“IN THE BEGINNING”
Views Of Creation
INTRODUCTION:
A. New explanations sometimes cause misunderstandings, fears, etc.
B. Two things to think about:
1. We must be careful when the Bible and Science cross paths. The Bible is accepted by and based on faith which can be supported by fact, whereas, science is supposed to
be based on fact alone.
2. New things can often be strange things. We must examine new ideas critically to see whether they be so. Study to show thyself approved.
C. Justification for Teaching
I. VIEWS OF CREATION (Overview of Major Ideas)
A. GOD CREATED
1. Absolutely & Directly
a. Young Earth -- less than 10,000 yrs. old -- created 6,000 yrs ago
b. Old Earth -- millions to billions of yrs old
(1) Day-Age Theory -- Each creative day was an age of time
(2) Gap Theory Gen. 1:1-2
2. Indirectly --Theistic Evolution--- God used processes described as evolution
B. NO GOD INVOLVED --Evolutionary View (Modern):
1. Big Bang 18-20 Billion yrs ago -- Matter of universe the size of a period
2. Cooling Planet
3. Evolutionary thought with Charles Darwin and others
II. ALPHA -- THE BEGINNING (Forever before)
A. The Eternal God Deut. 33:27
B. The Eternal Son John 1:1-3
C. The Eternal Spirit Heb 9:14
D. Other Scriptures: Ps 90:2; Ps 93:2; Rev. 1:8
III. THE ETERNAL PLAN
A. Belongs to the Lord -- Deut 29:29
B. Known from the beginning to the end -- Isa 46:10; Acts 15:18
C. Purposed in Christ Eph 3:1-12
1. The Revelation to Paul
a. Revelation Defined
b. Mystery Defined
c. What is the Mystery?
d. How long has this mystery existed? “from the beginning of the world”
e. Who holds -- reveals the mystery? God “who created all things by Jesus Christ”
2. II Tim 1:8-10 His purpose
3. Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life,”
4. Other Scriptures
D. God created the material universe to be inhabited with intelligent, free moral agents, . . .
IV. THE CREATION --The Father willed it. The Son planned, programmed and was the architect of it. He was the agent and purpose of it. The Spirit is the executor. The Spirit carried it out. He made it appear. (Ray Stedman)
A. Created by Christ Col. 1:13-19; (Remember John 1:1-3)
B. Created by the Word of God Heb 11:3 atoms -- not seen?
1. Through faith we understand
2. Faith gives understanding to the invisible world -- David Guzik
a. How were the worlds . . . framed by the word of God?
b. We did not see this act of creation; we only know of it by faith
c. This text does not say that God created the world with faith; since God sees and knows all things, "faith" in a human sense is superfluous to Him.
d. Most scientists at the time Hebrews was written believed the universe was created out of existing matter, not out of nothing, not out of the invisible
C. Possible Creative Order:
1. Third Heaven -- God's Abode
2. Angels -- Lucifer
3. Second Heaven -- Space, stars, etc.
4. First Heaven and Earth
5. Pre-Adam "Man"?
6. Hell ? Matt 25:41 “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
7. Man
D. Gen. 1:1 Heaven
1. Heavens--more than one
2. Three Heavens
3. Old Heaven(s) II Peter 3:
4. New Heaven(s) Rev. 21:1
E. Angels Created Beings
1. Angels (means messenger) --at first -- in third Heaven Ps. 148:1-5
a. Multitude of Angels Rev. 5:11
b. Orders
c. Activities, Etc.
d. Free moral agents
2. Angels named
a. Michael -- Archangel (chief)
b. Gabriel -- Messenger Dan. 8:16; Dan. 9:21; Luke 1:19
c. Abaddon -- Satan?
d. Lucifer ? -- "the anointed cherub" Ezek. 28:14 [No name given here.]
3. Lucifer? -- According to Ezekiel
4. Lucifer -- According to Isaiah Only occurrence of the word “Lucifer.”
F. Earth Gen. 1:1“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
If you believe Genesis 1:1, you really have no problem believing the rest of the Bible.
G. A paradise state is created on Earth and populated with Pre-Adam Man ? Genesis 1:1
1. Not in the image of God
2. Did not have dominion
(We are not given the details of the creation of the old world and pre-Adam "man".)
