Once we accept the historical, literal Adam and Eve, and thus the literal Fall, we then understand (or we should) understand our need for a Savior. We should be preachers of righteousness, as Peter described Noah (2 Peter 2:5), warning those around us of the coming judgment on this world by our holy and just God. But back to Noah, another foundation belief is that of a global flood described in Genesis 6 – 8. “Science” today starts with the presupposition that the earth is billions of years old (4.3B, I have read recently). But even a cursory look at flood geology overwhelmingly supports the Biblical depiction of events.
Yet I will not bore you with geology and tectonic plate theories here. I will, however, bore you with a good chronology of the Flood account I came across recently in a book by Dr. Terry Mortenson and Dr. Thane Ury, Coming to Grips with Genesis. When we believe and accept God’s Word as true and authoritative, it should only enhance our reading of passages that we might otherwise not give much time to. I have left out the days of Noah in this, but reading through these passages, we are told which year of Noah, which month, and which day, giving great accuracy to the 371-day account.
Gen. 7:11 Rising waters, the beginning of rain, and opening of the water sources beneath the ground and sea floor
Gen. 7:12,17 40 Days, the rising waters cause the ark to float
Gen. 7:24 150 Days, continually rising waters, due to rain and water sources, all land creatures outside the ark die
Gen. 8:4 Receding waters, waters begin to subside, ark is grounded (keep in mind, an ark of that size would have considerable displacement, and could rest on Ararat many feet below the water surface, even before any land being visible.
Gen. 8:5 74 Days since ark grounded, mountaintops appear
Gen. 8:6 40 days, Noah opens the hatch
Gen. 8:7 Raven released
Gen. 8:8 7 Days (?), Dove released
Gen. 8:10 7 Days, Dove released and returns with olive leaf
Gen. 8:12 7 Days, Dove released, does not return
Gen. 8:13 90 Days since mountaintops appeared, ground surface free of excess water
Gen. 8:14 21 Days now since water sources were stopped
OK, but SO WHAT??? Yeah, good question.
Geology and other observational science support the Flood being real. I believe strongly in strengthening our churches to not give way to the literal and historical accounts of the Bible, but rather resting on phrases such as “it’s all about the Gospel”. True, though, our lives are about the Gospel, which was given to us through the Word and in the Word, which also describes what we see today, both in nature and in sin and corruption. Christ was the answer to Noah’s family, by faith they entered the ark. The cross is the answer today. By faith we trust in Christ’s atoning death to pay our sin penalty.
If we allow the church to undermine God’s authority in Genesis, then the Gospel is not far behind. I expect a lost world to deny God. But Christians?? Already, many churches, Christians, explain away a literal Hell, for just one recent example (Love Wins).
The Flood was real. So was Christ’s death and resurrection. Both are literal and historical accounts. God’s grace provided then and provides now for a sure way of escape from His wrath. Let’s tell someone today.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
In the beginning...
The beginning. Always a good place to start. But, the beginning of what? God tells us in Genesis 1:1 as He begins to speak to us in His revealed Word, “In the beginning…” The apostle John, in his gospel in John 1:1, tells us the same, “In the beginning…” So let’s start our discussion of Foundations there.
It is no coincidence that Answers in Genesis has released a new set of videos entitled “Foundations”, and the timing could not be better. The very authority of Scripture is under attack, perhaps more than ever, and sadly, leading the way in that attack are Christians who want to befriend secular science and avoid “divisive” issues such as creation vs. evolution, old earth vs. young earth, and several others.
The Gospel is at the very center of our faith, of our lives, of all that is was, is, and ever will be. No mistaking that truth claim. The Gospel rests on nothing, it is all-encompassing, having several components. I have heard personally, I have read it in lots of literature, and have heard this in the very words of Christians who want to minimize Biblical authority for the sake of “getting along” or “not offending”. What I hear and read is “Don’t worry about __________, it’s all about the Gospel.”
