Made of Dust

I don’t often read a newspaper, but today I had time to glance through one, and discovered a small item with a title that grabbed my attention. It read ‘The Greeks were right: we may be made of clay’.The news piece went on to explain how the journal ‘Scientific Reports’ had printed an article, stating that biological engineers from the department of Nanoscale Science at Cornell University have come to the conclusion that‘clay might have been the birthplace of life on earth’. The clay certainly has all the elements needed, but how the molecules actually made DNA, or came alive, is still to be fully discovered. But they’re hopeful that they will work it out. There followed a rather cynical comment that this was what the Bible had stated for thousands of years, as had other religious books, and even the mythology of the ancient Greeks; hence the title.

It made me smile as I wondered how many millions of pounds they’d spent trying to disprove God’s creation of man, and yet they still only understand the physical elements necessary. It would surely have been much cheaper to buy, read and believe what the Bible says: ‘we are dust’. It seems the scientists think the clay started to form DNA and come alive over thousands of years. It sounds rather unlikely to me. They seem desperate to exclude God from the creation process, but without the God-breathed human spirit there can be no life (James 2:26), so it will be interesting to see how they research the rest of the process!

Of course scientists are naturally inquisitive and I’m sure God smiles at that, since He made them that way. But the truth is that what we discover through scientific enquiry is never going to be a surprise to God. Nothing we discover is a revelation to Him, or will ever contradict what He’s told us. But, I believe, He enjoys it when we’re inquisitive and explore the workings of His creation. By knowing more of how the natural world works we can be even more amazed at all He’s created. If you’ve never really thought about how amazing God’s creation is then I suggest you Google ‘the Bombardier Beetle’ and be prepared to be staggered at God’s inventiveness! As an afterthought, should you ever get into a conversation with someone who says they believe in evolution and not creation, you might like to ask them how such a creature could have evolved?

God will never be surprised by our scientific discoveries. He’s the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13), and that means that everything we think we’ve discovered is already ‘in Him’. What an amazing God!

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You for our amazing world and for scientists who’re inquisitive and want to understand how it all works. Lord help us to honour You as the all-knowing, all-seeing and all-understanding Creator, but also to enjoy the process of learning about the workings of Your wonders every day. We pray this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.