Story Of Creation - Part 2

THE STORY OF CREATION PART TwO Copyright 1985,1993,2001,2007 Crossroads Full Gospel International Ministries All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Short extracts may be used for review purposes. Except otherwise stated, Bible quotes come from the King James Version. 1611 Elizabethan English is updated in some cases to reflect present terminology, without changing the true meaning of the word. Extracts from “The Expositor's Study Bible” are identified as E.S.B. Copyright © 2005 Published by, and the sole property of, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, Baton Rouge, LA, and extracts from the Swaggart Bible Commentary series are identified as S.B.C. Copyright © World Evangelism Press® Extracts from the Amplified Bible are identified as Amp. Old Testament Copyright © 1962, 1964 by Zondervan Corporation. New Testament Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Extracts from the New International Version are identified as N.I.V. Copyright 1973,1978,1984 by The International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Also used: The New Testament: An Expanded Translation (Wuest) translated by Kenneth S. Wuest. Copyright © 1961 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bracketed comments following some scriptures assist the reader in understanding the intended meaning of these verses We acknowledge the additional works of the various Scholars and Bible Commentaries used in conjunction with the College material. This is not to say that we agree with all their theology, but we certainly value their contribution to the Body of Christ. Published by: Crossroads Publications 10681 Princes Highway Warrnambool Victoria 3280 Australia CONTENTS THE STORY OF CREATION Part two.....................................1 THE SIX LITERAL DAYS OF CREATION AND RESTORATION....................................................................2 DAY 1 - God restores the light........................................3 DAY 2 - God restores the atmosphere.............................3 DAY 3 - God restores the land.........................................4 DAY 4 - God regulates the solar system..........................5 DAY 5 - God creates fish and birds.................................6 DAY 6 - God creates the animals and man......................7 DAY 7 - God rests...........................................................9 HOW MANY CREATIVE ACTS DID GOD PERFORM IN GENESIS CHAPTER ONE ?.............................................10 CREATION VERSUS EVOLUTION.................................13 WHAT DID THE TWO GREAT FLOODS ACHIEVE ?...18 THE STORY OF CREATION PART TwO Background Reading: Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 In the first booklet, “The Story Of Creation,” we discovered, through scripture, that God created the heavens and the earth in a dateless past. The key to understanding this aspect of creation comes from a thorough examination of Genesis 1:2: GENESIS 1:2 And the earth was without form (a desolation), and void (an indistinguishable ruin); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. God would not have created the earth to have been “a desolation and an indistinguishable ruin” (from the Hebrew words “tohu” and “bohu”). His creation of the heavens and the earth would have been a masterpiece, not a chaotic ruin. Thus we find there must be a vast untold story between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, a story which can be pieced together in a general sense from a careful examination of scripture. We will note briefly this sequence of events - further detail can be found in the booklet entitled “The Story Of Creation.” 1. God created the heavens and the earth in a dateless past, which could have been millions of years ago or even more: Gen.1:1; Isa.45:18. 2. Satan (or Lucifer as he was known in his unfallen state) had a kingdom on earth, and governed an original social system: Isa.14:13; 2Pet.3:6. 3. Pride entered into Satan and he and a third of the angels ascended into heaven to overthrow God’s throne: Eze.28:15-17; Isa.14:13; Rev.12:7. 1 4. They were defeated and cast back down upon the earth: Rev.12:8-9; Luke 10:18. 5. Satan and his fallen angels corrupted the earth for an unknown period of time, until the corruption became so great that God judged the pre-Adamic earth and destroyed its inhabitants totally, through the first great flood: 2Pet.3:6; Jer.4:23-26. 6. The earth was left in a state of chaos and disorder, darkness reigned and the Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the waters: Gen.1:2. No one knows how long this situation remained as such. This is the general sequence of events which occurred before the six literal days of “re-creation,” when God performed the wonderful work of restoring the earth and creating man to inhabit it. We will now go on to look at God’s work over these six days. We will also address the theory of evolution and some of the issues it raises. This theory has been taught and accepted in our schools as scientific fact, whereas, in reality, it is purely and simply a philosophy regarding the origins of life - speculation which has no valid scientific basis. THE SIX LITERAL DAYS OF CREATION AND RESTORATION Let us first establish the fact that God restored the earth to a habitable state, and created creatures to inhabit the earth, in six literal 24 - hour days: EXODUS 20:11 For in six days the Lord made (asah) heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it (made it holy i.e. set it apart for His purposes). In this verse Moses is speaking of the six days of “re-creation” in the context of the six workdays of man. As God rested