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1A) Introduction
1B) Some time ago I spoke on the topic of Creationism and what were the
issues involved.
1C) At that time we said that Creationism is really the belief
that God created the universe just like the Bible says, in 6 literal 24 hour
consecutive days about 6,000 years ago.
2C) We therefore view all scientific evidence (what you actually
see) from that perspective.
2B) Today I want to give the second of that series, Why is belief in a
literal 6 day creation important?
1C) After all isn’t preaching the gospel what is important? Does
one have to be a creationist in order to be saved? No. Why do we want to stand
up for such a polarizing issue when it is unnecessary for salvation? Be
careful what we say is necessary and unnecessary.
2C) As we will see Creation is an integral part of the Word and
the Gospel. One cannot be logically consistent and try to believe both the
Bible and the pillars of evolution.
1D) For years Christians have tried various schemes of
compromise in order to accommodate that vast eons required for evolution into
the Bible. They all fail miserably and open the door to worse things. Theistic
evolution, Day-age theory, Gap theory, Framework hypothesis, Genesis 1-11 =
Poetry
2D) Quite frankly there are many aspects to the current
creationist controversy that are similar to what Martin Luther faced during
the Protestant Reformation.
3D) So much so that we can take up one the battle cries of
the reformation, “Sola Scriptura”
2A) Authority of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16)
1B)
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”
1C) Scripture claims to be the very spoken Word of
God; the God of Truth.
1D) This passage states that the words of
scripture are God breathed. Just like when we speak there is breath coming out
of my mouth and nose. So the Bible claims to have the same authority and power
as that breath that comes from the mouth of God as He speaks.
(Anthropomorphism)
2D) Another verse that struck me the other
week during the concert was Isaiah 40:5. What assurance do we have that such
an astounding thing will surely happen? God said it…period. This is the
authority that the Word of God claims for itself. It is the very words of the
God of truth.
2C) As a result, the Bible is true and accurate in
everything that it states, including statements that touch on science and
history.
1D) While the Bible does not claim to be a
science text book, it does claim to speak the truth. That is, it does not go
into details about how God did things, but it gives us a framework as to what
He did, when He did it and how long He took to do it.
2D) Let me let you in on a little secret. The
Creation/Evolution controversy is not a disagreement about science (it is
certainly not what the media reports it, a religion vs. science debate) it is
a disagreement about history.
3D) The Bible describes a certain history for
the beginning of the earth. God created everything in 6 literal 24 hour
consecutive days about 6,000 years ago. (One thing to remember this record was
written by the God who was there and witnessed the events as He accomplished
them.)
3C) Humans have their own ideas about the beginning
of the universe
1D) First presupposition – Long ages These
are not proven by science, but presupposed.
1E) Someone might object, “What about
radiometric dating putting rocks at billions of years old?”
2E) Come to the course on Genesis for
more details but radiometric dating actually proves nothing. Also there are
over 200 different means of measuring the age of the earth and better than 90%
give an age far less than evolution requires.
2D) Random chance You and I are nothing but
the accumulation of fortuitous accidents.
3D) Death disease and struggle are the major
factors in producing the appearance of design.
2B) Romans 3:4
“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar”
1C) Here is the bottom line. Are we going to
believe God who was there, Who knows all things, Who does not make mistakes,
Who always tells the truth, Whose Word is forever settled in heaven, (Ps
119:89) and Who tells us the truth plainly in His Word? Or are we going to
believe men who were not there who do not know everything, who do lie and
whose ideas change constantly?
2C) Just like this passage in Romans 3 states, just
because someone does not believe the Word of God does not make the Word
untrue.
3B)
“Why halt ye between two opinions. If the Lord be God follow
him, but if Baal, follow him.”
1C) We expect that the unsaved will not submit to
the Word of God. After all, they are in Adam, and just like their father
blushing in his nakedness so they also try to hide from the presence of the
Lord.
2C) But those who profess Christ have no excuse.
You cannot believe both evolution with its long ages and the Bible.
3C) Chart from paper
4C) Quotes from John MacArthur
1D) “Scripture, not science, is the ultimate
test of all truth. And the further evangelicalism ….”
2D) All we need to do to prove that is to
look at history.
1E) Charles Darwin himself
2E) Princeton Theological Seminary; B.B.
Warfield & Charles Hodge
2E) Charles Templeton
5C) Putting it bluntly, do you want to lose your
effectiveness and authority now and unlock the door to the slippery slide to
unbelief both in your life and in your children’s? Believe man’s words rather
than God’s Words.
3A) Belief in Evolution Compromises the Truth of the Gospel
1B)
Psalm 11:3 “If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
Matthew 7:24-27
1C) I often state that Genesis is the foundation of the scripture.
Just like the foundation of a building is the most important (If the
foundation is bad the whole building crumbles) so the foundation for
understanding the scripture is the most important.
2C) If Genesis is the foundation for understanding the Bible then
Genesis 1-11 is the footer for the foundation.
1C) There is not a true Christian that does not believe in
the historical reality of the resurrection. (Even though modern science
confirms that the dead do not rise.) Our faith rests on real history; not
fanciful stories.
2C) So the gospel itself rests on the historical reality of
Genesis 1-11.
3C) We will take a quick look at 3 facts from Genesis 1-11 that,
if rejected, emasculate the gospel.
