Lessons from the Snowflake

For your edification and encouragement this Christmas, I’d like to give you some lessons from the snowflake.

Purity

Fresh snow is the epitome of whiteness, it covers every scar, every blemish, every mark on the landscape. Ray Comfort uses a great analogy of the purity of snow by stating that a white sheep in a green field looks brilliant, but a white sheep in a snowy field is revealed to be a dingy and imperfect grey. Similarly, if we compare ourselves to anything other than God and his revealed law, we can make ourselves look quite good, but compared to the perfection of God, our impurity is revealed.

Therefore snow shows us two things about God, first that we are imperfect, but gloriously it shows us also that we may be washed, covered, and all of our blemishes erased and purified by the work of Jesus Christ. God said so in Isaiah 1:18,

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow.

And revealed in Revelation 7:14,

“They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Beauty

Wilson A. Bentley is renowned for his work in snowflake photography. In his lifetime he captured 5,000 snowflake images long before digital cameras or digital microscopes were invented. He captured the beauty of snowflakes far better than I ever could,

I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design…

When we look to the stars we see beautiful designs, in our everyday life we see beautiful sunsets and landscapes, and when we look at the minutia of the snowflake we see that God is a master craftsman, working on every scale, and creating and recreating beauty that mankind can only dream of replicating. And while I know of no verse that succinctly captures this thought, it is surely found in many biblical themes, and consider that God does it on grand scales every day, he asked Job 38:22,

Have you entered the storehouses of the snow?

Complexity

At first glance, a snowflake looks rather unassuming, but as Bentley found, they are miracles of design. Each one has an architecture, a symmetry, a purpose, and a means for growth. They are tiny miracles full of intricacy that take far more than a glance to appreciate.

Likewise God is a God of intricacy, we see it in mankind, we see it in creation from the largest star to the smallest snowflake, and, especially, we see it in the Word of God. A seemingly simple passage of scripture contains more depth than all of the writings of men. Above all, the intricacy of the Creator himself must be considered; one of the reasons Heaven will last forever is because we will need an eternity to plumb the depths of our infinite God.

Proverbs 25:3 states that the heart of men has the heavens for height and the earth for depth, how-much more then is the complexity of God.

Uniqueness

Wilson A. Bentley postulated that no two snowflakes were alike. I remember reading a study which mathematically estimated the number of people required to have a physically identical person, and while I can’t find the study, the number was in the hundreds of Trillions. Snowflakes are less complex than human beings, so it is entirely plausible that two identical flakes have fallen, but they are so unique that the chances of you or I ever seeing a duplicate flake is impossible. Bentley looked at 5000 flakes and didn’t even come close. Recent scientists have catalogued between 35 and 41 individual types of snowflake, each made up of multiple quintillion molecules (that’s 1000000000000000000 molecules) each of which has exponential possibilities in uniqueness.

For their beauty and complexity, God still manages to make each individual snowflake unique in its own way. No two galaxies, no two stars, no two people, no two snowflakes are exactly alike, God is the God of incredible imagination and creativity. And he made you and I.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
- Psalm 139:13

Resplendence

Resplendence is my favorite word. It is the act of shining. The snowflake falling in the dark has lost much of its purpose and glory. Yes, it still does many things that are glorious, but it fails to refract light, it fails to shine, and its glory is diminished.

It mirrors much of the purpose of man. Mankind is meant to reflect its Creator. Unlike snowflakes, we are created in his image and his likeness. Our primary purpose in life is to show the world Jesus, to be resplendent in his grace, to shine his power, forgiveness, justice, and love, and to make him known. A person living in the dark, outside of his light, has lost much of their purpose and glory.

The snowflake reminds us to reflect the Light of the world, and because of his work in us, he will be glorified in us and through us.

At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. – Ephesians 5:8

(And related, another snow verse, the coolness of snow is refreshing when much work is required, which Proverbs 25:13 equates to the refreshing nature of a faithful messenger. Be a faithful messenger publishing his mercy to the world.)