on the seventh day, so man should rest on the Sabbath (Old Covenant teaching). Furthermore, each day in Genesis Ch.1 is limited by the constraints of “evening and the morning,” and as such could not be 2 mistakenly viewed in terms of eons of time, as some teach. The six days are also numbered individually, and we can conclude that there is no reason not to take literally what God has simply stated in His Word. Let us look more closely at God’s creative and restorative work during these six days. From the third verse of Genesis Ch.1, we begin to see God’s work of renewing the desolate and chaotic earth, so that He can proceed with His divine plan for mankind. DAY 1 - God restores the light GENESIS 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light:” and there was light (God is the essence of light [Jn.1:4-9]; God’s Word is of such magnitude that light continues to expand in the universe at the rate of 186,000 miles a second). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness (this means that there were periods of light and darkness). GENESIS 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night (Day and Night took place as the earth revolved). And the evening and the morning were the first day (the first 24 hour period). God restored light to the earth on the first day, regulating day and night as it had been in the beginning: Jer.4:23-26. DAY 2 - God restores the atmosphere GENESIS 1:6 And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters (refers to an expanse between the waters, so to speak, called “the atmosphere”), and let it divide the waters from the waters (water in the rain clouds and water on the Earth).” (E.S.B.) GENESIS 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament 3 (waters on the earth) from the waters which were above the firmament (water in the clouds): and it was so. GENESIS 1:8 And God called the firmament heaven (the first heaven, the sky or the atmosphere). And evening and morning were the second day. Here God restored the earth’s atmosphere. Note that there are three “heavens” referred to in scripture - the first heaven (or the clouds: Ps.77:17-18), the second heaven (or the starry space: Isa.13:10) and the third heaven (where God lives: Isa.14:12-14). The expanse referred to in Genesis 1:6-8 is the first heaven or the clouds. DAY 3 - God restores the land GENESIS 1:9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heaven (the waters on the earth) be gathered together unto one place (refers to the seas, the rivers, etc.), and let the dry land appear:” and it was so (refers to the continents being formed, which necessitated great convulsions on the Earth). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He seas: and God saw that it was good. GENESIS 1:11 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth:” and it was so. GENESIS 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass (at the Word of God), and herb yielding seed after its kind (the first creation of plant life did not come from seed, but that it came into being through the power of the Word), and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind: and God saw that it was good (pertains not only to the fact of creation, but as well the order of creation). (E.S.B.) 4 GENESIS 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day (on this day was the first creation of life, i.e., “the plants, etc.”). (E.S.B.) On the third day, God spoke again and the waters were swept away and contained so that the dry land appeared again. We read in Psalm 104: PSALM 104:6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. PSALM 104:7 At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hasted away. Remember that the earth had had mountains and valleys before this day, and that God’s work here was one of restoration, not creation. He also restored the vegetation of the earth on this day. Note too that after Noah’s flood, the waters subsided gradually over a period of many months: Gen.8:3-5, 13-14. In Ps.104:7 we see the waters “fleeing” and “hastening away,” denoting a rapid departure. DAY 4 - God regulates the solar system GENESIS 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night (the sun, moon and stars had been created “in the beginning”- here God was regulating them); and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years (this has to do with measuring time): GENESIS 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth:” and it was so (the planetary bodies did as God commanded them). GENESIS 1:16 And God made (regulated or refashioned) two great lights (the sun and the moon); the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule 5 the night: He made the stars also (...He “made” i.e. “pointed them in relation to the Earth [regulated them] as light-holders, as measurers of time, and as vehicles of revelation” [Psalm 19]). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, GENESIS 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good (everything is now set for animate life, i.e., “animal life as opposed to plant life”). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. These scriptures tell us that God regulated the solar system on the fourth day, to provide light for the earth and to give it regular seasons. God had created the sun, moon and stars “in the beginning,” but had withheld their light when the pre-Adamic civilization had been judged: Gen.1:2; Jer.4:23. Again we see a work of restoration rather than creation. DAY 5 - God creates fish and birds GENESIS 1:20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven” (here the creatures of the sea are distinguished from all previous creations, and in particular from vegetation, as being possessed of a vital principle; this does not, of course, contradict the wellknown Truth that plants are living organisms; only that the life principle of the animal kingdom is different from that of the vegetable kingdom). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every 6 winged fowl after its kind (the phrase “after their kind” is repeated 10 times in this chapter, and completely refutes the theory of evolution whereby from slime, species gradually morphed from one into another): and God saw that it was good. GENESIS 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” (the blessing of God means propagation : [E.S.B.] i.e., a cat produces a cat, a bird produces a bird, which is a different principle than occurs with vegetation). GENESIS 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. For the first time since Genesis 1:1 we find the Hebrew word “bara” being used. This refers of course to an original creative act, the first recorded since “God created the heavens and the earth.” Note too that the fish and the fowl were commanded to reproduce after their own kind, something which leaves no room for the theory of evolution. DAY 6 - God creates the animals and man GENESIS 1:24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind:” and it was so. GENESIS 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps upon the earth after its kind: and God saw that it was good. GENESIS 1:26 And God said, “Let Us make man in Our image (proclaims this creative work to be that of the Trinity, working in collaboration and complete unity), after Our likeness: and let them have dominion (rule) over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and 7 over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” GENESIS 1:27 So God created man (the man Adam) in His own image (refers to true righteousness and holiness), in the image of God created He him (this image was lost at the Fall - only the shadow of the image remains in unsaved man); male and female created He them (Genesis 2:7, 21-22). GENESIS 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (this certainly suggests the idea of a former creation, prior to Adam, which had inhabited the earth also if Lucifer did have a “throne” on the earth, as we have seen, there must have been something for him to rule or govern), and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” GENESIS 1:29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (this verse implies that, before the Fall, man was exclusively vegetarian; this changed after the flood - Genesis 9:3). GENESIS 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:” and it was so (this verse implies that animals were also all originally vegetarian - this will occur again in the Millennium - Isaiah 11:79). GENESIS 1:31 And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good (exceedingly good). And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Scripture reveals that on the sixth day God created new land animals, and set in force the law of reproduction “after their kind.” 8 This proves the falsity of the theory of evolution which maintains that complex species supposedly developed from very primitive ones. On this final day, God also created man - the crown of His creation - to have fellowship with Himself and to subdue the earth. He formed man from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his body the breath of life. Man did not evolve from apes - Adam and Eve were created in perfection by a holy and just God. Note: Sometimes people believe that Genesis 1:24-31 and Genesis 2:5-25 refer to two separate creation stories. However, Genesis Ch.1 refers to what God did, and Genesis Ch.2 refers to how God accomplished it. In other words, both chapters speak of the same creation story, the first dealing with God’s purpose and the second dealing with God’s action in accomplishing His purpose. DAY 7 - God rests GENESIS 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them (proclaims the fact that when the heavens and the Earth were completed, they were a brilliant array). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made (He wasn’t tired, just finished - Isaiah 40:28). EXODUS 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it (set it apart as holy). God rested on the seventh day from His labours of the six days of creation. He then blessed this day and it became a type-pattern for the Sabbath day rest commanded by God for the Old Testament Saints. Thus we find that God restored the earth to a habitable state in six literal 24 - hour days, resting from His creative and regulatory work on the seventh day. Amen. 9 EXODUS 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it (set it apart as holy). We will now focus on the words “made” and “create.” As we have seen, the word “created,” as seen in Genesis 1:1, comes from the Hebrew word “bara” which means to bring into existence without the use of pre-existing materials. The word “made,” as seen for example in Genesis 1:7, comes from the Hebrew word “asah” which means to make or fashion out of previously existing materials. So in the purest sense, the meanings of these two words are as follows: “Made” = “To have formed or built something from ingredients or materials already in existence.” “Create” = “To cause to exist,” “to bring into existence something out of nothing.” For example, in this context, when baking a cake, do we create a cake or do we make one? We make a cake because a cake is made up of ingredients already in existence. We simply need to blend the ingredients together, then bake them. To create, or to bring into existence something out of nothing, however, is an activity