3. Pre-Adam Civilization is destroyed.
H. Restoration of the Solar System, Plants and Animals, etc. are re-Created
I. Man Created in the Image of God
V. SOME OF THE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EARTH’S HISTORY
A. Fossils? -- 3 billion yrs old -- bacteria
1. Man
a. What about “Lucy”?
b. What about Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus,
Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons?
c. Modern human species evolved perhaps as early as 200,000 yrs ago. (Sci. says)
2. Plant fossils
a. Buried deep in the earth.
b. Petroleum & Coal deposits?
B. Dinosaurs?
1. When did they live? According to Science-- During the Mesozoic Era, 248 - 65 mya
2. When did they die? According to Science-- 65 million years ago
3. How did they die?
If the Bible mentions dinosaurs what does it say?
If dinosaurs were in the garden, when did they die? The flood? Two by two into the ark. Ark too small? Was God too little to save the dinosaurs?
C. Mastodons and Mammoths?
D. Earth deformations such as:
1. Grand Canyon? -- Million years or one sudden event?
2. Twisted layers (strata) of rock?
3. Various fossils, both buried under mountains, and on top of mountains?
VI. SOME OF THE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT SATAN’S HISTORY
A. Did Satan fall from some original state?
B. Why did Satan fall? Scriptures indicate that it was due to pride.
C. Where did he fall to, or where does he now abide?
D. Why did he fall to the earth? Why was he not sealed up in heaven or on some other planet?
E. When did Satan fall?
1. Did he fall before the garden of Eden and Adam?
2. Did he fall after the garden of Eden was created and before Adam was created?
3. Did he fall after the garden of Eden and Adam were created?
F. Why was hell prepared for the devil and his angels in the earth?
G. Why is Satan so interested in the earth?
VII. LUCIFER'S ORIGINAL POSITION -- The Light Bearer -- “anointed cherub”
A. Perfect and Powerful -- Already discussed
B. Free Moral Agent -- "I will" Isa. 14:13-15
C. Had a Throne Isa. 14:13 (Scripture above.)
D. Able to travel expanse of stars and space? Isa. 14:13-14 (Scripture above.)
E. Given dominion of first and second heavens
F. Under God Isa. 45:18 "I am the Lord, and there is none else."
G. Over 1--3 of the angels -- free moral agents
VIII. THREE HEAVENS, EARTH, ANGELS AND (Pre-Adam) MEN
A SUMMARY OF WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE according to Charles K. Ramsden
A. Growth of Layer of Plants -- Coal, etc
B. Perfect Reign of a Perfect Ruler
C. How long? thousands, millions, billions of years?
D. Rebellion Plot
E. Deterioration and Destruction of Pre-Adam World
IX. OVERTHROW OF THE PRE-ADAM WORLD (The earth in chaos.)
A. According to Genesis
1. Gen 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
2. Gen. 1:2 "was" (hayah) -- to become, became
3. "without form" (tohu) -- waste, desolation, of confusion
4. "void" (bohu) -- empty, ruin, or void
Did God create the earth “without form and void” --or in "confusion and emptiness”?
5. Created (bara‘) vs. Made (‘asah)
6. There were days (evening and morning) before the sun and moon are mentioned?
7. Genesis 1:21 “And God created great whales, and every living creature”
8. Replenish
a. Gen. 1:28 Adam -- “replenish”
b. Gen. 9:1 Noah -- “replenish” Same Hebrew word used in Gen. 1:28
B. According to Isaiah Ch. 14:9-15
1. Satan and the King of Babylon addressed -- Law of Double Reference
2. v. 12 Lucifer -- fallen -- from Heaven (How could this be a man alone?)
3. v. 13 "my throne"
4. Rebellion after created heavens and earth, but before Adam.
5. Isa. 24:1 “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.”
C. According to Ezekiel 28: 3-6
1. Law of Double Reference -- 11-18 King of Tyre and Satan
2. Facts of Lucifer already discussed
3. v. 13 Eden ?
4. Iniquity -- Rebellion -- Pride
5. Feud between God and a King (God and Satan)
D. According to Jeremiah 4:23-29
E. According to Peter II Peter 3:3-7
F. According to Job
1. Job 12:14 shutteth up the pre-Adam "man"?
2. Job 12:15 (Job was written 1520 B. C. ? approx. 1000 yrs after the flood)
a. Waters overturn the Earth? or angels?
b. The earth was not overturned in Noah's flood.
3. Job 22:15-17 out of time? -- Prehistoric?
4. Job 38:13-15
a. Wicked shaken out
b. light withholden -- Noah's flood?
c. (v. 16) What's in the depths?
