THE CASE FOR CREATION!(Genesis Series)

Genesis 1

GENESIS 1

“In the beginning God created the havens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” (vs. 1-5)

GENESIS 1“Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.” Then God said, Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

(vs. 6-10)

GENESIS 1

“Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.” (vs.11-13)

“Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. (14-19)

GENESIS 1

“Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.” (20-23)

GENESIS 1

“Then God said, ‘let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind’; and it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” (vs. 24-26)

GENESIS 1

“And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, and it shall be food for you…. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (vs. 27-31)

“IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH!”

QUESTION:WHY IS THE BIBLE’S ACCOUNT OF CREATIONIMPORTANT?

ANSWER:BECAUSE IT IS GOD’S EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTOF THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD AND LIFE!

THE PROBLEM FOR MAN

1. IF ONE QUESTIONS GOD’S EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT OF CREATION, THEN ONE MUST ALSO QUESTION EVERYTHING ELSE GOD HAS SAID!

2. IF GOD’S EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT IS REJECTED, IT MUST THEN BE REPLACED WITH SOME OTHER EXPLANATION!

3. IF GOD’S EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT IS REPLACED WITH SOME OTHER EXPLANATION ONE HAS A DIFFERENT:

starting point, direction, world view, set of values, life style, and destination!

WHAT ABOUT EVOLUTION!“Origin of the Species”Charles Darwin (1859)

DEFINITION OF EVOLUTION:“All life on earth is connected to each other and evolved from each other through a process of natural selection and modifications.”

THE PROBLEM:Contrary to God; omits God (and miracles), violates the laws of physics, defies logic, and is void of evidence!

DOES IT MATTER?CREATION vs. EVOLUTION:THE BATTLE IN THE COURTS1925 Evolution MAY be taught in the schools1968 Evolution CANNOT BE PROHIBITED1975 Equal time for creation not necessary1981 Evolution DOES NOT violate religious freedom1987 Evolution my be taught EXCLUSIVELY1990 Creation teaching may be PROHIBITED1994 Evolution is REQUIRED TEACHING1997 Evolution needs no disclaimer2000 Evolution CANNOT be challenged2005 Intelligent Design is not science

HOW CAN CREATION BE REPLACED BY EVOLUTION?

“…men, who SUPPRESS THE TRUTH in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are with out excuse. For even though they knew God, they DID NOT HONOR HIM AS GOD or give thanks; but they BECAME FUTILE IN THEIR SPECULATIONS, and their foolish heart was darkened.

HOW CAN CREATION BE REPLACED BY EVOLUTION?

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures….For THEY EXCHANGED THE TRUTH of God for a lie, and worshiped, and SERVED THE CREATURE rather than the Creator…” Romans 1:19-25

THEORIES OF CREATION

1. THE GAP THEORY(something happened between 1:1 and 1:2)

2. THE DAY-AGE THEORY(a day is equal to an age not a 24 hour day)

3. THE GOD NEEDED HELP THEORY (Theistic Evolution: God created matter and then the evolutionary process took over)

4. LITERAL CREATION – (Just as God said in Gen. 1)

WHY I BELIEVE IN A LITERALVIEW OF CREATION

1. GOD HAS NO LIMITATIONS AND HE CAN BE TRUSTED TO DO EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID

2. THE BIBLE DOES NOT NEED TO BE RECONCILED WITH SCIENCE BECAUSE THE BIBLE IS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY FOR LIFE (science needs to be reconciled with the Bible)

AN OVERVIEW OF CREATION

1. START WITH NOTHING Gen. 1:12. GOD CREATES MATTER Gen. 1:13. THE MATTER IS UNFORMED Gen. 1:24. GOD GIVES THE UNFORMED MATTER FORM AND ORDER Gen. 1:3-105. GOD CREATES VEGETATION Gen. 1:11-

136. GOD CREATES OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Gen. 1:14-197. GOD CREATES FISH AND BIRDS Gen. 1:14-198. GOD CREATES ANIMALS Gen. 1:24-259. GOD CREATES MAN Gen. 1:26-

31

MAN IS SPECIAL:THE APEX OF ALL CREATION!

“Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so!” (1:24)

“Then God said, ‘let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…and God created man…and blessed them’ and said, ‘Rule over every other living thing, fill the earth and subdue it….’” (vs. 26-28)

THE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING CREATION!

1. FAITH: - THE REQUIREMENT

“By faith we understand that the worlds were

prepared by the Word of God” (Heb. 11:3)

2. “AND GOD SAID,…” - THE AUTHORITY

3. “…AFTER ITS KIND…” - THE PROCESS

4. “AND THERE WAS EVENING

AND THERE WAS MORNING - THE TIME FRAME

5. “…AND IT WAS SO!” - THE RESULT

THE TAKE-AWAY TRUTH FOR TODAY!

#1. THE UNIVERSE AND THE EARTH AND LIFE ITSELF CANNOT ACCURATELY OR ADEQUATELY BE EXPLAINED

WITHOUT GOD! IT ALL POINTS TO HIM!

THE TAKE-AWAY TRUTH FOR TODAY

#2. CREATION CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED BY FAITH AND SUCH FAITH IF FOUNDED UPON EVIDENCE THAT IS IN ABUNDANCE!

“For by faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Heb. 11:3)

#3. YOU ARE SPECIAL, BECAUSE YOU WERE HAND-MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, AND YOU HAVE AUTHORITY DELEGATED TO YOU BY GOD OVER THE REST OF CREATION UPON EARTH!

YOU ARE REALLY SOMEBODY SPECIAL!

THE TAKE-AWAY TRUTH FOR TODAY

THE TAKE-AWAY TRUTH FOR TODAY

#4. GOD’S ENTIRE WORLD WHICH HE HAS MADE, LED BY MAN-KIND, THE APEX OF HIS CREATION, HAS BEEN MADE TO GIVE PRAISE AND GLORY TO THE CREATOR-GOD HIMSELF!

“GOD, HELP ME BE A PERSON WHO ACKNOWLEDGES YOU AND GIVES YOU THE PRAISE YOU DESERVE!”

PSALM 148

“PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE HEAVENS; PRAISE HIM IN THE HEIGHTS! PRAISE HIM ALL HIS HOSTS! PRAISE HIM SUN, MOON AND STARS!

WATERS ABOVE THE HEAVENS, PRAISE HIM!

SEA MONSTERS AND ALL THE DEEP, PRAISE HIM!

FIRE, HAIL, SNOW, CLOUDS AND STORMY WINDS, PRAISE HIM!

MOUNTAINS, HILLS, FRUIT TREES AND CEDARS, PRAISE HIM!

BEASTS, CATTLE, CREEPING THINGS, AND FOWL; PRAISE HIM!

KINGS, PRINCES, JUDGES, ALL PEOPLE YOUNG AND OLD; PRAISE HIM!

LET THEM PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD FOR HIS NAME IS EXALTED; HIS GLORY IS ABOVE THE EARTH AND HEAVEN.” PRAISE THE LORD!