Genesis: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
by Calvin Smith
Published: 6 January 2009(GMT+10)
Most church leaders would agree that the western world is becoming ‘less Christian’
every year.
Worldviews
Nations once built upon biblical foundations are watching the collapse of godly
values in our culture and Christians seem powerless to stop it. Competing worldviews
like atheism, humanism, communism, new age, and the occult are being vigorously
promoted in education, the media and one-on-one to children and adults alike.
Nations once built upon biblical foundations are watching the collapse of godly
values in our culture and Christians seem powerless to stop it.
With so many areas for the church to deal with we need to ask ourselves, how do
we make a difference? Where do we focus our efforts? Did this happen by chance,
or is there a deeper issue? Church leaders are busy with programs, counselling and
such but it seems as though something’s been lost. It’s like a giant
puzzle, and the church can’t seem to find the ‘missing piece’.
When things are crumbling around us we need to go back to basics. Without a strong
foundation, a structure will eventually erode and collapse. Psalm 11:3 says, ‘If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do?’ This verse should cause us to examine our
foundations, which may lead us to a better realization of why we face the issues
we do.
Atheistic worldview
It’s like a giant puzzle, and the church can’t seem to find the ‘missing
piece’.
But before we look at our own foundations, let’s look at those of the polar
opposite of the Christian worldview—atheism. A-theism, by definition,
states foundationally that there is ‘no God’. All worldviews provide
answers to the big questions in life like ‘Where do we come from?’ How
do atheists explain our origins without God? Their answer is evolution. This gives
them an explanation for our existence without God—naturalistically.
Briefly stated the grand theory of evolution embraces the following.
Cosmic evolution
Billions of years ago time, matter and energy came into existence as the result
of the ‘big bang’. Over billions
of years the galaxies, stars and planets formed—all by themselves.
Geological evolution
The earth started as a hot molten orb, eventually cooling down enough for water
to condense and fill the oceans.
Chemical evolution
After some time the first self-replicating life form spontaneously
generated from non-living chemicals.
Biological evolution
This simple organism became more complex over millions of years via
genetic mutation and natural selection, ultimately producing all of the
life forms that have ever existed on our planet.
Human evolution
Eventually ape-like creatures developed higher brain functions and humans evolved,
forming societies and cultures that developed laws, religions and institutions like
marriage. Evolutionists point to the geologic column and the fossils it contains
as ‘scientific proof’ of these processes.
Heat death
Because the entire universe is subject to the laws of entropy, the future ultimately
is ‘heat death’, where there will be
no more available energy. No life will exist, and perhaps everything will collapse
and begin all over again.
No ultimate hope
The atheistic worldview, based on this supposed history, says that we had an accidental
beginning; we developed through random processes and that there is no ultimate hope
for the future. It says that there are no absolutes, no basis for morality or ethics
outside of what each person decides is right for themselves.
Atheism vs. theism is sometimes misrepresented as ‘science’ vs. ‘faith’.
This is untrue because evolution is a worldview that is also based on faith. In
fact, evolutionists and creationists have the exact same scientific facts
to examine. There isn’t a scientific observation that a creationist
would disagree with an evolutionist about. Creationists disagree with evolutionists
conclusions because we do not agree with their starting presuppositions.
The real difference is that of the world history that each group believes
in, by faith. Why by faith? Because we cannot travel back in time to see the first
life form evolve or observe God create the universe. So our understanding of what
happened in the past is ultimately accepted by faith. We can use scientific methods
to observe evidence in the present, and then make an assessment of which
history is best supported by that evidence.
The key piece of the puzzle; Christ died for our sins
Many Christians believe the creation/evolution issue to be a side issue, an unprofitable
area on which to focus. To many it seems divisive, and has little relation to proclaiming
the Gospel.
To find out if this is a side issue or not, let’s move to the core teaching
of virtually all evangelical churches. Almost every Christian would agree that the
key piece of the Christian worldview is our Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Bible says
that Jesus became the ‘last Adam’, died on a cross for the sins of the
world and paid the penalty that we deserve, so that on judgement day we won’t
suffer eternal separation from God in hell.
Virgin birth
Traditions like Christmas arose from the event of Jesus’ birth, foretold in
the Old Testament. Christ was ‘born of a virgin’,
the sinless Son of God, perfect in every way so that he was able to take on the
sins of the world as the only suitable sacrifice.
Resurrection
Easter Sunday is the Celebration of
Jesus’ resurrection, the demonstration of his victory over sin and
death. Jesus acknowledged the link between these ‘earthly’, real time/space
events relating to spiritual truths when he spoke to Nicodemus about being born
again.
Jesus says; ‘I have spoken to you of earthly things and
you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?’
