The reason I feel that it's so important can be summed up in the blog I wrote that preceded the one with the promise, The Power of a Worldview. And, just as the name would suggest, it's the power that our worldview holds over our thinking that should be a matter of grave concern for us all. If we are harboring false information and believe it to be true, all of our present and future decisions will be based upon this incorrect standpoint.
I've heard people in the church, even pastoral staff, shrug off this concern as if beliefs about the world's origin have nothing to do with our relationship with God. I've heard non-Christians who already don't believe in God specifically say how they can't believe in God or the Bible because it goes against everything they know about "science". Unfortunately, due to knowing very little about biblical theology and even less about geography, anthropology, astrology, etc., the church has largely taken the position of either ignoring the findings of the scientific community or worse, trying to insert them into the biblical text. This compromised gospel has confused professing Christians where they mostly attempt to avoid the subject, while also becoming a stumbling block to potential converts.
I've even personally experienced being a Christian and running into my own beliefs that were based on false information that caused serious doubts about God and the reliability of the Christian worldview. I was confused for so long, in fact, that I was afraid to have someone breach any one of a variety of subjects. I knew that I could not articulate the Christian position. I knew that I would not be convincing, after all, I was not convinced myself. I knew that I was to tell people about the good news, but my internal intellectual struggle with the inconsistencies of my beliefs caused me to be ashamed and useless to God and Christianity. I believed in God, the Bible, and the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ... but I couldn't tell you why I believed it. I was in direct violation of 1 Peter 3:15 "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you." The hope was in me, I just wasn't prepared to explain the reason I had for it.
God created all things and just like all creators, He is outside of the things He created. He is not governed by the things He created. That would be backwards. He is only governed by His own promises since He is truth. He created time, therefore He is outside of it. He created the natural laws, therefore He is supernatural. Since He is not governed by natural laws, He can and does act supernaturally.
The atheist has no logical explanation for the existence of natural laws nor can he explain the reason for the existence of universal physical constants such as the speed of light, the gravitational constant, the elementary charge, etc. There are tons of known constants that allow us to "know" anything. Without these constants, there could be no way to understand anything. You couldn't calculate anything because even mathematics wouldn't exist because there would be no rules to govern the consistency of outcomes. The atheist cannot explain the natural formation of these constants because he must attempt to break one of them in order to explain it. Information does not form itself, information only comes from information. Suggesting otherwise breaks the laws of logic. Furthermore, it's circular reasoning to postulate that natural laws could come about naturally. Since nature would not yet exist, there would be no way for it to form by the laws of nature that didn't yet exist. If the atheist alludes to the preexistence of these universal constants before material existence, then he is simply inferring the existence of transcendent intelligence which equates to an admission of the existence of God just by a different name.
The Bible-believing Christian would expect these constants to exist. Colossians 1:17 states "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Hebrews 1 says "...He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." So, we would expect to find universal constants. Materialism, on the other hand, wouldn't expect to find nor can explain their known existence.
It's not illogical to believe in the Bible. Quite the contrary, it's the only worldview that can make total sense of our universe.
Now, a lot of Christians profess belief in the Bible being truth and attempt to say that modern scientific theory isn't necessarily incompatible to the biblical narrative. They think that God could have taken billions of years to create and that He could have used evolution in His creation method. They say that it doesn't matter how God created. Well, I think this isn't just a dangerous position because it's some slippery slope, it's dangerous because it's not what the Bible says. The question isn't what God could have done, it's what God said was done. And, the issue is whether we are prepared to believe Him or not. And, make no mistake, it is an issue of the reliability of the Gospel. Some of you are like, "Wait, wait, wait... How is Genesis tied to the Gospel?" And, I'm glad you asked. Let me show you in as few words as possible.
If there were billions of years worth of creatures living and dying before Adam and Eve, then death existed before sin. If death existed before sin, then it was not sin that ushered in death and death couldn't have been a penalty for sin. Therefore, Jesus' death on the cross was meaningless and didn't pay for our sin... because there was no paying for it. God could not save us.
Also, if death existed prior to Adam and Eve, then the portrayal of God gets incredibly sadistic. After all, "God looked at all He had made and saw that it was good." Mind you, this was before the fall of man. But, if there was already death, then how could any of it be good in God's eyes unless He is in to that sort of suffering. This philosophy is the cause for so many people blaming God for all the bad things that happen. They look to God only to assign blame.
No, God created all things, told us exactly how He did it and how long it took Him, provided the timeline through genealogies so we could know how long ago it was, explained to us why the earth is now how it is (sin), provided us a path to salvation, told us all about it, and has kept His word alive, relevant, and available to us ever since despite efforts to eradicate it in virtually every generation of the history of mankind.
Don't be fooled. Your position on this subject is a foundation for all the rest of your beliefs. Don't get it wrong because you fear man's scorn more than you fear God's. God said 6 days. Will you believe Him?
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