which is reserved for God alone. HOW MANY CREATIVE ACTS DID GOD PERFORM IN GENESIS CHAPTER ONE ? To answer this question, let us examine the usage of these two words as they appear in Genesis Ch.1. On the first day, did God create the light? No, He made the light appear. Notice, He made it appear. On the second day, did God create the waters? No, He divided the waters which were already there. For as we have seen, when God set out to re-establish the earth, the whole globe was covered with 10 water, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. On the third day, did God create the land? No, He made the land appear. On the fourth day, God did not create the sun, the moon and the stars, but rather, He regulated them to function as He wanted, bringing light to the earth again. Indeed He had already created them, as seen in Genesis 1:1, at the beginning of a dateless past. Then on the fifth and sixth days, God CREATED all living creatures. He created the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, and every living creature. This was because all living pre-Adamic creatures had perished in Lucifer’s flood and the conditions (including the lack of light) which accompanied it. Then God created man in His own image. Genesis 2:19 tells us that God formed the land animals and the birds from the dust of the earth. We can therefore conclude that God made the animal bodies from the dust of the earth, as He did man. Then He created life to fill the bodies of the animals, fowl and fish (Genesis 2:19), just as He created a living spiritual being to fill the body of the man (Adam) He had formed from the dust. GENESIS 2:7 And the Lord God formed man (his body) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (the “breath of life” which comes from God, pertains to the soul and spirit of man; this was done with the first man, Adam, God breathing the soul and the spirit into man, and thereafter it come automatically at conception : E.S.B.); and man became a living soul (man is a soul, has a spirit, both which reside in the physical body; the soul addresses the body; the spirit addresses God; the physical body addresses the world). (E.S.B.) This was God’s work of creation. He made (or formed) the bodies from something which already existed - dust. But the life breathed into man (and fish, birds and animals etc.) was God-created and fashioned out of nothing which had existed beforehand. It made man a living soul. The spirit-life distinguishes man, animals, fish and birds from the vegetation which God made to appear (Genesis 2:9a). Nevertheless, the spirit of man is immortal (Genesis 1:26), while it 11 appears from scripture that the spirits (or life-force) of creatures are mortal (Ecclesiastes 3:21). Therefore God did not make all living creatures - rather He CREATED the spirits or life- force of these creatures which had not existed before. Man was a new creation, for never before had God created a being like man. The animals, birds, fish and every creeping thing were also new creations. As we have seen, after Satan rebelled against God and was cast to the earth, he transformed God’s original creation into a ruinous and worthless wasteland. The polluted and evil civilization which he engendered was then totally destroyed by God’s judgement in the first great flood. So when God set out to reestablish life upon the earth, He did so by two creative acts in which He created living creatures and man. Incidentally, we can see from Genesis 1:24 that God made the animals to reproduce according to their own kind. This leaves no room for the theory of evolution which maintains that complex species supposedly developed from very primitive ones. So in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. After an unknown period of time and following the first flood, He then created the animals, the fish, the birds, etc. At that time He also created man in His own image. These are the three creative acts God performed in Genesis Ch.1, being the only three occasions in this chapter in which the word “bara” is used. The rest of our present system He made and regulated as He willed from that which was already in existence through the first creative act. This was how God re-established the earth after the first flood. And as we have already seen, further evidence of this work of restoration, rather than creation, is found in the Book of Exodus: EXODUS 20:11 For in six days the Lord made (asah) heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it. Thus Genesis Ch.1 is an account of how God established (made and created) this present world system. The Bible reveals that when God restored the earth to a second habitable state, He did so in six literal 24 hour days. He brought light and life and order to what had been made a desolate ruin with no light, and with all forms of vegetation and animal life destroyed. The 12 lack of light would in fact have resulted in the death of the fish and the destruction of the vegetation. Thus it is clear that the destruction of Lucifer’s flood was of greater magnitude than that of Noah’s flood. After the six days of creation and restoration, God rested on the seventh day from His work. There is no reason not to take literally that which God has described in His Word as the six days of creation - for each day is defined individually in terms of the period between evening and morning. Thus the six days of creation cannot properly be interpreted as geological ages or periods of time. There could have been eons of years that had elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. When God re-established the earth, however, it is reasonable to conclude from scripture that