TITLE: THE BATTLE FOR THE BEGINNING

TEXT: GENESIS 1, 2:1-9

INTRODUCTION: (1) BELIEF IN CREATION IS “NONSENSE.”

* CREATION IS “A RELIGIOUS VIEW THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SCIENCE.”

** REGULARLY, FROM THE AIRWAYS, TO NEWSPAPER ARTICLES TO SCHOOL CLASSROOMS WE HEAR STATEMENTS LIKE THESE.

*** THE BARRAGE OF NEW ARGUMENTS AND SCIENTIFIC “EVIDENCE” THAT “PROVE” EVOLUTION CAN SEEM OVERWHELMING TO BELIEVERS IN THE WORD OF GOD.

**** PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN THE ABSOLUTE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE ARE BRANDED AS IRRATIONAL IGNORANT RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS WHO STILL LIVE IN THE DARK AGES AND BELIEVE THE BIBLE’S FABLES ABOUT CREATION.

(2) THERE IS A BATTLE GOING ON IN OUR WORLD.

* IN FACT, THE BATTLE IS A RELIGIOUS BATTLE.

** FOR YOU SEE EVOLUTION IS A RELIGION. IT IS A HUMANISTIC WORLD VIEW OF RELATIVISTIC MORALITY THAT DENIES THE AUTHORITY OF A CREATOR OVER HIS CREATION.

*** AND THIS RELIGION IS PROPAGATED WITH GREAT ZEAL.

**** FOR YOU SEE EVOLUTION IS BASICALLY A RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND THIS PHILOSOPHY OR RELIGION CAN BE SUMMED UP IN WHAT IS CALLED NATURALISM.

(3) NATURALISM IS CLEARLY AS MUCH A RELIGION AS ANY THEISTIC WORLD-VIEW.

* WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY DEFINES RELIGION AS FOLLOWS: “A SET OF BELIEFS CONCERNING THE CAUSE, NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSE, A SPECIFIC FUNDAMENTAL SET OF BELIEFS AND PRACTICES GENERALLY AGREED UPON BY A NUMBER OF PERSONS OR SECTS.”

** “THE BODY OF PERSONS ADHERING TO A PARTICULAR SET OF BELIEFS AND PRACTICES. SOMETHING A PERSON BELIEVES IN AND FOLLOWS DEVOTEDLY.”

*** NOW CERTAINLY THOSE DEFINITIONS SUMMARIZE THE BELIEFS OF HUMANISTS, EVOLUTIONIST OR WHAT WE CAN CALL NATURALISTS.

**** NATURALISM IS THE VIEW THAT EVERY LAW AND EVERY FORCE OPERATING IN THE UNIVERSE IS NATURAL RATHER THAN MORAL, SPIRITUAL OR SUPERNATURAL.

(4) NATURALISM IS THE BELIEF THAT ALL PHENOMENA ARE COVERED BY LAWS OF SCIENCE AND THAT GOD AS THE FINAL CAUSE OF CREATION IS WITHOUT PROOF AND WITHOUT VALUE.

* NATURALISM IS ANTI-CREATOR AND REJECTS THE CONCEPT OF A PERSONAL GOD.

** BECAUSE OF THAT, MANY THINK AND ASSUME NATURALISM THEREFORE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION.

*** IN FACT, IT IS A COMMON MISUNDERSTANDING THAT NATURALISM EMBODIES SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVITY.

**** NATURALISTS PORTRAY THEIR SYSTEM AS A PHILOSOPHY THAT STANDS IN OPPOSITION TO ALL FAITH-BASED WORLD-VIEWS, MAKING IT SOUND THAT IT IS SCIENTIFICALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY SUPERIOR BECAUSE OF ITS SUPPOSED NON-RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.

(5) BUT THE REALITY OF THE MATTER IS RELIGION IS EXACTLY THE RIGHT WORD TO DESCRIBE NATURALISM.

* FOR ITS BELIEF SYSTEM, ITS ENTIRE PHILOSOPHY IS BUILT ON A FAITH BASED PREMISE.

** THE REASON BEING, ITS BASIC PRESUPPOSITION WHICH IS A BASIC REJECTION OF EVERYTHING SUPERNATURAL REQUIRES A GIANT LEAP OF FAITH. THEY ARE FAITH BASED IN NATURAL CAUSES AND RANDOM CHANGE OVER SUPERNATURAL CAUSE FOR CREATION.

*** ALONG THIS LINE OF THOUGHT, JOHN MACARTHUR WRITES IN HIS BOOK, “THE BATTLE FOR THE BEGINNING” AND I QUOTE:

**** “CONSIDER THE DOGMA: SCIENCE DEALS WITH WHAT CAN BE OBSERVED AND REPRODUCED BY EXPERIMENTATION. THE ORIGIN OF LIFE CAN BE NEITHER OBSERVED NOR REPRODUCED IN ANY LABORATORY.

