Creation Why does it matter Why does it

Creation… Why does it matter? Why does it matter what a Christian believes about Creation and Evolution?

Why Does It Matter? • “Why can’t we just teach the essentials? ” – Jesus Christ is the Son of God – He died on the cross for our sins – He was raised from the dead • What do you mean by sin? – Rebellion against God? • How do you know this? – When did it start? • http: //www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v 19/i 2/narrow. asp The narrow road by Ken Ham

Why Does It Matter? • This is the ultimate “essential. ” It is the first order of essence; an inseparable part of the gospel. Jesus IS the Creator! Creation IS the Gospel!

Creation IS the Gospel John 1: 1 -3, 10 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made… 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.

Creation IS the Gospel Colossians 1: 15 -17 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 for by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! Paul preached the Gospel starting with Moses and the prophets (Acts 28: 23). “…there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. ”

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! Whenever Paul presented the Gospel to “Greeks” (non-Jews), he began with the Creator (Acts 14 and 17).

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! Acts 14 V“…abandon these silly god-superstitions and embrace God himself, the living God. We don't make God; he makes us, and all of this — sky, earth, sea, and everything in them. " Acts 14: 15 b (The Message)

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! Acts 17 V “…When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I'm here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with. The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land …He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race …” Acts 17: 23 -26 (The Message)

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! Paul realized that before he could preach about the Cross of Jesus, he had to establish the foundation on which it rests.

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! The only reason the Gospel could be preached to Jews without “starting” in Genesis is that the Jews already believed the Genesis account. They already believed, at least in general terms, Moses and the prophets.

Creation IS the Gospel The Gospel starts with Genesis! • Our rebellion, our sin, started with the Fall. • The Fall is an essential reality to our Faith. • The Fall affected all aspects of man as well as the world, and the rest of the universe.

Creation IS the Gospel • The Fall brought death • As a result, death came into the universe. Death is an intrusion. Man was not created to die. We have a right to cry at a funeral. Romans 5: 12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. ” http: //www. answersingenesis. org/home/area/feedback/2006/0804. asp Why is biblical creation important? By Donald E. Chittick

Creation IS the Gospel • The Fall brought death • Death entered the world when man sinned. In fact, man’s sin affected the entire creation Romans 8: 22, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. ” http: //www. answersingenesis. org/home/area/feedback/2006/0804. asp Why is biblical creation important? By Donald E. Chittick

Creation IS the Gospel • The Fall brought death • Romans 6: 23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ” http: //www. answersingenesis. org/home/area/feedback/2006/0804. asp Why is biblical creation important? By Donald E. Chittick

It’s the Foundation of our Faith Every single Biblical doctrine of theology, directly or indirectly, ultimately has its basis in the book of Genesis. http: //www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v 6/i 2/creation. asp The relevance of creation by Ken Ham

It’s the Foundation of our Faith Let’s list a few: Marriage Clothes Law Morality Death Sin Murder Adultery

It’s the Foundation of our Faith If you destroy the foundation of something, you destroy the “something. ” V If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11: 3 That is why Satan is so adamant about destroying belief in Genesis!

Believing in Evolution… • Casts Doubt on God’s Word • Attacks Inerrancy of Scripture • Undermines Authority of Scripture • Calls Jesus a liar • Calls God Evil • Is ungodly doctrine

Casts Doubt on God’s Word To believe in Evolution in ANY form, you must place death before sin. However, if death was around for millions of years before man, the idea of death “the wages of Where does itbeing stop? sin” is a myth. Death was already here! If you’re going to cast doubt on the “six days” in Genesis chapter 1 in order to fit millions of years into the Bible, you also cast doubt on Romans 5: 12 -14, 6: 23, and 8: 22, the verses we read earlier, and many other verses.