2B) If you believe in billions of years of earth history (the current
estimate is 4.5 billion) you must believe in death before Adam. (As well as a
local flood.) If so you have problems.
1C) This idea is flatly contradicted by Romans 5:12.
2C) Death before Adam makes God responsible for death and
suffering. (Some have even suggested that God used evolution to bring about
man. What does that say about the character of God?)
1D) There is evidence in the fossil record of cancer, animal
cannibalism, death disease and bloodshed. Did God really look at all that and
pronounce it “very good?”
2D) If the fossil record is a catalog of billions of years
of evolution as some suggest then a world-wide catastrophic deluge would have
destroyed the fossil record. Therefore you must believe in a local flood.
3C) If there were billions of years of earth history then death is
an integral part of creation. It is not, as Scripture states, the last enemy
that will be destroyed. (1 Corinthians 15:26)
4C) If God is in the process of restoring the entire earth back to
Edenic conditions (Isaiah 11& 65) to what is He restoring it? How will it
change when the Lord returns if it has always been a place of cruelty, death
and suffering? Do you want to live on such a Millennial earth?
5C) The gospel is good news. Where is the good news in this?
3B) If evolution is true, then there is no literal Adam & Eve. (There
are some who compromise with millions of years who teach that there was a pre-Adamic
race of soulless humanoids, that God took one of those and placed a soul into
them thus creating Adam. If so how do you interpret the creation of Eve?)
1C) If there is no literal Adam, then there is no literal fall. If
there is no literal fall then the gospel is not about salvation from the
corruption and eternal penalty of sin. It then becomes merely a means of
making people better.
2C) If that is so then why did Christ have to die as a substitute
for sin?
4B) (1 Corinthians 15:45)
“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit.” For as in Adam all die. In Christ all will be made alive.”
also (1 Corinthians 15:22)
1C) Scripture calls Jesus the “Last Adam” in contrast to the
first Adam. Each one is presented as the federal head of a group of people.
(The federal head is the one whose decisions and actions both represent and
are imputed to the rest.) Just as our federal government makes decisions that
represent all Americans.
2C) If there was no literal 1st Adam then how can there
be a literal 2nd Adam? If we are not in the 2nd Adam,
then His righteousness is not imputed to us and we are not saved.
4A) A Better Understanding on How to Reach our Society
1B)
1 Cor. 1:23 “But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;”
Acts 2:41: 3,000 souls got saved. Acts 17:32-34: Some mocked … others said
…Certain clave.
1C) Was Peter more successful than Paul? No!
1D) Who was Peter preaching to? Jews. They had an
understanding of the True God, the Word, Sin and the Promises.
2D) Who was Paul preaching to? Gentiles, Pagans who had no
idea of the true God, of the promises in the Word, sin at all. He had to take
them back to creation and one true God.
2C) For years American society was a church-going culture. We had
an understanding of basic Biblical issues. It was easier to give people the
gospel then.
3C) Today people have little concept of what the Bible says and
they think that science has disproved the Bible anyway so what it says is
irrelevant to them. The majority of our culture does not believe that there is
such a thing as absolute truth
4C) This is why we must give them the basics of what is sin,
Salvation from what? Who is the true God.
5A) Lessons for our lives.
1B) The only offensive weapon that we
have to take the truth to those who so desperately need it is, “…the
sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.”
If we throw our swords on the ground and refuse to use then we are powerless
to accomplish His work of saving souls.
1C) When Jesus was tempted of the devil how did He thwart him? By
quoting the Word When Jesus was opposed by the Scribes, Pharisees and
Sadducees what was His final point of authority? The Word of God
2C) God has given us His word and He tells us, you must trust Me.
This is how I have communicated to you. In practice to trust Me you must trust
my Word.
3C) Since he spoke with Eve in the garden, it has always been
Satan’s modus operandi to get us first to doubt the word of God, then to trust
ourselves.
4C) We must always believe first what the Bible
plainly states, even if we look pitifully naive and foolish in the eyes of the
world.
2B) Many Christians approach Scripture and science with a “two box”
mentality. They have one set of beliefs in one box and another set of beliefs
in the other box.
1C) When asked about evolution they will say something like you
can believe in millions of years, Just believe in Jesus.
2C) You will also hear comments like The Bible is not a book of
science it is a book on morals and values.
1D) If God cannot be trusted to convey the truth concerning
history and science what does that say about His morals and values.
2D) Jesus said to Nicodemus, If I have told you earthly
things and you believe me not, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly
things? If we do not trust Jesus words on things that we can see and test here
and now how can we trust Him when He speaks about things we cannot know;
Heaven, Hell, eternal consequences and the gospel?
3C) Take your beliefs out of both boxes and compare
them. Believe only what Scripture states and learn to interpret science
through the filter of Scripture.
3B) Because scripture is so little valued in our day and age fewer and
fewer people have any basic knowledge of it. When we give people the gospel
stating that Jesus loves them they think that is a great warm and fuzzy idea
but they have no concept of the greatness of their sin or their dire need for
salvation.
1C) I have appreciated the approach that Jade takes to witnessing
by giving people a proper understanding of the requirements of the Law.
However even that approach will fail when the individual totally rejects the
Word including the Law as having any authority over their life.
2C) When witnessing to people we cannot expect to just preach the
gospel once, but many times, lay a sound foundation, answer questions just
like people states in 1 Peter 3:15.
4B) Salvation
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