A Bias of Belief - Genesis 1:1

Copyright October 21, 2018 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

This morning we embark on a very different journey from anything we have done before. First this will be the first time we preach a series of messages from a book of the Bible which I have written a book on previously. That book, Faith Lessons was written 17 years ago. It focused on the major "case studies" or accounts of people from a sermon series I did 20 years ago. Faith Lessons would serve as a support text to this series. We will cover some of the same material and may draw some similar conclusions (the story and the meaning does not change, even if the applications may change).

Second, we are approaching this text from a defensive or an apologetic stance. In other words, we are going to look, especially at the early chapters of Genesis, and address the many people today (even in the church) who view these chapters as unhistorical at best. The popular notion is that science has proved that these chapters cannot be understood as written. We disagree and hope to show why we can believe the Bible texts.

Why are we doing this? Two reasons. First, how we view the first few chapters of Genesis will determine how we view the rest of the Bible. We say the Bible is the Word of God; it is God's message to us. God does not lie. When we toss the early chapters of Genesis aside and call them simply "stories" we turn the Bible into a Story Book rather than the ever-living, life-transforming, truth-defining Word of God.

Second, we live in a society which does not have a Biblical foundation. It is not unusual (and should be assumed) that a person does not understand: Christmas, Easter, the Cross or other basic tenets of the Christian Faith. We can no longer simply say, “The Bible says . . . “ and think that will satisfy a questioner. We must be equipped with the foundational truths of the faith. Genesis is a foundational book of the Bible. It is the book on which everything else is built. Many of our moral dilemmas of today have their roots in the book of Genesis. The doctrine of Creation and the doctrine of the Fall are essential to understanding everything that comes after it. It is an important book to grasp.

James Boice wrote,

Genesis is important because it gives us our origins—not merely the origins of one particular family but the origins of matter, life, values, evil, grace, the family, nations, and other things—in a way that unites us all.

So, let's begin a careful study of this foundational book of the Bible.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The Essential Starting Point

There are two primary views of how the world came to be. The first is the one articulated by the Scriptures: "In the beginning . . . God." The second view is called naturalism. It says the creation of the world happened by natural growth and devices. In other words, the universe was not created, but has always existed and developed naturally over time. Naturalism is, in a sense, the religion (or god) of those who refuse to believe.

Naturalism is what is taught in schools and defended in Universities. Let me give you the dictionary's definition: a philosophical viewpoint according to which everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted. Naturalism is the polar opposite of a belief in a Creator. This is a system of belief, a "bias" if you will. My bias is my belief in God. Naturalists believe there is no God. Our bias determines how we examine the evidence

Naturalism is marketed as science, but it is not. Science can explain lots of things that are in the world, but it is not equipped to describe how and why the world came to be. The preeminent question is: "Why is there something rather than nothing?" John Lennox, in his book, GOD'S UNDERTAKER: HAS SCIENCE BURIED GOD. Gives us a picture of the limits of science.

Let us imagine that my Aunt Matilda has baked a beautiful cake and we take it along to be analyzed by a group of the world’s top scientists. I, as master of ceremonies, ask them for an explanation of the cake and they go to work. The nutrition scientists will tell us about the number of calories in the cake and its nutritional effect; the biochemists will inform us about the structure of the proteins, fats etc. in the cake; the chemists, about the elements involved and their bonding; the physicists will be able to analyze the cake in terms of fundamental particles; and the mathematicians will no doubt offer us a set of elegant equations to describe the behavior of those particles.

Now that these experts, each in terms of his or her scientific discipline, have given us an exhaustive description of the cake, can we say that the cake is completely explained? We have certainly been given a description of how the cake was made and how its various constituent elements relate to each other, but suppose I now ask the assembled group of experts a final question: Why was the cake made? The grin on Aunt Matilda’s face shows she knows the answer, for she made the cake, and she made it for a purpose. But all the nutrition scientists, biochemists, chemists, physicists and mathematicians in the world will not be able to answer the question –and it is no insult to their disciplines to state their incapacity to answer it.

