22 May 2018

The Implications of God's Word

Reverse engineering is the process of deconstructing a man-made object to observe how it has been designed and operates.  When sophisticated military equipment is stranded in a hostile region it is a standard practice to destroy it so enemies cannot analyse, copy, or obtain good data from it.  Technological secrets are highly guarded, and there are safeguards in the industry to prevent copyright infringement.  Studying a complete and functional product can offer tips and clues to how it was made and possibly improve upon the design whilst reducing cost.

When people respond in faith to the Gospel, it is likely they already have established views concerning how the earth or people came to be.  Their worldview has already been established and primarily what has influenced it is secular.  The Bible presents a totally different view concerning our origins and the significance of life.  As children we tended to agree with our parent's views, and as we grew older we were exposed to various teachings and philosophies in school, university, and online.  Those who come to Christ as adults are faced with deconstructing their existing and impotent worldview through the revelation of the Word of God.  The vain wisdom and philosophies of man could not save or deliver from sin, but Jesus Christ is able to do everything.

Sometimes I wonder if people who claim to love and know Jesus Christ observe what He says.  He spoke explicitly of creation in Mark 10:6:  "But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.' "  Jesus said in the beginning everything was created in six days, fully-formed as male and female.  This explicitly speaks against any kind of Darwinian evolution to account for the living creatures which are seen in the earth.  The question is not if the chicken or egg came first, but exposes how evolution cannot answer the question where the rooster came from needed to reproduce.  God created people, provided them a gender, and commanded them to multiply.  The genealogy in Luke 3:38 takes us back to the first man Adam, the one God created from the dust of the ground and breathed into him a living soul.  Adam and Eve gave birth to their own kind, and their second son Abel was mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51.  To believe these are literal people likely will deconstruct a lot of beliefs held previously.  To claim man evolved from another kind or that Adam is figurative stands in opposition to the teachings of Jesus.

That's just the beginning.  There are a lot of implications in believing God created the heavens and the earth as it is written in Genesis 1 and the genealogies of scripture.  It is strong evidence the earth is not as old as evolutionists claim (and this number has more than doubled in my lifetime).  Jesus also spoke plainly of Noah and the judgment of a wicked world in the form of a great flood which destroyed the earth (Matt. 24:37-38; Luke 17:26-27).  Having been raised reading and looking to the Bible for truth, I was always surprised how in my public high school classes there was never mention whatsoever of a great flood but an "ice age."  Creation by the word of God, a relatively young earth, and the judgment of the great flood are all confirmed by scripture, and despite widespread scorn (from the same who scorn the suggestion of God's existence) there is good science which supports it.  If we really believe and trust in Jesus, we will take to heart the things He explicitly said, for nothing God has said is untrue or without purpose.

The New Testament is full of references to men and women spoken of in Genesis and speaks of God's creation and judgment of the world as a matter of fact.  Judgment is never a popular subject, but praise the LORD God has told us of what was, is, and is to come.  He has made a way of salvation for all who believe, and our belief is founded on the sure Word of God.  If we will believe God's promise to forgive us sins and grant us entrance into heaven, believing in the existence of Adam, Abel, and Noah - and all the following implications - should not be a stretch.

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