(Please note: Next week there will not be a devotional due to being on vacation. Lord willing, I will return and continue after that. Thank you.)

For all of the discussion of wisdom and understanding, we now find how the author applies this to God. The ramifications are huge when this is taken to its ending conclusion.

Proverbs 3:19-20, we find God being given the recognition of creating the world. Notice the language used here: The Lord founded the earth, He established the heavens. He broke up the depths and caused the dew and rain. Some of the language here is so rich of its connection to Genesis 1:1-2:25. It is God who created, not some evolutionary process. As we read in Genesis 1:1 it is God who created.

This concept is not just found in one or two places. It is found throughout the whole of Scripture. We find the word ‘created’ used fifty four times. This ranges from mankind recognizing and praising God for His creation to God Himself attesting to the fact of Him creating (ie. God attributing this to Himself: Genesis 6:7; and Moses: Deuteronomy 4:32). The New Testament has us viewing Jesus saying the same thing: Mark 10:6 and the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 1:2.

Notice though in the text of Proverbs. It shows that God used His wisdom and understanding. We can get a sense of this by reading Job 38-41. In these chapters there are reportedly 77 questions asked. Job does not attempt to answer one, and only once does he interrupt God and he does so to repent and apologize (Job 40:3-5). Job’s first real response to God is not until we get to Job 42:1-6. Still, Job does not answer God.

The Psalmists throughout the book of Psalms, repeatedly shows God as being the creator (Psalm 24:2 for example). He and He alone can do what is needed to bring all we see to pass. His wisdom is undoubtable, His understanding is unknowable (Romans 11:33-36). Even in the order of Creation, recorded in Genesis 1, defies the necessary steps for Evolution (Creation is laid out in the wrong order). For Evolutionary ideas to work, there must be heat and sun. But in the order of creation, we have plants growing and flourishing BEFORE the creation of the sun! It was done, I believe, to confound Evolutionary ideas before Evolution was even really thought of.

As we said before, true wisdom and understanding can only come from God. However, in the late 1800’s, a man by the name of Charles Darwin (influenced by Charles Lyell) decided to seek to explain all he saw around him, absent the existence of God. In the desire to throw off any responsibility to God, this theory was adopted and accepted quickly. Much could be said in this thread but I wish to only hit highlights.

Throughout all of Creation, God’s handiwork is seen. It cannot be refuted or denied (Romans 1:20) so those who absolutely reject being accountable simply deny the existence of God. The problem with the denial is it does not remove the responsibility they have to their Creator but it draws them deeper into guilt because of their pretending and pride against God. There are many, many ministries that deal with this and I will encourage going to their ministry pages for deeper study.

My first choice is Institute for Creation Research.

The other good ones are: Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries International, Biblical Science Institute.

Yet there are three aspects of this Creation – Evolution debate I do wish to bring to bear. First, both Creation and Evolution are theories. To say these are “science!” is a misnomer. To be science it has to be testable, observable, repeatable, and falsifiable. These are simply the facts. To state the origin, regardless of which view is held is science is a little misunderstanding. Both demand faith. Both demand acceptance of what can not be tested. The evolutionist, for as much as they say they reject anything they can not test, still have an element of faith. As Christians, we have faith based on, “In the beginning, God…”. The Evolutionists have, “In the beginning, dirt…”. Second, there is the truth of the Occam’s razor philosophy. I would encourage a deeper study of this. Third, and probably the most important, while the origin is not scientific, the results CAN be applied to science. We have the Laws of Thermodynamics. We have the observable nature. We have many branches of science which can unveil so many amazing things.

I do wish to address two more branches (which can also be broadly laid out to other threads) of the origin of life, which is Intelligent designer. This belief says that everything was created, but we do not know who that was exactly. It denies evolution but does not go as far as it should in sustaining the truth of the Scripture. The last view is Theistic Evolution. At its core it says God created but He did so through evolution (Hugh Ross is a big holder to this view). Both of these, but especially the second, fails to even gain support from the main streams of Creation and Evolutionists. Both reject these hybrid views as unattainable.

As a Christian, especially one that claims to be a believer in the written Word of God, we must be willing to hold to the truth of Genesis 1-2. If we get Genesis wrong, how can we trust any of the other parts of the Bible? Dear reader, as we see in Proverbs, creation around us proclaims the Glory of God – Psalms 19:1; 50:6; 97:6. When we look at Creation being a major player in worship and praise to God, out of a side trek of thought, do we believe aliens exist in our universe? If asked, I will say that God can do anything, but if our universe is to praise and glorify God, how big is God...truly? The Bible tells us the universe is in His hands (Isaiah 40:12). If we have a true picture of God and how big He is, I do not think the universe is going to have any other living thing, like aliens. I think the universe is juuuuuuuussssssssssstttttttttt about the right size to get us to relize how BIG God is. Question, how many of us have seen the edge of the Universe? Me neither. How big then is our God?

The second lesson is just as important. If the universe is now being used to point to God and to praise God, how is our praise? How do we point to God? Are we pointing to God? It is one thing to say we are Christians. It is another to actually live and be a Christian. The Proverbs tells us that God created everything in wisdom and understanding. Now we see that wisdom around us, and yes, in us as we are fearfully and wonderfully made (not chanced) – Psalm 139:14. Therefore, where does our praise direct others?