Genesis Chapters 1 2 Creation Foundation of Our

Genesis Chapters 1 -2 Creation: Foundation of Our Faith Dr. Heinz Lycklama heinz@osta. com www. osta. com/messages

Biblical Creation n n The 7 C’s of History Comparing Gen. 1 -2 and Rev. 21 -22 Creation According to Gen. Chapters 1 -2 OT/NT References to Gen. Chapters 1 -11 Compromising Theories n n n n Gap Theory Theistic Evolution Theory Progressive Creationism Day-Age Theory Framework Hypothesis Conclusions Questions and Answers @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 2

The 7 C’s of History n n n n Creation – Ex Nihilo, Gen. 1 -2 Corruption – The Fall Catastrophe – Noah’s Flood Confusion – Tower of Babel Christ – First Coming Cross – Sacrifice Consummation – New Creation, Rev. 21 - 22 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 3

Contrasts Between Old & New Worlds Probationary World (Gen. ) Eternal World (Rev. ) Division of light and darkness (1: 4) No night there (21: 25) Division of land sea (1: 10) No more sea (21: 1) Rule of sun and moon (1: 16) No need of sun or moon (21: 23) Man in a prepared garden (2: 8, 9) Man in a prepared city (21: 2) River flowing out of Eden (2: 10) River flowing from God’s throne (22: 1) Gold in the land (2: 12) Gold in the city (21: 21) Tree of life in midst of the garden (2: 9) Tree of life throughout the city (22: 2) @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 4

The Author of Genesis n n n “These are the generations of. . . ” marks termination of one narrative, beginning of another Different original authors, Moses the editor Gen 2: 4 “this is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created” Gen. 5: 1 “This is the book of the generations of Adam. . ” Gen. 6: 9 “These are the records of the generations of Noah. . ” etc. 5 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Creation According to Gen. 1 -2 n n Gen. 1: 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Significance of 1 st verse n n n Written by God Refutes false religions and gods Three key concepts: 1. 2. 3. Days of Creation Kinds of living organisms And God said … @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 6

To Begin the Discussion … • In 1903, a British philosopher, Herbert Spencer, made a profound scientific statement: “Everything in the universe can be explained by five basic things - space, matter, time, force, and action. ” • Spencer, an evolutionist, was a contemporary of Charles Darwin, the British scientist credited with popularizing the concept of evolution. He (Spencer) was given a prestigious award by the British Science Society at the time. This was considered to be a major contribution to science. And it is, until you realize that … 7 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

What Does The 1 st Bible Verse Say? n n Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote in Gen. 1: 1: “In the beginning (time) God (force) created (action) the heavens (space) and the earth (matter). ” What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that Moses was educated in the tradition of the Egyptians. They believed that only the ocean existed at first. An egg/flower appeared and the sun god was born. The sun god had four children, of whom one was Geb (the earth). They believed that the earth was a flat disk afloat on the river of the ocean. None of this mythology of the time was included in the book of Genesis. 8 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Gen. 1: 1 Refutes Man’s False Philosophies Philosophy Refuted Because: Atheism The universe was created by God Pantheism God is transcendent to that which He created Polytheism One God created all things Materialism Matter had a beginning Dualism God was alone when He created Humanism God, not man, is the ultimate reality Evolution God created all things @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 9

Model of Creation n n The Bible is the inerrant Word of God is Creator n n n Man is created n n In God’s image – Gen. 1: 26 -27 Creation is dependent on God Man is fallen and dependent on God Creation and Science must be coherent and consistent n n n Six days of Creation – Gen. 1: 1 – 2: 3; Ex. 20: 11 Creatures created/reproduce after their kind – Gen. 1 (10 x) God reveals Himself in Scripture (Special Revelation) God reveals Himself in nature (General Revelation) Jesus and NT authors refer to Gen. 1 -11 as history 10 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Two Creation Accounts n n n Gen. 1: 1 -> Gen. 2: 3. Written entirely by God Gen. 2: 4 -> Gen. 5: 1. Written by Adam These two accounts appear to contradict each other in the order of certain creation events n n n Gen. 2: 19 “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. . . ” This seems to conflict with Gen. 1: 24 -27 where God clearly created animals before He created man However, the proper translation of Gen. 2: 19 states that “God had formed” since there is no distinction in Hebrew between the past tense and the past perfect, since the context provides the real meaning 11 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Created in Six Days n n n Gen. 2: 1, “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ” Ex. 20: 11, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. ” Ex. 31: 17, “… for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day …” 12 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

