The Foundation of the Word Christian
Creation

Rev. David G. Bostick
02-01-09

Introduction

Henry M. Morris, III, said that the Gospel story must not neglect the creation of the past or there will be no foundation, standard, or ability. (Morris, 39) There are three important words in that phrase that we need to consider this morning. They are foundation, standard, and ability.

Foundation

Foundation: Let's start with a question. In what sense is creation an important stone in the foundation for the Word Christian?

If we cannot believe the Bible from the very start, chapter one verse one, then everything else is suspect. If we call into question the creation account, we can call into question any of the doctrines of the Bible. We must not bend to the theories and suppositions of ungodly scientists. Some in the church have tried to reconcile the Biblical account of creation to the theories of scientists. They propose several compromises.

• For example they propose what is known as theistic evolution. This compromise proposes that God started the process of creation and then stood back to watch it develope on its own by the process of evolution. But the Judeo-Christian God is never shown as an uninvolved entity that only observes His Creation. He is intimately involved and always has been.
   
• There is the step theory of creation where God started the process and let things develope or evolve to a certain point. Then He stepped in and took things to a more advanced state, a higher level. Then He let them develope on for a period of time. Then He stepped in again. This process went on until man came on the scene. The problem with this is that there is no hint of this anywhere in the Scriptures, and the creation is mentioned often in the Scriptures. Look at the intimate and detailed description of the creation of Adam.
      Genesis 2:7 (NIV) the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
      Can you see the mighty hands of God taking some dirt and mixing water with it until He has just the right consistency of clay. Then He forms the man, Adam. And when He has Adam just the way He wants him, God holds the form up to His mouth and breaths life into the mud. Adams eyes pop open, his arms and legs fly into motion. God sets him on the ground and they begin to have relationship.
   
• There is the day age theory. This theory proposes that the seven days of creation were very long periods of time. This allows for the great amounts of time that scientists need to hold on to their theory of evolution. We need to remember that God is not captured by time, He created time so He is above it, beyond it, and outside of it.

All of these are attempts by well intentioned Christians to reconcile what the Bible says, with what scientists think might have happened. The theory of evolution requires great amounts of time and we have tried to reconcile the creation account as God gave it to us. We feel a desperate need to explain these long periods of time so the world will not think we are too different or even stupid. This compromise tainted every bit of the Bible, people felt a freedom to call into question anything that did not support their lifestyle. The result is very apparent in our country and in the world today. Nations that were founded on Biblical principles are forsaking those principles for the wisdom of man.

I will say this even at the risk of sounding old fashioned and extremely conservative, or what ever label you want to give me. After studying this issue for thirty-seven years, I believe the evidence we have shows that God created the universe in six, twenty-four hour days and then rested on the seventh day. Henry M. Morris was a hydraulic engineer that started studying the flood account in the Bible. He established the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), now in Dallas, Texas. ICR researches the science that confirms the Biblical account of creation. His grandson, Henry M. Morris III said...

Genesis 1:1 through 2:4 details the creation account carefully and thoroughly, day by day. So precise is the language that it appears that God carefully chose both the terms and the grammar to ensure that we could not mistake their meanings. (Morris, 8)

If you are interested in more of the detailed information on this topic I recommend Henry M. Morris's book, 5 Reasons to Believe in Recent Creation, and Lee Strobel's book, The Case for a Creator.

Standard

Standard: Standard is the second term we want to look at. We might ask the question, what does the word standard have to do with creation as an aspect of the foundation for the Word Christian?

The creation account establishes the standard for our lifestyle. We are creatures of a Supreme Being, Almighty God, who makes certain demands of His creatures. If I can explain the creation account any way I want to, then I can explain the standards of the Bible to suit my lifestyle, instead of living the lifestyle the Bible demonstrates and demands of all mankind. If I can explain the creation account any way I like, then I can explain redemption on my own terms. God's plan for the redemption of mankind becomes a social club where, on the surface, everyone is a nice guy. They are friendly; do a little; give a little; look good; and say all the right things. But a cross, an empty tomb, and a savior who calls us to give everything including our very lives is easily explained away, after all, God did not really mean what He said.

