THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

            Volume 51   Number 7                                                         						July 2009
Editor and Publisher - Thomas W. Woody

Which Came First:
The Chicken or The Egg?

Thomas W. Woody


The Lord has revealed His awesome power and existence to everyone in every nation on earth, unhindered by any language or cultural barriers! (Psalms 19:1-6). A fool is a contentious person who, contrary to the evidence before his eyes, deceives himself and says in his darkened heart, “There is no God.” (Psalms 14:1). But for the wise man who searches for his creator, God has provided the best book of all, the Bible! This precious volume begins by explaining in the very first chapter how the heavens and the earth were made. There is no need to provide an apology for God or His existence, for it is self-evident in the visible things around us (Romans 1:20). Is it necessary to affirm or explain the existence of the publisher of this article, or is it not self-evident? How much more obvious is the Truth that the intricate design and complex fabric of everything we see came from an almighty Designer!

Apparently, much study can be a weariness of the flesh, and much learning can certainly make many people mad, for some of the most intelligent people on earth spend their lives attempting to explain away the Truth of what is not only right under, but all around, their noses. They search in vain for ‘missing links’ to a non-existent chain of evolutionary development. Do not be deceived or intimidated because of their educational degrees or their much learning. The Bible describes their way of thinking in Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

The question about whether the chicken or the egg came first can sometimes be asked in jest, or to just stimulate a conversation. But other times it is used to confuse a person as to how we got here, as though no one can really know for sure how it all happened. Since neither the believer in evolution nor the believer in Genesis can scientifically duplicate or observe the beginning, the answer to the question becomes a matter of faith. Yet even when we use faith, there is still room to use the mind God gave us to decide which explanation is the most reasonable. In the case of the chicken, would it be easier to believe that a chicken came first by the Word of God, or that an egg came first after billions of years of chance mutations?

The farmer and those who try to keep a connection with growing things can readily see which answer to this question is the most reasonable. It is a pity that one of the casualties of the shift from a predominantly rural society to an urban society is a lack of understanding or appreciation of how things grow. Has anyone honestly tried to picture in their mind how a chicken egg (or ‘cackleberry’ as some say) could just develop, no matter how many years you give the process? Not only does the egg need a ‘layer’, it requires certain conditions and the proper amount of warmth in order to hatch. The baby chick must also know, instantly, how to peck away at the shell until it is freed. If you really want to appreciate just this one process which God created, try hatching your own chicken egg. Reasonable folks who are not trying to find another explanation to our existence can see how much easier it is to believe that rather than the egg accidentally coming first after a series of chance mutations, God actually made the first chicken (and rooster) so that we could have more chickens, not to mention all the good food made from eggs!

The truth of the creation is obvious to most of us who are reading this article, but we must be aware that there are attacks from the world on anyone who believes what God says in the Bible. These attacks turn things upside down so that it is the fool who believes in accidents who is the wise one, while the person who believes in God is portrayed as the fool. Even many religious colleges teach the theory of evolution. But we do not seek the approval of man if we are worshipping God in spirit and in truth (Philippians 3:3; Romans 2:28,29). We are happy with His explanation of our beginning, and we look forward to the Day when every knee shall bow before Him and confess that Jesus is the Lord!




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