Casts Doubt on God’s Word • …the whole justification of Jesus' life and death is predicated on the existence of Adam and the forbidden fruit he and Eve ate. Without the original sin, who needs to be redeemed? Without Adam's fall into a life of constant sin terminated by death, what purpose is there to Christianity? None. http: //www. christiananswers. net/q-eden/edn-c 003. html

Casts Doubt on God’s Word Adam and Eve? • Virtually every high school student understands that in the evolutionary description of our origins there is no place for an Adam or an Eve, an Eden, or a forbidden fruit. • Evolution means a development from one form to the next to meet the ever-changing challenges from an ever-changing nature. There is no fall from a previous state of sublime perfection. http: //www. christiananswers. net/q-eden/edn-c 003. html

Casts Doubt on God’s Word • Without Adam, without the original sin, Jesus Christ is reduced to a man with a mission on the wrong planet!“ http: //www. christiananswers. net/q-eden/edn-c 003. html

Attacks Inerrancy of Scripture • We say we believe in the Inerrancy of Scripture. • Are parts of God’s Word wrong? • If one part is wrong, how do we know other parts aren’t wrong?

Attacks Inerrancy of Scripture • Jesus indicated we are to believe the writings of Moses: V “… ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. ’” Lk. 16: 31 V “… ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!’ ” Lk. 24: 25

Attacks Inerrancy of Scripture • What books did Moses write? – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. • What is the Book of Moses most quoted by Jesus? – Genesis • What is the Book of Moses most quoted in the New Testament? – Genesis

Attacks Inerrancy of Scripture • Was Jesus telling us to believe only what Moses wrote about Him? • No, he said “…all that the prophets have spoken. ” • If all of what the prophets and Moses wrote is not true, why should a person rely on any of it?

Undermines Authority of Scripture • Can we throw out the parts of God’s Word we don’t like? • The only way we know anything about being a Christian is through God’s Word. • Without God’s Word, there can be no Christians, for we would know nothing about Jesus Christ and what he has done for all people.

Undermines Authority of Scripture • Once you start reinterpreting some of Scripture according to man’s theories, all of Scripture becomes subject to interpretation. • All truth becomes relative.

Undermines Authority of Scripture • We have faith in Jesus Christ, and we believe things he believed and taught: God’s Word

Undermines Authority of Scripture • Jesus is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1: 14 • Believing God’s Word is what it means to be a Christian. • If you don’t like God’s Word, perhaps you should be something else.

Undermines Authority of Scripture • Jesus is the “last Adam. ” V “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life -giving spirit. ” 1 Corinthians 15: 45 • If the first Adam is allegorical, why should the last Adam be real?

Undermines Authority of Scripture • Adam’s sin brought physical death V “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ” 1 Corinthians 15: 21 -22 • Jesus’ sacrifice brought physical resurrection.

Calls Jesus a Liar! V “. . . the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar. . . ” 1 John 5: 10 V “. . . let God be found true, though every man be found a liar. . . ” Romans 3: 4 V “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. ’ ” Romans 4: 3 V “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. ” Psalm 119: 160

Calls Jesus a Liar! Jesus referred to Genesis and the Old Testament as truth many times: Reference Genesis Topic Genesis Reference Matthew 19: 4 Created male and female 1: 27, 5: 2 Mark 10: 6 Created male and female 1: 27, 5: 2 Matthew 19: 56 Cleave to his wife; become one flesh 2: 24 Mark 10: 79 Cleave to his wife, become one flesh 2: 24 Matthew 23: 35 Righteous Abel 4: 4 Luke 11: 51 Blood of Abel 4: 8 -11 Matthew 24: 37 -39 Noah and the Flood 6: 1 -22, 7: 1 -24, 8: 1 -22 Mark 13: 19 Creation which God created 1: 1, 2: 4 John 8: 44 Father of lies 3: 45 Old Testament Luke 16: 31 Luke 24: 25 Moses and the Prophets Believe all that the prophets have spoken *Does the New Testament Support Genesis 1 -11? , In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, By Dr. Walt Brown. http: //www. creationscience. com/onlinebook/FAQ 44. html

Calls Jesus a Liar! If Jesus referred to Genesis and the writings of Moses and the prophets as truth, and they are not true, Jesus is a liar.

Calls God Evil! Our God is Good! All the time! Right?

