As I contemplate the 10th anniversary of the Creation Museum, opened on May 28, 2007, I can’t help but be reminded of a Bible passage. At the completion of the Temple, King Solomon’s first words were a prayer:
O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. (1 Kings 8:23)
In meeting thousands of visitors at the Creation Museum over the past 10 years and now at the Ark Encounter (which opened in July last year), many guests have expressed utter amazement that such God-honoring, high-quality facilities exist. I’ve been asked many times a question that goes something like “How could these world-class attractions have even come about, with the quality of other themed attractions as well as Hollywood studios (or better), yet instead proclaim the truth of God’s Word and the gospel?”
I often hear people say that they are so used to the secular world having leading attractions—like the Smithsonian museums, Disney World, Universal Studios, and so on—and they thought it was remarkable that solid, true-to-the-Bible Christian attractions could ever be built to compete with what the world has constructed.
But yes, they have been built, and it’s all because we acknowledge (as Solomon did with the Temple) that “there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath.”
The burden to build a Creation Museum goes back to my public school teaching days in the 1970s in Australia. I saw the intense evolutionary indoctrination that took place inside the secular museums my students visited. In the early ‘80s in Australia, John Thallon (a board member of the ministry that started in our home) and I prayed over a block of land for a possible Creation Museum.
God answered that prayer many years later, but in ways that had never entered our minds. Looking back, I can see why God brought us to the United States, eventually to meet the other two founders of the AiG ministry, Mark Looy and Mike Zovath, and talented designer Patrick Marsh. Soon, God brought many gifted staff members to AiG, sometimes in miraculous ways.
Over the years, incredulous news reporters have often asked me how we ever managed to find so much talent to build the Creation Museum and the massive Ark Encounter. The first time I was asked this question by a member of the media was on the opening day of the Creation Museum in 2007. I answered the reporter, “Well, just as God brought the land animal kinds to Noah for the Ark, God brought gifted people to us in ways we never thought possible.”
Looking back, we can truly say, as the angel said to Mary, “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
I’ve read 2 Chronicles chapter 2 over the years and marveled at how God provided AiG with all the skilled artists and craftsmen. I look back at the design and construction of the museum exhibits (and now the Ark exhibits) and feel a little sense of what it must have been like for Solomon to have seen God collect gifted people to construct the Temple, a very special building that was meant for God himself.
Ten years after opening, over three million people have visited the Creation Museum. Our sister attraction, the Ark Encounter, is expected to draw around two million guests per year. By the way, the number of visitors at the Creation Museum is more than double last year!
How do I answer people when they ask me why the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter are so successful? I tell them that it’s because God is blessing these attractions, for we proclaim the truth of his Word and the gospel—and we honor his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
To honor God’s Son, our Creator and Savior (Colossians 1), we have just opened a large new Christ, Cross, Consummation exhibit at the museum. It’s a part of our 10-year celebration. With many startling pieces of artwork, this three C’s exhibit will offer even more teaching on Christ, from Genesis to Revelation.
The stunning exhibit illustrates the miracles of Christ, including creating the world, healing the sick and raising the dead, and resurrecting from the dead. The message of salvation is clearly explained and illustrated for our guests.
We pray that as AiG continues to honor Christ, he will bless the Creation Museum and Ark, equip believers, and encourage Christians to bring the lost to our attractions and see them saved.
All praise and glory to our Creator God!
Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart.” (2 Chronicles 6:13–14)
