Which Faith System of Creation Do You Prefer?
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The book of Genesis opens with the simple record that God created
the heavens and earth. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth" (Gen. 1:1). God created the entire complex in six twenty-four hour
days. "Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of
them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work.
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested
from all His work which God had created and made" (Gen. 2:1-3). Those who choose not to believe in a living God - and His
unlimited power to create instantly and fully - must search for another
explanation for life. By far the most popular non-God explanation to
date was championed by Charles Darwin. He taught that the first forms
of life came into existence by mere chance. Then, through a process of
evolutionary transformations combined with billions of years of time, these
life forms supposedly produced this massive complex universe. In contrast, the book of Genesis is a record of the creative
power of an omnipotent God. Genesis reveals that God created everything
instantly and out of nothing. "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and
all the host of them by the breath of His mouth . . .For He spoke, and it was
done. He commanded and it stood fast" (Psa. 33:6,9). God did not use some space waste material that was already
available. Nor did He create the earth, set it in motion, and then step
out of the picture allowing it to continue on its own. He continues to
preserve and sustain His creation! "You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the
heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the
seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The host of
heaven worships You" (Neh. 9:6). It becomes obvious that both God and Charles Darwin cannot be
right. If Darwin were right, then God does not exist. But if the
Bible is true, then Darwin and all that follow him are in deep trouble.
Admittedly, since none of us were present when it all began, it does take
faith to believe whichever system one chooses to follow. We do not believe that God is the creator of all things by taking
a “blind” leap of faith. Our faith has been established upon some very
convincing truth. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen. By faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not
made of things which are visible" (Heb. 11:1,3). Think of This! Approximately forty different writers from varied backgrounds
wrote the Bible over a period of 1500 years. The writers include tax
collectors, fishermen, kings, lawyers, prophets, and priests. "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
Thus speaks the Lord of Israel saying, 'Write in a book for yourself all the
words that I have spoken to you" (Jer. 30:1-2). "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:21). Though different writers living in different time periods in
history had a hand in writing the Bible, its message contains one unbroken
theme from Genesis to Revelation. That is because it has but one
Author. The Bible’s theme reveals a God who is the architect of history and
has a plan to reveal the riches of His glory by redeeming from the slave
market of sin those who will trust Him. This plan will someday culminate with
Him being the final King over all of His creation. In order to strengthen our faith in His plan, God has given us
many specific prophecies concerning Him. A prophecy is history written
in precise detail before it actually happens. "For I am the Lord. I will speak,
and the word that I speak will come to pass" (Eze. 12:25a). "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe" (Jn. 14:29). These prophecies include detailed predictions. The
Bible predicted that God would become a member of the human race. He reveals
His unique entrance into this life (Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14), the place of His
birth (Micah 5:2), details of His life (Isa. 53), His resurrection (Psa.
16:10), ascension (Psa. 110:2), Second Coming (Zech. 12:10), and kingdom
reign (Psa. 2, Dan. 7:9-14). These are detailed, prewritten facts that
only a living God could know. God even tells how the history of the human race is going to
end. The end of time is clearly recorded in the books of Isaiah,
Daniel, Jeremiah, and Revelation. "Remember the former things of old, for I am God and
there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from
the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done saying, 'My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure'" (Isa.
46:9-10). Though never claiming to be a science book, when the Bible
mentions scientific facts, it is accurate in every detail. For instance
Job said, "He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs
the earth on nothing” (Job
26:7). We know today that the earth is suspended in space by God’s law
of gravity, that it is actually hung upon nothing. But the people
listening to Job in 1500 BC must have thought he was insane. ·
Isaiah 40:22 tells us the earth is round. ·
Jeremiah 10:22 gives a preview of Einstein's theory of
relativity. ·
Zechariah 14:12 contains the effects of atomic radiation. ·
Job 25:5 says that the moon does not have its own light. ·
Jeremiah 33:22 says that the stars cannot be numbered. ·
Job 38:31 says that the earth rotates around an axle star. ·
Leviticus 17:11 amazingly tell us that the life of the flesh is
in the blood. Therefore, in view of the evidence of the Bible's reliability,
our faith in the biblical account of creation rests on a solid
foundation. "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables
when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Pet. 1:16). Two Laws of Science The laws of science, called the laws of thermodynamics, strongly
contradict the theory of evolution. The first law states that matter is
a form of energy, which can be transformed in several ways but can never be
created. All activity in the universe is brought about by transformations
of energy that was already there. Therefore, evolution cannot be true
based on this law alone. The second law of thermodynamics says that the universe is not
continually transforming itself into a greater and greater state, but is, in
fact, running down or dissipating. Energy is not being created; it is
being used up at alarming rates. For this reason, the world is
constantly looking for new sources of energy. Two Faith Systems It does take faith to believe that God created the universe
suddenly and out of nothing. But it also takes faith to believe
the claims of the evolutionists. They teach that the universe and its
inhabitants evolved over billions of years out of material that was already
here. The real issue at stake in determining which creation system is
best is not a matter of the facts of science versus the faith of
Christians. Because none of the evolutionists were present to
scientifically test "the facts" and because of the many failures
and inconsistencies in their system, evolution remains a theory that must be
accepted by faith. The major thrust of the Darwinian theory, for example, is that
preexisting matter just appeared from some unknown source in the universe.