Christianity is not opposed to science! The belief there are "laws of nature" spurs scientists on. Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis (and the Creation Museum and The Ark Encounter) points out that there are two kinds of science. He calls one operational science. It describes how things operate. It studies, it experiments, and then studies some more, and does additional experiments. Each time we learn a little more. Operational science has helped us make many of the advances in medicine and in everyday life developing things we take for granted today. We are all grateful for operational science.

The other science Ham calls, "historical science." This science deals with origins. It theorizes how things might have come to be what they are. In truth, historical science is not what we tend to think of when we talk about science. Historical science cannot reach settled conclusions. it is conjecture.

Christians are not opposed to true science and true science is not a threat to Christianity. Naturalism masquerading as science is where the contention lies.

Why is this important? Throughout the Bible, the book of Genesis is viewed as history. Jesus referred to Adam and Eve, the Flood, and the Fall as real events and people in history. Consequently, if you dismiss the first chapters of Genesis as simply ancient stories of myths as opposed to an accurate historical account you will have a hard time with the rest of Scripture. You will also have a hard time believing Jesus! This is why it is so important to study Genesis.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH?

The Bible tells us God created the world. Next week we will look at the process of creation. Today we want to address a simple question: Is there a God? The Apostle Paul says we instinctively recognize the world was created by God but we resist it. If we thought about it, we would know a great deal about God from creation. We find this in Romans 1:18-20

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Paul is using here what is called the argument from design. Even science would verify this principle. The fact that there are laws of nature and laws of logic point to a designer.

Let's put it another way. If you were walking in downtown Chicago and looked up at The John Hancock building as it swayed in the wind, would you say, "Wow, isn't it something that all of this glass and metal came together by chance to make this structure?" I hope you wouldn't say this because it would be ridiculous. It is obvious to us that there was an architect, a designer who put together the plans for that majestic building.

Think about DNA, the human eye, the brain. Look around at the beauty of nature. Think about the birth of a child. Everywhere you look you see evidence of a designer.

What then can we learn from God's design?

Since He is the Creator, He is self-existent, eternal or uncreated.

He is self-sufficient. We need Him, but He does not need us.

The magnificence and beauty of creation reveals God is good not evil

The power in nature reveals God is much more powerful than we are

The discovery and complexity of DNA argues for a superior being who is far above us in wisdom and knowledge. Many scientists turned from naturalism to belief in a Supreme Being when they examined the complexity and intricate brilliance in DNA.

Why do people suppress what seems to be clearly so obvious? Two basic reasons:

We want to be in control (although the irony of naturalism is we don't get any control! We are just consequences of the accidents of nature). We do not like the idea of accountability.

We recoil at the idea of absolute truth. (Absolute truth is what is true whether you believe it or not. It is true yesterday and will be true tomorrow. If God exists, then what He says is true. No argument. We want to be able to tailor truth to our desires.

MORE LOGICAL ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

There are some other arguments for the existence of God. There is an anthropic principle in creation. This means our world (earth) is uniquely (perfectly) designed to maintain life. Let me give you some examples from Norman Geisler,

Oxygen comprises 21% of the atmosphere. If the oxygen was 25% fires would erupt. If it was 15% we would suffocate.

If the gravitational balance with the moon was greater there would be a tidal effect that would create enormous problems. If it was less than it is it would create orbital changes and climate instabilities that would hinder life.

If the CO2levels were much higher than they are now, we’d all burn up; If they were much less, plants wouldn’t be able to maintain photosynthesis (producing oxygen) and we’d suffocate.

If Jupiter were not in its current orbit, the earth would be bombarded with space material. Jupiter’s gravitational field acts as a cosmic vacuum cleaner for earth.

If the rotation of the earth took longer than 24 hours, temperature differences would be too great between night and day. But if the rotation period were shorter, atmospheric wind velocities would be too great.

If the 23-degree axis tilt of the earth were altered even slightly, surface temperatures would be too extreme on earth.

