When our children were younger, we used to sing a song in the youth group that went like this:
“We have so much to be thankful for, we have so much to be thankful for.
We have so much so much so much so much so much so much so much
So much so much so much so much so much so much - to be thankful for.”
We would put our hands out in front of us, and with each “so much” of the chorus, we would spread them a little further apart. At the last “so much” we would be straining to spread them apart as far as our arms could reach, as if they were filled to overflowing. Then we would clap our hands together by the rhythm of the guitar, sing the last phrase and go on to the next verse (first line) of the song. In each successive verse, we would insert something we were thankful for – our church, each other, our homes, our families, individuals by name, Jesus, whatever anyone might think of – before continuing with the chorus and the hand motions again. Believe me, it was a lot of fun and got you feeling quite thankful and happy after a few rounds!
Being thankful is a tremendous spiritual principle! The Thanksgiving national holiday is upon us – a wonderful celebration with a uniquely American and Christian heritage. And we continue to have so very much to be thankful for. In spite of whatever may be happening to us individually and corporately, we still have “so much, so much, so much” to be thankful for!
I find it interesting that in the same short Psalm 100 (only 5 verses in the entire Psalm – a great one to memorize) which exhorts us to “enter into” the “gates” of the Lord “with thanksgiving”, and to “be thankful unto Him”, and to “make a joyful noise unto the Lord”, and to “serve the Lord with gladness”; that we can find the great and fundamental conflict between creation and evolution. In the third verse, we read, “Know ye that the Lord He is God; it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves…”
Either mankind is created and sustained by a holy and just God who defines for us what is right and just and is involved in the circumstances of our lives. Or we have arrived at where we are, independent of God, being our own ruler able to define right and wrong and decide what is right and just on our own. Biblical creation depends on and teaches the first view. Evolution depends on and teaches the second.
Both views are fundamentally religious, for they are “assumptions” about God. Yet one assumption is claimed to be scientific while the other is not. Herein is exposed the irrational, stubborn and unrighteous rebellion of mankind – the fundamental depravity of man. This is pointed out explicitly, along with the gospel, in Romans 1:16-25. And it does so from the point of view again, of correlating creation by God with thankfulness!
In these texts, the Holy Spirit combines both the undeniable truth that God is our creator with the corresponding principle of thankfulness – albeit from the negative angle, the lack of thankfulness. “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…” (Romans 1:20-22). The depravity of man, our sin nature, is a key doctrine of the Bible – a key doctrine that we need to understand. It drives not only sin as we normally think of it, but insanity.
So if you trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ, you can be especially thankful! Because that is the solution provided for our sin problem. You and I can be thankful to God for giving us what and Who we need the very most - salvation through the Savior, Jesus Christ. And so we can say with the apostle, “But thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ!” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
- Mark Cadwallader, Board Chairman of Creation Moments
