How did God create the things that we now observe? This is one of those challenging biblical questions we will never be able to fully answer. We will not, simply because we are not God. Neither were we there when all things came into existence. Believing in the origin of all things is a matter of faith. No man was there. Therefore, we depend on existing evidence to make our conclusions concerning the beginning of all things. Since Christians have concluded that it is more reasonable to believe in God, they conclude that in order for God to exist, He must have the power to create. They reason, what good would God be if He could not create. Though We may not understand the nature of creation, we simply conclude that God could do the job because of the overwhelming evidence and testimony of those who experience the creative hand of God through Jesus. There are many clear statements made in the Bible concerning the creation of all things. In order not to be confused by some who do not believe in the creative power of God, there are some special statements in the Bible about creation. Anyone who would believe in the Bible, therefore, must conclude that God created all things.

A. The Bible says that what God did was create out of nothing. Psalm 33:6,9 declares that heaven and earth were created at the command of God. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (See Nehemiah 9:6). The Hebrew writer stated that God created the heavens and earth from nothing. “By faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Creation took place at the command of the word of God. That which is seen was created out of that which we do not see. The Bible’s statements concerning the creation of the worlds clearly picture the power and authority of the Creator (Isaiah 44:24; 40:28; Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:16,17; Revelation 4:11).

B. The Bible defines that through an act of creation God brought the worlds into existence. As mentioned earlier, the Bible clearly states that the present observable things were created out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3). There is sometimes confusion concerning the meaning of the Hebrew words bara (create), asah (made) and yatsar (form) in their reference to the work of God in creation. We must first understand that it is difficult to make a distinction in definition between these three ancient Hebrew words. It is often difficult because in different contexts all three words are used to define the creation of the things that presently exist. In Genesis 1:27 the Bible says that “God created (bara) man.” But in Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make (asah) man in our image.” And in Genesis 2:7 God formed (yatsar) man from the dust of the ground. In Genesis 1:21 God created (bara) sea-creatures and in verse 25 it says that He made (asah) the beast of the earth. Genesis 1:1 says that God bara heaven and earth, and yet Psalm 33:6 and Exodus 20:11 state that He asah the heavens. Regardless of our lack of full understanding concerning the use of Hebrew words in reference to creation, the fact remains that the Bible in clearly understood texts affirms that God is the creator of all things. The inspired writers of the New Testament also used different Greek works to refer to the creative work of God. In the Greek New Testament, Hebrews 11:3 says that things were made (gegonenai). However, Colossians 1:16 says that things were created (ektistha) (See Revelation 10:6). Here again two different words are used to describe the creation of things from that which did not exist. There is no clear definition in Hebrew dictionaries for any distinction between the words bara, asah and yatsar. What we can understand from the use of man’s words to explain the creation work of God is that the inspired writers wanted us to know that creation took place, regardless of the inadequacies of our words to explain it. We know that God did create out of nothing the things that now exist. The statement in Hebrews 11:3 clearly states this fact, and thus, settles the matter from a biblical perspective. The Hebrew writer stated, “... so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible .... (Author Unknown)

                  How many times have we sung the hymn “Our God, He is Alive”?  It is a beautiful hymn that is still very popular among members of the Lord’s church.    It was written by Aaron Wesley Dicus (1888-1978).  He was a very talented member of the church.   He was a gospel preacher, author, scientist, college professor, inventor, as well as a hymn writer.  Our God, He is Alive is Dicus’ most known hymn.

                   Dicus wrote Our God, He is Alive as a response to the 1960 God is Dead movement. The movement resulted from the book The Death of God, written by Gabriel Vahanian. Vahanian and other leaders in the movement were not actually anti-God, though that was not easy to decipher in all the controversy. Their point was that God was dead in the minds of most people in the sense that modern people showed little concern for God. Nevertheless, the mere mention of God’s death raised the ire of believers across the country, and unbelievers quickly joined the debate to oppose those who affirmed that God remained alive and active.

The controversy escalated and soon saturated the media. From the believers’ perspective, the coverage seemed to be intentionally confrontational. For example, the April 8, 1966 cover of Time magazine simply read, “Is God Dead?” (See the article here: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,835309,00.html.).

                   Although we are long past the controversy of the 1960’s we still live in a day and time where many people believe God is dead.  Still, yet there are several Christians who show up to worship services on Sunday but live the rest of their lives as if God was dead.  This same attitude was true of many in the First Century when Paul states in Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

                   Dicus’ hymn “Our God, He is Alive,” is still a reminder that God is alive, He works in His creation, and is involved by providence in our lives.

