Faith, Science, and the Reality of Christ

I believe in science.

I appreciate science. I like science. I think it is exciting when science discovers something new about the world around us. Science has certainly made my life better, and I have no problem with scientists continuing to ask questions and discovering things we did not previously understand.

But I don’t need science to prove Jesus Christ to me.

There is a difference between understanding creation and knowing the Creator.

Recently, I was reading something that used quantum reality as an illustration of how we understand God, time, and the finished work of Christ. I am certainly not qualified to teach quantum physics, and I wouldn’t attempt to.

But it caused me to think about something much more important.

How much do I really need to understand about how God does something before I can believe that God did it?

Through Faith We Understand

Hebrews gives us an interesting answer:

“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, KJV

Notice the words: “Through faith we understand.”

The Bible doesn’t begin by scientifically proving God. Genesis simply begins:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
— Genesis 1:1, KJV

Then God speaks:

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
— Genesis 1:3, KJV

How did that happen?

I don’t know.

I know what Scripture says: God spoke, and it happened.

Science may help us understand more and more about how the universe operates. I welcome those discoveries. But I don’t have to understand the physical mechanism behind God’s actions before I can believe that God acted.

Sometimes “God spoke” is enough.

Science Describes Creation

This is where I think we sometimes make things unnecessarily difficult.

Science studies the created world. It helps us understand matter, energy, biology, the universe, and even things at the quantum level that are very difficult for most of us to comprehend.

Those discoveries don’t threaten my faith.

If God created everything, then anything science genuinely discovers about creation is simply another discovery about the creation He made.

Quantum reality, whatever we ultimately learn about it, is still part of creation.

God isn’t subject to it.

God is the Creator.

Colossians says of Christ:

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…”

And then:

“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
— Colossians 1:16–17, KJV

Christ holds it all together.

So whether we’re talking about atoms, galaxies, quantum particles, the human body, or things science hasn’t discovered yet, we’re still talking about creation.

Science helps us understand creation. Faith allows us to know the Creator.

God Is Not Limited by His Creation

We experience life within time.

There was yesterday. There is today. There will be tomorrow.

But God knows the beginning from the end. He is not confined to our experience of time.

And the Bible shows us God stepping into human circumstances and changing what happens.

Hezekiah is a good example.

God told Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah:

“Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.”
— Isaiah 38:1, KJV

Hezekiah prayed.

God responded:

“I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.”
— Isaiah 38:5, KJV

Something changed.

Hezekiah was going to die. He prayed. God spoke. Fifteen years were added to his life.

How did God physically accomplish that?

The Bible doesn’t tell us.

Was there some process within the body? Was something happening at a level of creation we don’t understand? I don’t know.

And I don’t have to know.

God spoke, and His purpose came to pass.

That doesn’t mean we should use quantum physics—or any other scientific theory—to explain every miracle. We don’t know that.

It simply means that God, being God and the Creator of everything, is not controlled by the creation He made.

When God speaks and acts within His creation, created reality answers to Him—not the other way around.

I Don’t Need a Scientific Explanation for Christ

This becomes very personal for me.

I don’t know Christ because someone scientifically proved Him to me.

I know Christ through faith and relationship.

I have trusted Him. I have walked with Him. I have experienced Him. I have seen His Word work in my life.

That doesn’t make me opposed to science.

It simply means that science and my relationship with Christ are not the same kind of knowledge.

Paul said:

“That I may know him…”
— Philippians 3:10, KJV

There is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone.

I can study everything the Bible says about Christ. I can study history. I can study archaeology. I can study science. All of those things may add to my knowledge.

But ultimately, Christianity is an invitation to know Him.

You Don’t Have to Stop Asking Questions

This is especially important for someone who is new to Christ.

You may have questions.

Ask them.

You may wonder how creation happened. Study it.

You may wonder how miracles happen. Think about it.

You may have questions about biology, physics, the age of the universe, quantum reality, healing, prayer, or any number of other things.

