Colorado has some great rock formations: Horsetooth Rock, Castle Rock, Kissing Camels, Two Faced Rock. When you look at them from a distance and a certain angle, they look like someone carved out a horse’s tooth, a camelor two faces. But when you finally reach the rock at the end of your hike, you realize that upon closer examination it looks nothing like those things. And really it’s just wind, erosion and your mind connecting the dots that gave it the appearance of a shape. But imagine that you are a hiker who has no idea about American history or landmarks, or maybe a teenager who only hangs out in the basement and didn’t pay attention in history class, and you were hiking in South Dakota and came across Mt. Rushmore with its carved faces of four Presidents. Just from observing them from afar, and not even exploring the tunnels and staircases within, you would have to conclude that they were made by an intelligent designer. So what do we conclude when we look at a human being? Can we say that the design is only apparent and that even upon closer examination a human being is nothing more than something formed by accident? We will be talking about human life on day 6, but even looking at the seemingly ordinary parts of our world that our text shows us this morning—a firmament that regulates sunlight and climate, the balance of the ratio of water to land, plants and fruit bearing trees able to sustain generation upon generation of life, and heavenly bodies to regulate gravity, light, tides and time—all those things intricately working together for one purpose: so that life can flourish here where it cannot flourish anywhere else. Could it all just be here by chance? Or is there a Designer behind it all? Maybe you aren't sure about that yet. But if you are a follower of Christ, you believe that there is a Designer and you know who that Designer is. But the danger is that we don’t let His Design inform any other area of our life. Design seems like it only relates to Creation but design deeply points us to Christ as well; it creates in us a hope and a glory that far outweighs anything this life can throw at us.