(John 3:12) The Bible makes it clear that if these events
didn’t actually occur we are still lost in our sins, our faith is in vain,
and we are to be pitied above everyone.
But why was the crucifixion necessary? Why did Jesus have to suffer such a horrible
death? To understand this we must return to the foundations of our faith, rooted
in the Old Testament. Jesus acknowledged the authority of the O.T. each time he
said ‘It is written … ’ or ‘Have you not read …
’
The book of Genesis gives us a clear understanding for the reason Jesus came. It
was to fix the problem caused by the head of the human race, the first Adam.
Creation
The Bible describes God’s creation of a perfect world, a paradise where everything
was ‘very good’. Genesis 1:29 says that man and animals ate plants (there
were no carnivores) and therefore no bloodshed. There was no sin, corruption or
death.
The Fall
God gave Adam a command that he should not eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, and told him that death would be the consequence should he do
so. Unfortunately, Adam chose to exercise his free will in clear rebellion against
God.
As a result, God cursed the earth, and suffering and death
entered the world. Because Adam was the head of the human race his sin nature
was passed on to all his descendants. Romans 5:12 says, ‘Therefore, just as through one
man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all
men, because all sinned … ’
Mankind is now separated from God, not just able to die physically, but spiritually
dead as well.
Judgment
In Genesis 6 we read how God judged the wicked in a global
flood where ‘ … all the high mountains under the entire heavens were
covered.’ (Genesis 7:19) This judgment was sent specifically to destroy
everything living on land, except for righteous Noah, his family, and representative
kinds of land animals on board the great Ark. This is a perfect cause-and-effect
explanation of the fossil record, the billions of dead things buried in sedimentary
rock all over the earth.
This parallel to the coming judgement is spoken of in 2 Peter 3:6 and 7: ‘By these waters also the world
of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and
earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction
of ungodly men.’
The Law
After this God established the Law through Moses, which taught right from wrong
and social doctrines. Most importantly it showed that mankind could never reach
God’s standard, that ‘all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God.’ (Romans 3:23) Paul says ‘ … I would not have
known what sin was except through the law.’ (Romans 7:7) The knowledge of sin and judgment leads people
to seek mercy at the cross of Christ.
Restoration
The blessed hope of the Bible is the time after God’s coming judgment when
He will restore the earth to the way it was in the beginning as far as
sin and death is concerned. There will be ‘ … no more death or mourning
or crying or pain … ’ (Revelation 21:4) We will get new, incorruptible bodies.
The last enemy, death, will be destroyed …
Foundational knowledge—transforming power—blessed hope
Perfection, corruption, judgement, salvation and restoration. This is the ‘big
picture’ of the history of the world and humanity as it has been taught and
accepted by the Christian church for some eighteen hundred years now. Up until about
200 years ago in the western world, even most non-Christians accepted this history.
So what changed? Does this have any bearing on the struggles the church is facing?
Around 200 years ago the concept of ‘millions of years’ started to gain
popularity when certain people reinterpreted the rocks and fossils, not as a result
of Noah’s Flood, but as a record of millions of years of history. The idea
of a long-pre-history ‘recorded’ in the rocks paved the way for Darwin’s
theory of evolution—its mooted slow step-by-step processes needing eons of
time, which ‘long-age’ geology provided.
Today this long-age history of the world is promoted by virtually all public educational
centres. Many Christians have adopted portions of this ‘history’ and
attempted to reconcile it with the Bible. Many wonder if God may have used evolution,
or if millions of years of evolutionary processes are compatible with the teaching
of Scripture. Some people feel that science and religion are two separate areas
of thought and that the Bible has no bearing on the real world. Many simply believe
it’s a side issue.
Contrasting worldviews
Let’s look at just one aspect of the evolutionary story and see how it impacts
Christian theology. Many Christians that may not believe in evolution of animals
and man per se still believe in millions of years of earth history. But
the idea of millions of years comes from an interpretation of the sedimentary rock
layers all over the world, which are assumed to have been deposited slowly, and
which contain fossils.
Where do you fit the ‘Millions of Years’?
Virtually no one would attempt to fit these millions of years of history after
the account of Adam and Eve. They try to fit it into the Bible before Adam
and Eve appear on the scene. But if that’s true then we must reconcile the
fossil record, which is a record of death! Palaeontologists have even discovered
carnivorous activity, cancerous tumours and thorns in the fossil record.
Death before sin
This has massive theological implications. When we accept the idea of millions of
years we are saying that there were millions of years of death, disease and bloodshed
before Adam sinned. But this contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible
where God pronounced His completed creation ‘very good’ and where death
occurred because of the event of Adam sinning.