He did so in six solar days. It is when people try to place the sum total of God’s creative work within a literal time period of six days that they develop wrong concepts. This is because the earth, as calculated from the Bible’s genealogical record, can only be gauged as being between 6,000 and 10,000 years old. CREATION VERSUS EVOLUTION The theory of evolution, by which it is postulated that life has developed over time from very simple to very complex forms, and that life itself emerged from the haphazard mingling of non-living chemicals, has been largely accepted as established fact by the scientific community and a majority of the general population today. Darwin’s theory of evolution, however, is less of a scientific theory and really more of a particular philosophy about the origin of life and the meaning of man. Indeed although it is considered by many to be an established fact, the evolutionary theory cannot, in the strict sense of the word, even be defined as science. This is because it is unable to be supported by events or processes which can be observed. Indeed the probabilities, when calculated mathematically, of the indescribable complexities of the living world having sprung not only from primitive life forms, but from actual non-living material, are actually far too remote to be even conceivable. So evolution must be seen fundamentally as a philosophical approach to the origin of life, a philosophy which requires a belief in nothing short of magic. Indeed both evolutionism and creationism are beliefs which must be undergirded by faith - so it is simply a matter of choosing, on the 13 basis of the evidence, what one will believe. And to take the view that man is a product of impersonal forces, time and chance will have an enormous impact upon the way one thinks, the way one lives and the way one dies. Let us examine some facts from God’s Word which have already been established: God created the heavens and the earth in a dateless past and only He knows when this occurred. Indeed the earth could be millions of years old - the Word of God neither substantiates nor repudiates what scientists may believe. We are only told that creation was fashioned by the Divine hand of Almighty God. GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. At a much later point in time, during the six literal solar days of re-creation, God created man in His own image: GENESIS 1:27 So God created man in His own image (the word “man” should have been the definite article, and should read “the man,” that is, Adam - the same man Adam spoken of in 2:7; these are not, therefore, two accounts of the creation of man, but one Divine statement : E.S.B.), in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. God called the man “Adam,” derived from the Hebrew word “red earth” or “taken out of red earth” - for God actually formed the body of man from the dust. God then took a rib from Adam’s side and formed woman to complement him, and to be a companion and a helpmate to him. Adam then named his wife “Eve” which means “life-giver,” and Adam and Eve became the parents of all mankind. GENESIS 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was (became) the mother of all living (mankind). 14 Scripture shows us that Adam and Eve were specially created by God, complete and whole. Mankind did not evolve by chance from other lower forms of life, and there was certainly no gradual development of humanity through primate ancestors! Darwin’s theory of evolution is a product of guess-work, being man’s way of analyzing the spiritual origin of the existence of life from the limited confines of the human mind. Darwin went as far as sense-knowledge would allow, then he boarded an aeroplane of fantasy, left the realm of facts, and wrote a book of speculation and fiction. Nevertheless, the theory of evolution has been embraced by the general population as fact. As a consequence, it has damned millions, and helped no one. It has been suggested that the reason scientists, in particular, so adamantly hold to the teaching of evolution is that the only other alternative is to believe that the universe was created by God. The concept of Divine creation is, however, considered unthinkable, and subjected to ridicule by many in our society today who would seek to believe only in secular humanism and materialism. Indeed the Word tells us that men fear the light, the very thing that would set them free (John 3:19-20). Compare the consequences of believing that a loving and wise Creator was responsible for all life, as opposed to the consequences of believing in the molecule-to-man theory of evolution. 1. (a) Man is the product of impersonal time, chance and matter. He therefore has no eternal value, and no dignity other than that which may or may not be bestowed upon him by himself or others during his earthly life. (b) Man was created by God in His own image and is beloved of Him. Because of this, man was endowed with dignity and eternal value, not derived ultimately from himself, but from God. The Cross has brought us back to this position. 2. (a) Morality without God is defined by each individual’s views and interests, for there is no ultimate authority. Each does what is right in his own eyes. 15 (b) Morality is defined by God and fixed because it is based on God’s unchanging nature and standards. People are thus responsible for their actions because there is an absolute and unchanging standard set by the Creator, the God to whom they are accountable. 