Planet Earth: An Amazing Look at God’s Creation
Posted on April 30, 2007
Filed Under Worldview |
I am on a plane flying home from Orange County, where we have just completed our 14th Truth Project Conference. The Lord blessed again as He did His incredible work in the hearts and minds of around 900 warm and engaged attendees at Yorba Linda Friends Church. I am continually amazed at how God brings people to these events and the testimonies we are hearing from them.
However, while I was in California, I had dinner with one of my former Institute students, who is there attending Cal-State. Afterwards, James graciously invited me to his apartment to see some recorded excerpts from recent broadcasts of the BBC’s “Planet Earth.”
I was blown away.
I’m sure part of it was due to the stunning clarity and brilliance of High Definition and the fact that he had a 42” plasma screen on which to view it, but it was the content that had me mesmerized. The BBC has done a remarkable job of capturing the breath-taking reality of this amazing creation that you and I inhabit.
As James skipped from one segment to the other, I watched in awe as they took us to gaze upon wonders rarely or never before seen: a lion pride hunting down an elephant in the dark of night, illuminated by infra-red lighting; a mother polar bear emerging from hibernation and frolicking with her cubs; or a bird equipped with sonar to help it find its nest in the pitch blackness of a cave. One segment had us looking out across the open ocean which then exploded into action as a seal shot straight up out of the water, only to be followed by a most enormous great white shark which rocketed completely out of the ocean, turning 180 degrees in the air with its teeth-lined mouth opened like the hatch on the back-end of a C130, into which the seal disappeared before the shark headed back into the water. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. How long does one have to sit, bobbing on the surface of the ocean, running a camera, before you capture something like that?
And there was a whole lot more. Several segments were sped up so that we could see action that the human eye cannot—like the coordinated and strategic movement of sea urchins or star fish.
Well, I have a fascination for this sort of thing anyway, but I couldn’t help wonder how anyone could sit and gaze upon the glorious beauty, complexity and diversity of it all, and not be struck by the reality of its underlying design. Random, purposeless, mindless forces do not produce products of exquisite beauty and order. Yet that is exactly what we have: from the tiniest elements of matter, to the complexity of life, to the farthest reaches of space.
Psalm 19 says that the heavens declare the glory of God and the work of His hands. Job 12:7-8 says:
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.”
I don’t have cable television, so I don’t get the Discovery Channel (although this might persuade me to seriously consider it). But for those of you who do, I would recommend you check out this production. It was 5 years in the making and as far as I can tell in my two-hour sampling, it is not filled with the typical evolutionary overtones.
If we will stop and listen, the earth and the animals will teach us, the birds will tell us, and the fish will indeed inform us.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Comments
5 Responses to “Planet Earth: An Amazing Look at God’s Creation”
Leave a Reply
Comments are moderated and will not appear on deltackett.com until they've been approved. While we are eager to facilitate conversation by publishing most comments, we may withhold one from time to time if we deem it offensive, vulgar, overly personal, cynical, disrespectful, irrelevant, redundant or unnecessarily contentious. While we encourage you not to make others' misspellings and grammatical mistakes an issue of debate, please do your best to double-check your spelling, use correct capitalization, and use proper grammar.
Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project--a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
Subscribe in a reader
© 2008 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.
It is confusing to me how one can gaze on the night sky and not feel His presence, much less all the creation that you have described.
By the way we don’t have cable either, not sure it is worth it???
I feel that the strongest evidence for creation is the genetic code. As I have studied genetics, God’s fingerprints are clearly seen. How can a code be a random process? A code requires a code maker. Consider that the human genetic code is about 2.4 billion base pairs and would fill the encyclopedia Britannica. I would challenge skeptics to review DNA and its complexity prior to buying in to naturalism.
We also don’t have cable. This production is available on DVD for purchase at about the price of two months of cable bills. I have been able to see parts of “Planet Earth” at a relative’s house. I was in awe of so much of what we saw. How much more I should be in awe of God the Creator!
One of the neatest parts for me (a rancher) was when they talked about grasses, and how it is a constant source of food, coming back after fires, droughts, etc….it always comes back….
And sure enough, we are getting rain in Central Texas, and it is coming back!
Del, Thanks for spending the time with James. He was blessed and encouraged by you and I, as his father, thank you and the others at FFI for sharing your life experiences, love and wisdom from God with James and the other students who studied under your care at FFI. You have all added nuggets of God’s Truth into the heart and mind of my son which I will forever be grateful.
Please give my best to Dr. Dobson, Chris and others for me.
I love you all as though you were my own family…….as your are.