or The agnostic evolutionist who repeatedly and inadvertently demonstrates to millions the truth of God’s Word!
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear,” Hebrews 11:3.
The Greek word translated in our text by the phrase, “we understand”, is NOIEO. It means ‘to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding.’
1. Those who believe the inspired record of God creating all that we see around and above us, stretching out into the immensity of the universe, are enabled ‘to perceive with the mind’ just how this has come into existence and rejoice in that knowledge
Those who follow the subject of man’s excavations of the earth’s record of former times, with any degree of dedication, will have noted how many times we read headlines which may be generalised as :—
‘Experts discover new evidence which throws in doubt former opinions on the origin of all things.’
I read the following statement recently:
‘As of early 2026, several groundbreaking scientific discoveries—primarily from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and CERN—have challenged the conventional Big Bang model and, by extension, traditional understandings of the origin of the universe, galaxies, and matter. These findings suggest that the early universe was far more mature, complex, and active than previously believed.’
Such is the repeated history of the unbelievers’ guesswork as to the origin of all things!
There has been a constant and necessary casting aside of yesterday’s ‘certainties’ and an embracing of yet another short-lived confident definition of the most ‘certain’ truth of how all things began, by Bible-rejecting ‘experts’!
Faith’s Response
All the while, the one who embraces by faith what the Lord says in Genesis chapter 1, finds in the latest discoveries which demolish the ‘authoritative’ declarations of yesterday of the evolutionists, but confirmation of the Bible’s account.
Student
While a student back in the mid-‘60s, part of my theological studies, under the late Dr Alan Cairns, involved an in-depth study of “The Genesis Flood.”
It was much more than helpful in my grasping of how unbelieving man’s searching of the fossil records was but fully endorsing of God’s account of creation.
Of course, palaeontologists, who are disciples of Darwin, place upon such discoveries the most ludicrous interpretations.
Videos
A man whose videos on nature are to be enjoyed for their meticulous uncovering of the behaviour of creatures that we would otherwise have never seen in such detail, if seen at all, Dr David Attenborough, is celebrating his 100th birthday this year. It may surprise many when I say that he is a man who, most unwittingly, confirms ‘Bible Prophecy’ for it has been often stated that he is an agnostic!
Many of his documentaries contain demonstrations of the decaying and dying that is taking place in every element of the general creation. Dr Attenborough repeatedly makes a strong issue of the evidence of this very obvious decline on land, sea and the skies above.
This decay in creation is the result of man’s activities. The appetite for what ‘creation’ provides has initiated a grave imbalance all around.
Our atmosphere is polluted with smoke and fumes and space debris!
Our rivers and seas and oceans are likewise polluted and though there have been measures taken to stop the contamination, it is very clear that man is not able to undo the damage that his greed for ‘more’ has brought about.
Our forests, so vital for the absorbing of carbondioxide and the releasing of oxygen, are being cut down at a most alarming rate to satisfy the rapacious desire for timber!
The arctic ice is melting, and we are given to understand, that because of a rise in the general temperature of the atmosphere, the possibility of the rising of sea levels will threaten many islands and low lying national coastal areas.
All this in greater detail, Dr David Attenborough has highlighted in his videos. He gives many specific examples of the decline in the number of the creatures in the skies and in the forests and oceans. Some have already become extinct.
Boyhood Memories
My own experience as a boy in Co. Fermanagh, walking home from my school in the townland of Munlaburtlin, was that of seeing some of the most wonderfully coloured song birds in the hedgerows which I no longer see!
Yellowhammers, thrushes, grouse, linnets, greenfinches — these, and others, were familiar when I was a boy but no longer are common!
These signs of decline and disruption of a natural system that was evident not that long ago, have become a prolific topic at international levels. Governments have been adopting new laws to combat what is perceived as going disasterously wrong! Environmentalists, such as Dr David Attenborough, have been taking every opportunity to highlight their fears of what is happening to creation.
But as I said earlier, those ‘singing’ from Dr David Attenborough’s ‘hymnbook’, are merely endorsing what the Bible states in Romans chapter 8.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” 14-23.