* BY DEFINITION, THEN, TRUE SCIENCE CAN GIVE US NO KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER ABOUT WHERE WE CAME FROM OR HOW WE GOT HERE. BELIEF IN EVOLUTIONARY THEORY IS A MATTER OF SHEER FAITH. AND DOGMATIC BELIEF IN ANY NATURALISTIC THEORY IS NO MORE “SCIENTIFIC” THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF RELIGIOUS FAITH.

** MODERN NATURALISM IS OFTEN PROMULGATED WITH A MISSIONARY ZEAL THAT HAS POWERFUL RELIGIOUS OVERTONES. THE POPULAR FISH SYMBOL MANY CHRISTIANS PUT ON THEIR CAR NOW HAS A NATURALIST COUNTERPART: A FISH WITH FEET AND THE WORD DARWIN EMBOSSED INTO ITS SIDE.

*** THE INTERNET HAS BECOME NATURALISM’S BUSIEST MISSION FIELD, WHERE EVANGELISTS FOR THE CAUSE AGGRESSIVELY TRY TO DELIVER BENIGHTED SOULS WHO STILL CLING TO THEIR THEISTIC PRESUPPOSITIONS. JUDGING FROM THE TENOR OF SOME OF THE MATERIAL I HAVE READ SEEKING TO WIN CONVERTS TO NATURALISM, NATURALISTS ARE OFTEN DEDICATED TO THEIR FAITH WITH A DEVOUT PASSION THAT RIVALS OR EASILY EXCEEDS THE FANATICISM OF ANY RADICAL RELIGIOUS ZEALOT.”

**** NOW JOHN’S POINT IS CLEAR, THERE IS GREAT ZEAL FOR THIS BELIEF SYSTEM AND NATURALISM IS CLEARLY AS MUCH A RELIGION AS ANY OTHER RELIGION, OF COURSE A FALSE RELIGION.

(7) ITS A FALSE RELIGION THAT DETHRONES THE CREATOR AND HIS RIGHT OF AUTHORITY OVER HIS CREATION.

* NATURALISM PROMOTES RELATIVISM. IT PROMOTES THE BELIEF THAT WE AS HUMAN BEINGS ARE THE FINAL AUTHORITY.

** NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL ANYONE THAT HE IS WRONG. THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTES AND EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE.

*** NO LONGER IS THERE AN OUTSIDE SOURCE TO MAN’S EXISTENCE THAT RENDERS THINGS RIGHT AND WRONG. WE ARE THE FINAL JUDGE, NOT A CREATOR. WE ARE THE FINAL AUTHORITY, NOT A CREATOR.

**** WE DETERMINE WHAT IS RIGHT OR WRONG, NOT A CREATOR, AND WE ARE THE LAW, NOT THE CREATOR.

(8) PEOPLE DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES, NOT IN THE CREATOR’S EYES.

* THE NATURALIST’S RELIGION ERASES ALL MORAL AND ETHICAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

** IF THE IMPERSONAL WORLD IS ALL THERE IS, ALL THERE EVER WAS, AND ALL THERE EVER WILL BE, THEN MORALITY IS ULTIMATELY UP IN THE AIR FOR EVERYONE TO DO THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES.

*** BELOVED, IF THERE IS NO PERSONAL CREATOR TO WHOM HUMANITY IS ACCOUNTABLE AND IF THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST IS THE GOVERNING LAW OF THE UNIVERSE, ALL THE MORAL PRINCIPLES THAT NORMALLY REGULATE THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE ARE THROWN OUT.

**** NATURALISM AND EVOLUTION DENY CREATOR GOD AND GOD AS OUR FINAL JUDGE. THESE BELIEFS ELIMINATE FAITH IN GOD AND THEREBY DO AWAY WITH MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

(9) NATURALISM AND EVOLUTION WERE DEVISED BY SATAN TO EXPLAIN AWAY THE GOD OF THE BIBLE, NOT BECAUSE THEY REALLY BELIEVE A CREATOR WAS UNNECESSARY TO EXPLAIN HOW THINGS BEGAN, BUT BECAUSE THEY DID NOT WANT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE AS THEIR JUDGE AND ULTIMATE AUTHORITY.

