Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20050102.htm

ANSWERING OTHERS WITH REASONS FOR OUR FAITH
Part VI: Why We Hold The Apparent Miracles Of Genesis 1 To Be Actual Divine Miracles
(Genesis 1:1-2:25)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Great pressure exists for us Christians to walk a thin tightrope between secular, pro-evolutionary "science" while at the same time seeking to hold to the Bible's creation account and not adopt the view of "theistic evolution" where God allegedly used evolution to create:

(1) In a conversation I recently had with a Christian who is educated in a field of science, he asked if it was Biblically acceptable for a Christian to explain the presence of daylight in "Day 1" of Genesis 1 that occurred several days before the sun was made on "Day 4", and that in terms of natural phenomena RATHER THAN divine MIRACLE, and all without yielding to the error that God used evolution to create!

(2) Ken Ham of the Answers In Genesis ministry expressed concern about what this very tension is doing to undermine the truth in some Evangelical circles. In the September 2000 AIG circular, "Answers Update," p. 1-2, he noted how some Christian leaders have actually come to avoid affirming "'theistic evolution'" as an unpopular, discrediting stance while simultaneously sacrificing belief in some of the apparent miracles of Genesis 1-2. He cites a book for teens put out by a nationally known Evangelical leader that is supposed to be anti-evolutionary, a work titled, It Couldn't Just Happen; this book claims to assert an anti-evolutionary stance while also affirming that "The days of Creation could be ordinary days or millions of years -- we can't know for sure."



Accordingly, we need to answer the question: "Is it BIBLICALLY acceptable to 'explain away' at least SOME of what APPEAR to be PURE DIVINE MIRACLES in the Genesis 1-2 creation account, EXPLAINING them to be NATURAL PHENOMENA, and that WITHOUT RELINQUISHING our stand on Pure Creationism? WHY or why NOT!?"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Some suggest that, WITHOUT adopting theistic evolution, SOME of what might APPEAR to be MIRACLES in Genesis 1-2 could be NATURAL phenomena. Is this acceptable or not? Why?!"
  1. The historical setting of the book shows its author wrote Genesis 1-2 as a POLEMIC AGAINST the PAGAN view of origins, the view that LIFE FORMS arose ON THEIR OWN and so INDEPENDENT of a SOLE SOVEREIGN CREATOR'S MIRACLES (as follows):
    1. History shows Genesis 1-2 critiqued the plot of ancient pagan origins:
      1. The ancient pagan plots of origins all had (1) an evil, repressive monster initially restraining creation. (2) Then, this monster was defeated by a hero god who liberated "the forces essential for life"; (3) finally, the hero god gained "control over these forces," (Mary K. Wakeman, God's Battle with the Monster: A Study in Biblical Imagery, p. 4-6 cited in Bruce K. Waltke, Creation & Chaos , p. 6).
      2. Genesis critiqued this plot of ancient pagan origins as follows:
        1. Genesis 1-2 reveals a formless, void earth initially came to exist with no repressive foe to the Sole Creator (1:1-2a), and that God hovered in sovereign majesty over that formless void, Gen. 1:2.
        2. Then, this Sole Creator God methodically spoke a few words in a relaxed way over a period of six days, forming the earth and filling its void to originate the entire universe! (Gen. 1:3-2:25)
        3. The sovereignty of this God is climactically seen in sharpest contrast to paganism in the creation of the woman: this Sole Creator God did NOT battle an evil, restrictive monster so the woman might spontaneously generate; rather, God put the man into a deep sleep so God ALONE might form the woman from a rib taken from the helpless, sleeping man, Genesis 2:21-24!
    2. Then, things pagans viewed as gods are seen in Genesis 1-2 to be but objects that were made and given functions by this Sole Creator God:
      1. The heavenly bodies revered by pagans are shown to be but things that were created and given functions by this Sole Creator God:
        1. Most ancient pagans worshipped the sun, moon and stars as gods, Zondervan Pictorial Ency. of the Bible, v. One, p. 398.
        2. However, Genesis 1 shows (1) the sun did not originate the day as a god, but was created on day 4 and given the rule of daylight after daylight had existed at God's hand for three days, Gen. 1:3-5, 14-19. (2) The moon was created by this God on day 4 to rule the night as a lesser light, 1:16. (3) Finally, in contrast to the pagans who both worshipped the stars and sought guidance from them (Ibid., p. 398-399), Gen. 1:16 has that Sole Creator God making the stars almost as an afterthought, a sharp polemic against ancient paganism, Deut. 4:19; Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, ftn.
      2. Genesis 2 shows the plants and animals that were esteemed as gods by pagans also came to exist from the ground by this Sole Creator:
        1. Pagans worshipped various life forms in nature, Rom. 1:22-23.
        2. Yet, Gen. 2:5, 9, 19 presents this Sole Creator God as creating all plant and animal life forms from the mere ground!
      3. Though men came to be worshiped by pagans, Genesis 2 shows us that even they were formed by God's hand from the mere DUST OF the ground, (Gen. 2:7, 21-23; Ibid., Z.P.E.B., v. Three, p. 242).
  2. So, ANY effort to EXPLAIN ANY APPARENT DIVINE MIRACLE in the Genesis 1-2 ACCOUNT as NATURAL PHENOMENA NOT ONLY COUNTERS the PURPOSE of th at ACCOUNT, that of being a POLEMIC against the ANCIENT PAGAN view of origins, BUT it ALSO allows for RELATED ERRANT EVOLUTION views:
    1. As we noted in section "I,A,1", the ancient pagan view of origins had life forces innately residing IN the formless universe, a belief that is remarkably SIMILAR to the evolutionary view of the origin of life!
    2. Thus, to "explain away" as natural phenomena the apparent divine miracles of creation in Genesis 1-2, no matter what the intent, leaves one undermining the INTENT of the Genesis account polemic on paganism and opens the door to related errant evolutionary views!
Application: In view of the HISTORICAL SETTING of Genesis, (1) may we take the Genesis 1-2 record at FACE VALUE, believing GOD was the SOLE CAUSE of CREATING the universe by means of MANY MIRACLES, and so honor GOD as the SOLE CAUSE and thus the SOLE GOD of the UNIVERSE. (2) Then, may we (a) heed Him by trusting in Christ for salvation (Acts 17:29-31; John 3:16) and (b) obey His Word, 1 John 2:3-6!

