HoHum:
I don’t believe in evolution, I know creation’s true. I believe that God above, created me and you. So praise His name for what He made, give credit where it’s due. I don’t believe in evolution, I know creation’s true. I didn’t crawl out of a pond, or swing down from a tree. Adam is my ancestor, and not a chimpanzee. God created everything, in 6 days He was through. Song by Buddy Davis
WBTU:
Last week we talked about some basics of creation. Creation ex nihilo, creation out of nothing. Creation is free act of God. He created because He wanted to create and not because God had to create. Lastly, we talked about how God created visible and invisible universe.
The significance of creation is mind boggling. All the beliefs of Christianity are founded on the idea that God is the creator of everything.
Many of the implications of creation we have taken for granted all our lives. We may not have noticed that the truths that we hold to depend on fact that we live in God created world.
Thesis: Talk about how the Biblical belief of creation impacts 4 major categories: Nature, man, ethics and worship.
For instances:
Nature
Matter is good.
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. ” Genesis 1:31, NIV.
“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,” 1 Timothy 4:4, NIV.
Matter, the stuff of the universe, is not the problem here. Sin is what has made this world not good. Matter is good because it is the creation of the good God.
There is nothing evil about the human body. When the Bible condemns the flesh, it is not talking about the body as it was created, but about the body as it is influenced by and controlled by sin and as sin works its drawing and seducing power over the inner man.
The negative elements of bodily existence, such as suffering and death, are the consequences of sin; they are not native in human nature as such. Salvation is not the shedding of the body but the redemption of the body. “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Romans 8:23, NIV.
Matter is dependent- Matter owes it existence to God; it is completely dependent on God. Matter depends on the Creator not only for its very origin, bur for its continuing existence.
Nature is dependable. Because the Creator is rational and faithful, so is creation. It is orderly and intelligible; it operates according to patters known as natural laws.
The beginnings of science were based on the biblical facts of creation.
John Ray, a scientist and a founder of the Royal Society, was considered the father of English natural history. One of the books he authored was entitled: “The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation.”
The scientist JOHANNES KEPLER described science as "thinking God's thoughts after Him."
Louis Pasteur said, “Science brings man nearer to God.”
Sir Isaac Newton was a scientist. In his later years Newton wrote more about the Bible than science. Some humanists regret that Newton wasted his later years in this pursuit instead of science. Many are blind to the early influence of the belief of a Creator God to science.
Science is possible because creation is dependable, rational and observable.
Man
We owe our existence to the Creator. “Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Psalms 100:3
We are a creature with meaning. The most important questions we can ask are, “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” Apart from fact of creation, there are no answers to these questions.
“The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me.” Psalms 138:8, NIV.
Poem by Russell Kelfer- You are who you are for a reason. You’re part of an intricate plan. You’re a precious and perfect unique design, Called God’s special woman or man. You look like you look for a reason. Our God made no mistake. He knit you together within the womb, You’re just what he wanted to make. The parents you had were the ones he chose, and no mater how you may feel, they were custom designed with God’s plan in mind, and they bear the master’s seal. No, that trauma you faced was not easy. And God wept that it hurt you so; But it was allowed to shape your heart so that into his likeness you’d grow. You are who you are for a reason, You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod. You are who you are, beloved, Because there is a God!
Not just invidividual lives but the whole history of mankind has a goal, a purpose. All of history is moving toward the day when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10, 11, NIV.
Ethics
Two basic questions of ethics are “What ought I to do?” and “Why ought I to do it?” Apart from creation there is no such thing as ethical obligation and there are no such things as absolute norms of conduct.
The question of authority. What gives anyone the right to tell others what to do? In a world without God as Creator, there is no answer to this kind of question. Might makes right.
The question of obligation. Who has the right to formulate the rules of conduct by which everyone should live? Who has the ability to formulate such rules? Who has enough knowledge to know what standards of conduct are best for human society as a whole?
Not any human or group of humans has the right or ability. We are all limited by the particular time, space, and perspective from which we view the world. We all have a limited point of view. This leads to the idea that everything anyone says is relative to his own perception of things. In view of the fact that everyone is limited, we are told that there can be no such things as absolute truth or absolute norms of conduct.
This would be true if there were no Creator God. God is the Creator of this space time world, He stands outside it, He transcends it and thus is not limited by it. God has absolute knowledge of His creation, and absolute wisdom as to what is best within it. The norms of conduct that he reveals to us are absolute, not relative.
We must always view God as the ultimate source of our ethical norms. The Bible calls Him our Lawgiver. “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver...” Isaiah 33:22, NIV.
Recently Roy Moore reclaimed his position as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court- a post he was forcibly removed from because he refused to take down a monument of the Ten Commandments in defiance of a federal order. Not going to get into the dispute over the monument but look at some of the comments that Judge Roy Moore has made that back up this point of ethics and God.
In 2003 Judge Roy Moore said, “To deny God would be to recognize man as sovereign and would be a violation of the first commandment as well as the First Amendment. Judge Thompson’s order, running counter to the Supreme Judge of the World, is null and void.”
He also said in 2003, “The law of God will remain forever. This case is ... about the acknowledgement of God. Indeed, we must acknowledge God because our constitution says our justice system is established by God. For him to say that I can’t say who God is, is to disestablish the justice system of this state.”
Again in 2003, “I will not violate my oath, I cannot forsake my conscience, I will not neglect my duty, and I will never deny the God upon whom our laws and country depend.”
Again in 2003, “Acknowledging God is the source- a moral source of law.”
Upon his removal from office in 2003, “God is sovereign and shall remain so despite what the Supreme Court and the federal courts of this land say. I have obeyed the rule of law by not following the unlawful dictates of man.”
Upon being sworn back into office in 2013 he said, “We’ve got to remember that most of what we do in court comes from some Scripture or is backed by Scripture.”
Worship
When we consider the awesomeness of creation from nothing, what other response could we possibly make?
“He said in a loud voice (angel), “Fear God and give him glory...Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”” Revelation 14:7, NIV.
“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” Psalms 33:6-9, NIV.
“In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” Psalms 95:4-6, NIV.
Revelation 4:11- Thou art worthy, thou art worthy, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory,...
