BIBLE TOPICS

We are not told when this "beginning" was. It could have been as far back as we wish to go. Geology does not contradict the Bible. The principle lesson from the Bible is that God is the Creator.

Our first view of the earth is of a planet, dark, empty and covered with water. Careful reading suggests that in some beginning, God had created the earth which was now a vast waste land of water. In other words, prior to the beginning of this creation, the earth already existed, and at this point in time was void and without form with waters covering its face.

The narrative then indicates that God then forms a new creation upon the earth which starts with day 1 and the declaration of light. In the chronology of the Bible, we discover that Adam, the first man, lived approximately 4,000 B.C (See Appendix for chart). Our current creation is about 6,000 years old.

Science and creation need not be at odds. Creation only took six days literally but it did not include the physical earth itself which contains fossil record of many more years than 6,000.

Day 1 God caused the light to shine forth to dispel the darkness. The first day, like all the others, is described as "an evening and a morning", i.e. a period of 24 hours.

Day 2 God created the atmosphere. The Hebrew for "firmament" means an expanse and is translated "air" in Gen. 1:26. God called this "heaven". It divided the waters above (the cloud layer) from the waters beneath (the seas).

Day 3 The dry land emerged. It produced grasses, plants and trees, each possessing the power of reproduction.

Day 4 Sun, moon and stars were set in the heavens to give light on the earth. Times and seasons were arranged according to the earth’s relationship to these heavenly bodies.

Day 5 The seas were filled with marine life and the atmosphere with birds.

Day 6 Cattle, reptiles and beasts were created out of the ground. Then man was formed in the image and likeness of God, that is, the "elohim" or angels, thus we read Gen 1:26 "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness". ... "Male and female created He them". Adam named the animals and fowl and was given dominion over every living thing.

Day 7 God completed His creative acts in 6 days and on the 7th day, He "rested" from all the works which He had made. The Hebrew word translated "rested" is "Shabath" from which the word "Sabbath" comes. This day is distinguished from the others, being "sanctified" or set apart by God, thus God also "blessed" this day.

It was blessed in that blessings would accrue to man when he ceased from his physical labours and thought about God’s works; and it was also blessed in its prophetic significance pointing to the "rest" which would come in Christ, and the glorious rest of His millennial reign on earth (Heb. 3: 7-19; Heb. 4:1-10)

"Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual".

Although the account of Creation can be read as a record of literal events, many figures and parables are later founded on this record.

Also, a literal creation was firmly believed by Jesus Christ. Please see Mark 10:6; Mark 13:19

We do not intend to dwell at length on the theory of Evolution, preferring to deal with the positive statements of the Bible. It is logical, at this point, however, to mention it in passing.

Evolution denies the Creator’s existence. It claims that man evolved over millions of years from lower forms of life (note Psa 100:3). Whereas the Bible reveals that man was specifically created from the dust of the earth.

A theory which does away with the Creator automatically removes man’s responsibility to Him. All restraint is removed. It is little wonder that we live in a world sunk in unchecked immorality and self seeking. The world with all its wisdom is but foolish before God. 1 Cor. 1:20-28.

Genesis Chapter 1 refers to the various "kinds" of creatures, e.g., "Every winged fowl after his kind" (v.21) and "beast of the earth after his kind" (v.24). Biology confirms the very distinct gaps between the different "kinds" or "species" of living things. Interbreeding between species never occurs in normal conditions. Where interbreeding does occur the resulting hybrids are normally sterile - such is nature’s barrier to the merging of the species.

This picture is not that which evolution would predict. If evolution is occurring, then there ought to be evidence in nature of transitional forms between one species and another, but all the gaps are bigger than evolutionists could wish. Even where deliberate human selection is involved, a new species has never been produced. Canine breeders can produce only canines. Even fruit-fly breeders, who run through dozens of generations a year, have never bred anything but weird, misshaped fruit flies.

However instead of going into detail about the theories of Evolution, it is more important to concentrate on considering what Genesis does say, rather than dwelling on theories presented by individuals who refuse to believe the Bible. However for your interest a few thoughts are presented below.

The vast gap between man and the apes is the most embarrassing gap of all to the evolutionist. What was it that caused man to be able to think abstractly, so that he can be a mathematician, a philosopher, a physicist, a poet? Why has he alone a voice which enables him to communicate abstract ideas and pass on his learning from one generation to another? How did he develop unique hands which enable him to put his brain to best effect? What process of "survival of the fittest" gave man his sense of humour, his artistic abilities, his appreciation of music, his sense of beauty, his ability to appreciate moral issues?

2. The Failure to Produce Fossil Evidence

Darwin and his contemporaries had great hopes that geological research would eventually produce fossils showing gradual changes between species. After more than 100 years of such research and the discovery of millions of fossils, the gaps between species are still there. Furthermore the gaps in the fossil record correspond to the gaps in the living world today.

There is nothing to fill the gaps between:

• fish and amphibia
• amphibia and reptiles
• reptiles and birds
• reptiles and mammals

Evolutionists have desperately searched for fossil evidence of man’s evolution, but the earliest fossil men found are still Homosapiens walking erect and with a brain as large as that of modern European man. Claims of supposedly prehuman fossils have been based on such scanty evidence as to bring the evolutionist into disrepute.

If man has descended from a lower form, there should be thousands upon thousands of intermediate hominoids (early "man") fully preserved and readily classified as such. Huxley, an eminent evolutionist, said that evolution would stand or fall on the fossil record. The fossil records do not support the theory of evolution.

