Opus 2026-108: The Eighth Day?

As I was reading through Psalms 104, I came across this passage,

Psalm 104:29-30 (KJV) 29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. 30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

In the first verse I was just thinking about animals dying but the second verse had a different feel.

Notice the word “created”.  This is the same word used in Genesis 1:1 in regard to God creating the world out of nothing.  In studying that passage I remember that this specific word usually has that idea.

So is this an indication that God is still in the creating business?  I know that on the seventh day He rested.  Creation as a red letter day was over.  As believers we have no problem with any of this but our friends who are into evolution have something they don’t want to acknowledge.  They document times when massive extinction of species takes place.  Every once in a while you hear about how many species disappear each year.  In the face of that we still keep finding new bugs and plants.

Since even the Darwinian folks will admit there has not been enough time for evolution to take place, how do you explain new species after all this time?  This verse seems to give an indication.  God is still creating.  He is still renewing the earth.

We are in the eighth day of creation.  That is not a doctrinal point that requires belief.  It is just an observation.  As they say, results may vary.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-441: Busy, Busy

On my other blog, I was writing a devotional based on the following verse,

Psalm 104:30 (KJV) Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

When I shut down my iPad and went back to meditation and thinking about God, my mind turned again to the creativity of God.  I’m thinking that creativity may be another one of His attributes.  And looking at the verse in Psalms, it came to me that His creating power is not over.

I’m guessing that God is still creating new species.  I seriously doubt that He is doing it through the process of evolution except for the fact that any change I guess could be called evolutionary. God doesn’t mean it the way the pagans do.  I’m guessing that most of His creativity takes place either on the level of insects or tiny animals or else out in the jungle someplace where no human being sees it.  God is constantly working miracles, but He does them in the vagueness of mystery. One of the things about mysteries is that we will often not know until it’s too late to really appreciate it.

I got to thinking about how each and every human being that is conceived in the womb becomes a new creation.  In some way, God digs down deep in the multiple choices of DNA and genetic qualities and comes up with a unique, original human being.  God has not given up His creative power.  I would venture a guest that the constant joy of creating new human beings takes a lot of His enthusiasm for creativity.  I’m not sure how much He has left for creating new species.

Environmentalist worry about how cutting down the rainforest may be be destroying life-saving medication’s and natural cures for disease.  I guess it’s possible.  My suggestion would be they would never be discovered, even if we didn’t cut down the forest.  My other suggestion would be that in spite of cutting down the forest, God is quite capable of creating new bugs or buds that will provide these miracle drugs.

If it’s this exciting now, I wonder how God’s creativity will be applied in eternity.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-236: Bread Theory

I’m sorry I can’t go with the Paleo diet.  I have no problem with you doing it if that’s what you want to do.  The Bible gives us permission to eat meat.  At the same time there is a balance that is expected.  One of the reasons why I can’t write off the things that are grown by the farmers are verses like this,

Psalms 104:14 (KJV) He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

The most common food out of the Earth in those days was probably a grain.  I doubt that it was wheat because I think wheat is a little more temperamental grain.  It might’ve been barley or oats.  It certainly wasn’t the results of being a hunter gatherer.  It wasn’t the fruit of the vine.  It wasn’t an apple from the tree.  It was that food brought forth out of the Earth by farmers.

Again, if you want to be a vegetarian, enjoy.  If you want to be a carnivore, enjoy.  If it works for you and you stay healthy, then it works for you and you are healthy.

All I can say is the Bible teaches such things as moderation and balance.  God gave the good things of the Earth for us to enjoy and keep us healthy.  Bon appétit.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-452: Tending to Gaia

My wife yelled at me from the other room.

Her message was that if I wanted to refute fears about climate change all I needed to do was refer to Psalm 104.  She also acknowledged that it would not have much influence on your garden style pagan.  It should however make a difference to people who claim to believe in Jesus.

I made a note and read through the chapter later.  I found the focal point for those who fear climate change to be verse 4.

(Psalms 104:5 KJV)  Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

This is a statement, not a question. 

This is a statement that God made the world.  He made it in such a way that man will not destroy it.  He made provision for anything we can throw at it.

Does that mean we are to deliberately be destructive?  Are we to use 5,000 year old redwoods for toothpicks?  Are we to use the Grand Canyon for a landfill?  The answers are obvious but let me throw in the responsibility we are given along with the gift.  Two verses,

(Genesis 1:28 KJV)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

And,

(Genesis 2:15 KJV)  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

We are in charge as stewards and caretakers. 

So don’t be afraid, be responsible.

homo unius libri