The Doctrine of Creation
- Doctrine of creation defined: God created the entire universe
out of nothing; it was originally very good; and He created it to glorify
Himself.
* This is a doctrine that most Christians will agree with,
though they may have drastically different views concerning the details.
- NOTHING existed other than God Himself before He began to
create the universe.
- Gen. 1:1
- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
** Heavens and earth = entire universe
- Psalm 33:6-9 - By the word
of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His
mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters
of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all
the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand
in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was done; He
commanded, and it stood fast.
- John 1:3 - All things came into
being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come
into being.
** All things = entire universe
- Col. 1:16 - For by Him all
things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all
things have been created through Him and for Him.
** All things visible and invisible
- Heb. 11:3 - By faith we
understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that
what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
** Everything created goes back to God!
- It is beautiful to realize that God created everything,
because it means that EVERYTHING has a purpose. **
Including US!
-
Therefore, whenever anything in creation brings us joy, we should use it as
an
opportunity to give praise to God.
- Understanding
creation leads to humility, because of the revelation of God’s
greatness. We should see everything as God’s, not ours.
- The greatest opponent of the doctrine of creation is the
theory of evolution. As Christians, we cannot hold to any part of this notion,
for Scripture leaves absolutely no room for evolution. God created man and
woman.
- Gen. 2:7
- Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and
breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
- Gen. 2:22
- The Lord God fashioned into a
woman the rib which He had
taken from
the man, and brought her to the man.
- The primary agent in the act of creation was God the
Father. The Son and the Holy Spirit were also an active part.
- Creation
“through” the Son:
-
John 1:3 - All things came into being through Him, and apart from
Him
nothing came into being that has come into being.
- Holy
Spirit was present:
-
Gen. 1:2 - The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over
the surface
of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over
the surface
of the waters.
- God is distinct from creation, yet creation is always
dependent upon God.
- He is not
part of creation as Pantheism suggests, but He rules over it.
- God created the universe for His glory. ** Including US!
- Is. 43:7
- Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for
my glory,
whom I have formed, even whom I have made.
- Psalm
19:1-2 - The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and
their expanse
is
declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours
forth speech, and night
to night
reveals knowledge.
- Rev. 4:11
- Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and
honor and power; for
You created all things, and because of Your will
they existed, and were
created.
- The universe God created was very good. Even though there
is sin in the world, creation is still good in God’s sight, and we should
delight in it!
- Avoid the
mindset that it is wrong to enjoy creation!
- Scripture and true science AGREE!
- For
example: the age of the earth. We hold to the young earth theory that states
that creation took place in a literal seven days. The old earth theory states
that the seven days of creation could have been thousands of years.
-
Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, states, “If you started
with
the Bible alone, without considering any outside influences
whatsoever,
could you ever come up with millions or billions or years
of
history for the earth or universe? Absolutely NOT!”
-
The Bible gives us NO reason to believe the old earth theories. The
only
reason Christians support this theory is because they try to bend
Scripture
to agree with popular science (i.e. evolution).
-
Theories do not matter; only God’s Word matters!
God’s Word is the final authority for our
lives!
Notes for this portion of our study were taken from pages 124-140 of Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrines.
