The Stubborn Domino

I have always had a deep interest and appreciation for science.  Scientific discovery has led to improvements in nearly every facet of daily life.  Technology, medicine, media, agriculture, manufacturing, and recreation have all benefited greatly from scientific study.  But science, even in its modern glory, is not able to adequately answer all the questions we pose as curious human beings.  Science often proves up to the task of answering "how," but rarely answers "why?"  Science is unable to answer definitively the question of how the world came into being.  No one today can make that claim scientifically.  It is not able to answer the deeper questions either, like "Why did the world come into being?"

When I went to university, I remember a lecture given by my geology professor that went something like this:  "Just imagine:  billions of years ago, there was an incredible amount of energy and matter.  At some point the 'big bang' occurred and the stars and planets were formed.  Through evolutionary process over billions of years, chemicals and amino acids developed into the first living cell.  Over many more years, through random natural process, cells evolved through natural selection to produce the rich varieties of life forms we see today."  I thought the first words of the lecture were the most compelling:  "Just imagine."  It was evident my professor truly believed what she taught based upon the evidence presented to her.  Because she relied upon diagrams, textbooks, and papers written by others, realizing her own research had a potential degree for error, was not alive billions of years ago, nor can perfectly prove scientifically the exact conditions which existed at that time, there is a degree of faith in her depiction.  This is true for everyone, me included.

From our modern vantage point, looking back as we follow the evolutionary model presented by the majority of scientists today, the steps to our evolution could be compared to a line of dominoes which diverged from a single row into many rows.  Single cells became more complex and adapted different abilities which gave rise to new kinds of plants, animals, and people.  Science seeks to describe through evidence how the dominoes fell, how one species produced another.  But let us stand all the dominoes up again and go back to the very beginning of the imaginative, elegant tale.  Where did the energy, matter, and information come from represented in that first domino?  How did the first domino fall?  Why would it fall?  The Law of the Conservation of Energy tells us that energy is neither created or destroyed but can be converted from one form to another.  The Law of the Conservation of Momentum reminds us that unlike the dominoes which only fall in a single predictable direction, mass and energy can go in any direction!  If that is the case, it is difficult for me to imagine that a domino able to go in any direction in a three-dimensional environment could possibly hit the next one to continue the process.

But back to that stubborn first domino!  Without describing what substances of which it was comprised, without trying to imagine where the mass, energy, and information originated from, without discussing why it appeared at all, let us consider how it first moved.  Dominoes stand until they are pushed.  If the table on which they are set it kicked or accidentally bumped by a knee, random dominoes out of sequence fall and the process must be restarted.  But to follow the evolutionary model, a domino cannot fall until necessary conditions have been met.  So how did the first domino fall?  No one knows, and no one will ever know exactly - by the scientific method, that is.

The reason why I find the biblical account of creation by God so compelling is not because it tells us how God made things.  Who but God can know the science behind what it takes to speak things into existence from nothing!  Nor does the Bible specifically say when the galaxies, stars, and planets were created.  But the Bible tells us about Who created things, the intelligence behind the order we see in the world.  And the Bible even explains why God created all living things and man in His image:  Colossians 1:16-17 reads, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."  God created all things because it pleased Him to do so.  Revelation 4:11 contains the proper response of man for all God has done:  "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."

I am filled with wonder when I consider the works of God's hands both in heaven and on earth.  I am amazed both by astronomy and the complexity of cells.  I am struck by the beauty and vibrancy in nature:  the plumage of a bird, the symmetry of a flower, the clear blue of the sea, the white puffy clouds morphing in the sky.  I don't presume to know how God imagines or works His wonders, but I rejoice in the revelation of God through nature and scripture.  Psalm 19:1-3 reads, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. ² Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. ³ There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."  Knowing God makes me want to dig deeper into science so I might marvel more intelligently concerning His wisdom and wonders!