There is also the argument from the moral principle. Why do we claim some things are good and other things are bad? Where does the sense of "ought-ness" come from? Why do we conclude we should take care of each other or love one another? Some would say, "because that is just the way we are?" But WHY are we that way? How did it get inside of us? If morality is just my opinion or yours, what makes one opinion better or more compelling than another? What is the standard if we disagree? C.S. Lewis famously remarked people say there is no moral standard hardwired inside of us until someone steals your wallet! Lewis also said,

Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him. You might just as well try to imagine a country where two and two made five.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, "If God does not exist, everything is permissible."

The best argument for the existence of God is Jesus. How else do we explain the miracles of Jesus? How do we account for the resurrection? (Both events are substantiated from outside of the Bible). Jesus told us the Bible is true and accurate as God's Word. He told us when we see Him we are also looking at the Father. Jesus came as a fulfillment of all God promised in the Old Testament. His life radiated the love of God. He has promised life beyond the grave.

You can find lots of other arguments if you follow up with your own reading.

THE CRUX OF THE MATTER

Both the Christian and the Naturalist have the very same evidence to look at. The difference is the presupposition we bring to that evidence. Are we open to the idea of God or are we not? If we are not, we must try to come up with an alternative narrative. And that is exactly what has been taking place. The Big Bang Theory, the Doctrine of Evolution, the earth being millions of years old, all result from the presupposition that there is no God. We will show you in weeks to come that it is NOT an established fact that the earth is millions of years old! This is the theory proposed to produce the time needed to bring about evolution.

There is a much bigger reason why these first two verses are so important. If there is no God, then there is no salvation. In fact, there is no need for salvation because there is no right and wrong, there is no sin, and there is nothing after death to be saved for. Our life, our values, the esteem we give to human life, our view of marriage, our definition of right and wrong are all anchored to the reality of a divine Creator who has told us His will in the Bible. If there is no God, then everything is up for grabs.

Naturalism logically leads to these conclusions,.

Life is a quick sprint heading nowhere. We live, we die, we are forgotten, and that's it.

Life is random. There is no higher purpose, greater plan, or some kind of meaning in the things that happen in life. It is accidental and meaningless.

There is no absolute truth, in other words, there is no truth that you can depend on, no truth that will always be true no matter what someone says. Anyone can say anything and call it truth (and we are beginning to see that today). What is true for you may not be true for me. The result is self-absorption and chaos (again we are watching this today).

There is no reason to hope, sacrifice, or feel anything because it is just an evolutionary anomaly anyway.

The staggering thing about the Christian message is this: It overflows with hope, and purpose. It declares that the God who created us, LOVES us. He even wants us to have a relationship with Him. He is not a distant entity but is personal. He has given us His Word so we could know Him and understand why we are here.

Are we biased in favor of God and the Bible? We are. But everyone is biased. The fact that we come at the book of Genesis believing in its truthfulness does not mean we are empty-headed. Christians don't believe these things because "they need something to hold on to." We believe these things to be true because we believe the evidence points to God. We see His fingerprints EVERYWHERE. We believe the Objective truth is: there is a God and we are accountable to Him.

Maybe you are "comfortable" not believing in God. O.K. but be sure you understand that being comfortable and being TRUE are not the same thing.

If you have been to college or beyond you have been pressed to adopt a bias of naturalism. What we ask is this: admit your bias. The pursuit of truth starts when we realize and examine our bias. It is not enough to say: "but this is what I have always been taught." We must examine if what we have been taught is true.

We believe the message of the gospel is the best news in the world. We also believe how you view the opening chapters of Genesis will determine whether you view this as fake news or true news.

The message of Christ is not threatened by honesty inquiry (even though some Christians seem to be afraid of such inquiry). In the weeks to come we will look at how the world came to be, the doctrine of evolution, the problem of evil, the nature of sin, the dignity of human life and much more. The early chapters of Genesis carry some wide-ranging implications you have never considered. We hope and pray that in the weeks to come you will start to trust the truth of God's Word as we put it to the test and find it credible and faithful.