* MARVIN L. LUBENOW WRITES AND I QUOTE: “THE REAL ISSUE IN THE CREATION/EVOLUTION DEBATE IS NOT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. THE REAL ISSUE IS THE NATURE OF GOD. TO THINK OF EVOLUTION AS BASICALLY ATHEISTIC IS TO MISUNDERSTAND THE UNIQUENESS OF EVOLUTION. EVOLUTION WAS NOT DESIGNED AS A GENERAL ATTACK AGAINST THEISM. IT WAS DESIGNED AS A SPECIFIC ATTACK AGAINST THE GOD OF THE BIBLE AND THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS CLEARLY REVEALED THROUGH THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION.

** OBVIOUSLY, IF A PERSON IS AN ATHEIST, IT WOULD BE NORMAL FOR HIM TO ALSO BE AN EVOLUTIONIST. BUT EVOLUTION IS AS COMFORTABLE WITH THEISM AS IT IS WITH ATHEISM. AN EVOLUTIONIST IS PERFECTLY FREE TO CHOOSE ANY GOD HE WISHES, AS LONG AS IT IS NOT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE.

*** THE GODS ALLOWED BY EVOLUTION ARE PRIVATE, SUBJECTIVE, AND ARTIFICIAL. THEY BOTHER NO ONE AND MAKE NO ABSOLUTE ETHICAL DEMANDS. HOWEVER, THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS THE CREATOR, SUSTAINER, SAVIOR, AND JUDGE. ALL ARE RESPONSIBLE TO HIM. HE HAS AN AGENDA THAT CONFLICTS WITH THAT OF SINFUL HUMANS.

**** FOR MAN TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD IS VERY AWESOME. FOR GOD TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF MAN IS VERY COMFORTABLE.”

(10) SIMPLY PUT, THE DRIVE BEHIND EVOLUTIONARY AND NATURALIST THOUGHT IS TO ELIMINATE THE GOD OF GENESIS 1-3 WHICH ARE PIVOTAL CHAPTERS AND DETHRONE GOD AS THE LAWGIVER.

* SO THERE REALLY IS A BATTLE GOING ON IN OUR WORLD FOR THE BEGINNING, THE BEGINNING CHAPTERS OF GENESIS THAT ESTABLISH GOD AS THE CREATOR AND AUTHORITY OF OUR LIVES.

** AND THAT IS THE TITLE OF OUR MESSAGE TODAY, “THE BATTLE FOR THE BEGINNING”.

*** AND UNDER THAT THERE WE’LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS.

**** NO. 1 THE FACT OF GOD CREATING THE UNIVERSE FROM SCRIPTURE; NO. 2 THE FICTION THAT THE DAYS OF CREATION WERE LONG AGES OR EPOCHS OF TIME AND NOT 24 HOUR DAYS; AND NO. 3 THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE IDEA THAT ADAM WAS NOT CREATED BY GOD AS MATURE HUMAN BEINGS.

(11) SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE FACT, THE FICTION AND THE FOOLISHNESS. AND FIRST OF ALL THE FACT. LOOK BACK TO GENESIS 1:1 PLEASE.

I. THE FACT, (READ GENESIS 1:1)

A. NOW THE FACT OF CREATION IS FOUND IN THE VERY FIRST VERSE OF THE BIBLE, WHICH TO ME SHOWS THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF THIS TRUTH.

* FOR IN ALL THE WAYS THE BIBLE COULD HAVE BEGUN, IT BEGINS IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.

** AND IT WOULD BE HARD TO STATE AN ANSWER TO THE GREAT COSMIC QUESTION OF HOW THE UNIVERSE CAME INTO EXISTENCE IN A CLEARER WAY THAN THIS.

*** BUT IN CONTRAST, HERE IS THE NATURALISTS FORMULA FOR THE UNIVERSE: “NOTHING TIMES NOBODY EQUALS EVERYTHING.”

**** NOW THINK ABOUT “NOTHING TIMES NOBODY EQUALS EVERYTHING.”

1. EVERYTHING EMERGED FROM NOTHING WITHOUT A CAUSE OR CREATOR AND WITHOUT ANY REASON.

* THERE IS NO CREATOR; THERE IS NO DESIGN OR PURPOSE. EVERYTHING WE SEE IN ITS COMPLEXITY AND DETAIL EMERGED AND EVOLVED BY PURE CHANCE FROM A TOTAL VOID FROM NOTHING.

** BUT THE BIBLE BEGINS WITH THE FACT THAT IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.

*** BELOVED, THE WORDS OF GENESIS 1:1 ARE CONCISE AND PRECISE BEYOND MERE HUMAN COMPOSITION AND WRITING.

**** THE REASON BEING, THEY ACCOUNT FOR EVERYTHING THAT NATURALISM AND EVOLUTION CANNOT EXPLAIN.

2. LET ME EXPLAIN. EVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHER HERBERT SPENCER, ONE OF CHARLES DARWIN’S EARLIEST AND MOST ENTHUSIASTIC ADVOCATES, OUTLINED FIVE “ULTIMATE SCIENTIFIC IDEAS.”