The Creation Days n Evolution demands long ages n Bible: literal days n n n n Narrative versus poetry (VSO v. SVO) n n Meaning of ‘Yom’ Yom with a number Evening and morning Gen. 1: 14, “Let there be lights in the firmament … “ Ex. 20: 11, “For in six days the LORD made …” Words used to indicate time In the beginning created God the heavens… = VSO Genealogies (Gen. 5, 1 Chron. 1, Luke 3) @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 13

Creation Days Quote “Probably so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who dares not believe that the writer(s) of Gen. 1 -11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that creation took place in a series of six days which are the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience…” Professor James Barr, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 14

Creation Days Quote 2 “To summarize, liberal scholars of both 19 th and 20 th centuries admit that the text of Genesis is clearly meant to be taken in a literal, historical sense, although they deny its claims to speak accurately to our space/time cosmos. ” Douglas F. Kelly (Professor of Systematic Theology) , Creation and Change, 1997, p. 51. @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 15

Creation of Distinct Kinds n n Gen. 1: 11(1), 12(2), 21(2), 24(2), 25(3) Ten major categories of organic life created “after its kind” n n Plant kingdom - grass, herbs, fruit trees Animal kingdom - sea monsters, other marine animals, birds, beasts, cattle, crawling animals Man “kind” One kind cannot transform itself into another kind n n n Definite and distinct categories There is variation within a kind These “kinds” still recognized today

And God Said … n And God said: n n n And it was so: n n e. g. “and there was light”, Gen. 1: 3 And God saw that it was good: n n Gen. 1: 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29 (10 x) e. g. “let there be light”, Gen. 1: 3 e. g. “the light was good”, Gen. 1: 4 Gen. 1: 31, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. ” @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 17

Creation Principles n Appearance of age/history n n n Mature from its birth, including Adam and Eve Gen 2: 1, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, were finished. Death came with sin n Fossils appeared after the curse Rom. 5: 12, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— Rom. 6: 23, For the wages of sin is death, but … 18 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

OT References to Creation n n Ex. 31: 17 (Moses) “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth …” - six-day literal creation Josh. 24: 2 -4 (Joshua) “ … your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, …” accepts Gen. 11 account of Abraham’s ancestors II Kings 19: 15 (Hezekiah) “You have made heaven and earth. ” - speaks of creation 1 Chron. 1: 1 -28 “Adam, Seth, Enoch, …” repeats genealogies of Gen. 5, 10, 11 Neh. 9: 6 (Nehemiah) “You have made heaven, … the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, …” - refers to Creation 19 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

NT References to Gen. 1 -11 n n Every NT writer refers to the early chapters of Genesis Jesus Christ referred to each of the first 7 chapters of Genesis e. g. Mark 10: 6 -9 -> Gen. 1: 27 n n n Almost all NT books have references to Genesis 1 -11, especially Gen. 1 -2 Every chapter of Genesis 1 -11 except chapter 8 is referred to somewhere in NT Every NT writer accepted these early chapters as historically accurate 20 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Removing Genesis 1 -11 n n n Removes true history Removes the foundation from all future history Rejects the teachings of Peter, Paul, other Biblical writers, Christ Himself e. g. in the Gospels, Acts, Romans, Corinthian letters, Hebrews, Revelation n Eventually leads to apostasy 21 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Compromising Theories n n Genesis 1 -11 as our foundation Compromises and the Problems with them: n n n Gap Theory Theistic Evolution Progressive Creation Day-Age Theory Framework Hypothesis Conclusions @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 22

Which Foundation Do You Trust?

