Read Genesis 1:1. Today, many professing Christians reject the Bible’s literal interpretation of creation. They believe that the evolution theory, requiring billions of years, is scientific and that the literal interpretation of God’s creation about 6000 years ago is not scientific. Such “Old Earth” Christians believe secular scientists rather than taking God’s Word literally as the “Young Earth” Christians do.

Most old earth Christians give God credit for involvement in creation, but they think He used long periods and evolutionary methods to accomplish the task.

Transition

The subject is far too vast to cover exhaustively in one brief sermon, but we will consider biblical evidence to counter several old earth theories.

Theistic Evolutionists & Progressive Creationists

These theories summarized

  1. Theism is the belief in God.
  2. Theistic evolution is one of three major origin-of-life worldviews, the other two being atheistic evolution (also commonly known as Darwinian evolution or naturalistic evolution), and special creation. Gotquestions.org
  3. Theistic evolutionists believe that God ‘created’ through naturalistic evolutionary processes. Similar to theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists believe that God intervened at various points over billions of years of time to create new forms of life. AnswersinGenesis.org

A biblical refutation of these theories

  1. The Bible says that God the Son created everything, not evolution.
    John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
  2. God created instantly by His spoken word.
    Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
  3. God created all things by His might not by evolution.
    Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

**Theistic evolution and progressive creation are unbiblical.

The Gap Theory

The Gap Theory summarized

  1. This theory (also called Ruin-Restoration) states there is a gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. There are two distinct creations. The first, billions of years old, accepts the modern scientific theories about the age of the earth. The second creation (Genesis 1:2-31) records the six 24-hour days of the second creation. OldEarth.org
  2. The gap theory states that in the dateless past, God created a perfect heaven and earth. Satan was ruler of that earth. Satan sinned and God judged that earth with a flood known as “Lucifer’s Flood” which formed all of the fossils we find today.
  3. This theory says that Noah’s flood left no fossils and some even believe that it was only a local flood.

A biblical refutation of the Gap Theory

  1. The Bible nowhere implies that the “beginning” was ages before the days of creation.
    Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

    1. The fact that God created man “in the beginning of creation” does not separate man’s creation from the beginning by billions of years.
      2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
    2. Even scoffers recognize that things continue as they were from the beginning of creation not from some reconstruction.
  2. The evolutionary geologic column claims that primitive creatures developed first in the lowest layers of sediment progressing to advanced creatures in upper layers. This contradicts a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation.
  3. The Bible states that Noah’s flood was global and devastating to the world, not calm and local.
    Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
    2 Peter 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
  4. Sin and death entered the world when Adam sinned not before.
    Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

**The Gap Theory is not biblical.

The Day Age Theory

The Day Age Theory summarized

  1. The Day Age Theory is a belief that the “days” spoken of in Genesis one are long periods, millions or billions of years, not literal, 24-hour days.
  2. This theory accepts the biblical creation account but stretches out the days to fit evolutionary theories.
  3. They use 2Peter 3:8 as their proof.
    2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

A biblical refutation of the Day Age theory

  1. The statement 1 day = 1000 years and 1000 years = 1 day cancels itself. Besides, it would need to say 1 day = 1 billion years to fit the evolutionary theory.
  2. The word “day” means an ordinary 24-hour day, the daylight portion of an ordinary day distinct from night, or occasionally an indefinite period (e.g., the day of the LORD). However, when we find the word “day” in the Bible along with evening, morning, night, or a number, it always refers to a literal 24-hour day. This is exactly what we find in Genesis 1.
    Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
  3. If some of the days in Genesis 1 are a long period, then to be consistent all of them must be. This causes problems for the Day Age theory.
    1. Day and night do not make up 24 hours and “days and years” lose their meaning.
      Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (See also Genesis 1:16, 18)
    2. Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5). If each day was 1000 years, he lived 339,450,000 years.
    3. Joshua marched around Jericho 7,000 years.
    4. Jonah was in the whale for 3,000 years.
  4. God created in six 24-hour days to establish a week with one day to rest.
    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 Day Age Theory is not biblical.

Conclusion

All Old Earth theories have one thing in common: They trust scientific theory more than God’s Word. They believe that the world is really billions of years old and that we must find a way to fit billions of years into the Bible. Scientists have not proves that the earth is old. It is a theory. Scientific dating methods are inconsistent and inaccurate. A complete example of evolution’s geologic column cannot be found anywhere in the world. That too is a theory. Strata layers often contain larger animals in layers below smaller ones. Polystrate fossils, like standing trees passing through many strata layers, contradict the theory. A destructive global flood better explains the strata layers.

As Christians, we need not be ashamed to defend the young earth creation presented in the Bible. The Bible is true and it does not contradict true scientific fact. Believing that God used evolution to create robs God of wisdom and might. There is nothing too hard for God! God made you and you will one-day stand before Him as your Judge. Are you ready? If not, now is the time to get ready.

Song: How Great Thou Art!, 37

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God’s Young Earth

9 February 2014 AM – Genesis 1:1-31 – Gen 14 – Scott Childs