3. (a) There is no afterlife - only personal extinction for each individual. (b) The afterlife involves either an eternal future with God or eternal separation from Him, to be spent ultimately in the depths of darkness and torment in the Lake of Fire. Even on the basis of the above considerations, it cannot be doubted that there are far reaching implications to the belief system in which one chooses to have faith. It is thus important that we do not neglect to teach our children that the theory of evolution is not only nonsense, it is evil as well. We must warn our children about such theories of man, as God has instructed in His Word: PROVERBS 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go (according to the teachings and principles of the Word of God): and when he is old, he will not depart from it. DEUTERONOMY 11:18 Therefore shall you lay up these My Words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. DEUTERONOMY 11:19 And you shall teach them (to) your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (the Word of God should be always on our lips – Joshua 1:8). We must warn people that man’s concept, his unfounded theory of the origin of man, is hypothetical rubbish, concocted by people’s 16 imaginations (corrupted by the darkness of the sin nature), with the help of the devil. COLOSSIANS 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you (or your children) through philosophy and vain deceit (e.g. evolutionism and other such nonsense), after (which depends on) the tradition of men (man’s ideas), after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. In fact, a five year old child could have concocted a better theory than some of these so-called “men of understanding” whom God calls “fools.” Indeed the Word of God gives us the definition of the word “fool” - it is someone who says there is no God. We also see from the Word the utter foolishness of human wisdom which tries to set itself up in independence from, and total denial of, the Creator. How foolish! ROMANS 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise (in their darkened and foolish hearts which did not acknowledge God), they became fools, 1 CORINTHIANS 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe (Jewish theologian)? where is the disputer (Greek philosopher) of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? PSALM 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” (This is the true definition of the word “fool.”) In regard to the age of the earth, scientists may say the earth is forty million or even forty billion years old. This may or may not be true, for the exact date of the creation of the earth is unknown. Some Christians try to argue with scientists concerning these points. However what scientists think may be true in some areas, so it is pointless to argue with them concerning these matters. It is true that Christians may be actually going against scripture if they try to specify an exact date for the creation of the earth and put forward arguments in this regard. Scripture gives us good instruction here, for it tells us to avoid foolish speculations and controversies which will only produce discord. 17 2 TIMOTHY 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender (foster) strifes (quarrels). TITUS 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the Law (the principle is here); for they are unprofitable and vain (futile). WHAT DID THE TWO GREAT FLOODS ACHIEVE ? As we have seen, when God first flooded the earth before the creation of mankind, everything was destroyed, for the world or social system of that time perished. Then in the second great flood, we know that everything except Noah, his family and the animals and birds with him in the ark (and the fish and the vegetation), perished. What was the purpose of each of these two great floods? The purpose was to destroy all the sin and corruption present on the earth during those times, and in doing so, to physically cleanse the earth of evil. As such the two great floods are, of course, type-patterns of water baptism as it relates to deliverance. Scripture shows a little of the wickedness of man in Noah’s day. GENESIS 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (and as a result, man was becoming more and more corrupt and debased). GENESIS 6:6 And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. GENESIS 6:7 And the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth (the wickedness of man had become so great, if God had not done this, man would ultimately have destroyed himself, although it would have taken much longer. Sin has to be 18 judged, and inevitably will be judged : E.S.B.); both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repents Me that I have made them.” Then again in Genesis 6:11-13: GENESIS 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. GENESIS 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. GENESIS 6:13 And God said unto Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me (the Lord had investigated the situation thoroughly); for the earth is filled with violence through them (the Hebrew says, “For the Earth is filled with violence from their faces”; the idea is, they knew what they were doing, and thereby, in effect, dared God to stop them); and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth (God had no choice! but for Noah, the human race would have been no more, and this world would have been turned back to a place “without form, and void, with darkness upon the face of the deep” [Genesis 1:2]).” (E.S.B.) While Noah alone was righteous, it appears, from a thorough reading and understanding of scripture, that the ultimate sin which may have ushered in God’s judgement upon the earth was that recorded in the early part of Genesis Ch.6: GENESIS 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. GENESIS 6:2 