Calls God Evil! Is disease a good thing? Is suffering a good thing? Is cancer a good thing? Is death a good thing?

Calls God Evil! If you try to add millions of years to the Bible, you’ve got millions of years of death and suffering before sin. — And God called it good!

Calls God Evil! Billions of Dead Things Before Sin • The fossil record is “Billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the earth. ” -Ken Ham • God says death came into the world through sin after creation was finished. • Under evolutionary hypothesis, the fossil record marks millions of years of suffering and death. • If you try to say God created through evolution, then you have millions of years of suffering and death before sin. • When God finished his creation, He called it “very good. ” • How could a good God call suffering and death “very good? ” (Gen. 1: 31)

Calls God Evil! Adding millions of years to the Bible in ANY form says God used suffering, terror, and death to create —over and over again. It says God created disease and malady, corruption and deformedness. How could God be good if He did this?

Calls God Evil! Many evolutionists, including the late Carl Sagan, point this out in ridicule. “Evolution would be the most wasteful, inefficient, and cruel process that could ever be conceived by which to ‘create’ human beings. It is absurd to suggest that the omnipotent, omniscient, loving, and saving God of the Bible could ever be guilty of such a thing!” – The Long War Against God, Dr. Henry Morris, p. 109

Calls God Evil! Atheists seem to understand the situation better than the majority of Christians. Here’s a quote from the “American Atheist” magazine: “Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science [sic] to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary. . If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing!” – Genesis and Evolution, American Atheist 30 (Jan. 1988): 7, as quoted in The Long War Against God, Dr. Henry Morris, p. 119

Calls God Evil! Atheist Jacques Monod (noted for his contributions to molecular biology and philosophy) said: ‘… selection is the blindest, and most cruel way of evolving new species, and more complex and refined organisms … the more cruel because it is a process of elimination, of destruction. The struggle for life and the elimination of the weakest is a horrible process, against which our whole modern ethic revolts. An ideal society is a non-selective society, it is one where the weak are protected; which is exactly the reverse of the so-called natural law. I AM SURPRISED THAT A CHRISTIAN WOULD DEFEND THE IDEA THAT THIS IS THE PROCESS WHICH GOD MORE OR LESS SET UP IN ORDER TO HAVE EVOLUTION’ (emphasis added). • The relevance of creation –Quoted from an interview broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission on the June 10 th, 1976 as a tribute to Monod and entitled ‘The Secret of Life’, by Ken Ham http: //www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v 6/i 2/creation. asp

Ungodly Doctrine A Christian must not believe in Evolution because… • It’s the doctrine of atheists – Its purpose is to explain our existence without God Why should we adopt an explanation that doesn’t need God? • It’s the lie from Satan – “Did God really say…(Genesis 3: 1) He created in six days? ” The loss of faith comes from doubting the Word of God.

What Is The Gospel? • Part I – Man was created with no imperfection; designed to live forever – Man had fellowship with God – Man rebelled and became separated from God – Man became cursed with death

What Is The Gospel? • Part II – God provided a path of redemption through death – Jesus, God’s son, took the penalty for our sin, and conquered death – Through faith in Jesus, we can spend eternity with God.

What Is The Gospel? • Part III – New Heavens – New Earth – New Jerusalem – All things restored to what they would have been all along: Life without suffering or death in a perfect place with our Redeemer and God. His name be praised forever!

What Is The Gospel? Amen.

References • The Relevance of Creation By Ken Ham http: //www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v 6/i 2/creation. asp • Creation Evangelism (Part II of Relevance of Creation) By Ken Ham http: //www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v 6/i 2/creation. II. asp • Evolution or Creation: What difference does it make? http: //www. christiananswers. net/q-eden/edn-c 003. html • Why is biblical creation important? By Donald E. Chittick http: //www. answersingenesis. org/home/area/feedback/2006/0804. asp • Does the New Testament Support Genesis 1 -11? , In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, By Dr. Walt Brown. http: //www. creationscience. com/onlinebook/FAQ 44. html