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How Did We Get Here? In The Beginning... In the first two
lessons, we learned that the Bible was given and preserved by God. We
looked at ancient and modern myths about origins and concluded them to be
based on unsupported assumptions. We recognized that God, a reliable
eyewitness, has given us His Word about what happened. Finally, we began
to learn about God from His Word, surveying His eternal, unchanging,
all-powerful Spirit nature. To accept that God has given us His Word about
origins, we exercise faith. Faith is very much like trust. When you lay
down on your bed at night, you trust that it will hold you. If you didn't
trust it, you wouldn't lay down in it. Have you ever laid down on a bed
(or sat in a chair, or stepped on a ladder…) only to have it collapse
underneath you? That was quite a surprise wasn't it? Why where you
surprised? Because, you expected the it to hold you and it failed you.
That expectation can be called trust. It is pretty easy to decide whether
or not to trust our bed, chair, or ladder. We can see those objects. We
can touch and feel them. If they look broken, or feel weak and wobbly, we
don't trust them as much. Often, we lean on them to see if they'll hold.
Why do we do that? We test those objects to see if we can trust them.
Faith is a lot like trust. But, with faith we are trusting in something we
cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen." When we take God at His Word that
He created everything and told us about it in His Word, we are exercising
faith. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which
do appear" (Hebrews 11:3). The evolutionist/materialist assumes that the
things which we see were made by the things which we see. Biblical
Creationists understand that the material universe was not made by matter,
but by God. Faith can be tested, just like trust. Time and again, God's
Word has been tested and has always been proven true. From the
archeological discovery of the Hittites to the scientific principles given
to us by God before humanity discovered them, God's Word proves true.
God's Word is worthy of our faith. The Space Frontier The US National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), now unfortunately a hotbed of
evolutionary propaganda, once acknowledged God's creation. On Christmas
Eve in 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts read from the Bible. Astronauts
William Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman read Genesis 1:1-10.1
Exploration and research find their highest motive when seeking to reveal
the glories of God's creation. Even research attempting to further
evolution actually shows God's role as Creator. The First Day On Earth So
what was it like when God created the Earth? What if we had been there to
watch Him work? What would we have seen? In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters (Genesis 1:1-2). Let's imagine we were there. The
first thing we notice is that we cannot see. There is no light. We seem to
hang in black emptiness. This empty space is God's canvas for Creation.
Now God begins to create matter. Just in front of us, He crafts a ball of
rock and water. Unfortunately, we cannot see it! But at this point, He
creates light...that's convenient for us! And God said, Let there be
light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and
God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and
the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the
first day (Genesis 1:3&4). As of yet, there are no stars to provide
light, so this is probably a diffuse light surrounding Him and His work.
(Now you know why we call the period of darkness each day "night" and
daylight, "day." Because God named them!) Now that we can see, we find
that the emptiness stretches farther than we can imagine. But, our
attention focuses on the ball of matter before us. We cannot tell what it
is made of because it is covered in water. This ball is the Earth. As yet,
it has no sculpted features, no great mountain ranges or fathomless
prairies. Reviewing His work, God declares that it is good. It exactly
meets the needs He has in mind, and has been perfectly crafted by His own
power. And so ends the first day on Earth. The Second Day On Earth The
light returns, night has passed and God is at work. We hear God's voice.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let
it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and
divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which
were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament
Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day (Genesis
1:6-8). With the power of his spoken thought, God creates a barrier which
lifts some of the water high above while leaving the rest to roll around
on the ball. Today, we call this air-filled space between the oceans and
the clouds the atmosphere. That is all God has scheduled for today, so we
float forward and get our feet wet in the water while breathing the fresh
crisp air. We marvel at the optical effects the atmospheric water has on
the light. From this position we can no longer see the vast empty expanse
surrounding this little ball of dirt and water. As Day ends, He evaluates
His work and finds it good. The Third Day on Earth As the light grows, we
again hear God speaking: And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was
so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the
waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:9-10). By
His spoken thought, He sculpted the basins for the seas and caused the
water to pool in them. He then named the land and sea. Now, this ball He
calls Earth is beginning to take shape. He speaks: And God said, Let the
earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree
yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth:
and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed
after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the
morning were the third day (Genesis 1:11-13). Suddenly, plants begin to
cover the earth. We feel the grass tickling our toes. Trees shoot up and
begin to bear fruit. God's spoken words convey the complex designs of His
thoughts into action as multiplied billions of living cells are formed
with the correct design and then begin to replicate. We literally watch
the world become green before our eyes. We spend the rest of the day
feeling the grass, breathing the air, examining the plants, and marveling
at His awesome power. We agree at day's end that His work is good. The
Fourth Day On Earth Early in the morning, God begins speaking and we see
the light coalescing into pinpoints. And God said, Let there be lights in
the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them
be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be
for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth:
and it was so (Genesis 1:14-15). No longer is there a general haze of
light that grows and fades as God marks each day. Now we can make out
hundreds of stars some of them brighter than others, but all rather faint.
They begin to fade as a bright light appears on the eastern horizon. And
God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them
in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule
over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning
were the fourth day (Genesis 1:16-19). God's spoken thoughts have crafted
a star very close to earth. We call this start Sol, or the Sun. Now the
Earth begins orbiting the Sun. When the Sun retreats over the western
horizon, we notice another ball of matter reflecting the sunlight. To
provide light at night, God also created the Moon in Earth orbit. Although
mankind will not discover them for many centuries, at this time God also
created the planets. God finds His work is good, and ceases until morning.
The Fifth Day On Earth Everything is ready: the water and earth, the seas
and air, the grass and trees, the sun and seas. But what for? What will
live on it? We watch as God begins the day again by speaking: And God
said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath
life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of
heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and
every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God
blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in
the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the
morning were the fifth day (Genesis 1:20-23). God's spoken thoughts
encoded the DNA and complex biochemistry required to create fish and
birds. Observing that His creation is good, His spoken word enables them
to reproduce. The Sixth Day On Earth Now the seas and skies are occupied,
but the land remains empty except for the occasional bird perched on a
tree. God begins His last day of creation by remedying that lack: And God
said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it
was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle
after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:24-25). Each day He creates
more complexity and sophistication. Now all of the mammals, amphibians,
even insects and worms appear at His divine command. What is missing? Each
of these creatures reflects such intricacy, from the cellular level to the
functions of biological systems. Some of the creatures can even do some
amazing things. Yet, none of them possesses intelligence. None of them can
admire His handiwork and explore His creation. And none of them could
fellowship with God. And God said, 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. So God created man in
his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created
he them (Genesis 1:26-27). God creates the pinnacle of His creation.
Humans are made of the matter He created, and are also part spirit: living
matter combined with intelligence and a soul. He makes Man and Woman. 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 (Genesis 2:7).
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will
make him an help meet for him (Genesis 2:18). 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. And
Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Genesis 2:21-23). Now
we know how we got here. We see that the earth and space, the skies and
seas, the grass and trees, the stars and sun, the fish and birds, the
animals and humanity were all created by God. The Earth was especially
designed to be our home. And in Genesis 1:31 we read, "And God saw every
thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and
the morning were the sixth day." |
Lesson #3 Review
1.Give an illustration of something you trust daily, like we looked at
on the first page of this study.
2.What else do you accept by faith that you cannot see or have not
personally proven?
3.Which three Astronauts read from Genesis chapter 1?
4.Why do you suppose God created in the order he did?
5.What trait separates humanity from the animals?
6.Why did God create Woman? |