Fleeting

Finally, beloved, the snowflake reminds us that we live a short and doomed existence. The largest snowflake on record measured over a foot in diameter, yet there is no picture of it, for it melted before a camera could be found. Every snowflake that has ever fallen will melt someday, just as we all have an appointment with death.

Your lifespan, in your eyes, is a bit longer than a snowflake's, however in God’s eyes and the grand scheme of things your life is equated to a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes (James 4:14). You are terminal, you have an expiration date, and you have an appointment with Judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

Drought and heat snatch away the snow;
so does Hell those who have sinned. - Job 24:19

Conclusion and Invitation

But beloved, God has provided a remedy, he has defeated death, cleansed sinners, covered them, and recreated them. He sent his own Son from Heaven, he created for him a body to inhabit, he set him as the standard of purity. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus of Nazareth was not just reflecting the light, he was the light. And yet when the world saw his light, they did not know him, and they loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. But in his great love, he willingly went to a cross to face the just condemnation that sinners deserved, he substituted himself and faced the penalty of death though he had never sinned. He laid down his life that others may live, and then he took it back up again, the Lamb slain to wash men in his blood.

Pray with David,

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. – Psalm 51:7

And God will hear you and we will rejoice with Paul,

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
– 1 Corinthians 6:11

And then we will reflect his light,

…Proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – 1 Peter 2:10

Beloved, you were created to demonstrate that God is powerful, creative, pure, a Saviour, and capable of recreating mankind to show his glory. You only have one life, and it will soon be past, and only what’s done for Christ will last.

Finally, if you have been washed in the blood, then encourage someone today that they are worth far more than snowflakes, and that you appreciate them and the work God is doing in them. Above all, tell them of the soul cleansing blood that was shed on Calvary.

I thank God for you,
For your Purity
For your Beauty
For your Complexity
For your Uniqueness
For your Resplendence
For driving us together
I have fallen for you.

Biblomorphism Article 7 - Heresy

Bible Verse - Matthew 7:15-16
Species - Ostrich

In research for this article, I came across a complete article on this very topic. I had originally planned to title this article, "False Conversion", but the Aberdeen Bestiary written in 1200 A.D. labeled its article "Heresy". Often in order to be a heretic, you must have had a false conversion; and thus I changed my article title to reflect as such.

See "Of the Ostrich": (Especially page 2)
Page One
Page Two
Page Three
It goes through page 7,
but the point is made by page three.
Page Four
Page Five
Page Six
Page Seven

If your Christian counterparts seem free from sin, swifter to seek after Godly things, and posessing a lighter heart, please ensure you have repented and placed your trust in Christ, you will know you have been forgiven, your new heart will be light and like the Butterfly in article 6, you will be loosed from the bondage of the Law.

Biblomorphism Article 6 – Transfiguration

Bible Verse – Philippians 3:20-21
Species – Butterfly

When the Apostle Paul chose the word, “Metamorph” (2 Corinthians 3:18) to describe the event of transfiguration in the Christian’s life, he undoubtedly was aware of the change which occurs in a caterpillars life when it becomes a butterfly.

The caterpillar is a gross little creature confined by gravity to a life of boredom and tedious munching of leaves; it is almost entirely unworthy of interest and love. However, the caterpillar accepts the lot it has been given, and seeks after no more.

Until one day, through a process not understood by the caterpillar, it enters into a cocoon and a change begins inside and out of the caterpillar. Through no workings of the caterpillar, one orchestrated entirely by God, the caterpillar emerges from its cocoon, not as an unbecoming caterpillar, but as a beautiful butterfly.

The butterfly has very little to do with its old self. It is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. The butterfly has been loosed from the law of gravity, it is beautiful, gracefilled, and awe-inspiring.

When considering the use of Paul’s description of radical and complete changes in the Christian’s life, coupled with the undeniable glory exhibited by the transfiguration of the butterfly, the theology of regeneration matches with the philosophy in the metamorphosis of the butterfly.