Just as the redeemed sinner is awaiting deliverance from the curse of sin, under which we daily groan, so too does the physical creation!
“The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” In these words there is a death and there is a birth referred to! There are the ‘groaning’ or death pangs and the ‘travailing’ or birth pangs.
All the schemes and strategies of the evolutionists and environmentalists will not reverse the decline that they are despairing over.
But God’s wonderful purpose will!
Spoiled
Dr Attenborough’s documentaries are spoiled for Christians by his most outlandish evolutionary explanations of how the marvellous creatures he f eatures in his programmes, came to possess the wonderful, unusual and distinctive features and abilities, which set them apart from others in their particular species.
It may be in their actual abilities or their physical features, their bones, their flexible joints, their powerful eyesight or hearing — time and again I have heard this very intelligent man declare that the creature, by its own powers, developed these unique physical abilities!
I know that Dr Attenborough has recently celebrated his 100h birthday in the company of the ‘great and the good’, and I don’t want to ‘rain’ on his party, but sadly, he rejects the Word of God which tells us clear how all this ‘decay and death and decline’ will end.
For the Christian, death is coming but from the grave we will be raised one day bearing the glorious likeness of Christ — never to die again!
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words,” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.
This glorious future promised the believer is the eternal fruit of the sufferings of Christ at Calvary.
Physical Earth
The decaying creation all around will likewise ‘die’ one day but then be raised by God from out of the ashes.
Way back in the Old Testament this was taught.
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind,” Isaiah 65:17.
And taught again in the New Testament.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,” 2 Peter 3:10-13.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death,” Revelation 21:1-8.
How these glorious revelations differ from the dreadful ‘doom and gloom’ of the daily heard forebodings of the unbelieving environmentalists!
Folly
Dr Attenborough’s authoritative assertions of his ‘Darwinistic’ explanations of how the wonderfully complex creatures of God’s creating came into being, MUST be challenged!
Such folly as he repeatedly demonstrates demands answers to very obvious questions.
* ‘Why have not others of the same order of creatures been able to likewise develop these abilities?
*Why have the creatures, which allegedly developed feathers and wings and replaced fins for legs and feet by their own volition and cognitive powers not continued and produced even more unique skills?’
No adequate answer has ever been forthcoming from the evolutionists!
Missing – because it never existed!
The hunt for the ‘the missing link’ has been continuing for a very long time without success. How anxious evolutionists are to uncover the remains of that ‘creature’, which they claim did exist, the one which bridges the gap between the ape and what it allegedly became, present-day man!
So anxious are they that many have resorted to lies and deception, such as those behind the fraudulent ‘Piltdown Man’! It was in truth, the mandible and some teeth of an orangutang deliberately combined with the cranium of a fully developed modern human!
Wikipedia’s Account
‘The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although doubts about Piltdown Man’s authenticity began to be expressed almost immediately after its announcement in 1912, it was still broadly accepted for many years, and the hoax was only definitively exposed in 1953.’ (Wikipedia).
Such a sham has been repeated in the evolutionists’ claims that come and ignominiously go, with great regularity!
The ‘Piltdown Man’ hoax was rejoiced in and made the basis of much mockery of the Bible’s account of the origins of man for many years.
But in the end, the Bible-believer had the ‘last laugh’, as they always will!
Mankind
The origin of man is given us in Genesis 2:7.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
No digging around in the earth by the God-denying ‘experts’ has ever uncovered that which truly calls into question this account. Rather, each ‘discovery’ only confirms the Bible’s account.
According to ‘Answers in Genesis’, scientific discoveries, particularly in archaeology and molecular biology, have increasingly corroborated various historical and thematic details in the Bible. Key findings include evidence of ancient figures like Pontius Pilate, the “House of David” stele, the identification of 25 essential elements in human bodies found in soil (connecting to “dust” in Genesis), and genetic data suggesting a single pair of progenitors (Mitochondrial Eve/Y-chromosome Adam).