Ability

Ability: Ability is the third term we want to look at. Again we might ask a question. How does creation give ability to the foundation of the Word Christian?

We should stat by stating what we mean by the term ability? The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that ability is the power to accomplish something. To believe that there is a God is to believe that He has ultimate ability. He is all powerful, all knowing, and all present. Listen to what Job said...

Job 9:2-10 (NIV)
[2] “[...] But how can a mortal be righteous before God?
[3] Though one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
[4] His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
[5] He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
[6] He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
[7] He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
[8] He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
[9] He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
[10] He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

Job gives us the picture of a God who is in total control and has authority over the very laws of nature and the universe. Only a creator could have that kind of power, control, and authority. As a creature of Almighty God the Creator, I am subject to Him in all ways except as He gives me free will for a limited time. I am subject to Him. God has supreme and ultimate ability to do anything, including creating the universe out of nothing. He can devise a plan for the salvation of mankind, and He can judge righteousness and unrighteousness. God has eternal ability.

Sermon Body

Everything hinges on creation. Creation is the very foundation of our understanding of everything that exists.

• Creation provides the foundation for the divinity of Jesus Christ.
      John 17:24 (NIV) “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
   
• Creation is the foundation of knowledge for the very existence of God.
      Romans 1:20 (NIV) For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
   
• When mankind abandons worship of the Creator and worships created things, he falls to the depths of indescribable and unimaginable sin.
      Romans 1:25 (NIV) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
      In the verses that follow Paul goes on to describe some of the most horrific sins mankind has ever devised. When you read about these sins you get a grim picture of the religious state of our own country today. Many are demanding the approval of these kinds of sins in our culture today. Why? Because we have abandoned the Creator. It all started when we began trying to compromise on what we believe about creation.
   
• Creation is limited by or subject to the Creator.
      Romans 8:39 (NIV) neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   
• There is a spiritual creation as well as a material creation.
      2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
   
• The Creator had eternal purpose before He created the material universe. This is significant because it shows us a proper view of the theology of predestination.
      Ephesians 1:4-6 (NIV) For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
   
• It is in a proper understanding of our created state that we understand the faith and works of salvation.
      Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
   
• All of creation will one day bow down and worship the Creator.
      Revelation 5:13-14 (NIV) Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
   
• When Paul & Peter preached to the Gentiles they always started out with the creation.
   
• The Greek word for create g2936 was used in three different contexts.
  1. To create, produce from nothing (Mk 13:19; Ro 1:25; Ep 3:9; Col 1:16; 3:10; 1Ti 4:3; Rev 4:11; 10:6; Sept.: Dt 4:32; Ps 89:13);
  2. To form out of preexistent matter (1Co 11:9); to make, compose (Ep 2:15)
  3. To create and form in a spiritual sense, regeneration or renewal (Ep 2:10; 4:24; Sept.: Ps 51:12).

The Supremacy of Christ is the very basis for the Christian faith. The basis for the supremacy of Christ is the fact that He is the Creator and head over all of creation.

Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV)
The Supremacy of Christ
[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
[16] For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
[17] He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
[18] And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
[19] For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
[20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

If we do not believe in the Bible account of creation, we could make our own interpretation of this passage as well. Indeed the world has done this already. The world says of Jesus, that He was just the "image" of God like any other man created in the image of God. He was a good man and a great prophet, but not really God. But if you believe that, then how do you explain the rest of that passage? Phrases like, "for by Him all things were created", "He is before all things", and "in Him all things hold together", these phrases become overwhelming. Soon there is more and more we don't understand because we have done away with the very foundation of the Scriptures -- creation! You see when you start down the road of explaining away passages of scriptures that do not suit you, eventually you will throw all of it out because when part of it becomes irrelevant then all of it becomes irrelevant.

