For some reason, many people these days seem to be quite gullible - - and counterfeiting is a profitable occupation for many deceivers.  But spiritual counterfeiters are the most dangerous of all and, at times, are the most difficult to detect.

    The Word warns us to “beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:15), and “false Christs” (Matthew 24:24).  There are some who preach “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4), and many who come preaching “another Gospel” (Galatians 1:6), rather than the true saving Gospel of Christ.

    But we must also be aware that there are also counterfeit Christians who are the “false brethren” spoken of in 2 Corinthians 11:26, as well as “false teachers” (2 Peter 2:1,2) and “false apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:13).  They might preach “peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14), and some will even “show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24b).

    Satan, of course, is the greatest counterfeiter of all, for he “deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9) in his attempt to become a counterfeit god.

    So what are we to do to protect against all of these counterfeits that seem to surround us on all sides? - - - STAY  IN THE  WORD!

    Remember, when law enforcement officers are learning how to detect counterfeit money they don’t study counterfeit bills.  Instead, they spend countless hours studying the real thing - - so when a counterfeit shows up it is easily recognized.  The same thing applies to the things of God. The Bible exhorts us to “try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1) and to “prove all things” - - to test them by God’s Word.   To do this with confidence, however, we must be rooted in His Word.

    “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4 & Mark 10:6)  From this statement by Jesus, quoting Genesis 1:27 as literal history, we see two important facts.  One that Jesus was a creationist.  After all, He was the creator! (John 1:1-3 & 14; Colossians 1:16).  Second, it establishes that Adam and Eve were created at the beginning, on the sixth day of the creation week - - not after the earth had already existed for over 4 billion years.

    The religion of Humanism (a name which sounds like a system that really “cares” for humanity) was largely formulated by the so-called “Father of American Education,” John Dewey, and is prevalent throughout our society these days, but is based entirely upon a foundation of evolution and declares that there is no need for a God.

    Yes, Humanism is a religion - - declared so by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1961.  The “Humanist Manifesto,” first printed in 1923 and expanded in 1973 and 2000, makes some amazing affirmations: That the universe is self-existing and not created; that faith in God is outmoded and dangerous: that the evolution of man is a proven fact; and, that no deity will save us - - we must save ourselves.

    When people accept this doctrine and the belief in the process of evolution from the primordial ooze to living cells, to animals, to apes, to man - - that is, from goo to you by way of the zoo - - it’s no wonder so many feel worthless, just an accident of random chance and without hope.  But this is not true!  You were created as a spiritual being, “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:4) - - and very special to God.

    You were made in the “likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26) and are a triune being - - a spirit who has a soul (mind, will, and emotions) and lives in a body.  Plants may possess a “body,” and animals possess a body and a consciousness, but man was to not only have a body (made from the created earth) and a consciousness but was to possess an eternal spirit capable of communion and fellowship with the creator.

    The human body was specifically made to be most suited for divine fellowship (erect posture, upward gazing with facial expressions that vary with emotional feelings and a brain and tongue designed for articulate speech).  Also, the human body was designed in the form which God had planned for eternity, that He, Himself, would one day assume (1 Peter 1:20).

    You are indeed distinct from the rest of creation, and you are worth so much to the Creator that He gave everything for you - - and through the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, He made “the way” for each one of us to receive the free gift of eternal life with Him.

    “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:45).   This is the “Great Commission” that Jesus gave to His disciples - - and, of course, as followers of Christ, it is our commission as well.   The Gospel (Good News) includes the three-fold work of Christ as outlined in Colossians 1:16-20 - - His past work: “By Him all things were created” (v.16); His present work: “By Him all things consist” (v.17); and His future work: “By Him to reconcile all things unto Himself” (v.20).

    But it seems that more and more these days, we hear Christians, of all people, argue that Creation is just a “secondary” doctrine and we should concentrate on the New Testament and the need to be born again.

    Actually, when most people say that the doctrine of Creation is “secondary,” they usually mean that the details (young or old earth; if the days were ordinary 24-hour days; if Noah’s Flood were a global event; etc.) would not be considered essential to Christianity.

    But, the details of the Creation account are indeed essential.  As a matter of fact, the entire book of Genesis, including the Creation, establishes the foundation of all Christian doctrine and theology.   Jesus referred to Genesis and the Creation as a supporting authority for much of His teaching.   Genesis is referred to in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book.

    Also, it is important to understand that those who seek to undermine Christianity not only attack the tenets of the Church, but they especially attack the very foundation - - Genesis.  Genesis is by far the most vehemently attacked book of the Bible, and the Creation account is usually the primary target, with the theory of evolution being the main weapon.

