In the first chapter of Genesis, the Bible describes the three great acts of creation: the universe, including the earth (Genesis 1:1); a restitution of the earth following devastation with new plant and animal life (Genesis 1:2-25) ; and human beings (Genesis 1:26-27).
Creation and its creatures were not a lucky accident, as atheistic evolution teaches. The universe is a carefully designed masterpiece of the Creator God.
Light — our life-sustaining source
Of all the vast ranges of solar energy possible to bathe the earth, ours happens to be of just the correct wavelength and quantity to produce beneficial effects on life. Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez notes: “Our atmosphere participates in one of the most extraordinary coincidences known to science…The near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectra—the light most useful to life and sight—are a razor-thin sliver of the universe’s natural, electromagnetic emissions: about one part in 1025 [or one in 10 trillion trillion].” (The Privileged Planet, 2004, p. 66).
Biochemist Michael Denton notes, “… that not only is the radiant energy in this tiny region the only radiation of utility to life, but that radiant energy in most other regions of the spectrum is either lethal or profoundly damaging. Electromagnetic radiation from gamma rays through X rays to ultraviolet rays is all harmful to life…” (Nature’s Destiny, 1998, pp. 53).
Consequently, we read about God making the world habitable for life, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light’” (Genesis 1:3).
Water — the miraculous liquid
Drinking, washing, cleaning, sustaining crops, having our blood flowing and many other bodily processes demonstrate the multiple ways water is essential for life to flourish.
For instance, just before it freezes, water does an about-face at 39°F (4°C) and, unlike other solidifying liquids, begins to expand instead of contract—thus becoming less dense as it converts into ice. If this were not so, when a lake or river freezes over, the ice forming at the top would keep sinking to the bottom. Eventually the lake or river would be frozen solid, killing fish and other life, proving fatal to the chain of life on earth.
Water also has a surprising quality when it turns into a gas. Though water is 800 times heavier than air, when it evaporates it mixes with other gases in earth’s atmosphere, with suspended water droplets forming clouds that cover more than half the earth’s atmosphere. This makes the miracle of life-sustaining rain possible.
Denton remarks: “Water forms the fluid in which occur all the vital chemical and physical activities upon which life on earth depends…Most organisms are made up of more than 50 percent water; in the case of man, water makes up more than 70 percent of the weight of the body…” (Nature’s Destiny, 1998, pp. 22, 30).
Scientists still puzzle over the origin of the enormous quantity of water on earth, covering 70 percent of its surface, and they also wonder where all the salt came from to produce the precise ratio found in saltwater that acts as an antiseptic and sustainer of life in the sea.
Genesis 1 tells us simply, “Thus God made the firmament [atmosphere], and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament [the clouds]; and it was so” (Genesis 1:7).
Carbon — the matrix for life
Carbon forms the chemical backbone for all living things. Scientists use the term carbon-based life to emphasize the importance of this substance in living things.” The world of life is very much the product of the compounds of carbon. All the machinery of the cell, and all the vital structures of living organisms from the molecular to the morphological [physical shape] level, are constructed from the compounds of carbon….”(Nature’s Destiny, 1998, p. 104).
As astronomer Hugh Ross concludes about carbon: “Researchers have found that the quantity of carbon must be carefully balanced between just enough and not too much because carbon, though essential for life, can also be destructive to life. Too much carbon translates into too much carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane. In large quantities, these gases are poisonous. In modest quantities, their greenhouse properties keep the planet sufficiently warm for life. In larger quantities, they can heat a planet’s surface beyond what physical life can tolerate” (Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, 2008, p. 28).
The size of living things — not an accident
We take for granted the size of the living things we see around us, but these have been carefully created with the optimal dimensions, given their different functions. If a biological structure exceeds or falls short of the range allowable by the physical laws that govern it, it simply will not work.
Dr. Denton concludes marveling at such variety: “It is impossible not to be struck by the enormous functional, structural, and behavioral diversity manifested by life on earth. Is it conceivable that there could be a world of life more varied…than the one existing on our watery planet? From the tiniest bacterial cell to the immensity of the blue whale . . .” (pp. 302, 311).
We read in Genesis 1: “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth’” (Genesis 1:21-22).
Foresight — the creation of organic backup systems
Engineers develop backup systems so that if one device fails, there is another to take its place. This is called redundancy. For instance, the space shuttle launched by the United States in 2011 had five backup computers for its navigational system.
The more we get to know about God’s creation the more redundant systems are found to protect organisms from minor errors that could destroy them. It throws a real monkey wrench into the idea of evolution through chance mutation.
Denton notes: “And it seems increasingly that it is not only individual genes that are redundant, but rather that the phenomenon may be all-pervasive in the development of higher organisms… this phenomenon poses an additional challenge to the idea that organisms can be radically transformed as a result of a succession of small independent changes, as Darwinian theory [of evolution] supposes…” (pp. 338-339).
God prepared the universe and the earth, just as the Bible describes, as a “cradle” for life— especially for mankind. Romans 1:20 assures us: “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 people are without excuse.” As Psalms 14:1 declares, “Only a fool would say, ‘There is no God!’”
