the earth. If it were farther away, life would freeze and become impossible. If it were closer, summer heat would be intolerable. All life would burn up and turn to dust.
The earth is also precisely adjusted to receive heat from the sun. If it rotated on its axis more slowly or rapidly, living things would find life difficult or impossible. Imagine a hot summer day ten times (or even two times) longer than our present twenty-four-hour days. What did not bum up during the long scorching day would freeze in the seemingly endless night.
Day five
"And God created great whales" (Gen. 1:21).
Whales are mammals that maintain their body temperatures, breathe air, and nurse their young. Their uniqueness is not limited to size (largest animals, past or present) but includes amazing adaptations to a marine environment.
According to evolutionary theory, animals moved from the sea (fish) to the land (amphibians and reptiles) and some moved back again to the sea (marine mammals) during their evolutionary development. The amount of necessary evolution from land ancestors to marine whales is profound. Numerous steps would be required. If such evolution actually happened during several mil lions of years, these steps should be seen in the fossil record. After more than one hundred years of intensive fossil collecting all over the world, almost nothing is seen to support such an evolutionary development. Whales are well known in the fossil record and have typical whale characteristics. They do not qualify as connecting links to land animals.
Day six
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the . . . creeping thing" (Gen. 1:24).
The turtle has enlarged ribs fused together to produce bony shields. All other vertebrates (animals with a back bone) have the rib cage located internally between the shoulder and hip girdles. The fore and hind limbs attach to the body framework outside the rib cage. The turtle, however, has its shoulder and hip girdles inside the rib cage.
According to the general theory of evolution, a series of intermediates leading to this unusual skeletal arrangement should have evolved in the past history of turtles. But these intermediates are unknown in the fossil record. Many fossil turtles have been found, but from their first appearance they are turtles with their characteristic external bony framework.
This example is only one of many that illustrate the paucity of connecting links in the fossil record, a situation that speaks in favor of the creation of the major forms of living things and against the gradual evolving of organisms from simple to complex. (See pages 18-22 for a further discussion of horses, birds, and man.)
"And God said, Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26).
Man was the crowning work of Creation. Man's mind is his unique creation, placing him far above any of the animals. But the magnificence of the human mind lies above tools or technology. It shows best in that which is above necessity. Why do we appreciate the glory of a sunrise or the beauty of a tree? The myriad faces of the pansies, the intricate designs of the butterflies, the pastel shades of the evening sky, all add to our happiness.
To have the ability to perceive and respond to sound stimuli is one thing, but to enjoy music is another. We enjoy a cat rubbing against our legs and feeling the softness of its fur. We relish the fragrance of the lilac bushes in the backyard or the refreshing stimulus of a pine forest. We could survive without taste, but what we would lose! Where in the cold, cruel world of evolution and survival of the fittest does humor fit? Life is much more than raw survival. It is seeing and understanding. It is hearing and enjoying. But most of all, life is the touch of a hand, the caring look, the world of love. Yes, most of all, life is love.
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).