    Today, the theory of evolution is much more than Darwin's molecules-to-man idea. It is, instead, a whole way of thinking (Humanism)—a philosophy of life that teaches that man, independent of God, can determine truth and that the universe is self-existing and not created. If God’s revealed Word can be considered erroneous in matters as basic as the Creation of the world and mankind, His ultimate authority may then be questioned.

It probably goes without saying, but the fact is - - the Christian life hinges on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. If the resurrection is not a fact, then, as the Apostle Paul said; “our preaching is in vain and your faith is also in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). “Vain” means, of course; empty, powerless, and of no effect.

    “…Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God coming in the likeness of man, And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

    But praise God; He rose again just as He said He would (Mark 9:9, John 2:19) and ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He ever makes intercession for us (Ephesians 1:20, Romans 8:24).

    Now, there are many who do not believe the historical eyewitness accounts that Jesus really died and rose again, and they have devised many stories in an attempt to explain away the Empty Tomb.

    Some have suggested that the disciples stole Jesus’ body and then lied, saying that He rose from the dead.  But - - the disciples couldn’t have even made it to the tomb without being noticed by the Roman guards.  Then there’s the fact that most of the disciples died for their belief that Jesus rose from the dead.  They would not have died for something they knew to be a lie!

    Others say that the story of the resurrection is just a myth or a legend.  But the Gospels were written between 25 and 65 years after the event - - hardly enough time for a legend or myth to develop.  Some of the eyewitnesses to the event were still around to answer any questions.

    Some critics say that Jesus simply fainted on the cross (the so-called “Swoon Theory”) and then revived in the cool tomb and got up and left.  But - - Jesus would have had to somehow unwrap Himself from the grave clothes, push aside the large stone (which was so heavy that it took several men to place it there), and then walk past the Roman guards outside.  Could an almost dead-by-crucifixion man have the strength to do this?  Also, a Roman soldier had pierced Jesus’ side with a spear while He was still on the cross, and the blood and water that flowed from the wound showed that He was truly dead.

    Still others have said that the Roman soldiers or other Jews removed Jesus’ body from the tomb.  But those people had no reason to do that - - instead, they would have wanted to keep the body in the tomb to stop any stories that Jesus had actually risen. If the disciples would say He had been seen alive, the soldiers could easily prove the story false by producing the body.

    Yes, Jesus did die a terrible death on the cross, for you and for me - - but Jesus, the creator of all things, was not defeated by death.  He rose again in three days, showing that He had power over all things, including death, hell, and the grave.  The bodily resurrection of our Savior and Lord Jesus from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity - - the final evidence that He paid the price for our redemption and that His sacrifice, that covered every area of man’s existence, was wholly accepted by God the Father.

“And so it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life- giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45, NKJV). Here, as in Romans 5:12-19, the Apostle Paul shows Adam to be a contrasting type of Christ - - and the Holy Spirit instructs him to give Jesus the title “the Last Adam” (not the second Adam). Have you ever wondered what this title means?

    Have you ever wondered why so many people who believe in evolution get so upset with the creation worldview and the Genesis account of origins?  If Genesis is irrelevant and evolution is supposedly a “proven scientific fact,” - - what are they afraid of?

    Many of the highest-caliber scientific researchers, while not willing to abandon their faith in the evolutionary worldview, do, however, acknowledge that there are serious problems with the theory. Some may say that science will solve the problems in time, while others might consider the only alternative (special creation) to be “unthinkable.”

    On the other hand, some scientists, such as physicist H. S. Lipson, have recognized the possibility that the Genesis account might be valid after all.  In his 1980 article “A Physicist Looks At Evolution” (Physics Bulletin 31, Pg. 138), Dr. Lipson stated: “I think, however, that we must go further and admit that the only acceptable explanation is creation.  I know this is anathema to scientists, as indeed it is to me, but we must not reject a theory we do not like if the experimental evidence supports it”.

    Today, the most vocal opponents of creation (usually not credentialed scientists) who vehemently attack Genesis and creationists, in general, appear to be those who are ignorant of what the creation message truly is or of the supporting scientific data.  

    One of the most common false statements made about creationists is they are “anti-science,” not remembering that most all of the fathers of the major fields of science were Biblical creationists - - from da Vinci, Kepler, and Paschal to Newton, Linnaeus, and Herschel: from Faraday and Morse to Pasteur and Kelvin; and from George Washington Carver to Werner von Braun.

    Bible-believing scientists fully appreciate and participate in all areas of scientific research - - and, especially in this age of rapidly expanding knowledge obtained from deep space probes and electron microscopes, are excited to see the increasing amount of data supporting special creation over the alleged Big Bang theory (a theory that suggests that the intricate order seen in the universe could result from chaos).

