God could’ve willed the universe into existence. But as you know, He didn’t.
Genesis 1 is clear: He created the universe with words. He spoke forth creation.
As speaking beings made in God’s image, we comprehend words. Words are symbols.
It goes that we can engage the natural world as a language once we realize that everything in it is a symbol communicating deeper truth, a construct harboring inner meaning.
For a second, take a look at the following image and tell me, what is this?
Did you say it’s a combination of black lines on white space?
Did you say it’s a three-letter word with two consonants and a vowel?
Or did you say it’s a person who walks and talks and fails to put the toilet seat down?
It’s all three! And this is what’s so fascinating about language. We can extract levels of meaning from something that is physically no more than a combination of black lines on white space. Our minds are equipped with a faculty called symbolism. Using this faculty, we understand that these characters (M-A-N) symbolize letters, and letters come together to form words, and words symbolize truths. Mentally we move through these layers quickly due to much practice and familiarity. But for a child learning to read, or learning the letters of the alphabet, it’s not so easy.
Again, God spoke forth creation; therefore all of the universe is constructed with words, or symbols. The Bible then teaches us the language of God; it translates His truths. The more fluent we are in God’s Word, the more we will sense the larger reality that nature expresses, and the more swiftly we will move through the levels of meaning.
Now secular science does not recognize God, so it does not recognize the universe as a spoken language. As a result, it sees objects, not symbols. And here is the outcome: secular scientists study the image above and say, “Okay, we observe a form that looks like this: M. We observe another form like this: A. We observe another form like this: N. These forms maintain a certain order, and we do see similarities. We conclude that the N used to be an A, and the A used to be an M. The space in which they exist accidentally came together over billions of years.” They then develop a whole library of textbooks that classify and label every aspect of M-A-N without realizing that, while their observations are correct, their conclusions are illiterate.
Spiritualists go a step farther. They study the image M-A-N and recognize there is a layer of symbolism and purpose. They say, “It’s a word. Those are symbols. This is an expression of meaning.” However correct they may be in this regard, if these spiritualists do not know God’s Word, they will inevitably misinterpret the meaning. Ask them what M-A-N means and they’ll point to a head of lettuce, or a doghouse, or a ceiling fan. And so in this way, they observe the universe has symbolism and purpose, but they misread the language and base their lives on false interpretations.
For this very reason God’s Word is so important! It translates His truths; it lets us in to the reality His language is communicating. While the universe reveals what the Creator spoke, the Bible reveals what the Creator meant. The universe is a spoken language rich with symbolism, yes; but without God’s Word, our interpretations are either erroneous or illiterate. We need the Word of God in our lives if we seek to know the true meaning of that which we observe. Even more, we need to know God’s Word if we intend to engage the world properly, for that is how we dialogue with His creation.
