By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews11:3
The Latin phrase "ex nihilo" means "out of nothing."
That's what the writer of Hebrews is talking about.
Human beings can _transform things: we take ore and make jewellery, we take clay and make pots, we cut down trees and make furniture. We can transform, but we can't create "ex nihilo".
Look around you. Look at the awesome beauty of creation, the abundance of variety and the vastness of space. The scientists tell us that the universe is still expanding. That's not transformation, that's creation.
I often hold my hand in front of my face and take my fingers through the various grips, gestures and movements that they are capable of. I think of touching my newborn son with these hands and thrusting these hands into the tarmac to protect my face when I took a fall off my bicycle. I think of the fingerprints on each finger and the way each finger helps me type this dev and I know that I am looking at a miracle.
I look at all the vastness and majesty in creation and I feel faith rise up in me. When I contemplate creation with open eyes and a ready heart, faith springs up in me.
All that I see around me wasn't transformed. It was not made out of what was visible. It takes too much faith to believe that this was all by accident. It's more obvious and explicable to believe in a Creator.
Creation is too big, too magnificent: I can't figure it out - I can't UNDERSTAND by myself. But by faith I look and by faith I see not only creatION but I see the CreatOR. And then I UNDERSTAND.
===============================
There's a joke around "ex nihilo" that goes like this:
The atheist scientists came to God and said "God we have figured out how to create life - we don't need you anymore."
God said: "Oh really? Show me how you create life."
And so the scientists said: "Well you take some dirt and ...."
And God said "Uh uh. Get your own dirt..."
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