If you are still a caterpillar, the cocoon is a terrifying proposition of change, the Bible goes so far as calling it, “Dying to yourself”, I am tempted to say the cocoon looks like a death shroud for a reason. This is an easy thing to describe; but the hardest thing you will ever do. When you die to yourself, God promises you a new heart (Ezekiel 11:9), you will be reborn into the family of God (John 3:3), and you will be allowed to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). You will emerge from your cocoon and be a transfigured butterfly (2 Corinthians 3:18), bearing upon you the image of God’s glory (Galatians 6:17).

Biblomorphism Article 5 – Total Depravity

Bible Verse – Psalm 14:3
Species – Great White Shark

In the History of the world, there have been some truly heinous acts committed.

In the name of God, men crucified Christ
In the name of Christ, men made the streets of Jerusalem flow blood
In the name of Allah, men flew airplanes into buildings
In the name of Buddha, men murder those who deny him
In the name of Kings, men oppressed nations
In the name of Queens, men allowed nations to starve
In the name of Evolution, men proclaimed the master race and murdered six million men women and children
In the name of Socialism, men in charge of the Soviet Union documented over 100-million murders
In the name of Atheism, men have murdered clergymen
In the name of Money, men murder in cold blood
In the name of Drugs, men sell daughters into slavery
In the name of Land, men killed millions of Native Americans
In the name of Gold, men wiped out whole people groups
In the name of Princesses, men have gone to war
In the name of Women, men have taken high-powered rifles into clock towers
In the name of Peace, men dropped nuclear weapons
In the name of Babies, men bombed abortion clinics
In the name of Tolerance, men ignore gross sexual acts
In the name of Sex, men allow 1 in 4 dead from the AIDS virus to be babies
In the name of Entertainment, sex has become the nations official religion
In the name of Choice, men have murdered fifty million human beings

There is one common theme through all this. There is no limit to the deceitfulness of the human heart; just when we expected that nothing could top atheistic communism, we find a terrorist group which trains its children that strapping a bomb to their little bodies and running into a marketplace is their highest and best usefulness.

Total depravity, in brief, is the doctrine that no matter how hard we try, we fall short of the glory of God; even when our motives are for good.

The animal created to show the total depravity of man is the Great White Shark, which is often referred to as a killing machine. This animal is terrifying, they are never mentioned in a positive light. This animal kills without discernment. The reason I believe this animal is the embodiment of total depravity is because when it is anthropomorphized, we see it as simply trying to survive. All of creation worships God (Psalm 148), and just as our human condition, so is the entire world post-fall. When that shark attempts to eat a seal to survive, and that seal ends up being a surfer, the motives of the shark become deadly to an image of the Living God. Simply in existing, the shark is deadly and dangerous and manifests death no matter its motives.

Such are we, despite our greatest attempt to worship God and glorify Him, we fall desperately short, and through the actions of mankind, evil is manifest. God has offered salvation despite this, and is the only One capable of correcting the total depravity of the soul.

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

Biblomorphism Article 4 – Works Righteousness

Bible Verse – Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9
Species – Feline

So many in this world are banking on their good deeds to pave their path to Heaven. In the worldly courtroom, the good works of a criminal have no bearing on the seriousness of the crime, nor the severity of the punishment, but in theology we somehow think that our philosophy will not bear true.

Adolf Hitler rejuvenated Germany, greatly advanced the study of medicine, gave us the jet engine, sought to create the European Union six-decades before it created itself, and fought communism from its inception in Europe. These good deeds do not even begin to assuage the fact that Adolf Hitler was directly responsible for 6 Million dead and ultimately resulted in the deaths of 63 Million. Good deeds are irrelevant when considering transgression.

The common housecat was created to illustrate this point with the action of bringing a dead bird or mouse into the house. How smug and proud the cat looks with the dead vermin laying at the feet of the master. When anthropomorphizing the cat, we think that it must think it has done something good and that it should be praised.

How smug and proud we must look when we offer to God our endeavors to gain His favor. The worthlessness of the dead saliva-covered animal is known to the cat’s owner, just as the worthlessness of our deeds is known to our God.