Lesson: Since Moses penned Genesis 1-2 to COUNTER the PAGAN belief that there was ANY Cause for the origin of the universe OTHER THAN that of MIRACLES by the SOLE CREATOR GOD, we MUST claim that the APPARENT MIRACLES of Genesis 1-2 ARE MIRACLES INDEED to OPPOSE NOT ONLY PAGANISM, but ALSO a SIMILAR, CONTEMPORARY belief, that of EVOLUTION!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Last Sunday, a massive undersea earthquake sent a 33-foot tidal wave onto unwary tens of thousands of people in fourteen different nations of the Far East, killing them. When he witnessed it first hand, this event forced a reporter from a very secular and famous American newspaper immediately to think about a Biblical miracle!

Michael Dobbs, a reporter for the Washington Post, was swimming off a Sri Lankan island when the disaster struck. He claims: "The speed with which it all happened seemed like a scene from the Bible . . . As the waters rose at an incredible rate, I half expected to catch sight of Noah's Ark . . ." (World Net Daily.com, "Disaster compared to scene from Bible," Dec. 26, 2004)

Scientist, Enzo Boschi, head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute claimed on SKY TG24 TV that "'All the planet is vibrating,'" noting the earthquake "even disturbed the rotation of the earth." (Ibid.)

Have you noticed that whenever a cataclysm like this occurs, those who know anything about the BIBLE IMMEDIATELY think of the BIBLE'S MIRACULOUS cataclysms ! Whether it is the Noahic Flood of Genesis 6-8 or the cataclysms predicted to occur in the future according to the book of Revelation, the AWESOME MIRACLES of GOD in Scripture are what they IMMEDIATELY recall!

There is a REASON for that: God INTENTIONALLY performed the MIRACLES of creation, and He WILL YET perform GREAT MIRACULOUS DEEDS of a cataclysmic nature to influence men to take His Word SERIOUSLY and thus to HEED Him, and, if need be, to REPENT, cf. Revelation 14:6-7 with Revelation 9:20-21! Jesus Himself revealed in Luke 13:1-5 that current cataclysmic and EVEN TERRORIST events are allowed to occur by God to influence men to REPENT before God's final JUDGMENT comes!

Let us then NOT try to EXPLAIN AWAY any APPARENT MIRACLE of Genesis 1-2: each such miracle there was performed by GOD to TESTIFY that He is the ONLY TRUE CAUSE and hence CREATOR GOD of the UNIVERSE! May we HOLD to the PURELY MIRACULOUS nature of the APPARENT MIRACLES of Genesis 1-2 to TESTIFY our God is INFINITELY SOVEREIGN as the SOLE CREATOR GOD to WHOM we must GIVE AN ACCOUNT!