If you were to think about it, what question above any other question, has had the biggest impact on the history of humanity?
It struck me recently that there is one question that has been asked (and continues to be asked), that rewrote the entire story of the universe.
After the universe was created, the man and woman lived in a beautiful, lush, paradise. They met up with an unfortunate character. Let’s read how that went:
Genesis 3:1-5
He (satan) said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘Youshall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The question; “Did God actually say…?” Is the powerful question that changed the entire reality of everything in the universe. The question caused the woman to doubt the truth of what God had said earlier to her husband:
(Genesis 2:15-17)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
When the woman and her husband took and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, death, corruption and evil entered not just them, but all of the universe. Prior to her/their action, all was perfect – full of life, abundance and beauty. The doubt cast upon the word of God, and the action that came out of questioning the veracity of what He had said changed the trajectory of all of history.
I have personally wrestled with doubt about the truth of the Bible. It is such a fantastical story! How could it possibly all be true?
If the Old Testament is true, then there is a God Who is awesome in power and intellect Who created all things in just six days. How do I reconcile that with the theory of evolution? And what about Noah’s flood? That does not jive with the theory of evolution either! If the Old Testament is true, how do I reconcile the God of love of the New Testament with the God Who will righteously judge all – and Who will condemn those who choose to ignore what He says to do, doing instead what is right in their own eyes. This is disobedience and it leads to His condemnation and His wrath.
“Did God really say?”
He is either Who He says He is, and has done what He says He has done, or HE IS NOT. Truth is not a field of grey. If He says He created the universe in 6 days (it was evening and then morning, the first and second… etc day – Genesis 1-2), and He did not, then He would have spoken a lie. If He said that there was a worldwide flood of judgment upon mankind and all living things on earth, and that is not true, then there is no truth in Him and we must deny everything else He says as also being a fable.
These foundational stories are the basis for the entire Christian and Hebrew/Jewish faith. If they are not true, there is no reason to believe anything else written subsequent to them.
For me, the challenge is to believe that there is Someone so powerful, intelligent and infinite as to be able to do all that He says He has done. He is so utterly alien to all that I am and all that I know as a human. If He is Who He says He is, how could I not worship Him? If He is not, we and all of creation are most to be pitied – we are rudderless, on a path towards destruction, without hope of everything eventually being made right.
He has written His plan for all of creation in His book, the Bible. If His plan and what He has written is true, then there is such incredible hope!
Revelation 21:3-5 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
God sent Jesus as the Messiah as an assurance to those who would accept His offer of grace. Jesus chose to take the punishment for the terrible things we each have done against others and against God as that necessary and just payment in the final court of judgment. By his beautiful and generous offer to stand in our place for that punishment, those who accept it are completely forgiven and welcomed into the newness God is going to create.