Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20-21)
The term “topsy turvy” has been around since sometime in the 16th century. The various usages of it convey a sense of the confusion and chaos that one feels when things are not the way they are supposed to be. A few other such words from my childhood memory are “higgledy-piggledy,” “hugger-mugger,” and “head over heels.”
The recent book The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow is a prime example of such topsy-turvy thinking. The very title itself is “higgledy-piggledy.” The grand design it refers to is “no design”! Hawking and Mlodinow spend enormous intellectual capital to demonstrate that even though things seem to work beautifully in our universe, there is absolutely no reason to conclude that Someone or something (other than the universe itself) is responsible for what we observe.
Their position is that we cannot observe anything for sure. We are like a poor little goldfish in a glass bowl. Our perspective is warped by the environment in which we live. If we could somehow get out of our wretched and restricted “bowl,” we might just possibly be able to see differently. But for now, Hawking and Mlodinow conclude, God is not at all necessary to consider when we observe and think about the origin and maintenance of the universe. In fact, the goldfish’s viewpoint of the universe is just as valid as our own.
The psalmist asked the question, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” (Psalm 2:1). Often we feel the weight of the godless pundits who spit their venom at the Creator who loved them and died for them. Surely we can expect such rebellion, and many times those who openly shake their intellectual fist at the King of kings seem to be “in great power, and spreading [themselves] like a green bay tree” (Psalm 37:35). They seem to have the resources, the logistics, and the overall advantage to rule the world with an atheistic and evolutionary naturalism as the dominant worldview.
There are two grand and unalterable facts that I would have you remember.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Psalm 19:1)
Nothing will prevent the message of the Creator from reaching those whose hearts are open to the message. No “raging” by the heathens will ever mute the message of the “invisible things” of our Creator—so that “they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Yes, we are to be the spokespersons and the ambassadors for the Gospel, but our witness is framed by the undeniable backdrop of the creation itself. That message goes out in “surround sound”— the sound of the glory of God and with the very power of God as we announce the Good News!
Secondly, those who reject or resist the message will not win!
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. (Psalm 2:4)
The wickedness of our time in history may make us feel small and impotent, but we are saved “to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25), commissioned with the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8), and are absolutely guaranteed to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
* Dr. Morris is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: Morris III, H. 2010. Topsy Turvy. Acts & Facts. 39 (11): 22.