Heb. 1:1-2 puts it this way, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” 

“Our God, He Is Alive” is just not a nice hymn to sing, but are words to believe, and live by!  Let us live and act as if we believe “Our God, He is Alive.”  Think about it.

Written by Mark T. Tonkery

(By Robert F. Knox, Jr. Taken from the Laings Bulletin Nov. 2, 1975)

            Evolutionists and other such so-called “scientists” are fond of making the claim that our universe just happened into being.  That somehow, in a way unexplainable, particles of matter just happened to come together and form the universe and all that it contains.  That life somehow evolved or came into being by the same pattern of development.  That is, all that exists is the result of pure blind chance.

            “There is a story which dates back to the time when the statesman Benjamin Franklin was Ambassador of the United States to France.  While living in Paris, Franklin was a member of an elite literary social and scientific club.  At certain of the meetings of the intellectual group, atheistic sentiments were expressed, leaving the impression that only superstitious and uninformed still believed in GOD as the Creator of the universe.  At the next meeting of the group Benjamin Franklin brought a beautifully designed and executed model of the sun and our entire solar system.  The earth and the other planets were in their proper relationship to the sun and to each other and of appropriate sizes.  It was a masterpiece.  Upon seeing it, one of the sophisticated members of the club asked, “Who made it?”  Dryly, without the trace of a smile, Franklin responded, “No one.  It just happened.”*

            Why is it that those who put forth such a doctrine, and those who believe it, can easily see the principle behind the model which Mr. Franklin had, but fail to see the same principle when applied to the real universe?  Why is it that they can easily understand that a watch or a car had to have had a maker, but think that this grand complicated universe in which we live, and all of the life contained therein, just happened to come about by chance?

      “…They are like blind people leading other blind people, and all of them will fall into a ditch." (Matt. 15:14).

      *The section quoted was taken from the book, “I Believe Because….” By Batsell Barrett Baxter, p. 54.)

We all know that long-distance jets fly at very high elevations. There are good reasons to fly at 35,000 feet. The air is thinner so you have less drag and can go faster. You are flying above the weather, so storms and bad weather are not an issue. There is less likelihood of a collision either with things like dust storms or with other local objects that might be in the lower atmosphere.

For living things like birds, the same advantages would be present as well as protection from predators, but the cold temperatures and lack of oxygen were thought to make flying at high elevations impossible.

Our radar has evolved to the point where the newest radar can distinguish between birds, bats, insects, dust, and even pollen. Imagine the surprise of radar technicians when they detected swans flying at 27,000 feet and bar-headed geese flying at just under 30,000 feet. It turns out that most birds fly at very high elevations. Songbirds typically fly at 6,000 feet. Most ducks fly between 10,000 and 15,000 feet. How can they do that?

Most mammals cannot breathe well enough to survive at elevations of 20,000 feet or more. Birds are able to breathe because they have a complex respiratory system that provides a continuous flow of oxygen through their lungs. They do not depend on a diaphragm pushing air in and out of their lungs. That means that the birds can survive in thinner air longer, even when exerting themselves heavily as they do in flight. The layering of feathers that birds have is so efficient as an insulator that the cold temperatures of the high elevations is no issue for them.

Once again we have an example of how God has created creatures to do incredible things in ways that benefit them and allow them to survive in places we would not think possible. It is as if we are still trying to answer all the questions that God asked Job in Job 39:26, “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?”  The answer is clearly “NO — It is a wisdom far beyond that of man.”  (Data fro Discover, November 2005, page 88.)

     Go almost anywhere in the suburbs or the country and you will see chickadees. A full-grown chickadee seldom weighs more than half an ounce,

about the weight of an ordinary letter. Inside that tiny body is a heart that beats close to 500 times a minute, so fast that through a stethoscope its sound is practically a buzz. Its body temperature ranges around 105 degrees, which accounts for that high-tension activity.

     On a cold day, a chickadee needs its own weight in food to keep the inner fires burning.  Its feathers, which make it appear the size of a sparrow when they fluff out, help hold warmth, while the dark back and head gather additional heat from the winter sun.

     This bird is a lively personality! It can be a ham actor, a bully, a wheeler, or an acrobat. It loves a human audience and comes to the dooryard feeder as much for companionship as for a snack. As an entertainer, the feathered song-and-dance performer gets, and deserves, top billing on the winter circuit of the dooryard feeders.

“And God created… every

winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” –

Genesis 1:21