* WHAT ARE THEY? TIME, FORCE, ACTION, SPACE AND MATTER.

** NOW THESE ARE THE CATEGORIES THAT COMPRISE EVERYTHING THAT IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION.

*** NOTHING, I REPEAT NOTHING, CAN BE TRULY SAID TO EXIST OUTSIDE OF THEM.

3. BUT GET THIS! GENESIS 1:1 ACCOUNTS FOR ALL OF SPENCER’S CATEGORIES.

* “IN THE BEGINNING” – THAT’S TIME.

** “GOD” – THAT’S FORCE.

*** “CREATED” – THAT’S ACTION.

**** “THE HEAVEN” – THAT’S SPACE.

***** “AND THE EARTH” - THAT’S MATTER.

4. NOW THIS IS PROFOUND TO ME AND SHOWS THE ULTIMATE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF CREATOR GOD, FOR IN THE FIRST VERSE OF THE BIBLE, GOD LAID OUT PLAINLY – CLEARLY WHAT NO SCIENTIST OR PHILOSOPHER THOUGHT OF UNTIL THE 19TH CENTURY!

* MOREOVER, WHAT NATURALISM AND EVOLUTION STILL CANNOT POSSIBLY EXPLAIN – THE ACTUAL ORIGIN OF EVERYTHING THAT SCIENCE CAN OBSERVE, THE BIBLE – THE WORD OF GOD – EXPLAINS IN A FEW CONCISE WORDS IN ITS VERY FIRST VERSE.

** HENRY MORRIS WRITES: “GENESIS 1:1 IS UNIQUE IN ALL LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND PHILOSOPHY. EVERY OTHER SYSTEM OF COSMOGONY, WHETHER IN ANCIENT RELIGIOUS MYTHS OR MODERN SCIENTIFIC MODELS, STARTS WITH ETERNAL MATTER OR ENERGY IN SOME FORM, FROM WHICH OTHER ENTITIES WERE SUPPOSEDLY GRADUALLY DERIVED BY SOME PROCESS. ONLY THE BOOK OF GENESIS EVEN ATTEMPTS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ULTIMATE ORIGIN OF MATTER, SPACE, AND TIME; AND IT DOES SO UNIQUELY IN TERMS OF SPECIAL CREATION.”

*** AND GOD’S GREATNESS, POWER AND HIS OMNISCIENCE IS DECLARED IN THE VERY FIRST VERSE OF SCRIPTURE.

**** BUT THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, THERE ARE MANY OTHER VERSES THAT DECLARE CLEARLY THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR AND EITHER YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR YOU DON’T.

5. LET ME GIVE YOU SOME OF THOSE SCRIPTURES.

* EXODUS 20:11 SAYS: “FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, AND RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY; THEREFORE THE LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY AND MADE IT HOLY.”

**I CHRONICLES 16:26 SAYS: “FOR ALL THE GODS OF THE PEOPLES ARE IDOLS, BUT THE LORD MADE THE HEAVENS.”

*** NEHEMIAH 9:6 – “YOU ALONE ARE THE LORD. YOU HAVE MADE THE HEAVENS, THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS WITH ALL THEIR HOST, THE EARTH AND ALL THAT IS ON IT, THE SEAS AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM. YOU GIVE LIFE TO ALL OF THEM AND THE HEAVENLY HOST BOWS DOWN BEFORE YOU.”

**** JOB 38:4-11 WHERE GOD QUESTIONS JOB FROM THE REALM OF CREATION, IT SAYS: “WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH? TELL ME, IF YOU HAVE UNDERSTANDING.

V. 5 – WHO SET ITS MEASUREMENTS? SINCE YOU KNOW. OR WHO STRETCHED THE LINE ON IT?

V. 6 – ON WHAT WERE ITS BASES SUNK? OR WHO LAID ITS CORNERSTONE.

V. 7 – WHEN THE MORNING STARS SANG TOGETHER AND ALL THE SONS OF GOD SHOUTED FOR JOY?

V. 8 – OR WHO ENCLOSED THE SEA WITH DOORS WHEN, BURSTING FORTH, IT WENT OUT FROM THE WOMB.

V. 9 – WHEN I MADE A CLOUD IT’S GARMENT AND THICK DARKNESS IT’S SWADDLING BAND

V. 10 – AND I PLACED BOUNDARIES ON IT AND SET A BOLT AND DOORS.

V. 11 – AND I SAID, ‘THUS FAR YOU SHALL COME, BUT NO FARTHER; AND HERE SHALL YOUR PROUD WAVES STOP’?”

6. PSALM 33:6&7 – “BY THE WORD OF THE LORD THE HEAVENS WERE MADE, AND BY THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH ALL THEIR HOST.