When we put millions of years of time into the Bible like this, suddenly portions
of Scripture make no sense; Romans 6:23 ‘ … For the wages of sin is death
… ’ If death occurred before Adam sinned, what are the wages
of sin? Romans 5:12 ‘ … by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin … ’ Death could not have entered because
of Adams sin if it was there already. Hebrews 9:22 ‘ … without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness … ’ What would the shedding of blood have to
do with forgiveness of sin if bloodshed had been occurring for millions of years?
This affects the Gospel
This directly affects the Gospel message because Jesus was sent to repay the debt
that Adam’s sin brought. Jesus died a physical death, shed His blood, conquered
sin and death and promised to return again and restore the world to the way it was
‘in the beginning’. If millions of years of bloodshed occurred prior
to man’s sin, what will God restore the world to in the future?
If the world really is millions of years old then the creation account seems more
like mythology than history, but this is inconsistent with Jesus’ teaching.
He gave a direct endorsement to, and a warning against disbelieving, the writings
of Moses in John 5:46–47 when He said ‘If you believed Moses,
you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he
wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?’
Most non-believers today deny the writings of Moses, and so reject the teaching
of Christ. Creation is thought of in evolutionary terms; sin is ‘something
fun’, the law is no longer ‘right from wrong’ but whatever you
decide. And the belief in a global Flood is almost universally rejected.
For Christians, denying the writings of Moses but clinging to the teachings of Jesus
is inconsistent thinking. Unfortunately, atheists seem to understand these inconsistencies
more than most Christians, and capitalise on them when trying to undermine the Christian
worldview and promote their own. Look at the following quote from atheist Richard
Bozarth from the Sept 1979 issue of American Atheist:
‘It becomes clear now that 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. What all this means is that Christianity cannot lose the Genesis account of
creation … Christianity is fighting for it’s very life.’
Not a side issue
Far from being a side issue, the creation/evolution debate is at the forefront of
the assault on the Christian worldview. Creation Ministries International exists
to help pastors and church leaders equip their congregations
in this vital area of origins from a God honouring, ‘Bible first’ perspective.
Many times it is hard to share the Gospel of Jesus because of questions that arise
from the books of Moses.
Most Christians have questions about science and the Bible, and many struggle with
their faith because of them. Witnessing can be difficult because the world asks
tough questions in these areas and many Christians feel ill equipped to answer.
Many times it is hard to share the Gospel of Jesus because of questions that arise
from the books of Moses.
What about dinosaurs? Where did Cain get his wife? How do you know there’s
a God? What about evolution? Could Noah get all the animals on the Ark? Was the
flood global? What about dating methods?
Equipping the church
CMI’s expert speakers, many of whom are PhD scientists, accept invitations
from churches to present answers to these and many other questions in a professional,
non confrontational manner, while never straying from the authority of Scripture.
They can show your congregation many examples of how science supports what the Bible
says in Genesis. The presentations are fast-paced with PowerPoint graphics that
hold the attention of everyone from Jr. High and up.
From testimonies that we have received over 30 years of ministry a pattern has developed.
After meetings people become excited about the word of God, see that it can be defended
logically, and begin witnessing with more boldness.
If you’re interested in booking one of our speakers1 or would like more information you can
contact us or email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
A reader’s comment:
Chris Walker, Australia, 6 January 2009
Everyday living consists of a working week to pay the mortgage, food and clothes.
The weekend is for leisure. There is no inclination to personally pursue the bigger
questions. Besides, its all be sorted anyway. Billions of years are thrown at us
from every direction—from the age of the universe to the age of rocks. Its all
perfectly consistent. What sort of people are those who believe in some super being
that you can't see and, who they say, actually made all that we see. Actually create
stuff? Impossible! Science as well as common sense says you cant!
And so I walked and worked until nearly 30 when, out of the blue, I was struck suddenly
with the reality that all between the two covers of the Bible was absolutely true.
That was some 30 years ago now and my faith is still solid as a rock. I thank you
for your amazing and constant effort that you put into upholding GOD’S Word. Your
emphasis on Genesis is foundational. May all those who read your articles be touched
and lead by the Holy Spirit to come to the realisation that there truly is a GOD.
a Creator God, a Loving GOD, a Just GOD who has reached out to His chosen people
to invite them to the Wedding Feast. Don’t be left out in the cold as I nearly was.
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Related articles
Further reading
Related resources
References
- CMI speaker presentations demonstrate that there are straightforward
answers to the common objections and queries people have relating to the creation/evolution
issue, which are some of the most frequent objections to faith in Christ. For further
info, see under ‘Speaking and direct ministry’ on the
What we do page. Return to text.
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