ALL IN THE MIND

 (Photos by Neil Cullan McKinlay - except platypus)

In a clash of confluence, the battle-cries of the Picton River were drowned out by the greater roar of the Huon River in spate. My friend and I could hear the watery commotion in the background as we walked through the peaceful rain-soaked undergrowth of the Tasmanian wilderness. It was as we forded a swollen Huon tributary that my eye initially saw it: ‘A beaver in Tasmania? Surely not!’ The curiosity slowly swam down the surface of the creek toward us: a duckbilled platypus!

Platypuses have webbed-feet with claws; the female lays eggs; the male has a poisonous spur on his hind legs; and they both have an electronic-receptor in their bills. When a (dead) specimen was taken to England in 1799 it was thought by some to be a hoax!

Dear reader, where does the platypus fit into your worldview? Do you hear the great commotion in the world today as Darwinism and Creationism clash? To suggest that these two opposing worldviews can be reconciled is like saying a duck can marry a beaver and produce a platypus!

Theories come and theories go, but the Word of our God stands forever. On the sixth day of creation God created man in His own image. ‘Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all the cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.’ Genesis 2:20. Adam studied and catalogued the animals.

We chuckle when we consider the platypus because it reminds us of a duck. We chuckle at gorillas and chimpanzees because they remind us of ourselves. My wife and I chuckle when we hear the word ‘primate’ used to refer to a Roman Catholic or an Anglican bishop (it brings a strange picture to our mind!) However none of this affects our worldview which has been build upon the infallible Word of God.

God made each creature according to its kind (Genesis 1:25). That’s why not even an ape is comparable to man. A dog might very well be man’s best friend, a budgie might be good for company, but only a woman is comparable to a man. In marriage a man and a woman complement each other. Marriage doesn’t produce apes, dogs, budgies, or duck-billed platypuses for offspring Why? because God created each creature according to its kind.

When the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven opened up and the waters above collided with the waters beneath, Noah and his family, with all the air-breathing animals God had put on the ark, could hear the watery commotion in the background. They were on God’s life-raft, safe in the ark from the global flood of God’s judgment upon people who hated Him. There is evidence of the great Flood in many of the fossils and bones that keep being dug up. The Church on earth was caught napping when Evolutionists started dragging in bones of dead animals, such as their alleged ‘Dawn Horse’ (eohippus). But as with the platypus, one’s understanding of it is determined beforehand by one’s worldview: human speculation or Divine revelation? Did rock ‘rabbits’ breed horses into existence? And is a lizard able to sprout wings full of feathers and take to the sky? Can unthinking matter become thinking matter? Your answer to these questions will be influenced by your personal worldview. It’s all in the mind!

In some ways Darwin did Christians a favour. The Darwinist’s war-cries are being used by God to awaken us. And now their battle-cries are being drowned out by the greater roar of the outpoured Spirit speaking in the Scriptures! Do you hear the commotion in the background as you walk through life? Have you given any thought to what you believe? Have you considered the claims of Jesus Christ?

Christ believes in the fixity of kinds, (e.g., cows don't become whales or apes people etc.). He also believes He is God, the Middle Person in the Trinity, who is the Word become also flesh. Stand on Christ our ‘Rock,’ our firm foundation. Develop a worldview based on His Word. ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ Romans 12:2a.