V. 7 – HE GATHERS THE WATERS OF THE SEA TOGETHER AS A HEAP; HE LAYS UP THE DEEPS IN STOREHOUSES.”

* ALSO READ PSALM 33:8&9.

** PSALM 89:11 SAYS: “THE HEAVENS ARE YOURS, THE EARTH ALSO IS YOURS; THE WORLD AND ALL IT CONTAINS, YOU HAVE FOUNDED THEM.”

*** PSALM 115:15 – “MAY YOU BE BLESSED OF THE LORD, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.”

**** PSALM 121:2 – “MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH.”

7. PSALM 146:6 – “WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM; WHO KEEPS FAITH FOREVER.”

* READ PSALM 148:5.

** ECCLESIASTES 12:1 SAYS: “REMEMBER ALSO YOUR CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH, BEFORE THE EVIL DAYS COME AND THE YEARS DRAW NEAR WHEN YOU WILL SAY, “I HAVE NO DELIGHT IN THEM.”

*** ISAIAH 40:26 – “LIFT UP YOUR EYES ON HIGH AND SEE WHO HAS CREATED THESE STARS, THE ONE WHO LEADS FORTH THEIR HOST BY NUMBER, HE CALLS THEM ALL BY NAME; BECAUSE OF THE GREATNESS OF HIS MIGHT AND THE STRENGTH OF HIS POWER, NOT ONE OF THEM IS MISSING.”

**** ISAIAH 40:28 – “DO YOU NOT KNOW? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? THE EVERLASTING GOD, THE LORD, THE CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH DOES NOT BECOME WEARY OR TIRED.

8. ISAIAH 44:24 SAYS: THUS SAYS THE LORD, YOUR REDEEMER, AND THE ONE WHO FORMED YOU FROM THE WOMB, “I, THE LORD, AM THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS, STRETCHING OUT THE HEAVENS BY MYSELF AND SPREADING OUT THE EARTH ALL ALONE.”

* ISAIAH 45:18 SAYS: FOR THUS SAYS THE LORD, WHO CREATED THE HEAVENS (HE IS THE GOD WHO FORMED THE EARTH AND MADE IT, HE ESTABLISHED IT AND DID NOT CREATE IT A WASTE PLACE, BUT FORMED IT TO BE INHABITED), “I AM THE LORD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE.

** JEREMIAH 10:12 SAYS: “IT IS HE WHO MADE THE EARTH BY HIS POWER, WHO ESTABLISHED THE WORLD BY HIS WISDOM; AND BY HIS UNDERSTANDING HE HAS STRETCHED OUT THE HEAVENS.”

*** READ JEREMIAH 32:17.

**** PAUL IN HIS SERMON ON MARS HILL SAID IN ACTS 17:24 – “THE GOD WHO MADE THE WORLD AND ALL THINGS IN IT, SINCE HE IS LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, DOES NOT DWELL IN TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS.”

9. READ ROMANS 1:20-22 WHICH SUMMARIZES OUR SOCIETY TODAY.

* SPEAKING OF CHRIST IT SAYS IN COLOSSIANS 1:16&17 – “FOR BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED, BOTH IN THE HEAVENS AND ON EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THRONES OR DOMINIONS OR RULERS OR AUTHORITIES – ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM.

V. 17 – HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER.”

** READ HEBREWS 1:1&2.

*** READ HEBREWS 11:3.

**** READ REVELATION 4:11.

10. AND THEN REVELATION 14:7 SAYS: AND HE SAID WITH A LOUD VOICE, “FEAR GOD, AND GIVE HIM GLORY, BECAUSE THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT HAS COME; WORSHIP HIM WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND SEA AND SPRINGS OF WATERS.”

* NOW I’VE GIVEN YOU A LOT OF VERSES THAT COMMUNICATE THE CLEAR FACT THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR.

** AND I’VE NOT GIVEN YOU EVERY VERSE THAT DECLARES THIS TRUTH, ONLY A SAMPLING.

*** AND HERE’S MY POINT: THE STARTING POINT FOR CHRISTIANITY IS NOT MATTHEW 1:1, BUT GENESIS 1:1.

**** THE CREATION ACCOUNT IS WHERE GOD STARTS HIS ACCOUNT OF HISTORY. AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ALTER THE BEGINNING WITHOUT IMPACTING THE REST OF THE STORY – NOT TO MENTION THE ENDING.