3. The Complexity of Nature

Evolutionary theory assumes that changes occurred on a "step-by-step" basis over countless ages. But numerous features found in nature can only be classed as "all or nothing".

The eye with all its finely balanced components does not see unless it is fully developed. The ear does not hear unless all its intricacies are present and operational. How can evolution explain these organs in terms of gradual changes?

A bird flies because of:

(1) its feathers (themselves very complex)

(2) a lightweight body

(3) powerful wing muscles

Did blind chance cause all these to develop simultaneously, given that a complete development of all three was required before the bird could take off and fly and so gain an advantage over its fellows? Furthermore, did blind chance cause this to happen not once, but three times, for the ability to fly must have evolved separately for birds, bats and insects?

The poison apparatus of a snake requires:

(1) a chemical plant for making the venom

(2) a safe storage vessel for it

(3) an elaborate delivery system (fangs)

(4) the instinctive skill to use the weapon effectively

(5) safeguards to ensure that the snake does not poison itself. How could such apparatus evolve in stages?

Nature is filled with such complexities that evolutionary theory cannot explain. The honest response is:

"O Lord, how manifold are they works, in wisdom hast thou made them all" (Psa 104:24).

Life was thought to evolve starting from "simple cells". But even the simplest life is far from simple.

The simplest living things are viruses which typically consist of one large nucleic acid molecule surrounded by some protein molecules. Could a virus have evolved? Firstly, nucleic acid is an extremely complex chemical with tens upon tens of thousands of atoms arranged in exactly the right order. Secondly, proteins are also very large and complex molecules.

Thirdly, nucleic acid cannot thrive and multiply without its protein molecules. Fourthly, and most devastatingly, a virus is a parasite and can only grow and reproduce when living inside the body of some living host much larger than itself.

Evolution would require first the chance production of a far, far more complex one-celled creature, such as bacteria. The odds that this occurred are in the realm of fantasy.

At first evolution was thought to have occurred by changes acquired by habit, use, disuse or a change in environment being inherited by offspring. But after years of fruitless research, this theory has been largely abandoned.

Then came "neo-Darwinism" which explained change on the basis of random mutations coupled with the survival of the fittest. Mutations are basically changed offspring resulting from damaged genes in the parent caused by high level radiation. But mutations are most unlikely events and the vast majority of, if not all, mutations are harmful. Artificially induced mutations in fruit flies cause wilted wings, short wings, curled wings, stumpy wings - all useless to the fly. Mutations produce chaos, deformity and disability to already well organized animals.

The lack of a mechanism for evolution has caused some evolutionists to suggest that evolution occurred in steps - e.g. a feather suddenly appeared on the offspring of a reptile. Men will do anything but turn in reverence to the One who made them!

Now, lets go back to the Bible.

Man:

 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul". Gen 2:7

Using a Concordance - Soul = "Nephesh" in Hebrew. Translated "living creature" in 1:24.

Adam became a living soul or creature when he breathed in the "breath of life".

• "Souls" in scripture are: hungry - Prov. 19:15
• satisfied with food - Lam. 1:11, 19
• going to the grave - Job 33:22, 28
• coming out of it - Psa. 30:3
• dying - Ezek. 18:4

In the New Testament, the word translated as soul is based on the same principle of breath and of animal sentience. As examples, James 5:20, and Revelation 16:3, refer to the death of souls.

Although both man and animals were formed out of the ground, (2:19), and both kept alive by the same breath of life, man alone had the ability to look beyond his instincts and understand moral issues.

"Let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth". Gen. 1:26

So man has a higher destiny. God created a being who could respond to His love and who could, if he chose, obey His creator.

Adam was created superior to the animals. There was no creature with whom he shared a really close relationship. God recognized that he was alone and needed a suitable companion.

"God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam". Removing a rib, he fashioned from it a woman and brought her to the man. Adam saw her as a part of himself; someone who would think and feel as he did. There was a sympathy and affection between them which would not have been the case had God created the woman directly from the dust, as with the females of the animal creation." Gen. 2: 21-25

"And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good". Gen. 1:31

This Genesis record provides a figure serving as an echo for New Testament teaching. The union of Adam and Eve foreshadows the coming union of Christ and his bride, the Church. Rev. 19:7-8, Cor. 11:3. As the first Adam was put to sleep, that Eve might be formed, so Christ, "the second Adam", was put to death, so that his spiritual bride might be developed. As the first Adam showed sympathy, love and affection for the wife whom he styled "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh", so there is mutual sympathy, love and affection between Christ and his Bride. In the coming day when this spiritual marriage takes place between them both, they will be "one" as Adam and Eve were "one". Eph. 5:25-32, John 17:21.

Jesus Christ is the firstborn of this new creation, please see Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15, 1 Pet 1:23, Col. 3:9, 10, Rom. 6:3,4.

• Evolution and Creation cannot be harmonized, for Evolution is contrary to God’s words.
• In accepting the theory of evolution, mankind has rejected the reality of God and now serves himself instead.
• The natural reading of the Genesis account of creation leads one to accept its details literally.
• Both Jesus and Paul believed in creation and taught accordingly.
• God created man "very good". Placed at the head of the animal creation, he alone possessed intellectual, moral and spiritual potential.
• In the creation of Eve, God "caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam’ - an experience which prefigured Christ’s own death, out of which is formed his bride, the church (ecclesia).
• Marriage was instituted by God as a permanent relationship, with each partner being a help to the other.