Creation And Its Story

UNDERSTANDING THE CREATION

DIVISION TWO—STUDY ONE

Creation and its Story

Who performed the act of creating the Heavens and the earth?

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Observation: Within the Bible itself is the proof of its divine origin. There is no other book that can satisfy the intellectual curiosity and questionings of the heart and mind of man more than the Bible. The Bible is the revelation to man from the creator God. If man receives it in faith it can transform his life. History itself shows that a divine Hand has preserved the Bible down through the ages for the whole world.

By what power were the heavens and earth created?

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth….For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalms 33:6—9).

Through whom did God bring the heavens and earth into existence?

“For by Him [the Son] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). “All things were made by Him: and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in the time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1—3).

For what purpose did God create the earth?

“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18).

What manner or method did God use to provide in habitants for the world?

“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.” “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:7, 21,22).

What image was man created in?

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27).

Observation: From the beginning the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of creation. Neither sex is exalted and neither is depreciated.

What was the position God assigned to man?

“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” (Genesis 1:26).

“What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; and Thou hast put all things under his feet” (Psalms 8:4—6).

Observation: God gave man great authority in putting him in charge of the welfare of the whole earth. With this authority comes great responsibility. We must learn to use our resources wisely because in the end God will hold us accountable for our stewardship.

Did God in the beginning make a home for man?

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.” “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:8, 15).

Did God provide life-giving food for Adam and Eve?

“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9).

Did God devise a simple plan to test man’s loyalty and obedience?

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2: 16, 17).

Observation: God gave Adam responsibility for the garden. He told him directly not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rather than physically preventing him from eating, God gave Adam a choice, even though Adam might choose wrongly. God still gives people today choices. We can obey or disobey. Living with the consequences of our own choices is one of the best ways to become more responsible.

What is the power God uses to uphold all things?

“Upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).

Does Nature Speak

Do the heavens declare anything to us?

“The heavens declare the glory of God….Day unto day uttereth speech” (Psalms 19:1, 2).

Can we gain understanding by the things that are made?

“For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

The New Creation

Whose workmanship is the Christian?

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

Because of the curse upon this earthly creation, what has God promised?

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17). “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Worship And Brotherhood

Is our worship justly due to our maker?

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker” (Psalms 95:6).

Is there a true basis of the brotherhood of man?

“Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?” (Malachi 2:10).

Proof 4 thru 7 of God Does Exist

Proof Four: The Great Designer: We live in a highly complex, intricate and interdependent world. To experience life in this world is to see a world of Great Design. From sunset to sunrise the mountains fields, and streams are all in harmony. The oceans and all they contain declare the glory of a Great Designer God.

Life as we know it is entirely dependent upon other forms of life. Nothing lives or dies to itself. How does the evolutionist answer the question of which came first, the corn or the bee? The bee must have been quite hardy to survive for millions of years independent of the corn stalks, flowers, grasses trees, and grains all "evolve" slowly and gradually over a period of millions or billions of years independent of the little bee, upon which they must rely for their very continuation of life? It is a biblical principle, that the whole universe was created mature by a "Great Miracle of God."

Questions of this nature are completely insurmountable and unanswerable by the evolutionists. The old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is a question that the evolutionist is totally disdainful of, and why, because he simply has no answer for it. From his point of view it is better to make fun of it, or scoff at it, or just dismiss it as a question that has no merit.

Where can we go to see a greater masterpiece of design than our own body? All of these beautiful and intricate creations, demand a Great Eternal Designer!

Proof Five: Fulfilled Prophecy: One of the strongest evidences of the existence of an Almighty Creator God is the Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible. Unlike any other book, the bible offers numerous specific predictions many hundreds of years old.

About one third of the Bible is made up of Prophecy. Most pertain to the end times, however, there many prophecies that have already been fulfilled, and which are presently being fulfilled.

Hundreds of years ago God sent His prophets to such major cities as Babylon, Elkron, Ashdod, Askelon, Tyre and Sidon. These prophets had been commissioned with a message in which they foretold the decay, fall and particular type of fate that was to befall each of these ancient cities. Without fail, in every single instance, exactly at the time designated, all these event occurred.

One of the most amazing predeictions of Christ in all of Scripture is that of Isaiah 53:2--12. This precise description of Jesus sufferings and death of Christ was all literally fulfilled. Other prophecies involving Christ's death include: The piercing of His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Luke23:33), the piercing of His side (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34) and the casting of lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18; John 19:23--24).

The very fact that a Supreme Being is able to fortell the future, and bring it to pass, is a great proof of His existence.

Proof Six: Life Giving Food: It goes without saying people on this earth enjoy an unending varitety of delicious foods. Humans on earth are composed of 16 elements of matter-living organic matter. It is emperative that these 16 living elements be supplied and replenished through food, water and air, or they will die.

