Creation: What The Lord Really Said.
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· 10 views"The attack on creation is an attack on our Lord."
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Article: “The Atheist and the Bear”
“An atheist was walking through the woods, admiring all the “accidents” that evolution had created. “What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charging towards him. He ran away as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the grizzly was closing. Somehow he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding, and he tried to run faster. He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but the bear was right over him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him.
At that instant the atheist cried, “Oh God help!” Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, “You deny My existence for all these years, teach others that I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect Me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?”
The atheist looked directly into the light and said, “I would feel like a hypocrite to become a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?”
“Very well,” said the voice.
The light went out. The river ran. The sounds of the forest resumed. Then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed its head, and spoke: “Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful.”
Just like the atheist in this story, many today want to deny the truth of creation. In the beginning of his letter to the Romans, Paul stated the following;
For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
The account on creation has been under attack for some time. Frankly, it’s been under attack since creation was completed and satan utter the most deadliest question ever recorded in history; “Did God really say?”
As we continue our study surrounding the Apostles Creed, we will take a look at what the bible says when we state “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”
(Prayer)
In The Beginning:
In The Beginning:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The beginning starts with God. As the first part of Revelation 21:6 states;
“I am the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end.”-Revelation 21:6a
“Everything starts with the Lord and ends with the Lord. He is the one who created the heavens and the earth and He will be the one who destroys what is broken and make everything new again.”
Created: Hebrew Word- “bara (baw Raw)” = to form something from nothing.
“The creation account takes an act of faith, just like anything else.”
(Example: Lee Stroble and The Case For Christ)
Lee: “I’ve hit a brick wall. I’ve read through every book you have given me. I’ve gone through every argument. I’ve followed every lead.”
Lee’s Friend: “At some point young man you’re going to have to plant your flag on a mountain of uncertainty where not every question is answered. The human mind will never get to the bottom of every mystery in the cosmos. Believing in God, not believing in God, either way it still takes some leap of faith.”
Lee: “So you’re saying even in our disbelief that we still take a leap of faith?”
Lee’s Friend: “More or less. Me, I’ve come to my own conclusion. You’re going to have to do the same thing for yourself.”
“At the end of this teaching and this series, you will need to draw your own conclusion. Do you truly believe in the foundational beliefs found in the biblical accounts?
Six Days of Creation:
Six Days of Creation:
2 Things To Know:
1.) Refer to Ken Ham and the “In The Beginning: The Creation Account” Audio Pack.
2.) Genesis is far more concerned with the questions of who made creation and why He made creation then exactly when and how He did.
“We are not to look to Genesis for a scientific cosmogony (branch of science the deals with the origin of the universe), and are not to be disturbed by physicists criticisms on it as such. Its purpose is quite another, and far more important; namely, to imprint deep and unforgotten conviction that the one God created all things.”-Alexander Maclaren
Day 1: Light:
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.
“On the first day of creation, the Lord spoke light into existence and He established time.”
“Six literal days or 1,000 years?”
“Just like the light the Lord created to separate from the darkness, let us remember that the light of Jesus Christ separates the darkness of sin.”
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Day 2: Water:
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
With the foreknowledge of what was to come, the Lord had set in motion what the scientific world calls the “Rain Cycle”.
Evaporation: The sun heats the ocean and the water evaporates and rises into the air.
Condensation: Water vapors cools and condenses to become droplets, which forms clouds.
Precipitation: If enough water condenses, the droplets become heavy enough to fall to the ground as rain, snow, or hail.
Collection: Some rain collects in ground-wells. The rest flows through rivers back into the ocean.
“As believers of the bible, we should never hate science. True science backs up the reveals general truths and laws that the Lord created. What we should disapprove of is science that is trying to fit its own agenda.”
Day 3: The Earth and Seas:
Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the third day.
The Lord spoke the earth and seas into existence. Two things I want to us all to see from this account so far;
1.) “When God says it, it will be so.”
2.) “In the first three days, the Lord is setting up man to thrive on the earth He created.”
Day 4: The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars:
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night—as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.
The Lord spoke three bodies of light. Each body of light has a purpose.
The Sun: It radiates light and heat, or solar energy, which makes it possible for life to exist on Earth. Plants need sunlight to grow. Animals, including humans, need plants for food and the oxygen they produce. Without heat from the sun, Earth would freeze.
The Moon: The brightest and largest object in our night sky, the Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years.
The Stars: The reason why stars are so important is because they have helped humans navigate through Earth . When it was dark these stars would light up the sky giving people light .
Scripture backs up all of these purposes.
He made the moon to mark the festivals;
the sun knows when to set.
You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals stir.
The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
The sun rises; they go back
and lie down in their dens.
Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until evening.
He made the great lights:
His faithful love endures forever.
the sun to rule by day,
His faithful love endures forever.
the moon and stars to rule by night.
His faithful love endures forever.
Day 5: Sea and Sky Creatures
Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.
Day 6: Land Creatures and Man Kind
Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, no shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said:
This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.
This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
Day 7: Rest
So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.
The Attack On The Creation:
The Attack On The Creation:
1.) Naturalism :
Naturalism: Views creation as merely the product of time, energy, and chance. (Definition comes from the book Doctrine)
Freak Accident:
“When it comes to the origin of life, we have two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution; the other is a supernatural creative act of God. There is no third possibility…Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved one hundred years ago by Louis Pasteur and others. That leads us scientifically to only one possible conclusion-that life arose as a supernatural creative act of God…I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation arising to evolution.”-Dr. George Wald
Evolution:
What we as Christians Believe:
Microevolution: Adapting to ones environment
What we as Christians Don’t Believe:
Naturalistic Evolution: That one species can evolve into another species entirely by random application of natural process.
Reminds me of an event that happened...
In the summer of 2005, the London Zoo posted a sign in front of their newest exhibit, reading, “Warning: Humans in their Natural Environment.” The exhibit featured eight humans in a sealed enclosure adjacent to another sealed enclosure of various primates. The human “captives” were chosen from an online contest, and spent their time sunning on a rock ledge, playing board games, and waving to spectators. A signboard informed visitors about the species’ diet, habitat, worldwide distribution, and threats.
The goal of the exhibit, according to Zoo spokesperson Polly Wills, was to downplay the uniqueness of human beings as a species. “Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals,” said Wills, “teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate.”
Tom Mahoney, one of the participants in the exhibit, agreed. “A lot of people think that humans are above other animals,” he said. “When they see humans as animals, here, it kind of reminds them that we’re not that special.”
This is in direct contradiction to the Bible which says that man is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Our ancestors are not monkeys who like to swing from trees and fling their own poop. Our ancestors are Adam and Eve, whom the Lord created in His perfect image.
2.) Sanctity of Life:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
“When we deny the dignity of humanity as created in God’s image, we saw off the moral branch upon which we sit to defend it”
We see this happening today:
Murder (abortion, recent gun shootings, euthanasia)
Sexual Exploitation ( Rape, Sex-Trafficking, Pornography)
“All of life matters. We need to stop picking and choosing when we decide when life “matters” just to appease a political agenda.”
3.) Sanctity of Marriage:
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said:
This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.
This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.