Why would we want to compromise the very foundation of our Relationship with God by watering down the Creation account as it was given to us by God? Without a belief in the Biblical account of creation Christ has no supremacy, He has no foundation, no standard, and no ability to provide for the salvation of mankind. If there is no salvation, no life after death, then we must ask the question that the ungodly ask, "Why am I here? Is it truly just to live for a few years and then become dust blown in the wind?"

Conclusion

I close with a quote from Stephen C. Meyer, PHD.

"My point is that the intellectual rebellion the apostle Paul talks about is very true in my own life. Even in my Christian thinking today, I find a tendency to slide back into what Paul refers to as the natural mind. And here's what the scientific evidence for God does for me: it realigns me. It helps me recognize that despite my natural tendency toward self-focus and self-absorption, I can't ignore what God has accomplished in this world to let everyone know that he is real, that he is the Creator, and that we need to get right with him.", [Lee Stroebel, The Case for a Creator]

[...] "So exploring the scientific and historical evidence for God is not only a cognitive exercise, but it's an act of worship for me. It's a way of giving the Creator the credit and honor and glory that are due to him. To attribute creation to a mere natural process is a form of idolatry to which we're all prone. I don't judge my naturalistic colleagues for being prone to that. That's how I'm constituted as well. All of us have a tendency to minimize God, to think and behave as if we weren't really immersed in his creation and that we aren't ourselves the product of his unimaginable creative power. Looking at the evidence— in nature and in Scripture— reminds me over and over again of who he is. And it reminds me of who I am too— someone in need of him.", [Lee Stroebel, The Case for a Creator]

A Christian should never compromise on any part of the Word of God. If you do your research, if you look at the FACTS! You will soon find evidence that establishes and strengthens you faith. In God's revelation to mankind He starts by explaining where we stand with Him. He is the creator, we are His creatures. From that foundation He goes on to reveal His eternal plan of salvation for mankind. We either accept His revelation to us from the very first verse or we throw every word of it into suspect.

Let us pray.

Series Outline

• Introduction: (01/25/09)
  A Biblical world view must include a proper understanding of creation and redemption. Only in this can we rightly relate to other Christians, society around us, and the Creator Redeemer Himself who has reconciled all things to God. The Gospel must include the full scope of God's work. (Ro 1:16)
• Creation: (02/01/09)
  The Gospel story must not neglect the creation of the past or there will be no foundation, standard, or ability.
• Conservation: (02/15/09)
  The Gospel story must not neglect the cross or there will be no authority, justice, or power.
  (See OneNote/Resources/Misc./"The Blessed Benefits"/search for the word foundation under the subtitle Pardon.)
  (See Why So Many Gods?, page 6, What's the Attraction? on a view of a very shallow foundation of Christianity.)
• Consummation: (02/22/09)
  The Gospel story must not neglect the coming kingdom or there will be no hope, joy or victory.
• Conclusion: (03/01/09)
  This foundation of the Word Christian is recorded and mapped out in the Scriptures and the Scriptures are the words of God.
  (See System of Bible Doctrine by John Thornbury, 36-56)

Works Cited

CWS-NT - Complete Word Study of the New Testament.
CWS-OT - Complete Word Study of the Old Testament.
Both the CWS-NT and the CWS-OT are parts of the AMG Complete Word Study Dictionary - Based on the lexicon of Edward Robinson (as revised by Alexander Negris and John Duncan), with constant reference to and citations from the works of John Parkhurst and Hermann Cremer.

Merriam-Webster, Inc. Merriam-Webster 11th collegiate Dictionary. 2003.

Morris, Henry M. III. 5 Reasons to Believe in Recent Creation. Dallas: Institute for Creation Research, 2008.

NIV - The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2003.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The NIV Center-Column Reference System, copyright © 1984 by Zondervan.
NIV – The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Grand Rapids: 1984

Thornbury, John. System of Bible Doctrine. Webster: Evangelical Press USA, 2003.