No man with all his ingenuity and science, plus laboratory facilities can produce so much as a mustard seed, let alone produce life-giving food. That is, he cannot take plain inorganic matter and turn it into the living substance we call food, but some power, force, intelligence, or Being did begin a Miraculous process, far to wonderful for any man to devise or produce and created not just the mustard seed, but millions of life giving seeds that provide everything from soup to nuts for humanity.

And so it is that out of the ground grows grass, and green leafy vegetables, and all other vegetables, and vines, and trees yielding fruit-each with its seed in itself, each through this seed reproducing after its kind-and it is very good.

We must therefore admit, as much as it grates against the human soul, that there is a far Greater Intelligence than man, which can design, create, and supply man with all of the necessities of life that man himself cannot do.

Proof Seven: Answered Prayer: For all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, answered prayer is no great surprise, and it shouldn't be. Obviously for the doubters, the skeptics, and atheists, since they have never prayed they will never get an answer, therefore it would never occur to them to consider answered prayer a proof of the existence of an all powerful "Creator God." Real answered prayer is a direct, divine, supernatural intervention, a completely miraculous intervention and direct answer from Almighty God! The prayers of Jesus' are most remarkable because of their sheer frequency, their simplicity and their direct address of God as "Abba, Father."

Answered prayer is an irrefutable, unchallengeable proof of the existence of an Almighty Creator God. For those who practice prayer, this statement is true. For those who reject the God of the Bible, no proof that could be offered would be enough to convince them, even if one rose from the dead! "And He said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be presuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31).

Answered Prayer in the life of a Christian is proof of an all powerful, loving Creator God, who by the way created the entire universe and all that is in it in six days. Those who can't accept that will be like those who rejected the words of Moses and the prophets and will not even believe or be persuaded by jesus Christ our Creator who rose from the dead! END.

God Does Exist--Continued

Proof Two: Law Demands a Law Giver: We see in the heavens myriad laws of heat, light, energy, motion, the rotation of astral bodies, and the laws of gravity and numerous other laws. Science has shown clearly that we live in an orderly law-abiding universe governed by irrefutable "Laws." The existence of law, unchangeable, immutable, irrevocable, unseen and yet active, absolutely demands the existence of a Great Lawgiver. "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy" (James 4:12).

"Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? Says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? Says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24). This verse in Jeremiah is quite revealing, because it is made clear by God's own word that He is everywhere in the Universe. Because the Creator God is everywhere in the Universe we can understand how he created all the heavenly bodies with their light reaching the earth. When God energized the Universe, he energized the whole Universe. "And God said, "Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Because He is everywhere He is not restricted in performing any kind of creation miracle necessary to bring about a mature, fully functioning lawful mature universe in six days.

Proof Three: Life Demands a Life-Giver: There is a gaping chasm of separation between life and death. This huge gap between those who are alive and those who are dead is so broad, so insurmountable by man, that evolutionists can only suppose and guess, offering vague, ethereal nebulous "theories" as to how life "might have" begun!

On the other hand, there is an unquestionable law of science that comprises a major proof on the existence of a life-giving God! That law is the Law of Biogenesis. "Bio" means life. Genesis means beginning. This law, then, is a law concerning the Beginning of life. This law, simply stated, is the absolute law that life comes only from life, and that each kind reproduces only after it kind (Genesis 1:25).

The very advances of mdeical and surgical science in the treatment and prevention of germ diseases are based upon this great truth of the law of Biogenesis, that Life can come only from pre-existing Life. That which is dead, can never give rise to give birth to or produce the living. In other words, life can never come from dead matter, but must come from an ever living God.

Human beings do not have life in themselves, they receive life from God, and through faith believers can have Christ within, "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:12). One cannot rationally deny the existence of God, unless he can account for the origin of Life without a Creator who Himself is Life! The Creator, therefore, begins to be revealed, by Science and by reason, as a Living God--a God in whom is Life and who alone has imparted life to all that have it.

To Be Continued.

GOD DOES EXIST

"The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands" (Psalm 19:1).

Because the heavens declare God's glory, He must certainly exist. It has been said by the many that you can't prove that God exists. For the carnal mind that is certainly true, but for those who God has called and have excepted Jesus Christ as their Savior it is a matter of faith. As the apostle Paul wrote, "We live by faith not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).

In the Scriptures God reveals Himself through nature we learn about His power and our finiteness. As God reveals Himself through the scriptures we learn about His holiness and our sinfulness. When God reveals himself through our daily experiences we learn about His gracious forgiveness and our salvation. Every twenty four hours we are surrounded by fantastic displays of God's craftsmanship and the heavens certainly give dramatic evidence of His existence.