That the sons of God (fallen angels) saw the daughters of men (women) that they were fair (beautiful); and they took them wives of all which they chose (in order to spoil the human lineage through which the Messiah would ultimately come, they would seek to 19 corrupt that lineage, and to do so by marrying the “daughters of men,” thereby producing a mongrel race, so to speak, of which some of these offspring turned out to be “giants”; at any rate, all who were the result of such a union were tainted). (E.S.B.) GENESIS 6:3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not always strive (or abide) with man, for that he also is flesh (sinful): yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years (his lifespan will be shortened).” GENESIS 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days (Nephilim - the offspring of fallen angels and women); and also after that (“those days” speak of the time before the flood, while “also after that” speaks of the time after the flood; in fact, Goliath, who was killed by David, was one of those specimens : E.S.B.), when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown (famous). The term “sons of God” as used in the Old Testament always describes angels, whether holy or fallen. So this unholy union was between women (“the daughters of men”) and angels, who, as it is recorded in Jude 6 and 7, “kept not their first estate but left their own habitation . . . giving themselves over to fornication and strange flesh.” Undoubtedly the inspiration behind this grievous sin was Satan, who, by promoting this unnatural relationship between women and evil angels, hoped to corrupt the entire human race, and thus prevent the seed of the woman, the Christ, from coming into the world. As we have previously learned, these angels are currently chained up in the darkness of Tartarus, the deepest part of hell, awaiting the day of final judgement (2 Peter 2:4). The passage describing these events is placed directly before God’s declaration that the earth was evil, and that He had repented of its creation. Thus it could be credibly ascertained that this last great violation of God’s laws was instrumental in bringing down His judgement. So we read that indeed the earth was filled with violence and corruption to such an extent that God’s heart was filled with much 20 pain. Consequently He issued out judgement in the form of a great flood : GENESIS 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven (air); and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they who were with him in the ark (the ark was a type of Christ only those on the ark, those who are in Christ, can be saved). GENESIS 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. In this way all evil and corruption were removed from the earth. Noah and his family alone were rescued because they alone were found righteous. And along with their physical deliverance from the floodwaters, they were also delivered from the influence of the evil people of their generation with all their wicked ways - their violence, perversion and ungodliness. Then after the flood, civilization continued without the corruption that had been present beforehand. GENESIS 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Noah and his family were set free from the evil influence that had surrounded them. They were then able to live their lives in peace and freedom, as they continued to follow the Lord. We give praise and glory to our mighty God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them. It is good and right for us to do so, for we were created to worship our God and to give Him the glory He so richly deserves. No humanistic theory can explain the wonders of creation and the complexities we see around us in all living things. Indeed the Word of God tells us that: 21 PSALM 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handywork. Therefore we can know that there is a God, and that He is Creator: ROMANS 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. God has revealed Himself through creation, His holy Word and the conscience of man. Let us live to obey Him and to reveal His light to others. May you have the victory in Christ. Amen! 22 REVIEW OF TEACHING BOOKLET Fill in the blanks. Note: This booklet is concerned with God’s six days of creation. Detail of events occurring prior to this are to be found in the first booklet entitled, “The Story of Creation.” 1. In Genesis 1:2, we find the earth to be “a .................................... and an indistinguishable ..................................... .” 2. God would not have ............................... the earth in this state, and we can piece together in a general sense from scripture, the vast untold .......................... which occurred between ...................................... and Gen.1:2. 3. God created the .................................. and the ........................... in a dateless past, which could have been ................................. of years ago or even more: Gen.1:1. 4. ................................... governed an original social system on the earth, but was overtaken by .............................. and rebelled against God: Ex.28:15-17; Isa.14:13. 5. After being defeated and cast back on the earth, .............................. and his ............................. angels corrupted the earth to such an extent that God ................................. the earth to destroy its original inhabitants: 2 Pet.3:6. 6. The earth was left in a state of ................................ for an indefinite period, before God performed His wonderful work of .................................. the earth, and creating ........................... and the animals to inhabit it over a period of ........................ literal days. 7. The six ................... of creation should be taken as six ..................................... days, not interpreted in terms of eons of .............................. . 8. In the six days of creation, God ................................. the earth to a habitable state, and ............................... creatures to live on the earth. 23 9. On day one, God restored the .............................. and regulated ..................... and ........................................... . 10. On day two, God restored the earth’s ......................................., which is called the .......................................... heaven. 11. On day three, God gathered the waters on the earth together so that the ................. ....................... appeared. 12. On day four, God .................................. the solar system - He did not create it. 13. On day six God the ........................................... . created .......................... and 14. The seventh day God ................................. and this day became a type-pattern for the .................................... day rest of the Old Covenant. 15. To understand God’s work of creation and restoration, we need to know that the Hebrew word “bara” means to .......................... without the use of pre-existing materials, and the Hebrew word “asah” means to ............................ from materials already there. 16. The Hebrew word .......................... is used in Genesis 1:1 and again in Genesis 1:21 and Genesis 1:27 - it means “to ........................................ .” 17. When God set out to re-establish life on the earth, He did so by ....................... creative acts in which He created living .............................. and .......................... . 18. People develop wrong concepts when they try to place all God’s creative work within a period of ........................... days, which from the genealogical record can be only a total of 6,000 to 10,000 .......................... ago. It is clear that the earth is much ............................... than this. 24 19. Darwin’s theory of evolution is not so much a ................................... theory as a philosophy about the origin of ........................... . 20. To take the view that man is a product of impersonal forces, time and chance will have a great impact on the way one .........................., the way one ......................... and the way one ........................ . 21. The Bible tells us that the heavens and the ............................ were created by ....................., but it does not tell us ........................... this creation occurred: Gen.1:1. 22. Much later in time, when God created ..........................., He created .......................... and ....................... complete and whole. 23. Mankind did not gradually .............................. by chance from lower forms of .............................., as evolutionists declare. 24. It is logical to conclude from the fossil record that the .................................... were a part of the first .............................., about which the Bible says very little. 25. We find in Genesis that the living creatures were to reproduce “after their .........................,” which disproves the theory of ................................... whereby complex life forms supposedly evolved from simple ones: Gen.1:21, 25. 26. ............................ developed his theory of evolution to explain creation without a .................................., and his masterpiece of guesswork has helped damn ................................. . 27. To believe man is a product of impersonal chance, matter and time is to believe that man has no ....................................... value. 28. If there is no ......................................, there are no absolute standards of ................................, and each person does what is right in their own eyes. 25 29. Without a loving God as Creator, no ....................................., just personal extinction. there is 30. Therefore we can see that the theory of ..................................... is not only nonsense, it is ........................... as well, and we should train our ..................................... accordingly. 31. No humanistic theory can explain the wonders and complexities of ............................. and all we see around us - for the .................................... declare the glory of ..................., so that man is without ............................. to believe there is a ..................................: Psa.19:1; Rom.1:20. 26 THE STORY OF CREATION - PART TWO - Answers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. desolation, ruin created, story, Genesis 1:1 heavens, earth, millions Lucifer (Satan), pride Satan, fallen, flooded chaos, restoring, man, six days, literal, time / years restored, created light, day, night atmosphere, first dry land regulated man, animals rested, Sabbath create, form / fashion bara, create two, creatures, man six, years, older scientific, life thinks, lives, dies earth, God, when man / mankind, Adam, Eve evolve, life dinosaurs, creation kind, evolution Darwin, Creator, millions eternal Creator / God, morality afterlife evolution, evil, children creation, heavens, God, excuse, Creator For further information or teaching material to help you grow in the Christian faith, please visit: CROSSROADS INTERNATIONAL FULL GOSPEL MINISTRIES crossroadsministries.org.au 27