11. IF GENESIS 1 IS NOT ACCURATE, THEN THERE’S NO WAY TO BE CERTAIN THAT THE REST OF SCRIPTURE TELLS THE TRUTH.

* SO THE RAMIFICATIONS OF REJECTING GOD AS CREATOR AS THE BIBLE PRESENTS ARE HUGE, MASSIVE, GIGANTIC, BIG TIME.

** YOU MUST REJECT THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE. FOR THE FACT OF CREATION IS CLEARLY COMMUNICATED BY THE BIBLE.

*** WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE FICTION. LOOK BACK TO GENESIS 1 PLEASE.

II. THE FICTION (READ GENESIS 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, V. 31 AND GENESIS 2:2)

A. NOW THE BIBLE COMMUNICATES THAT CREATION TOOK PLACE IN SIX LITERAL DAYS, THAT’S WHAT THE CLEAR PLAIN TRUTH OF GENESIS AND OTHER SCRIPTURES COMMUNICATE.

* BUT FICTION ABOUT THE DAYS OF CREATION ARE BEING PROPAGATED BY SO CALLED EVANGELICALS WHO SPIRITUALIZE AND REINTERPRET THE TEXT ALLEGORICALLY TO MAKE IT MEAN WHAT THEY WANT IT TO MEAN.

** AND THAT IS THE DAYS OF CREATION IN GENESIS 1 ARE DISTINCT ERAS, EPOCHS OF TIME, LONG AGES UP TO BILLIONS OF YEARS, SIX LONG GEOLOGICAL AGES.

*** THEY COMMUNICATE WHAT IS CALLED THEISTIC EVOLUTION. AND THEISTIC EVOLUTIONISTS CLAIM THAT GOD INITIATED LIFE ON EARTH AND ALLOWED EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES TO BRING MAN WHERE HE IS WITH THE HELP OF GOD.

**** THEY COMMUNICATE THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE OF THE BIOLOGICAL PROCESS CALLED EVOLUTION. GOD DIRECTS AND GUIDES THE UNFOLDING OF LIFE FORMS OVER MILLIONS EVEN BILLIONS OF YEARS.

**** AND ONE POPULAR VIEW HELD BY THOSE WHO BELIEVE THIS IS CALLED THE “FRAMEWORK HYPOTHESIS.”

1. AND THIS BELIEF COMMUNICATES THAT THE DAYS OF CREATION ARE NOT EVEN DISTINCT ERAS, BUT OVERLAPPING STAGES OF A LONG EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS.

* ACCORDING TO THIS VIEW, THE 6 DAYS DESCRIBED IN GENESIS 1 DO NOT SET FORTH A CHRONOLOGY OF ANY KIND, BUT RATHER A METAPHORICAL “FRAMEWORK” BY WHICH THE CREATIVE PROCESS IS DESCRIBED FOR OUR FINITE MINDS.

** THE GENESIS CREATION ACCOUNT IS THUS REDUCED TO A LITERARY DEVICE – AN EXTENDED METAPHOR THAT IS NOT TO BE ACCEPTED AT FACE VALUE.

*** BUT THE DANGEROUS PROBLEM WITH THEIR BELIEF, WHICH IN MY MIND IS FICTION, IS THE FRAMEWORK HYPOTHESIS EMPLOYS A DESTRUCTIVE METHOD OF INTERPRETATION.

**** FOR IF THE PLAIN MEANING OF GENESIS 1 MAY BE WRITTEN OFF AND THE LANGUAGE TREATED AS NOTHING MORE THAN A LITERARY DEVICE, WHY NOT DO THE SAME WITH GENESIS 3 AND THE FALL OF MANKIND WITH SIN, AND HOST OF OTHER FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS IN GENESIS.

2. YET THE SIMPLE, RATHER OBVIOUS FACT IS NO ONE WOULD EVER THINK THE TIMEFRAME FOR CREATION WAS ANYTHING OTHER THAN A NORMAL WEEK OF 7 DAYS FROM READING THE BIBLE AND ALLOWING IT TO INTERPRET ITSELF.

* YOU HAVE TO COME AND IMPORT YOUR DEDUCTIONS, AND ANOTHER PHILOSOPHICAL GRID TO COME UP WITH THOSE KINDS OF INTERPRETATIONS.

** FOR NOTHING IN THE TEXT SUGGESTS THAT THE DAYS WERE LONG EPOCHS OF TIME.

*** FOR EXAMPLE, THE DAYS ARE DEFINED IN GENESIS 1:5: “GOD CALLED THE LIGHT DAY, AND THE DARKNESS HE CALLED NIGHT. SO THE EVENING AND THE MORNING WERE THE FIRST DAY.”