Genesis 1 As Allegorical? n n n Make the account figurative, ahistorical, or supra-historical, and ultimately non-descriptive This treats the Genesis account as a demythologized poem, sung to the glory of the creator God Or a cosmology, like many other epic and legendary cosmologies of the day @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 24

Genesis 1 As Historical n n n Accept Gen. 1 as a chronological account of something that actually happened in creation Gen. 1 and 2 offer us correct and satisfactory information concerning prehistoric time It goes beyond the reach of available historical sources and offers not mythical suppositions, not poetical fancies, not vague suggestions, but a positive record of things as they actually transpired @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 25

Compromising Theories n n Many people believe that God used evolution as His means of creating the universe and everything in it Numerous attempts have been made to reinterpret the Bible in order to make it compatible with theory of evolution The problem is that of TIME! How to get a few billion years into the first chapter of Genesis? @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 26

Compromising Theories (cont’d) n Dr. Duane Gish: n n n “The concept of a frog being turned into a prince in an instant is a fairy tale, but the assertion that a frog, given 300 million years, can turn into a man, is considered science. ” Many “Christians” are so convinced that evolution is true that they feel they need to harmonize the Scriptures with “science” Are we willing to change the Scriptures every time a scientific theory is debunked or modified? @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 27

Gap Theory n n n Gap between Gen. 1: 1 & 1: 2 Earth populated long ago by organisms that were destroyed and preserved as fossils Is. 45: 18; 2 Pet. 3: 5 -6 used as “proof texts” Assumes that the geological ages occurred before the creation week Assumes that a cataclysm terminated the geological ages After a long time, God then proceeded to re-make or re-create the earth in the six literal days described in Gen. 1: 3 -31 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 28

Problems With Gap Theory n Death before sin n n The fall of Satan after the geological ages n n Gen. 1: 31 makes clear that Satan had not yet rebelled Scientific problems with the Gap Theory n n Organic evolution produces death No evidence of a monstrous cataclysm Biblical problems with the Gap Theory n n Ex. 20: 11, “… in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is …” Sun needed for life, but not created until 4 th day, Gen. 1: 14 -18 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 29

Theistic Evolution n n Creation by continuous evolutionary processes, initiated by God revealed the fact of Creation in Scripture, but left the method of Creation to be worked out by scientists Attempt to accept the “fact” of Evolution Approved by none other than the Pope! Sometimes referred to as “Biblical evolution”, creative Evolution, etc. @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 30

Problems With Theistic Evolution n Creation of distinct kinds precludes transmutations between kinds: n n n Ten major categories/kinds identified in Genesis 1 (“after his kind”) 1 Cor. 15: 38, 39 “. . . one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts. . . ” No concept of evolutionary continuity Too many missing fossil links Mutations appear to be undirected Humans are modified animals, rather than created in God’s image @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 31

Theological Contradictions n n n God’s omnipotence - can create in an instant, does not need eons of time God’s personality - “man in His own image”, why wait until the tail end of “geologic time”? God’s omniscience - fossils indicate extinctions, misfits, and other evidences of “poor planning” God’s nature of love - “natural selection” is not loving God’s purposiveness - creation and redemption of man. Why waste billions of years? Grace of God - struggle for survival, fits with “humanistic” salvation by works @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 32

Progressive Creationism n n n God created universe via Big Bang Over billions of years, our solar system formed, resulting in the formation of Earth Diversity of life on Earth is a result of God creating “kinds” of organisms sequentially Due to their sequential creation these various “kinds” of organisms appear in the fossil record in the order we observe The newer species still in existence were “specially” created and not genetically related to the older kinds @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 33

Progressive Creationism (cont’d) n n n Semantic variant of “Theistic Evolution” God intervened on various occasions to create something new, i. e. evolution needed some help God placed an eternal soul in a humanoid form at the proper time Implies that God’s creative forethought was insufficient Involves discontinuous evolutionary processes initiated by God @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 34

Day–Age Theory n Attempt to accommodate Genesis to geology n n Events occur in the same order as Gen. 1: n n n Interpret creation so that ages of geology correspond to the history of creation, i. e. days must correspond (more or less) to geologic ages Inorganic universe Simple forms of life More complex forms of life Man But time periods much longer than a day: n 2 Pet. 3: 8 “… a day is as a thousand years …” @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 35

Problems With Day–Age Theory n n n Proves nothing because assumptions cannot be validated Must accompany “Day-Age” with “Theistic Evolution” or theory of “Progressive Creation” Unacceptable on exegetical or scientific grounds: n n Proper meaning of “day” and “days” [Hebrew yom] Contradiction between Genesis and geological ages Identification of geological ages with evolutionary suffering Variations of “Day-Age” “A text without a context is a pretext. ”, Henry Morris @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 36