Don’t be afraid of those questions.

Faith does not require you to stop thinking.

But neither do you have to solve every scientific question before you can follow Jesus.

There are things about God that I don’t understand. There are things about creation that scientists don’t yet understand. And there are things that perhaps we will understand better tomorrow than we do today.

My relationship with Christ doesn’t depend upon having all of those answers.

I can simply say:

I don’t know how God did it. I know the One who did it.

Faith While We’re Still Asking

Maybe that’s where faith and science can find their proper places.

Science continues asking, “How does this work?”

Faith allows me to say, “I trust God even when I don’t yet understand how.”

Those don’t have to be enemies.

I can appreciate scientific discovery without asking science to prove my Savior.

I can ask difficult questions without being afraid that the answers will somehow diminish God.

And I can admit that I don’t know something without weakening my faith.

Hebrews says:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is…”
— Hebrews 11:6, KJV

There comes a point where I have to decide whether I trust Him.

Not because I understand everything.

Not because science has explained everything.

Not because I can tell you exactly how God does what He does.

But because I know Him.

So keep learning. Keep asking questions. Appreciate every true discovery science makes about this remarkable creation in which we live.

But don’t make understanding the mechanism a prerequisite for trusting the Creator.

Faith doesn’t require us to stop asking questions. It allows us to trust God while we’re still asking them.

They Didn’t Know Their Hearts Were Far From God

There is something very sobering about what God said through Isaiah:

“These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.”
— Isaiah 29:13 NLT

Think about what God was saying.

These were not people who had openly rejected Him. They had God’s revelation. They worshiped. They prayed. They followed their religious traditions. They knew what they were supposed to say and do.

Yet God said:

“Their hearts are far from Me.”

But here is the part that really gets me.

They didn’t know it!

They apparently believed they were honoring God. Their religious activity probably gave them every reason to believe they were right with Him. Outwardly, the things of God were still very much a part of their lives.

But inwardly, something had changed.

Then Jesus Said It Again

Hundreds of years later, Jesus quoted this same passage when confronting the religious leaders of His day:

“These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.”
— Matthew 15:8 NKJV

Imagine having the Lord Himself say that to you!

These were men who studied the Scriptures. They taught the Scriptures. They defended their understanding of God. They were looking for the Messiah.

Then the Messiah stood right in front of them, and many of them could not recognize Him.

They had God’s revelation, yet they had become spiritually blind to what God was doing right in front of them.

Even more sobering, they thought they were right.

They thought they were honoring God.

They thought they were defending God.

They thought they were doing what God wanted.

They didn’t know their hearts had moved away from Him.

That’s What Makes This Personal

It would be easy to read these passages and think about ancient Israel or the Pharisees. But I don’t think that is where we should stop.

This is a warning for all of us.

It is possible to go to church, worship, pray, read the Bible, know the right doctrine, serve in ministry and talk about Jesus, while allowing our hearts to slowly move away from Him.

And perhaps the greatest danger is that we may not realize it is happening.

We can become so familiar with the things of God that we mistake familiarity with the things of God for closeness to God Himself.

Church attendance cannot take the place of knowing Him.

Bible knowledge cannot take the place of knowing Him.

Ministry cannot take the place of knowing Him.

Even good traditions cannot take the place of knowing Him.

All of those things have value, but they were never intended to replace a heart that stays close to God.

It Is a Mirror

That is why David’s prayer means so much:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
— Psalm 139:23–24 NKJV

Isaiah 29:13 isn’t just a Scripture to use when examining somebody else’s relationship with God.

It is a mirror.

Maybe one of the healthiest things we can do from time to time is simply ask:

Lord, is my heart as close to You as I think it is?

Search me.

Show me anything I don’t see.

Don’t let me become so familiar with church, ministry, doctrine, worship or even Your Word that I fail to stay close to You.

Because the most sobering part of this whole passage isn’t simply that their hearts were far from God.

They didn’t know it.