Bible Reading Blog
“Something From Nothing”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Hebrews 11.3
“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
As a kid, I had a giant box of LEGOs that I would scrounge around and make things from. Every day I would tear down the old and make something new, and the possibilities were endless. It was empowering to use my creative abilities to make something no one else had. But what if those pieces didn’t exist? It is safe to assume that none of my creations would have existed. How could they?
Many take this approach to Creation. For something to come from nothing is an absurdity that immediately puts believers in the category of “wacko.” The major criticism of faith is that it forces blind acceptance of untenable proposals. As regards Creation, the big question is “how”? Modern science rejects that something can come of nothing. Indeed, with our present abilities we cannot prove.
While I would not reject this scientific principle of our world, it ignores the presence and power of the intangible in our world. A thought can inspire people. A feeling can change a culture, lead to revolution or kickstart a social movement. An emotion can incite war and violence, reconciliation and peace. We cannot quantify these things and yet they certainly exist and have powerful creative ability. The very existence of these intangible things speaks powerfully to a force (if you will) greater than just what is seen.
As men have tried to explain the origins of the world apart from God, they have significant limitations. If nothing comes from nothing, there is the challenge of proving where the first pieces come from. As they attempt to recapture what happened in millennia past, they still can’t answer the question, “where did this stuff come from?”
By faith we believe these are the Divine witness in this world. While inexplicable in many ways by our limited minds, the unseen forces at work in our world declare the truth we believe by faith.
This can be challenging because these positions present as objective and undeniable. They represent the wisdom and ingenuity of humanity that has opened their minds to all the possibilities. But sadly, they have rejected the obvious realities: “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19.1); “what can be known about God is plain… his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1.19-20). The many who reject a Creator in favor or observable processes will find themselves will stumped by the existence of morality and emotion. In fact, the deeper they dig for answers other than God, the more they will find themselves wanting.
Belief in God’s creative power – to make something from nothing – is the bedrock of faith. It reminds us that God is not constrained by matter or forces that already exist; in fact, they are subject to his words just as we are. And so, as Martin Luther once said, “God made the world out of nothing. It is only when we become nothing that God can make something out of us.”