3. However, these findings, which confirm the Bible’s account of creation, do not deter the evolutionists’ rejection of God’s Word!
That is because their thinking is born of an unregenerate nature.
We are all born in sin and shapen in iniquity, (Psalm 51:5). “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not,” Ecclesiastes 7:20.
“For there is no man that sinneth not,” 1 Kings 8:46, 2 Chronicles 6:36.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,” Isaiah 53:6.
The universal and total depravity of the human being was inherited from our father, Adam, with whom God entered into a covenant, in which he was the representative of all humanity. The larger Catechism states: ‘The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in that first transgression.’
As Paul said: “In Adam all die,” 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Being “dead in trespasses and sins,” Ephesians 2:1, the natural, unconverted man will instinctively reject the Bible. The Christian soul-winner encounters it whenever he or she tries to explain that “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. That will be stoutly refused and the listing of the virtues and goodness of the sinner will begin!
But such claims of righteousness are as empty as the evolutionists’ false assertions on the origin of all things!
4. What a blessed time of understanding of all things dawns when we embrace God’s Word by faith!
David tells us of his experiences of doubt and fear as he looked out on the world, and the apparent triumph that the ungodly enjoyed at the cost of the peace and comfort of the righteous.
“Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee,” Psalm 73:12-22.
It was in the sanctuary of God, when kneeling in prayer before the Lord, he came to understand the glorious purpose of God amongst men as revealed in God’s Word.
He saw that the wicked would not prosper but were standing “in slippery places”! The word is linked to self-flattery and pride. Sinners have this confidence regarding how things will end for them. But their feet will ‘give way’ and they shall fall into everlasting ruin.
It is for this reason we seek to press home upon sinners the words of the Lord Jesus. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3. The ‘new birth’, whereby those who have been ‘born in sin and shapen in iniquity’ may have a new birth, and they become new creatures. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
We were all born of Adam’s descent, sinners and it is only when we are born again from above that we become the children of God, pardoned and on our way to heaven.
“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,” Romans 8:12-16.
What a joy to have such an assurance of belonging to God’s family!
Creation
This assurance comes from the same source as that mentioned in our text. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God”.
When we embrace the Saviour by faith, we are assured that we have been accepted and are saved.
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” John 6:37. What an assurance this is. We have Christ’s own word on the matter!
The Thief
It was in such peaceful assurance and joy that the thief on the cross died and went to heaven to be with Christ.
“And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” Luke 23:39-43.
How wonderfully, simply, quickly and easily the glorious transformation from a condemned and guilty sinner to one granted an assurance of heaven, was wrought there on that cross.
It is recorded to show us that even on the doorstep of hell, a man may call upon the Lord and be saved.
However, it MUST be noted that, while there are many accounts of conversion in the Bible, this is the only one, as old Matthew Henry, the commentator noted, who died on the very borders of a lost eternity!
A Gospel Word
I have no doubt that the sign placed on the Saviour’s cross by the Romans, “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS,” John 19:19, was the means of this man’s conversion. That, and his observance of the Saviour’s behaviour and demeanour during His whole trial — His quiet acceptance of His sufferings, His lack of angry denunciations of his cruel tormentors and the people around but rather, He prayed for them. “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots,”Luke 23:34. These words were spoken but moments before the thief’s cry for mercy!
The thief’s understanding of the events taking place before his eyes came by God’s mercy and grace to one who was a most unworthy sinner. Few of the others, gathered around the cross, had his understanding and as a result they were lost.
Dear reader, I urge you to pray for such an understanding of the Gospel so that your eyes will be opened to an even more wonderful degree than those of Bartimaeus, Mark 10:52.
The words of such a prayer are even given us!
“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law,” Psalm 119:18.
Wonderful things there are in the Bible, which if we are given faith to believe and understand, will fill our lives with purpose and peace and joy.
Please read and pray over that beautiful 23rd Psalm. There is the testimony of the happy and triumphant experiences of one who has made Christ their Shepherd.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
11th May 2026