The never-ending debate between intelligent design and the quite unnatural improvement mutation theory of evolution has never been exposed to this consideration. The Intelligent Designer’s evidence is designed to repel any arrogant examination. The Bible is written with a decidedly intentional complexity that filters out smugness, self-righteousness and mirror worship. The surface contradictions are placed there as bait for the self-absorbed to confidently toss aside this miracle. The fog around these ‘contradictions’ always dissolve under careful examination, revealing powerful confirmations of the Bible’s miraculous nature. This is one of the great glories of the written word of creation’s Intelligent Designer.
One of the many proofs for this principle of the intentional complexity of divine expressions was the exclusive communication distinction afforded Moses. God was angry with Aaron and Miriam for undermining the authority of Moses and demanded to know why they did not recognize this unique distinction. Numbers 12:6-9 records this divine indignation. Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. We might ask why Moses exclusively enjoyed this clear communication. The answer was provided in verse 3: Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. Moses was already meek. He didn’t need the standard filtering feature of all divine communication.
If we will approach the Bible respectfully, with an appreciation for its claim of complete inspiration by an entity that is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent then we will have an opportunity to see a greater measure of the glory of God. If we approach the Bible confident of its uselessness or simply to look for some confirmation of our own personal glory, we will not see beyond the intentionally reflective surface of the carefully crafted writings.
So what has this got to do with the Intelligent Design- accidental natural improvement debate? Everything! There is a perfect symmetry between the written word of God (Bible) and the spoken word of God (creation). The terms of creation (what a Godless humanity disrespectfully calls ‘nature’) are the result of the spoken word of God. We are specifically told that God spoke and then dry land rose out of the waters covering the earth… creating continents. God spoke and countless species of plantlife appeared . . . in various stages of maturity in perfect interactive balance and quantities. God spoke and the sun ruled the day and the moon ruled the night. God spoke and vast species of fowl and waterlife existed in full accord, with all their genetic programming in place. All the terms of creation are a result of the spoken word of the Intelligent Designer. The Bible is the written word of the Intelligent Designer. If we will examine these two forms of divine expression together we will see multiple layers of perfect symmetry.
Let’s take an obvious example that any teenager should be able to discern. There were two categories of life evident in creation at the beginning: mortal and immortal… man and God. Man dies. God does not. Simple scientific examination relates a single element, a single component of intelligent design, to be the foundational basis for mortal life. That icon would be the element carbon. Literally every form of life capable of being observed scientifically is defined as “carbon based life.” This is nothing new. This is an elementary school lesson and often referenced in science fiction based novels, television shows and movies. It is also quite elemental to identify icon of mortal life with the number six. The entire scientific world recognizes carbon’s numerical identification of six, due to the number of protons in the carbon atom and its placement on the universally accepted chart of the elements. These are features of the spoken word of God, the features of creation.
We need to offer some breadth and depth before we look for the mirror application in the written word of God. Let’s identify the one element that is creationally representative of immortal life. We certainly cannot consult nature for that relationship, as everything about nature is limited. This is the defining feature of our current divinely imposed dispensation. We will have to look to something eternal to determine an element that would unmistakably identify eternal life. Since our premise requires respecting the Bible we will have to take the Bible at its claim of being the inspired words of an immortal Creator. Despite the constant attempts by mankind over the last 2,000 years to eliminate this book from the earth it still serves as the number one selling book in the world. The Bible is where we can identify the one element in creation that can identify eternal life. Jesus does this for us.
In the dark of the night a religious political leader (Nicodemus) secretly solicits answers from Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus tells a confused Nicodemus one must be born again to see the Kingdom of God, that one must be born anew of the Spirit. Jesus defines this Spirit rebirth as being different from a flesh birth and parallels it to becoming like the wind. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:5-8). Jesus identifies the transition from flesh to spirit, in order to see (experience) the Kingdom of God, as being like wind. There is only one element in air that sustains life. That is oxygen. As carbon is the element that symbolizes mortal life, so oxygen is the Intelligent Designer’s appointed symbol of eternal life. The scientific numerical identification of oxygen is the number 8, as seen on any Chart of the Elements. The oxygen atom has 8 protons.
We have begun to pour the foundation for witnessing the glory of the seamless parallel between the spoken word of God (creation/nature) and the written word of God (the Bible). Unraveling the intentional complexity of creation and scripture can’t be done with nano, text-messaging, acronym style reasoning. This foundational relationship will cure into cemented confidence as we pursue this creation-scripture mirror image in the next blog posting planned in a week or so.