The fourth commandment is difficult for most, for it states, "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy" (Exodus 20:11). It is hard for the human mind to except that God could create the universe and all that is in it in six days. Yet that is what true Christians must believe by faith. Not to do so is to side with worldly science and reject God's word. Therefore, let us look at some evidence that proves that God indeed does exist!

Proof One: A Cause Demands A Causer: We must remember the fact that it is impossible to prove that God does not exist. Science itself will admit to this truth.

First of all let's begin with ourselves. We are the product of a cause. A man and woman came together and when the information from the man joined with the information from the woman we were conceived immediately. Our parents are the cause of our existence. We can't deny that! Given that we exist by causality, it can also be demonstrated that even the Universe must have had a great "Causer."

Everything that comes to be has a cause. Using this statement of the principle of causality, the existence of a "First Cause" can be demonstrated as follows. "Everything that comes to be is caused by another." The Universe came to be. Therefore, "the universe was caused by another." This principle of causality asserts that everything that has a beginning (and so is finite) needs a cause. God, of course has no beginning, He is Eternal. If the Universe had no beginning, then it does not need a cause of its beginning. Science itself proves by the laws of thermodynamics that the Universe had a beginning. Ultimately the universe needs a "Causer" that does not have a beginning, for the Universe cannot spring into being out of nothing! "In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). This obviously refers, not to the functioning of the universe but to its Genesis.

Christ The Life

CHRIST THE LIFE!

There is a great difference between telling someone about life and actually living life. Jesus, the one who lives is the one who possesses life, and the more perfect one lives, the more life one possesses. Jesus Christ lived perfectly; therefore, He possesses life perfectly. He is the Life: the very embodiment, energy, force, and source of life itself.


In biblical perspective, life flows from the living Father through the Son (His agent in creation and redemption) into a world thirsting for “real” life (John 6:57).

The overflowing vibrant quality of life made available in Christ was evident in the authority of His speech and the power of His touch (Matthew 9:18; Mark 1:27, 41, 42; 5:27—29).

He is the “author of life” (Acts 3:15 “Him who has led the way to life”, constantly advising how to enter into life (Matthew 7:14; 25:46; Mark 8:35—37; 9:43—47). And He raised the dead.

His own resurrection made Him “ a life-giving spirit,” with the power of “an indestructible life” (Romans 8:2; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Hebrews 7:16), so infinitely extending human life’s horizons (1 Peter 1:3—5).

Jesus is “Christ our life” (Colossians 3:4), in union with whom we find “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) and are newly created, living hence forth not for ourselves but for Him (2 Corinthians 5:15, 17).

John especially dwells on Christ as the source of this new quality of life (John 3:14—16; 5:21), that of the children of God.

Thus the life within the Father flows into the world through the Son, who also “has life in Himself” and gives it to whom He will (John 5:26). He is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25; 14:6), and demonstrates it by restoring life to paralyzed limbs, raising the dead and conquering death (John 5:5—9; 11:43). Men remain in death only because they will not “come and have life” (John 5:40; 1 John 3:14).

JESUS THE TRUTH!

Jesus said, “I am the Way the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). Truth never changes and is always timely; it applies today and in the future. The Scriptures we read today we can be sure are true because they are connected with God’s changeless character. We must consider the centuries that have passed since the words of the Bible were penned. Hours upon hours have been spent in careful study of every sentence of Scripture. The Bible has withstood the test of time. Because God is truth, you can trust Jesus Christ, the Word of God to be true and a perfect guide for all people.

There is a difference between telling someone about the truth and living the truth before them. The one who lives the truth literally becomes the truth therefore Jesus Christ is the embodiment of truth. Through the person of Jesus Christ God shows man what He is like. To see a perfect picture of the truth of God look at Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Great communicator of truth. He Himself, His Person and His Life makes things perfectly clear. Jesus is the one who reveals the ultimate source and meaning and end of all things. By Jesus the truth of man himself and the world surrounding man is revealed, showing man the way to truth and enabling him to choose the right way to the truth.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Jesus Christ is our great liberator of truth. There is a great gulf of (estrangement) which exists between man and God. He sets men free from the frustrations, fears, weaknesses, and defects that plague him.

When Jesus spoke of “knowing the truth” He was speaking of knowing God’s revelation to people. This revelation is embodied in Jesus Himself, the Word; therefore, to know the truth is to know Jesus. The truth is not political freedom or intellectual knowledge. Knowing the truth means accepting it, obeying it, and regarding it above all earthly opinion. By doing so, we have true spiritual freedom from sin and death. As believers in Jesus Christ our savior we have the Holy Spirit living with in us and guiding us on our journey through life.

to be continued