The Creation: Where Do Christians Agree?

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash

The Bible says that “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Christians have multiple interpretations of Genesis 1-11 and the scientific evidence regarding the development of life on Earth - how exactly God went about the work of creation. Old-Earth Creationism, Evolutionary Creationism, Young-Earth Creationism, and Intelligent Design proponents have much to discuss and debate. In the midst of this it’s easy to forget how much everyone agrees, how much common ground we share. Let’s consider a few places of harmony among believers.

God made everything, and He loves His creation.

Christians agree that God is creator of heaven and Earth - everything that exists was made by Him (even, apparently, mosquitos). Whatever processes and timeframe God used to create the universe, the Earth, His creatures, and even us, we know who did it and we can worship Him because of His awesome glory and creative power.

God loves the world He made and continually sustains it with His power. He cares about it, and that care is evident in the way wecare about it, as creatures made in His image.

Science is good.

Young-Earth Creationists, Old-Earth Creationists, Evolutionary Creationists, and Intelligent Design proponents all agree that science is a gift from God and a generally reliable method for understanding the world God made. Each read the scientific evidence in light of larger theological frameworks, and they all do scientific work and present scientific evidence.

Due to the Fall (see Genesis 3), science is imperfect and prone to different kinds of errors. But no Christians that I know simply disregard science and say that it’s a waste of time. The experimental method and scientific observation are tools for discovering truth in the universe that God created, and our knowledge of God’s works leads us to glorify Him more.

The universe reflects the nature of its maker in many ways.

As a painting reveals something about the nature of the painter, the universe points to the God who made it, in many ways: it is huge because He is infinite; it works according to laws because He is rational; it is beautiful because He is glorious; it has chocolate in it because He is good. While we still need revelation in scripture to tell us the whole story of God, the creation tells us many things about the creator and prepares us to meet Him in the person of Jesus.

Human beings were created in the image of God.

Some Christians believe that human beings have been in the universe since its earliest days, some believe that God created us in a special act much later, and some believe that our bodies evolved from lower life forms before being “ensouled” by God. Regardless, Christians acknowledge that we are no accident - we were created in love by the triune God, to reflect His glory and live in relationship with Him and with each other.

Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.

Human beings are sinful creatures who have no hope of salvation apart from the mercy and grace of God. Whenever the Fall happened, humans chose not to live as God created us to live. We fell into sin and rebellion against our creator, and we deserve death and separation from Him. But because of God’s great love for us, and for His glory, Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins and He rose in victory over death and the grave. He ascended into Heaven and sent His Holy Spirit to live in His people until He returns.

Creation will Be Redeemed and Restored.

Jesus will return. One day, Jesus will come back and make all things new. He will restore humanity to its intended glory, and give us a perfect home on the New Earth. Those who have put their faith in Jesus will live forever with Him in the greater Eden, in the very presence of God. We will know the truth about the history of our species, and we won’t argue about how God has done the things He’s done (or at least we’ll argue good-naturedly). We will worship God for all His works, including the work of creation. 

Conclusion

While there is plenty for Christians to disagree about regarding the ways God creates, we can be sure that these are little tiffs in the grand scheme of things, and we will live in unity forever and ever. So be kind to those brothers and sisters with whom you disagree; you’ll be with them for eternity, and perhaps some of us will be able to (lovingly) say “I told you so.”