The Formula for Life

(Genesis 1:1; 2:7)

Most of us, if we have spent much time in school have learned a little about science and life. Your science teacher probably told you what the five properties are that must be present in order for there to be life. In case you slept through class that day, let me refresh your memory. First, scientists say, there must be time. There must be a starting point and a continuation of time. Yes, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years are our measure of time. Secondly, there must be a force that started this whole process we call life. It could be a big bang, or some other type of force that would be able to get things going. Thirdly, there must be activity for life to be present. There would have to be an explosion, or some sort of creative activity for life to come into being. Next, scientists will tell you that there must be space or room for life to exist. If you destroy forests, in order to build houses, then the deer must either leave and find space somewhere else, or die. So, for there to be life, there must be space for life to exist in. Finally, there must be matter. There must be stuff, something there, for life to exist. That stuff could be rocks, water, or dirt, but it has to be matter.

Now, if any of these five properties are missing, there would not be life in any form. Go back over this list of things, and think about it for a minute. Which property could you leave out, and still have life?

Okay, so now we have agreed with modern science. They are right. But what is so new about their theory? What scientists have studied and determined after years of inquiry and thought, the Bible has declared ever since "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." In ten short words, God's Word has revealed to man what scientists have come to believe and know. And you do not have to dig too far into the Bible to find this information. These same five properties of life are laid out in black and white in the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1.

"In the beginning" Time
"God" Force
"Created" Activity
"the heavens" Space
"and the earth" Matter

Simply spoken and simply laid out, we have the formula for life straight from the mouth of the Creator Himself. Now, if we peek ahead a chapter in Genesis, we see that God used this same formula in creating mankind. Time had begun, there was day and there was night, and there was space. At this time, there was alot of space! So, God our Creator, continued His activity by creating plant, animal, and human life. Notice Genesis 2:7, to see this formula at work once again.

"The Lord God" Force
"Formed" Activity
"man of the dust of the ground" Matter
"and breathed into his nostrils" Activity
"the breath of life" Force
"and man became a living being."

What scientists call the formula for life, has been God's recipe for life since before the beginning of time. But the Bible tells us one more thing that scientists do not tell us. That is, what the scientists call a "force", and Who we know as the God of Creation, had a PLAN to His creative activity. John 1:1-4 declares this most important fact. "In the beginning was the word (LOGOS, meaning PLAN) the word was with God, and the word (LOGOS or PLAN) was God. This was in the beginning with God. Through it (PLAN) everyting was done; and without it not even one thing was done, which was done. In it was life; and the life was the light of men." Our God, the Creator, had a well thought out plan from before the beginning of time, and He used His plan, a blueprint, in creating the earth and all of life!!!

Isn't it wonderful to know and believe that this pretty planet and our very lives were not the result of some random act of nature, brought about by a mindless force without intention or will! The world and the beauty of it did not just happen by accident, but rather this world and mankind was created by the God of Creation, Who had the desire, intention, and plan to create the heavens and the earth by the power of His might, and to create man by His Own hands. What an awesome God!!