5. Job 38:29-30
G. According to Psalms
1. Ps. 60:2 “Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it:”
2. Ps. 104:5-9
X. WHY THE GAP THEORY WON’T WORK by Henry M. Morris
A. Those who advocate the gap theory agree that the six days of the creation week were literal days, but they interpret them only as days of recreation, with God creating again many of the kinds of animals and plants destroyed in the cataclysm.
B. What is the Purpose of the Gap Theory?
C. However, serious conflicts do remain.
D. Is the Gap Theory Scientific?
E. Is it Theologically Sound?
F. But is the Gap Theory Biblical?
XI. YOUNG EARTH AND ARGUMENTS AGAINST GAP-THEORY
A. "without form and void"
1. Cataclysm would destroy records of geologic time-- Earth’s crust would disintegrate which would destroy all evidence for the geological ages.
2. Earth was created covered by water -- without form
3. Void = no living inhabitants -- yet
B. Creation with "Apparent Age"
1. Adam -- a man not a baby
2. Animals Adult -- Matured
3. Trees -- Mature -- Rings
4. Rocks -- Appear with age
5. Sand by the seashore -- Would assume long period of time to produce.
6. Adam could look up and see the stars on his first day. Light from stars would have been created as if present for thousands--millions of years.
C. Replenish Gen. 1:28 and 9:1 -- Should be to "fill"; incorrect translation of the Hebrew
D. Death before Sin--Romans 5:
E. Satan's sin and fall -- In Heaven, not on Earth. Ezek 28 "I will cast thee to the ground"
F. Satan was not on Earth, at least not as a wicked rebel against God prior to Adam's creation. G. Cataclysm would have destroyed geologic record -- rock strata intact Job 12:15
H. Flood is described -- reasons, causes, and effects are given; pre-Adamic cataclysm is
never mentioned (Henry Morris)
I. Gap-Theory tried to reconcile with geologic ages and therefore the basis of evolution (H.Morris)
J. Jeremiah 4:23 “I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void;”
K. Isa 24:1 “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” -- Prophecy of coming judgment
L. II Peter 3:5-6 -- Flood of Noah
XII. SCIENTIFIC REASON OF YOUNG EARTH
A. Influx of meteoric material from space (space dust)
1. At 5 billion years -- 182 feet thick
2. At 5 million years -- 2 inches thick
B. Influx of materials into the ocean
1. Chemical Elements
2. Sediments Both inconsistent with 5 billion years.
C. Dating Techniques -- Based on "assumptions"
D. Population Statistics-- If humans were on Earth 500,000 -- 1 million yrs., why are the population problems just occurring?
XIII. AFTER NOAH'S FLOOD
Earth's Physical features were vastly changed and many of its physical processes were modified in various ways:
A. The oceans were much more extensive (after the flood), since they now contained all the flood waters.
B. The thermal vapor blanket had been dissipated, so that strong temperature differentials were inaugurated.
C. Mountain ranges uplifted after the flood emphasized the more rugged topography of the post-
diluvian continents.
D. Winds and storms were possible for the first time, as well as rain and snow.
E. The environment was much more hostile to man, especially because of the harmful radiations from space no longer filtered out by the vapor canopy, resulting in gradual reduction in human longevity after the flood.
F. Tremendous glaciers, rivers, and lakes existed, with the world only gradually approaching its present state of semi-aridity.
G. The lands were barren, until plant life could be re-established through the sprouting of seeds and cuttings buried near the surface.
XIV. DINOSAURS, MAMMOTHS, AND MASTODONS
A. Dinosaurs? Ps 74:13
B. Mastodons and Mammoths Ps 74:14; Ps 104:26-30; Job 40:15-24; Job 41:1-2,26-34
READINGS AND RESOURCES FOR CREATION STUDY
Allison, Mark & Patton, David; Another Time, Another Place, Another Man Based on the
writing of Finis Dake, Dake Publishing, 1997. 155 pages
Available at Christian Book Distributors CBD @ www.christianbooks.com
$7.95
Morris, Henry. Biblical Creationism. 1993. 276 pages
Available at Christian Book Distributors CBD @ www.christianbooks.com
$9.99
Whitcomb, John. The Early Earth. 1986. 174 pages
Available at Christian Book Distributors CBD
$11.49
Ramsden, Charles K. Sr.; The Prehistoric Ages, Fountain Press, Freeport, PA. 1973.
Sarfati, Jonathan; Refuting Evolution by Answers in Genesis, 1999.
(I have 3 or 4 copies for anyone interested.)
Answers in Genesis (AiG);
Institute for Creation Research (ICR);
Recommended Textbooks for Class
