This is a photo that I took in Seattle, WA working on a research vessel in the Puget Sound lake.  Amazing, isn’t it?  Look at how many different colors stream across the sky.  Off to the left, you can see the silhouette of the mountains.  Gorgeous!

Why do we admire scenes like this?  What is it about the beauty of nature that causes men, women, and even babies to stand in amazement?  Well, theologians call it “General Revelation.”  That is, God the Creator, has revealed aspects of His character and nature to all of mankind through His creation.  When we look at this sunset, we realize that God is BEAUTIFUL and the source of all beauty!

Psalms 19:1-3 says:

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

³ There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

All the beauty of creation shows off the glory of God the Creator!  Creation proclaims His glory and power every day and every night.  And, according to verse 3, there is no language where creation’s speech about God is not heard.  Every race and ethnicity on the planet has seen an amazing sunset or a majestic waterfall.  Americans, Africans, Hispanics, Russians, Chinese, Koreans, Australians, and the like have gazed upward at the night sky and admired the countless stars the God created and knows by name (Isaiah 40:25-26)!!

And because of this general revelation, you and I have NO EXCUSE not to know and worship God!

Romans 1:19-20, 25 says:

¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

We can clearly see God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, through what He has made so we have no excuse (Verse 20).  Unfortunately, many people suppress this truth and believe lies…worshiping the creation over the Creator.  Pantheism, Wicca, Astrology, Witchcraft, and the like praise created things (nature, animals, stars, etc.) but not the Creator whose beauty they proclaim.  It’s tragic really.

Yep, I saw a really beautiful sunset.  As I admire it’s vivid colors, I’m reminded of my Heavenly Father…and fall in love all over again.

I love science…I have since I was a little kid.  It was always my best subject in school.  My parents were convinced that I would grow up to be a scientist.  I still remember when I got my first telescope for Christmas and how upset I was about the bad weather over the next few days that kept me from using.

I installed the included telescope software on our home computer to study the star charts and constellation diagrams.  I read online about declination and right ascension so I could locate the planets, stars, and nebula’s that I wanted to see.  I still remember pointing my telescope at the moon and seeing all of it’s craters and mountains.  I can recall my first time seeing Jupiter.  I could just barely see it’s colorful stripes (My telescope was not very powerful).  On both sides of the planet were two little twinkles, which were four of Jupiter’s moons.

But as I grew in Christ, I felt compelled to reject/ignore science.  I thought that it was an enemy to my faith…out trying to disprove the Bible.  But is that really true?  Can a person be into science and still believe God’s Word?  Let’s explore a few points before you answer.

The Earth is Round

A round Earth is common knowledge now, but that was not all was the case.  Many cultures throughout history thought that the world was flat.  This belief was around as late as the 1500′s AD.  Yet Isaiah writes:  “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers… (Isaiah 40:22).”  Isaiah was not a scientist or philosopher, yet he writes about a round Earth in 700 BC!  How is that possible?  Hold that thought…

Blood = Life

Another common fact is how blood circulation is vital to life.  The blood contains the cells.   It carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body.  Without blood, we die.  In the Bible, Moses writes: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls…(Leviticus 17:11).”

Ever heard of bloodletting?  It’s draining huge amounts of blood to cure diseases.  We know now that bloodletting is a terrible idea.  Just ask George Washington…that’s how he died…in 1799 AD!  Yep, doctors in the 18th Century still didn’t understand that life is in the blood.  They should have read Leviticus 17:11…which was written over 3000 years prior!

Number of Stars

How many stars are there?  Well, the answer that you get depends on who you ask.  Ask Hipparchus around 135 BC and you’ll get 1035 stars.  Throughout history, many great astronomers attempted to count the stars.  But along came a man named Galileo with this new invention call a “telescope”.  He concluded that the stars were too numerous to count in the 1600′s AD.  Why is that so amazing??  The Bible says: “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’ (Jeremiah 33:22)”

As of 2003, the estimated number of  stars visible with our modern equipment was about 70 sextillion [1]!  That’s Seventy thousand million million million…or 7 followed by 22 zeros!  And that’s with today’s best equipment.  When we manage to build a stronger telescope…we’ll find even more than that.  How did Jeremiah know that the stars were too many to number back in 600 BC?

Conclusion

Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were not scientists.  Yet they described scientific facts centuries before modern science could prove them.  How??  Because the Bible is GOD’s WORD!  Science isn’t disproving the Bible…but confirming it!

Do scientific theories always support the Bible??  Absolutely not!  But imagine if you were to tell Hipparchus that there were more than 1035 stars and quote Jeremiah 33:22 to him.  He would probably have laughed in your face.  But fast forward to today and we are at 70 sextillion stars and counting!  Imagine going back and telling Washington’s doctors not to drain his blood, pointing to Leviticus 17:11.  You’d be mocked and ignored for not having a PH.D.  My point is that any “science” that conflicts with the Bible just hasn’t caught up to it yet!

The Bible is not a science book….but the science found in it’s pages is totally accurate!  And our faith in God’s Word should not be based on what modern science says.  Why?  Well, science is fickle and always changing…it’s textbooks need to be revised every few years but God’s Word never changes!  So faith in God’s Word is not based on scientific proof, but in the witness of the Spirit and the work of Christ.

Yes, I love science…I have since I was a little kid.  But now, my heart is no longer burdened by a feeling that I must choose between my telescope and my Bible.  There is no choice.  God is awesome and His Word is true!  The things that I observe through my telescope (the same one I got that Christmas) don’t challenge my faith!  Because now I understand that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Ps 19:1).  In my life, science has ONE purpose.  And that is to explore and expose all of the amazing wonders of God’s creation.