One of the first fill-in-the-blank topics is a literal Creation spanning six literal 24-hour days. Most Christians still agree that God created the earth, the universe. And since modern science has “proven” that the earth is billions of years old, then many Christians have accepted that notion, and tried to make it fit into the Bible somewhere, most conveniently before Genesis 1:1 or between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Quotes from well-known theologians/Christians go like this: “A careful exegesis of Scripture shows literal days in the process of creation, and that the author (Moses) clearly wrote with the intention of conveying the same…BUT since science has shown billions of years, we need to make the Bible fit with what we know.”
This is alarming and disturbing, to put it mildly. But why is this so important as a component to the Gospel message? Several reasons, and I’ll be brief, so please ask for more detail if there is interest. For the Gospel to be true implies that sin is, too. And both Old and New Testaments are clear that our sin originated with Adam, a real, literal, historical, first-created man. Death began with his sin, and to marry the Bible with billions of years has to mean billions of years of death before Adam. The Gospel as we know it begins with Adam, and the promise made to him and Eve in Genesis 3:15. If Adam is allegorized or if he is the process of meaningless evolution, then really, why did Christ have to die? Christians certainly believe and accept that He did. Evolutionary fiction weaves its way throughout this topic, and billions of years is tied to evolution of man from some lower life form, and takes God out of the equation.
Theologians are apparently doing this themselves, either unknowingly or arrogantly telling God how it was. The Hebrew makes it clear (also in Exodus 20:11) that God used six days - as we think of literal days - to create this universe and humans, all to His glory. Further, God said He created all life forms to multiply after their own kinds, not through some mythological evolutionary tree.
I could go on and on. In summary for today, if God’s Word is authoritative from “For God so loved the world…” then it is likewise authoritative from “In the beginning…”
Holding fast to the name of our Creator, for His glory.
It is no coincidence that Answers in Genesis has released a new set of videos entitled “Foundations”, and the timing could not be better. The very authority of Scripture is under attack, perhaps more than ever, and sadly, leading the way in that attack are Christians who want to befriend secular science and avoid “divisive” issues such as creation vs. evolution, old earth vs. young earth, and several others.
The Gospel is at the very center of our faith, of our lives, of all that is was, is, and ever will be. No mistaking that truth claim. The Gospel rests on nothing, it is all-encompassing, having several components. I have heard personally, I have read it in lots of literature, and have heard this in the very words of Christians who want to minimize Biblical authority for the sake of “getting along” or “not offending”. What I hear and read is “Don’t worry about __________, it’s all about the Gospel.”
One of the first fill-in-the-blank topics is a literal Creation spanning six literal 24-hour days. Most Christians still agree that God created the earth, the universe. And since modern science has “proven” that the earth is billions of years old, then many Christians have accepted that notion, and tried to make it fit into the Bible somewhere, most conveniently before Genesis 1:1 or between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Quotes from well-known theologians/Christians go like this: “A careful exegesis of Scripture shows literal days in the process of creation, and that the author (Moses) clearly wrote with the intention of conveying the same…BUT since science has shown billions of years, we need to make the Bible fit with what we know.”
This is alarming and disturbing, to put it mildly. But why is this so important as a component to the Gospel message? Several reasons, and I’ll be brief, so please ask for more detail if there is interest. For the Gospel to be true implies that sin is, too. And both Old and New Testaments are clear that our sin originated with Adam, a real, literal, historical, first-created man. Death began with his sin, and to marry the Bible with billions of years has to mean billions of years of death before Adam. The Gospel as we know it begins with Adam, and the promise made to him and Eve in Genesis 3:15. If Adam is allegorized or if he is the process of meaningless evolution, then really, why did Christ have to die? Christians certainly believe and accept that He did. Evolutionary fiction weaves its way throughout this topic, and billions of years is tied to evolution of man from some lower life form, and takes God out of the equation.
Theologians are apparently doing this themselves, either unknowingly or arrogantly telling God how it was. The Hebrew makes it clear (also in Exodus 20:11) that God used six days - as we think of literal days - to create this universe and humans, all to His glory. Further, God said He created all life forms to multiply after their own kinds, not through some mythological evolutionary tree.
I could go on and on. In summary for today, if God’s Word is authoritative from “For God so loved the world…” then it is likewise authoritative from “In the beginning…”
Holding fast to the name of our Creator, for His glory.
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