If you are counting on your works to make God love you, please consider just how much that dead bird made you love your cat, and then adjust your theology to match your philosophy.

Biblomorphism Article 3 – The Sinfulness of Sin

Bible Verse – Joel 1:4
Species – Locust

Amongst the plagues of the world, the locust swarm is one of the most feared, from the ancient world even to today. The locust is insatiable, all consuming, unpredictable, and terrifyingly swift; usually the sinfulness of sin is related to fire; however I am glad to examine the locust as a different example.

Locusts travel in groups, eating crops; as a swarm of locusts devour a field, the food source is completely consumed and the swarm must move on to the next field. While this is devastating to both the fields and those that count on the fields for sustenance, it is equally damning for the locust. It is surmised that the extinction of many locust species can be attributed to overcrowding of fields leading to mass millions of the insect starving to death.

If it were possible to examine each individual locust in a swarm of millions, it would be readily apparent that each insect is merely striving to survive. When seen in the millions, this selfish behavior wreaks havoc and provides no discernable constructive end from the devastation.

The most insatiable of all sins is the sin of lust.

Lust knows no satisfaction, there is no quota, nor any limit to the perverseness of desire. The majority of our sodomite nation’s men are addicted to pornography, as addicted to porn as they are to air. Larry the Cable Guy said it best when he said, “After you’ve seen one woman naked……you pretty much want to see all of them naked.” There is no amount of pornography or hours of viewing that magically are enough. Instead excessive viewing leads to greater depravity. Just as the locust will consume ripe crops first, then move to fledgling crops, then settle for seedlings, and finally die for lack of food; so will the porn addict seek after exceedingly sinful sex acts, until complete spiritual death ensues.

The exceeding sinfulness of sin can be viewed in the insatiable appetite of the locust, and the complete destruction that follows the swarm. Repent of your sin, lest your selfishness lead to your extinction.

Biblomorphism Article 2 – Morality

Bible Verse – Romans 2:14-15
Species – Moth

At the height of secular humanism, there was a great effort to prove a sliding moral scale; this hypothesis has completely and absolutely failed. The idea of sliding morality says that there is no absolute right and that different cultures have ‘evolved’ different standards of morality.

Evidences to support this theory included pedophilia during the first reich, human sacrifice in Mayan culture, and killing enemies is not seen as wrong. There is such a thing as a slipping morality, where humans are naturally predisposed to do wrong, but the direct contradiction to the idea of sliding moral scales comes when you consider whom the anti-moral behavior is directed. Roman pedophilia may seem right if you are the pedophile in question; pedophilia is not ok if you are the parent of the victim or the victim. Human sacrifice seems fine when you are the one doing the sacrificing, it is completely a different matter when you are the sacrifice. And killing is perfectly acceptable when you’ve been wronged against, being killed changes your whole outlook.

Morality is absolute; eHarmony.com lists the number one pet peeve among males and females as lying. Lying is a perfect example of morality; there is an absolute, truth, and anything less is not truth. You cannot tell extra-truthful statements. There is truth and lies. To dabble briefly into Article 3 – The Sinfulness of Sin, lying causes destruction. If you lie to your spouse, trust dies. If you continue to lie, love dies. And refusing to stop lying leads to the marriage dying. Truth is always true.

The animal designed to show the absoluteness of morality is the moth. The moth is famous for attacking the flame on a candle, even to the point of the flame killing the moth. The flame is absolute; the moth attacking the flame is opposing an absolute fact. Clearly, the moth wants whatever the flame has to offer more than the flame is hot.

When the moth approaches the flame, it is faced with the reality that the flame is hot, and it ceases to be in close proximity to the flame. Through the continued attacking of the flame, the moths perception of the heat is dulled until the moth is killed by the heat of the flame. The temperature of the flame does not change despite the slipping understanding of the moth.

Through this examination of morality and the moth, we can conclude that not only is there a moral standard which does not slide, and that there cannot be extra-morality, only morality and a lack of morality. Not only so, but the moth shows that testing that absolute is a natural condition.