Proper Meaning of “Day”/“Days” n n n n Hebrew “yom” does not have to mean a literal day, could mean a “very long time” 2 Pet. 3: 8, “thousand years as one day” Translated as “time” 65 times Translated as “day” 1200 times Plural translated as “days” 700 times Literal meaning is usually best Other meanings can be gained from the context Genesis 1 is written very carefully using words/phrases such as “first day”, “second day”, “evening and morning” @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 37

Meaning of “Day”/“Days” (cont’d) n n n n When limiting numeral is used in OT (200 times), it always means literal day God called the light day, and the darkness night (Gen. 1: 5) Precludes a geologic age Vegetation can’t survive for a geologic age without sunshine Gen. 1: 14 -19 -> divide day from night Ex. 20: 8 -11, fourth commandment “six days, . . . seventh day. . . ” 2 Pet. 3: 8 “a text without a context is a pretext” @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 38

Contradictions Between Genesis and Geological Ages Uniformitarianism/Evolution Bible/Catastrophism/Creation Matter existed in the beginning Matter created by God in the beginning Sun and stars before the earth Earth before the sun and stars Contiguous atmosphere/hydrosphere Atmosphere between two hydrospheres Land before the oceans Oceans before the land Sun, earth’s first light Light before the sun Fishes before fruit trees Fruit trees before fishes Woman before man (by genetics) Man before woman (by creation) Rain before man Man before rain “Creative” processes still continuing Creation completed @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 39

Identification of Geologic Ages With Evolutionary Suffering n n n n Evolution is random, wasteful, cruel Inconsistent with nature of God Geological ages provide framework for evolution Geologic systems and epochs are identified on the basis of fossils found in the rocks Evolution is the basis for interpreting the fossil record, and the fossil record is the basis for establishing and identifying the geologic ages An example of circular reasoning! God is not the author of confusion @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 40

What The Bible Says About Death and Suffering n n God pronounced it all very good in Gen. 1: 31 No death and suffering before the fall: n n n Gen. 3: 14 -19 “. . . cursed is the ground. . . ” Rom. 5: 12 “through one man sin entered, . . . so death spread to all men” Rom. 8: 20 -23 “. . . whole creation groans. . . ” 1 Cor. 15: 21 -22 “. . . by a man came death, for as in Adam all die. . . ” Rev. 21: 4 -5 “. . . no longer any death. . . ” No fossils before the fall @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 41

Framework Hypothesis n n n Does not treat Genesis as history Treats Genesis as a literary framework Hebrew poetry comprised of parallelism n n n e. g. synonymous parallelism in Ps 19: 1 -2 e. g. antithetical parallelism in Prov. 28: 1 Alleged stylized framework in Gen. 1 n n n Days 4 -6 parallel days 1 -3 Days 1 -3 refer to days of the Kingdom Days 4 -6 refer to days of the Rulers @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 42

Summary n n n Even professing Christians seek to harmonize Scripture with the assumed evolutionary history of the earth and man Gap Theory, Theistic Evolution, Progressive Creation, Day-Age Theory and the Framework Hypothesis all fall short of this goal Some treat Genesis 1 -11 as allegorical, liturgical, poetic, supra-historical These force one to reject Genesis as either scientific or historical Expunging Genesis 1 -11 cuts out the foundation of the entire Biblical system @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 43

Genesis 1 -11 As Literal History n n The style of these early chapters of Genesis does not suggest a mythical, allegorical, or poetical approach The view entertained by our Lord Jesus Christ The inspired writers of the NT not only referred often to the narrative, but made doctrinal arguments which depend upon the historical validity of the Genesis account The Bible teaches that the Creation of the heavens, the earth, and the inhabitants thereof, was for the glorification of Almighty God @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 44

Origins Found in Genesis 1 -11 Heavenly Bodies The Earth Animal / Plant Life Human Life Law Marriage Sex Roles in the Family Childbearing Sin (need for Salvation) Forgiveness God as Provider of the Sacrifice Suffering and Death Clothing Work Crime & Punishment Freewill Offerings God’s Universal Judgment The Fossil Record The Rainbow Weather Patterns Change of Seasons Languages Agriculture Civilization @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 45

Conclusion Creation is an essential truth spoken of in the Bible Col. 2: 8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. ” 46 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

Questions? Dr. Heinz Lycklama heinz@osta. com www. osta. com/creation www. osta. com/apologetics www. osta. com/messages Lycklama Lending Library (Books and DVDs) @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama 47