**** THESE DAYS HAD CLEARLY DEFINED BOUNDARIES, THERE WAS THE SEPARATION BY PERIODS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS WHICH WE HAVE IN 24 HOUR DAYS. WE HAVE A DAY AND NIGHT CYCLE.

3. BEYOND THAT, THE WEEK ITSELF, 7 DAYS, DEFINES THE PATTERN OF HUMAN LABOR AND REST, WHICH WE USE IN OUR CALENDAR TO THIS DAY.

* AND IF THERE IS ANY QUESTION BEYOND THESE POINTS, THE TRUTH OF A LITERAL SIX DAY CREATION WEEK WAS WRITTEN INTO THE 10 COMMANDMENTS IN EXODUS 20:9-11.

** EXODUS 20:9-11 SAYS: “SIX DAYS YOU SHALL LABOR AND DO ALL YOUR WORK.

V. 10 – BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS A SABBATH OF THE LORD YOUR GOD; IN IT YOU SHALL NOT DO ANY WORK, YOU OR YOUR SON OR YOUR DAUGHTER, YOUR MALE OR YOUR FEMALE SERVANT OR YOUR CATTLE OR YOUR SOJOURNER WHO STAYS WITH YOU.

V. 11 – FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, AND RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY; THEREFORE THE LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY AND MADE IT HOLY.”

*** BEYOND THAT NOTE THIS, GOD REITERATED THE SAME TRUTH AGAIN WHEN HE SET FORTH THE SPECIFIC SABBATH REQUIREMENTS IN EXODUS 31:16&17.

**** EXODUS 31:16&17 SAYS: “SO THE SONS OF ISRAEL SHALL OBSERVE THE SABBATH, TO CELEBRATE THE SABBATH THROUGHOUT THEIR GENERATIONS AS A PERPETUAL COVENANT.

V. 17 – IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND THE SONS OF ISRAEL FOREVER; FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, BUT ON THE SEVENTH DAY HE CEASED FORM LABOR, AND WAS REFRESHED.”

4. NOW THE WHOLE POINT AND TRUTH OF A DAY IS NULLIFIED IF THE DAYS CAN BE TURNED INTO TIME PERIODS OF INDEFINITE DURATION.

* BUT THEN THE ARGUMENT COMES UP, BUT RAY, THE WORD DAY IS USED ELSEWHERE TO SPEAK OF LONG OR INDETERMINATE PERIODS OF TIME.

** FOR EXAMPLE, “THE DAY OF THE LORD” IS AN EXPRESSION USED THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE TO SIGNIFY AN ESCHATOLOGICAL ERA IN WHICH GOD POURS OUT HIS WRATH UPON THE EARTH.

*** MOREOVER, II PETER 3:8 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** NOW WHAT ABOUT THAT RAY? WELL, THE WORD DAY IS SOMETIMES USED FIGURATIVELY TO SPEAK OF AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD OF TIME, LIKE THE “DAY OF YOUR GLADNESS” IN NUMBERS 10:10. BUT CONTEXT IS THE CLEAR INTERPRETER, AND THOSE CONTEXTS EXPLAIN WHEN A DAY IS NOT A SOLAR DAY.

5. AND THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE, WHENEVER THE WORD DAY IS MODIFIED BY A NUMBER, FOR EXAMPLE JESUS ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY IN I CORINTHIANS 15:4, THE CLEAR REFERENCE TO A SOLAR 24 HOUR DAY.

* NOTHING IN SCRIPTURE ITSELF PERMITS THE VIEW THAT THE DAYS OF CREATION WERE ANYTHING OTHER THAN LIT. 24 HOUR DAYS.

** ONE LAST THOUGHT ON THIS POINT. THE CREATION OF TIME IS IMPLIED BY THE WORDS IN THE BEGINNING, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BASEBALL AND SCORING A LOT OF RUNS IN A BIG INNING.

*** BUT IN THE BEGINNING, THE BEGINNING OF WHAT?

*** TIME ITSELF. BEFORE THIS, THERE WAS NO MEASUREMENT OF TIME AND NO PASSAGE OF TIME.

6. GOD HIMSELF ALREADY EXISTED AND HAD NO BEGINNING, HE IS ETERNAL. BUT ALONG WITH THE UNIVERSE GOD CREATED TIME. TIME EMERGED FROM ETERNITY.

* AND GOD IN GENESIS ONE MEASURES IT BY DAYS, 7 TO BE EXACT, THE MEASURE OF A WEEK, WHICH TO THIS DAY IS REFLECTED IN THE CALENDAR BY WHICH THE ENTIRE WORLD MEASURES.