If you are chasing after the flame, please see article 3, the sinfulness of sin.

Biblomorphism Article 1 – Original Sin

Bible Verse – Romans 5:19
Species – Homosapien Toddler

While watching my twenty month old cousin play with her sixteen month old friend, I came to the startling realization that an examination of children this age can point to no other conclusion than a deprived human morality from birth.

Several theologians of today, particularly Dr. John Piper, contend that, “There has never been a profound thinker that believes mankind is good.” The opposite contention is the basic human condition to believe “I am innately good”, otherwise known as original pride.

A philosophical study should ensue to determine if iniquity is learned or an inherited trait.

My twenty month old cousin had her own toy, and was playing contently with it. Then her friend began playing zealously with a different toy. Instantly my cousin became enamored with the toy she did not have. Within seconds my cousin had stolen the toy, discarded the other toy, and began playing contently with her new toy. Her friend began to pout. In an effort to not have a crying baby on my hands, I intervened.

“Did you steal her toy?” I asked firmly of my cousin. “No” was the reply I received.

I suppose you could recreate this incident on any day in any day-care in any country of the world. We are confronted with the fact that my cousin had never been taught to covet, never been taught to steal, and even been encouraged to tell the truth, yet she still told a lie. Within the first twenty months of life a child is capable of these things.

In order to study wrongdoing and deception even closer to birth, lets consider a brand new baby, ten weeks old.

In the majority of instances, a baby cries for a good reason; hunger, discomfort, illness. But everyone that has been around babies knows that sometimes they’ll cry just so you give them attention. You put the baby in the crib and leave the room, almost instantly you hear crying from the bedroom; as you check on the baby, it stops crying. You leave the room again, the crying starts. Enter the room, crying ends.

The baby has learned, despite having no external teaching, that it can get the attention that it wants through deliberate deception.

On the other end of the spectrum, when you examine adults in terms of peccadillo, you find that no one will disagree with the statements, “No one is perfect”, “To Err is Human”, and “Everyone has a few skeletons in the closet.”

Ask yourself the question, “Have I ever told a deliberate lie with intent to deceive?”

This examination into the goodness of mankind leads that sin is innate; not learned nor simply a mistake in judgment.

In the first Biblomorphism session, the philosophy of deprived morality aligns with the theology of original sin.

Philosophy and Theology

Del Tackett, of Focus on the Family, has said many profound things, I hold him in the top 10 Theologians living today (I am a theologianist – a studier of theologians). To use his own words, he put me in a cocoon, or in other words, made me rethink my entire theology, when he spoke one of the truest extraBiblical phrases I’ve ever heard.

While he’s not the first to say it, he’s the first one I heard say it;

Dr. Tackett said,
“In the end, true philosophy (the study of wisdom) and true theology (the study of God) must align with one another.”

The platonist Marsilio Ficino wrote in 1482, “True philosophy and true religion are in harmony with one another. Good, love, humanity, and immortality form the universe a hierarchy of beings from God down to prime matter, with humankind, the microcosm, as the center and bond of the universe.”

If this is the case, as I believe it is, then we should be able to prove a Deity, Sin, and Atonement without mention of faith, God, or even the Bible. Ray Comfort expounds on this idea by saying that if you have a building, you know there is a builder, if you have a painting, you know there is a painter, and if you have a creation, you know there is a Creator.

It is my contention that through a series of studies on various species of animals, that I may be able to show the love, compassion, justice, and grace of our God through philosophy, rather than theology.

In order to complete this study, I feel it necessary to invent a new word. Anthropomorphism is the applying of human traits to non-human entities. Similarly, Theomorphism is God attributing His image and righteousness to our sake (Gen 1:27, Job 29:14, 2 Cor 5:21). This word I intend to create is Biblomorphism. It's definition is easy to guess; applying Biblical principles to philosophical issues.

While some may call this new word a synonym for eisegesis, I assure you I will make every effort to adequately exegete my examinations.