This matter supposedly progressed through time to higher and higher levels of
organization, finally resulting in the complex life that we have today. Exploring the possibility that life originated from preexisting
material takes a lot of faith. At the risk of ridiculing the genius of
the human intellect, consider these possibilities. Lightning suddenly
comes out of nowhere and strikes green ooze in the Nile River basin that
creates the first enzyme or living particle. From this living particle,
through billions of years and countless transformations increasing in
complexity, comes life as we know it today. Or if your mind struggles with that one, try this one! Two
huge worlds come out of nowhere and collide somewhere in space, causing a
tremendous explosion, which results in the beginning of our universe. It would take a lot of faith to actually believe that these
things happened. These are the kinds of explanations for life that the
educational system has championed and the news media continues to perpetuate
as factual. These ideas, as a matter of fact, are but hypotheses, or
educated guesses, which many intelligent, honest evolutionists are beginning
to question. Dr. Charles Ryrie of Dallas Theological Seminary writes,
“Astronomers, with all their sophisticated equipment, have failed to explain
how the universe could have evolved into this present form by natural
processes and why it is, in fact, running down, not expanding. Geologists and
paleontologists still fail to adequately explain how life could have begun
spontaneously, how the DNA code was formed, and why all living creatures
reproduce after their own kind. Anthropologists still fail to bridge
the gap that exists between the lowest human and the highest animal.” Where did creation begin? Why are we here? Where are
we going? Where are we going to place our trust? Do we place our
trust in the written Word of a personal God who was there when creation
occurred? Or do we place our trust in the intellectual integrity of a
fallen human race to recreate for us the beginning of life, trusting that
they are able to make sense of the reason for life and death? The entire evolutionary system must be taken by faith. All
the facts concerning the beginning of the world point to the Bible's
explanation of creation as being accurate. The Bible says that God
created living things quickly and after their kind. This means that the Bible record should show that life did not
evolve over millions of years, but came on the scene quickly. That is
exactly what the real facts show today. The facts also show that the living do reproduce after their
kind. One species of plant or animal does not develop into another
kind. The Bible also speaks of a worldwide flood. If that really
happened, the record would show millions of dead plants and animals trapped
in layers of rock around the world. That is exactly what the facts
reveal. Dr. Ryrie continues,
"The facts really demonstrate that the earth did not evolve from
chaos, out of gas and dust, nor did it 'cool down' from a molten mass of rock
and metal. How long did it take lifeless chemicals under ideal
conditions to somehow evolve into a living organism? Millions of years
and outrageous guesses in probability can only attempt to explain away any evolutionary
problem, but if you multiply zero creative power by 5 billion years or an
infinite amount of years, it will still equal zero results." Ryrie also states, "While it is true that by faith we
Christians believe and trust the Biblical account of creation, 'Through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the
things which are seen were not made of the things which do appear.’ It is
also true that it is by faith that evolutionists believe that the worlds were
not framed by the word of any God, so that what is seen has been made of
preexisting and less complex, visible things by purely natural processes
through billions of years." The theory of evolution is an atheistic faith that attempts to
explain creation apart from God. In which system of creation will you
place your faith – Darwin’s or God’s? "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the
earth? Tell me, if you have understanding." (Job 38:4). Sources New American Standard Bible Charles C. Ryrie Josh McDowell |
Creation or Evolution! Is it the facts of science versus the faith of
Christians? |