9 July 2023 AM – Genesis 1:1 – Worldview – Scott Childs
Introduction: As Christians, we need to have a biblical worldview of God, of the Bible’s truthfulness, of the Bible’s sufficiency, and of life. These are foundational to today’s topic, a biblical worldview of origins.
The evolutionary theory that all things began billions of years ago, and slowly evolved into all the complexity that we find in the universe today, is taught and promoted as a fact. Such claims have confused or intimidated many Christians. As a result, they attempt to insert the billions of years and gradual evolution into the biblical Creation account rather than maintaining a truly biblical worldview of origins.
Transition: This morning, building on our biblical worldviews of God, the Bible, and Life, I want to give you some basic information to help you understand and defend a truly biblical worldview of origins.
1. God Created All Things (Genesis 1:1)
a. Neither creation nor evolution can prove origins.
1) No observable creation is taking place now, thus it is cannot be repeated, observed or tested by the scientific method. Creation is a theistic biblical teaching.
2) No observable evolution is taking place now, thus it is cannot be repeated, observed or tested by the scientific method. Evolution is an atheistic secular theory.
3) Faith is the basis for both creation and evolution. Creation admits this fact. (Hebrews 11:3) “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Evolution resists this fact.
4) Both creation nor evolution models make predictions, but creation’s predictions best fit what we see in the universe. See Scientific Creationism, p.13
b. The Bible states that God created.
1) (Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” He created timepast, present, future, spacelength, depth, height and matterelectrons, protons, neutrons. Each depends on the others. They cannot exist separately. AIG
2) (Nehemiah 9:6) “Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.“
3) (John 1:1-3) “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.“
4) (Colossians 1:16-17) “For by him [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.“
2. God Created in Six Days (Genesis 1; Exodus 20:11)
a. Why is this important?
1) “If the days of creation are really ‘geologic ages’ of millions of years, then the Gospel message is undermined at its foundation because it puts death, disease, thorns and suffering before the Fall.” The Updated & Expanded Answers Book, p. 21
2) If we cannot trust God’s word in Genesis 1, Exodus 20:11, and Exodus 31:17, then we have no assurance that the rest of the Bible is trustworthy.
3) The Gap Theory, the Day Age Theory, Theistic Evolution, etc. are false, religious attempts to weave evolution theory into the Bible record. Let the Bible defend itself!
b. The six days of creation are literal.
1) Nothing in Genesis 1 suggests that the days are not literal days. God said He created in six days. (Exodus 20:11) “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” The Jewish Sabbath was a 24-hour day.
2) Ken Ham gives the following evidence for six literal days of creation. Ibid. p.39 Each day in Genesis 1 includes a number and the phrase “evening and morning” (Gen 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). In the Bible, outside of Genesis 1, whenever the Hebrew word yom (i.e., day) is used with a number or with “evening” or with “morning” it was always an ordinary day.
3) The use of 2Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4 to claim that a day with God is 1,000 years does not fit in other Scriptures. It rained 40 days, not 40,000 years during the Noahic flood (Gen 7). Joseph predicted the butler’s release from prison in 3 days, not in 3,000 years (Gen 40). Daniel asked to eat pulse for 10 days, not for 10,000 years (Dan 1). Jonah was in the fish’s belly for 3 days, not for 3,000 years (Jonah 1).
3. God Created Everything about 6,000 Years Ago.
a. Is the earth old or young?
1) Old-earth proponents say that the earth is about 4.5 billion years old and the universe is about 14 billion years old. https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/how-old-is-the-earth/. The approximate 6,000-year age for the earth was challenged only rather recently, beginning in the late 18th century. Ibid.
2) Young-earth proponents say the earth is about 6,000 years old. Ibid. They base this date primarily on Bible chronology. Because God created instantly out of nothing, He did not need millions or billions of years to do it.
b. Where do young-earth proponents get 6,000 years?
1) Bodie Hodge states, “Adam was created on day 6, so there were five days before him. If we add up the dates from Adam to Abraham, we get about 2,000 years, using the Masoretic Hebrew text of Genesis 5 and 11. Whether Christian or secular, most scholars would agree that Abraham lived about 2,000 B.C. (4,000 years ago).” Ibid. Adding these numbers gives us about 6,000 years.
2) Hodge continues, “Historian Bill Cooper’s research in After the Flood provides intriguing dates from several ancient cultures. The first is that of the Anglo-Saxons, whose history has 5,200 years from creation to Christ, according to the Laud and Parker Chronicles. Cooper’s research also indicated that Nennius’s record of the ancient British history has 5,228 years from creation to Christ. The Irish chronology has a date of about 4000 B.C. for creation, which is surprisingly close to Ussher and Jones!” Ibid.
4. God Created with Purpose (Genesis 3:8)
a. God created for reproduction
1) God created plants to produce fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself (Gen 1:11).
2) God created male and female of fish, birds and creatures to bring forth after their kind (Gen 1:21, 24; Gen 6:19).
3) God distinctly created humans male and female so that they could reproduce (Gen 1:27-28).
4) God ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. (Genesis 2:24) “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.“
b. God created for His pleasure
1) Unique to all animals, God, in love, created humans in His own image with the ability to choose, reason, communicate, worship and love God.
2) God created humans to walk and talk with them in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:8) “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.“
3) John tells us in (Revelation 4:11) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.“
Conclusion: I have given you a very brief, basic overview of a worldview of origins based on the Bible. I urge you to dig deeper. Evolution claims that nothing exploded into everything billions of years ago, and then evolved upward without purpose. The observable evidence in the universe like natural law, life, fossils, the age of things, design and complexity favour creation rather than evolution. Do not be ashamed to stand on the Bible. It tells us that God created all things in just six 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago and with purpose. God loves you and has a purpose for your life!
