Synthetic Cell

News reports last week heralded the achievement of injecting computer-generated DNA into a bacterium cell that was able to reproduce. If mankind can create life, the biblical account of creation is disproved and thus we are free from having the obey the unseen Triune Godhead, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us" (Psalm 2:3, NKJ).

It is interesting to note that the mainstream news report failed to mention that though some scientists are excited about the genome of the cell being synthetic, the developers explain that the recipient cell's cytoplasm is diluted with each division. So upon closer investigation, it doesn’t look like scientists were able to manufacture a synthetic cell after all. This reminds me of a humorous story about scientists thinking they do not need God to create life. God challenges a representative of the disbelieving scientists to a contest who proceeds to grab a handful of dirt to get started and God tells him he’ll have go get his own dirt.

It bothers me that so many people today assume that faith in Christ is in conflict with science. It seems like so much of science today is all about pursuing evidence to disprove the biblical view of the world. This has led to the conventional wisdom that science is the enemy of faith. But it wasn’t always this way. The scientific method was developed by Christians during the Renaissance period who sought to understand God more by studying His creation. God blessed Western Civilization in revealing things to us that have enabled great benefits to mankind. God will not bless science that seeks to pull people away from Him. Indeed, Romans 1:28 says, “even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind.”

A debased mind is a mind that is not rational. It is people who think they are being unemotional and logical but are in fact “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Ephesians 4:14). And there are a lot of agendas in play today using science to promote their world view such as global warming.

As I consider the pervasiveness of science seeking to put God in His place, I can’t help but think the era of God blessing mankind through scientific discoveries is over. The Bible tells us that during the Tribulation living conditions will degenerate to the bare basics. So the closer we get to this time period will likely result in living conditions getting worse rather than better as birth pangs that foreshadow it.

Knowing that the Rapture of the Church precedes the Tribulation is a great comfort to me as I see developments that are sure to bring God’s wrath on the earth. My heart goes out to all who have not experienced the blessings from knowing the literal truth of God’s Word.