"Creation"
There are more questions than answers
– but there are many answers – if we genuinely seek God’s guidance…
âWhy is it so difficult for people to
accept the Genesis record concerning the origin of our world?
âHave you ever struggled with the
creation/evolution debate? How have you resolved this struggle in your own mind?
âHow do you deal with the apparent
discrepancy between the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2?
âDid God create out of nothing? Or did
He use pre-existent matter? âDid He create this world in 7 literal
days? Or was it over a long period of time?
âWhat does the creation story tell us
about God, ourselves, and how does this truth change my life?
âDo you believe the first 35 verses of the book of Genesis contain a valid,
factual account of literal events that occurred during seven consecutive rotations of
Planet Earth—the creation week?
âWhy is this so
difficult for some intelligent people to accept? What is so hard to understand?
Caution:
Genesis 1 & 2 does NOT rule out micro evolution – the subtle, slow changing of
the genetic pool through natural selection. But it does rule out the concept of macro
evolution – the development of one life-form from another life-form.
A Balanced View of Science and
Scripture
Close beside the
danger of ignoring or distorting the plain teaching of inspired testimony in order to be
in harmony with a prevailing viewpoint is the danger of reading into this testimony more
than the Holy Spirit intended it to say.
The safe course
to follow is to recognize that God speaks truth consistently. Whether in the Sacred
Scripture or in the natural world, these two sources of information help to clarify each
other. A correct understanding of both will always prove them to be in harmony (White
1904). It is because of our limited understanding that there exists any disharmony between
them. When this is the case it is best to allow Scripture to stand on its own testimony.
In other words, when we don’t see the harmony we must allow Scripture to interpret
Scripture, and not try to twist Scripture to fit our limited understanding, or our
supposed Scientific evidence.
The Creation account in Genesis…a simple account of a very
complex happening…
1.1-2…intro to “Elohim”
the Creator
1.1…The simple statement that God
created is one of the most challenging concepts confronting the modern mind. The vast
galaxy we live in is spinning at the incredible speed of 490,000 miles an hour. But evan
at this breakneck speed, our galaxy still needs 200 million years to make one rotation.
And there are over one billion galaxies just like ours in the universe. Yet this sea of
spinning stars systems function with remarkable order and efficiency. To say that the
universe just “happened” or evolved requires for faith than to believe that God
is behind these amazing realities.
God did not need to create the
universe; He chose to. èWhy? Because He is love, and love is
best expressed toward something. 1.26 reveals His desire for this creation:
love/fellowship and enjoyment.
The creation story teaches us much
about God and ourselves:
1. He
is creative: details are meaningful to Him
2. As
the Creator He is distinct from His creation
3. He
is eternal and in control of the world
4. He
is a caring God: creation is an act of love
5. Since
God chose to create us, we are valuable to Him.
6. We
are more important than the animals or plants or stars.
7. Being
in God’s image means much more than we can imagine.
8. God
creates this earth out of His great love and gives all people a special place in it.
Note the structure of the six days of
creation…
1.3-5…1st day light
1.14-19…4th
day
1.6-8…2nd day expanse 1.20-23…5th
day
1.9-13…3rd day ground 1.24-26…6th
day
The first three days, God creates the
general areas. The next three days God fills them with life, meaning, and purpose.
On the 7th day God rests
from creating to enjoy His creation.
Creation becomes the signature of
Israel’s God. No other god can compare, compete, or comprehend.
Exodus 20.11…the 4th
commandment – the basis of the commandments is the invitation of this Creator God to remember
Him.
Genesis 1:1 affirms that God
is before all else and that He is the one and only cause of all else. This verse is the
foundation of all right thinking in regard to the material world. Here is set forth the
impressive truth that “in the formation of our world, God was not indebted to
pre-existing matter” (8T 258).
Pantheism, the ancient
heresy that robs God of personality by diffusing Him throughout all the universe, and thus
makes Him synonymous with the totality of creation, is also exposed and refuted by Gen.
1:1. There is no basis for the doctrine of pantheism when one believes that God lived
serene and supreme before there was a creation and thus stands above and apart from that
which He has created.
No declaration
could be more appropriate as an introduction to Holy Writ. At the outset the reader is
introduced to an Omnipotent Being, possessed of personality, will, and purpose, who,
existing before all else and thus dependent on nought else, exercised His divine will and
“created the heaven and the earth.”
The real dividing line between a true
and a false belief on the subject of God and the origin of our earth is acceptance or
rejection of the truth set forth in this verse.
We know nothing
of the creation beyond the Mosaic declaration, “God said,” “and it was so,”
which is the mysterious and majestic overtone of the creation.
Without
form, and void. More exactly,
“waste and void,” tohu
wabohu. This
signifies a state of wasteness and emptiness, but without implying that the earth was once
perfect and then was made waste or desolate.
This picture of
creation is the basis of the rest of Scripture.
Job 26:7
demonstrates the correct meaning of this word. The second half of this passage states that
God “hangeth the earth upon nothing,” and the first half has the parallel “he
stretcheth out the north over tuho [the
emptiness].” This text in Job shows clearly the meaning of tuho in Gen. 1:2,
in which this and the synonymous word bohu indicate that
the earth was shapeless and lifeless. Its elements were all mingled together, completely
unorganized and inanimate.
On the time
aspect of the creation
of our earth and all upon it, Genesis makes two statements: (1) “In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth” (v. 1). (2) “And on the seventh day God ended
his work which he had made” (ch. 2:2). Related scriptures add nothing to what is set
forth in these two texts regarding the time involved in creation. To the question: When
did God create “the heaven and the earth”? we can only answer, “In the
beginning.” And to the question: When did God complete His work? we can only answer,
“On the seventh day God ended his work” (ch. 2:2), “for in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day”
(Ex. 20:11).
Be cautious to speak with certainty beyond what is
clearly revealed. The very fact that so much rests upon the creation record—even the
whole of Scripture—prompts the devout and prudent Bible student to conform his
declarations to the explicit words of Holy Writ. Indeed, when the broad fields of
speculation tempt him to roam afar in uncharted areas of time and space, he cannot do
better than to meet the temptation with the simple rejoinder, “It is written.”
There is always safety within the protecting bounds of Scriptural quotation marks.
The NT reveals much more about this CREATOR
God:
John 1.1-3,14…the creator Word
became flesh
Colossians 1.15-17…He created all
things
Hebrews 1.1-3…God created all
things through Jesus
âWhat was/is the Purpose of Creation? To
reveal God’s glory, and to populate the world.
The significance of Creation:
The antidote to idolatry
The foundation of true worship
The Sabbath – a memorial of
creation
Marriage – a Divine institution
The basis of true self-worth
The basis of true fellowship
Personal stewardship
Responsibility for the environment
Dignity of manual labor
The worth of the physical universe
The remedy for pessimism, loneliness,
and meaninglessness
The holiness of God’s law
The sacredness of life
âHas God finished His creation?
Christ and His creative word
The creative word today
Creation and salvation