First published:
Creation
30(1): 6
December 2007

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Answering life’s big questions

Only the Bible provides the answers

Editorial

by Don Batten

Photo by Vanessa Fitzergerald

Just about everyone asks life’s big questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? Today we are effectively told, in the evolutionary story, that life is a fluke, a cosmic accident. In this case our existence lacks any purpose, so life is a farce. And where are we going, in this view? Fertilizer! In short, life is: Fluke … farce … fertilizer.

Evolutionist Richard Dawkins said that we live in a universe that has ‘no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference’.¹ The evolutionists’ universe has no purpose because it is an accident; a cosmic accident. With evolution so widely taught in schools and universities, is it any wonder that so many lack any purpose or meaning to their lives?

As Susan Blackmore, psychologist and disciple of Richard Dawkins said, ‘If you really think about evolution and why we human beings are here, you have to come to the conclusion that we are here for absolutely no reason at all.’²

However, the Bible provides true and satisfying answers to these questions. Where did we come from? ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1). It was no accident. And He made us in ‘his own image’ (Genesis 1:27); He made us special, we are not just ‘rearranged pond-scum’, as one evolutionist put it.

Why are we here? A chair or a car is not created without a purpose; likewise the universe. And because God created us, He must have had a purpose in doing that. Many parts of the Bible allude to this—our main purpose is simply to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever! Revelation 4:11 says, ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’³ Because things were created, they have a purpose. And Psalm 16:11 says, ‘in your [God’s] presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’⁴ The atheists are correct: if there is no Creation—no Creator—there is no purpose to life.

Where are we going? Well, where you are going depends on where you have come from. In the evolutionary view, death has always been an integral part of things, because death of the unfit is the stuff of natural selection. So in this view it is logical to think that death is the end of it. Dust to dust … (or fertilizer). However, God did not create man merely as a material being (dust) but also as a spiritual being, in His image. So there is an element to our being that transcends matter—the spirit.

Furthermore, death has not always been here; it is an interloper (‘the last enemy’; 1 Corinthians 15:26). Creation is in decay because of the rebellion of Adam (Genesis 3) and it anticipates its release from the ‘bondage to decay’ to which it was ‘subjected’ (Romans 8:18–23).⁵ Jesus Christ made this possible through His taking upon Himself the curse of death.

His Resurrection testifies to His having paid the price and having defeated the power of death. So we, the descendants of Adam who are ‘in Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:21–22), look forward to a new heavens and earth where things will be restored to their original perfection (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3–4).

For those who are not ‘in Christ’ there will be God’s judgment upon them; a fearful prospect. The famous creationist scientist, Pascal, pointed out the poor logic of choosing to not be ‘in Christ’

The history in Genesis provides the answers or the foundations to the answers to the three big questions. And that’s what Creation magazine is about: presenting the big picture Christian worldview. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.

References and notes

1. Dawkins, R., God’s Utility Function, Scientific American 273(5):62–67, November 1995. Return to Text.
2. The world according to … Dr Susan Blackmore, The Independent, 21 January 2004 www.susanblackmore.co.uk/journalism/World%20indy.htm, accessed 7 September 2007. Blackmore advocates the legalization of all illicit drugs, which is consistent with her view that life has no purpose, because if that is the case, it would not matter if people destroy themselves (or others). Return to Text.
3. See also Psalm 86; Isaiah 60:21; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 6:20. Return to Text.
4. Psalm 16:5–11; Psalm 144:15; Isaiah 12:2; Luke 2:10; Philippians 4:4; Revelation 21:3–4. Return to Text.
5. See also Smith, H.B., Cosmic and universal death from Adam’s fall: an exegesis of Romans 8:19–23a, Journal of Creation 21(1):75–85, 2007. Return to Text.

(Available in Romanian)

Published: 29 October 2007(GMT+10)