** BUT QUICKLY I MUST MOVE ON TO OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE FOOLISHNESS. LOOK AT GENESIS 1:27 PLEASE.

III. THE FOOLISHNESS, (READ GENESIS 1:27, 2:7 & 15)

A. NOW QUICKLY, BEAR IN MIND THAT THE CREATION OF ADAM OCCURRED ON THE SAME DAY THAT LAND ANIMALS WERE CREATED ON DAY 6.

* AND ADAM, AS WE SEE FROM THE TEXT, WAS SPECIALLY AND PERSONALLY CREATED AS A MATURE MAN, MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.

** AND THERE IS NO WAY TO DO JUSTICE TO THE TEXT AND MAINTAIN THE FOOLISH NOTION THAT ADAM EVOLVED FROM SOME ALREADY-EXISTING FORM OF ANIMAL LIFE OR AN AMOEBA.

*** THEN GENESIS 2:7 IS EXPLICIT, (READ IT).

**** NOW GENESIS 2 ALSO DESCRIBES HOW THE FIRST WOMAN EVE WAS MADE FROM THE RIB OF HER HUSBAND IN V. 22.

1. SO THE MAN AND THE WOMAN WERE EACH CREATED INDIVIDUALS, BOTH OF THEM BY DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE ACTS OF GOD.

* IN GENESIS 5:1&2, THE GENEALOGIES IN GENESIS BEGIN WITH A REAFFIRMATION OF THIS TRUTH.

** GENESIS 5:1&2 SAYS: “THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM. IN THE DAY WHEN GOD CREATED MAN, HE MADE HIM IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD.

V. 2 – HE CREATED THEM MALE AND FEMALE, AND HE BLESSED THEM AND NAMED THEM MAN IN THE DAY WHEN THEY WERE CREATED.”

*** NOW THOSE VERSES OPEN AND CLOSE WITH REFERENCES TO A SINGLE DAY IN WHICH GOD MADE HUMANITY.

**** AND REPEATEDLY SCRIPTURE REFERS BACK TO THAT MOMENTOUS DAY AS DEUTERONOMY 4:32 DOES, AS MANKIND IS THE CROWN OF HIS CREATION.

2. AND EVEN IN GENESIS 2 A REAL MAN ADAM WAS GIVEN AUTHORITY TO CULTIVATE THE GARDEN OF EDEN, AND GAVE ADAM THE AUTHORITY TO NAME THE LIVING CREATURES.

* AND THEN ADAM AND EVE ARE MARRIED BY GOD IN THE END OF GENESIS TWO, TWO REAL HUMAN BEINGS THAT ARE ADULTS AND WHO PRO-CREATED IN GENESIS 4.

** AND AGAIN MY POINT IS, IT IS FOOLISHNESS TO BELIEVE THAT ADAM EVOLVED, GOD CLEARLY CREATED HIM, NOT AN ANIMAL, NOT A MICRO-ORGANISM, A LIVING ADULT HUMAN BEING MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE TO BRING GLORY TO GOD.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY: (1) IN APPLICATION I WANT TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS AS WE’VE CONSIDERED JUST A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE BATTLE FOR THE BEGINNING.

* AS WE CONTEMPLATE OUR ORIGIN: WHO IS IN CONTROL OF THE UNIVERSE? IS THERE SOMEONE WHO IS SOVEREIGN – A LAWGIVER? YES. IS THERE A UNIVERSAL JUDGE? YES. IS THERE A TRANSCENDENT MORAL STANDARD TO LIVE BY? YES.

** IS THERE SOMEONE TO WHOM WE WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE? YES. WILL THERE BE A FINAL ASSESSMENT OF HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES? YES.

*** WILL THERE BE ANY FINAL JUDGMENT? YES.

**** AND BELOVED, THOSE ARE THE VERY QUESTIONS THAT NATURALISTS AND EVOLUTIONISTS WANT TO AVOID BY THEIR RELIGION.

(2) THERE IS A FINAL AUTHORITY, A CREATOR GOD IF YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE. AND YOU NEED TO SURRENDER TO HIS DIVINE AUTHORITY AND SUBMIT TO HIM.

* AND IF YOU TAMPER WITH THE BOOK OF GENESIS, YOU UNDERMINE THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY.

** AND YOU CANNOT TREAT GENESIS 1 AS A FABLE OR A MERE POETIC SAGA WITHOUT SEVERE IMPLICATIONS TO THE REST OF THE SCRIPTURE.

*** IF THE STARTING POINT IS WRONG, THEN THE BIBLE ITSELF IS BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF FALSEHOOD.

**** MAY WE BATTLE FOR THE BEGINNING AS FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. READ JUDE V. 3.