Can Science Reveal God In and Around Us?

Photo by Tony Sebastian on Unsplash

Welcome to another Still in the Storm Substack post.

Today, I want to talk about a topic that I am deeply passionate about. I hope it will inspire you as it did me.

You’ve been led to believe that science and religion are opposed to each other.

That one can’t possibly be a scientist and a follower of Jesus Christ.

I’m here to tell not only is that not true but that I’m proof.

Yes, we have seen lately where science has crossed a line and is now trying to play God.

I absolutely don’t agree with that. Scientism is an abomination.

However, if kept within its limits science actually helps to show us the immense beauty and complexity in God’s creation.

I believe that anything which aids in revealing the Lord and in calling us closer into union with Him holds great value.

Why do I think that science can be such a tool though?

All of the physical world is but a reflection of Jesus Christ

This may appear to be a bold statement and it is, but I’m going to try to show you why I believe that is true.

The apostle Paul testifies that all things were created by, through, and for Jesus Christ, that through Him all things are held together.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. - Colossians 1:15-17

But we don’t have take his word for it. We can look at what the Lord actually said about himself.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” - John 14:6

Here Jesus says that he is the truth.  Let’s unpack that a bit and hopefully you will start to see what I mean.

First, I want to look at the greek word in the New Testament that is translated to the english word truth.

It is the word alētheia and it refers to what is true in any matter under consideration.

Here is how one online dictionary defines the word truth:

The state or quality of being true. - New Oxford English Dictionary

Ok so that didn’t help much but, let’s move on and look at the word ‘true’.

In accordance with fact or reality. - New Oxford English Dictionary

Now we’re getting somewhere!

We could say that truth is the state of being in accordance with reality.

Bear with me here.  I assure you that I am getting to a point.

What about the word reality?  What does it mean?

The world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. - New Oxford English Dictionary

Putting it all together the truth is the state of being in accordance with things as they actually exist or what they really are, as opposed to some ideal. 

If we now revisit the words of our Lord, He says that he is the truth.

To be clear, He isn’t a state of being but rather a living person.  If we take Him at His word, what He is saying is that He is the reality of all things. He is the actual substance of it all!

Behind everything you see within God’s created universe is a person, Jesus Christ.  It’s all a reflection, a signpost, or an image of Him.

And this makes sense since it was all created by, through, and for Him.

Go outside and take a walk in nature.  All you see points to the beauty of Jesus Christ.

A word of caution though before proceeding

Be sure to remain focused on the creator and don’t worship the creation.

There is immense beauty in our world. Well, if you’re willing to get out of the cities and explore nature a bit.

Still, it can be very captivating and that is why I wanted to issue a brief word of caution.

The creation, the created world, is dying and fading away. All we see in the world that is beautiful will get old, despite it being a reflection of Jesus Christ.

Only the real thing will never dull which is why we ultimately must stay focused on Him.

Finding the creator in the creation

How do we learn about or try to make sense of nature and the many phenomena within it, including ourselves?

That’s right!  We use science.

I believe that we can actually look to science to show us how we can live according to His will.

In fact, if we take a trip back in time about 400 years ago we see that early modern scientists like Galileo and Johannes Keplar looked at nature and saw a created world.

They saw the world as God’s temple and scientific exploration of it as a means of worship.

Early scientists were inspired by their faith and held a desire to glorify God in their work to understand various phenomena in nature.

Fast forward to today and we see a much different picture.

We must remember above all that science is just one of many tools at our disposal and perhaps the least of all so let’s not elevate it to something that it isn’t.

What we need to do is to put science back in its proper place or to reclaim the approach taken by those early scientists.

That is what I am setting out to do through my love of Jesus Christ and of science, to find the place where the latter can unveil and increase the size of the former.

It is the intersection of Christ (or Christianity) and science.

The Lord may work in subtle and mysterious ways but He is always trying to reveal Himself to us that we may pursue Him with all of our hearts.

It is long past time that we regain an approach to science that honors God

Lately all we see is science going way too far and simultaneously throwing ethics out the window.

Ultimately, science is part of the world system and although we are told not to love the world, we must live in it.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. - 1 John 2:15-17

We need to learn how to use it to our advantage to fulfill God’s eternal purpose and a healthy respect for science does just that.

I believe that it can help to reveal the Creator within His creation which in turn can bear much fruit for the Lord if it leads more people into closer union with Him.

My goal is to continue to probe this further in future posts, to consider just what such an approach to science looks like and how it can reveal the reality, Jesus Christ, in all we see and all we are.

Thanks be to God.

-

Let me know what you think in the discussion below.

-

Talk soon,

Mike

---

Do you know someone who could benefit from this?

If you find the information in these articles valuable, we would be grateful for your help to get it to those who could most benefit. 

Just click the button below to share and restack today’s post!

Get notified when new posts go live!

Lastly, to be notified as soon as a new post is live go ahead and subscribe to Still in the Storm by clicking the button below.