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TEXT: Revelation 4:11
SUBJECT: Creation
"I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth".
On this article of faith, there is no dispute among the people of God. For if Scripture teaches anything at all, it teaches that God is our Creator. One needn't search long to make this discovery; the Bible's opening verse will do, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth".
And this, of course, does not stand alone. The doctrine of creation is enshrined in the Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy...for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them..."
The Hebrews celebrated it in their private and public devotions. "The earth is the LORD's--they sang--and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it; for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters". In another place, they sang, "O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker". In a third place, the Psalmist seems to go out of his way to make the point: "Know ye that the LORD is God, it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves..."
The ancient saints, therefore, accepted God as their Creator.
But when we come to the New Testament, after the Hebrews had escaped their tribal culture and become rather cosmopolitan, we find a shift in their thinking. Cross pollinated by the Greek and Roman thought, they changed their outmoded views and accepted one more in line with the findings of philosophy and science. Or did they? No. In fact, the New Testament's most "enlightened men" maintained a creed identical to their fathers.
Paul was no "country bumpkin", yet he would write (without horns), "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."
And, of course, in our Lord Jesus is "hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". What did He say about creation? In describing the downfall of Jerusalem, He said, "For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of creation which God created, to this time, neither shall be." This was no "accommodation to His audience", for--alone--in His dying gasp, Christ "committed Himself to one who judges righteously, whom Peter later described as "a faithful Creator".
The Bible teaches, therefore, that God is the Creator.
But how did He do it? On this question, unlike the first, there is considerable dispute among the people of God. Basically, two opinions have been advanced:
1."Theistic Evolution".
a."Theistic" means "having to do with God". "Evolution" is a system in which simple organisms develop greater and greater complexity. In the view of theistic evolution, therefore, God "got the ball rolling". He infused life into some simple creature (maybe an ameba) and skillfully guided its development over millions of years. Eventually the species ameba developed into fish, amphibian, reptile, mammal, and finally, man.
b.Theistic evolution sometimes gets "a bum rap". It is not the same as "atheistic evolution" (as taught in our public schools).
1.It professes the existence of God.
2.It acknowledges God's key role in creation.
3.It attributes the wonderful complexity of the world, not to random chance or natural selection, but to Divine Providence.
c.But even though "Theistic Evolution" is worlds ahead of its atheistic counterpart, it does not live up to the teaching of the Bible. It can be objected to on several grounds:
1.Its origin. Theistic evolution was not "discovered" in the Bible; it was "superimposed" on it. "Evolution" can be traced to the Greek philosophers Democritus, Epicurus, and Lucretius. Their views were given a "scientific cover" by Charles Darwin. By the late 1800's intelligent men the world over accepted this theory with enthusiasm. But that caught the Christian world off-guard. For the first time in centuries it seemed ignorant to be a believer. And so, recoiling at that prospect, but wanting to maintain the Bible anyway, they took the "findings of science" and forced them into the margins of Scripture. Theistic Evolution, therefore, is a form of "Twisting the Scriptures to our own destruction".
2.The Scripture gives no support to evolution's basic idea, i.e., complex organisms develop from simple ones. Take, for example, the teeming sea creatures in all of their endless variety. They were created all at once! "Let the waters abound--said God--"with an abundance of living creatures...so God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded after their kind..." The plankton and the blue whale, the starfish and the great white shark were created simultaneously.
3.The Scripture also limits the development of creatures to their own species. The command is given--10 times--in Genesis 1: Let the plants and animals reproduce "after their kind". In other words, a German Shepherd can eventually become a Dauschund, but it can never become rhinoceros.
4.But most importantly, theistic evolution nullifies the Fall. "Evolution" teaches that man is clawing his way to the top. But the Bible says just the opposite: Man was created at the top, but through sin, has fallen into the bottomless pit.
d.Theistic evolution, therefore, cannot adequately explain creation.
2.The second alternative is an embarrassment to modern man, but holds no terrors for the Christian. It is a supernatural creation. It is best summarized in the Shorter Catechism, Question 9:
What is the work of creation?
The work of creation is God's making
all things of nothing, by the word
of His power, in the space of six
days, and all very good.
This is what the Bible teaches. And we ought not to be ashamed of it, as though it were a scandal to believe God!
But doesn't this leave us in a rather uncomfortable position? How do we reconcile our faith with "science"?
1.Existentialists tell us there is no need to do so. The findings of science may be objectively true, but "to me" creation is true. Therefore, science and faith need no reconciliation. But that's plain old nonsense! The first rule of logic is "the law of contradiction", i.e., `A' cannot equal `non-A'. If evolution is true, then the Bible is false. If the Bible is true, then evolution is false. For the systems are mutually exclusive.
2.Creation Scientists urge us to "use the findings of science to prove or defend the teaching of Scripture". But this is dangerously misleading. It assumes that "science" independent of the Bible is valid. It is not! It also assumes that science is canonical, i.e., the yardstick by which we can measure Scripture. It is not! But worst of all, it assumes that "the natural man receives the things of the Spirit of God". He cannot!
3.What then is the proper response? How do we reconcile our faith with science? Very simple. We remember that "Modern Science" is a faith too. It has, for example, a theology (atheism) and an infallible guide (the scientific method). Science, therefore, is not objective. Its facts are really "interpretations" filtered through biased men. We are left therefore, with a choice, not between science and faith, but faith and faith, neither of which are ultimately "provable".
a.Science cannot prove its claims to the Christian because he worships the Creator.
b.Christianity cannot prove its claims to the "scientist" because he worships the Creature. Until regenerated by the Holy Spirit, he will consistently mis-read the facts of creation and be astounded at the idiocy of anyone believing the Bible.
Now, since creation is the work of the Creator we might expect His it to be stamped with His workmanship. And so it is. To the regenerate mind, creation reveals His wisdom, power, imagination, and love. Therefore,
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth His handiwork".
The doctrine of creation, therefore, has a purpose. God created everything in order to elicit something from us. And what He wants is our fear and love, our adoration and worship.
"Thou art worthy, O Lord,
to receive glory and honor
and power;
For Thou has created all things
and for thy pleasure they are
are were created".
Has God made our bodies? Then let us "yield them as instruments of righteousness". Has He made our minds? Then let us "Love Him with all our minds". Has He made everything we have? Then let us sanctify our every possession to His glory. For everything He made was made--not for our's--but His pleasure".
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