The Ministry of Health and Healing

The Creation of the Earth

The work of creation cannot be explained by science. What science is there that can explain the mystery of life? MHH 236.3

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:3. MHH 236.4

““‘I form the light and create darkness, ...
I, the Lord, do all these things.” ...
I have made the earth,
And created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.’”
“‘When I call to them, they stand up together.’”
Isaiah 45:7, 12; 48:13.
MHH 236.5

In the creation of the earth, God was not indebted to preexisting matter. “He spoke, and it was ...; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:9. All things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord God at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and everything in it, came into existence by the breath of His mouth. MHH 236.6

In the creation of man was manifest the agency of a personal God. When God had made man in His image, the human form was perfect in all its arrangements, but it was without life. Then a personal, self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became a living, intelligent being. All parts of the human organism were set in action. The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the senses, the faculties of the mind, all began their work, and all were placed under law. Man became a living soul. Through Christ the Word, a personal God created man and endowed him with intelligence and power. MHH 237.1

Our substance was not hid from Him when we were made in secret; His eyes saw our substance, yet being imperfect, and in His book all our members were written when as yet there were none of them. See Psalm 139:15, 16. MHH 237.2

Above all lower orders of life, God designed that human beings, the crowning work of His creation, should express His thought and reveal His glory. But humans are not to exalt themselves as God. MHH 237.3

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord. ...
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”
“Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.”
Psalm 100:1-4; 99:9.
MHH 237.4

God is constantly employed in upholding and using as His servants the things that He has made. He works through the laws of nature, using them as His instruments. They are not self-acting. Nature in her work testifies of the intelligent presence and active agency of a Being who moves in all things according to His will. MHH 237.5

“Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all are Your servants.”
“Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.”
“He commanded and they were created.
He also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which shall not pass away.”
Psalm 119:89-91; 135:6; 148:5, 6.
MHH 237.6

It is not by inherent power that year by year the earth yields its bounties and continues its march around the sun. The hand of the Infinite One is perpetually at work guiding this planet. It is God’s power continually exercised that keeps the earth in position in its rotation. It is God who causes the sun to rise in the heavens. He opens the windows of heaven and gives rain. MHH 238.1

“He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.”
“When He utters His voice,
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
‘And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.’”
Psalm 147:16; Jeremiah 10:13.
MHH 238.2

It is by His power that vegetation flourishes, that every leaf appears, every flower blooms, every fruit develops. MHH 238.3

The mechanism of the human body cannot be fully understood. It presents mysteries that baffle the most intelligent. The pulse beats, and breath follows breath, but not as the result of a mechanism that, once set in motion, continues its work. In God we live and move and have our being. The beating heart, the throbbing pulse, every nerve and muscle in the living organism, is kept in order and activity by the power of an ever-present God. MHH 238.4

The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy beings, all waiting to do His will. Through these messengers He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. By His Spirit He is everywhere present. Through the agency of His Spirit and His angels He ministers to His earthly children. MHH 238.5

Above the distractions of the earth He sits enthroned. All things are open to His divine survey, and from His great and calm eternity He orders that which His providence sees best. MHH 239.1

“The way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. ...
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.”
“The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.”
“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! ...
The children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God.”
“The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy.”
You love “righteousness and justice.”
You “are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
Who established the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power;
You who still the noise of the seas, ...
And the tumult of the peoples.”
“You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.”
“You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.”
“The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 3:5, 6; Psalm 33:18, 19; 36:7; 146:5; 119:64; 33:5; 65:5-7, 8, 11 ; 145:14-16.
MHH 239.2