    Interestingly, Dr. Luther Sunderland, a design engineer who worked for 30 years in the development of automatic flight control systems for the GE Corporation, later became interested in research on the anatomical features of the woodpecker.  In a paper he submitted to the Creation Research Quarterly (Vol. 12, pg. 183) he observed that: “It is very easy to tell the difference between man-made and God-made objects.  The more you magnify man-made objects, the cruder they look; but the more you magnify God-made objects, the more precise and intricate they appear.”

    About 20 years ago, in an article in Discover Magazine, Matthew Cartmill used the term “holy war” to describe any modern-day campaign against Darwinian evolution. In his opinion, “No intelligent, reasonable person could possibly have doubts about evolution purely from a scientific view.”

    The article actually began with the declaration: “As far as we can tell, all of Earth’s living things are descended from a distant common ancestor that lived more than three billion years ago.”  “Darwin’s theory,” he added, “has been accepted wisdom for more than a hundred years.” (Emphasis added).

    Accepted wisdom!  This sounds like peer pressure on steroids!  If only Copernicus and Galileo had listened to the “accepted wisdom” of their day, today’s astronomers wouldn’t be dealing with the confusing sun-centered view of our solar system.

    In short, Mr. Cartmill believed that most opposition to Darwin’s theory comes from angry, ignorant, conservative, anti-science, Christian fanatics - - along with a few of the uninformed multi-cultural left and that this “sad situation” goes all the way back to 1859, when Darwin published his The Origin of Species.  But wait a minute!  The fact is that in those days, it was the scientists who did not believe in Darwin, while many “religious” leaders thought he was the greatest thing since the wheel.  (now that’s a truly “sad situation”).

    Scientists such as Kelvin, Herschel, Agassiz, Mendel, Dana, Maxwell, and Pasteur were extremely opposed to and openly aligned against Darwin.   Adam Sedgewick, the man who taught Darwin the elements of field geology, wrote to Darwin after reading The Origin of Species and told him: “I have read your book with more pain than pleasure, … parts of which I read with absolute sorrow because I think them utterly false and mischievous”.   Darwin’s book was actually banned from the library at Cambridge.

    While scientists were lining up against Darwin, many religious leaders were applauding him and cheering him on “as if he were preaching the Gospel.”   Rev. Josiah Strong, in his pamphlet America’s Destiny, wrote that scripture and evolution could go “hand-in-hand.”    Others, including Henry Drummond, James Orr, and Henry Ward Beecher, declared that evolution was “a valid idea whose time had come.”

     When Darwin died, accolades poured in from the churches.  When he was buried in Westminster Abbey, it was said that “the Abbey did not bestow dignity on the naturalist as his body was hallowed already.” 

    It seems like we may be coming full circle concerning the acceptance of Darwin’s evolutionary theory.   An increasing number of scientists today are acknowledging that evolution is not a valid or proven theory of origins - - while, sadly, many Christian leaders are accepting evolutionary ideas through the various “compromise theories,” such as the Gap Theory, Theistic Evolution, the Day-Age Theory, Intelligent Design, etc.

    As believers, we must hold fast to the foundational book of Genesis and its foundation of Creation.  As Psalm 11:3 tells us, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Question: Would the all-powerful and loving God of the Bible use the cruel and extremely wasteful process of evolution to create the world and all that is in it ? Hard to imagine, isn’t it? - - especially when Genesis tells us that God called His creation “Good” and when He had finished He called His completed creation “Very Good” (or “Perfect”).

    Mammals, as we all remember from biology class, are a classification of vertebrates that are warm-blooded, that bear live young, and nurse their young.  Although most mammals live on land, we also know that there are sea mammals - - such as walruses, dolphins, seals, and whales.

    Evolutionary scientists have spent much time and effort attempting to discover how these air-breathing animals came to exist in the ocean environment.   After all, the sequence of events according to evolution says that life began in the ocean, and over eons of time, some creatures ventured onto land for periods of time (amphibians), then some of them “evolved” into reptiles, and eventually, some became mammals.  But to explain the sea mammals, this process must have taken a major detour when some of the land mammals “evolved” again to return to the ocean.

    The obvious problem with this scenario is that there is absolutely no evidence in the fossil record (such as transitional forms) to suggest that such a process ever took place.  Since no fossil evidence exists, evolutionists have had to speculate on what a sea mammal such as a great whale may have “evolved” from.  Some have suggested that it came from a dog-like creature, while others say whales came from hoofed animals such as cows or even pigs.

    But think for a moment about the changes that would have been necessary for a creature to go from a dog, cow, or pig to a whale.  Its front legs would have to change into flippers, and the back legs disappear.   It would have to develop special underwater eyes and ears, modify its nose to a blow hole, and move it to the top of its head while developing a tube from the nostrils to a set of highly specialized lungs - - which, along with a special system that prevents a build-up of carbon dioxide resulting in the “bends” - - that allows the whales to dive nearly 3,000 feet and stay underwater for an hour!

    And - - while these and other changes were taking place, the animal would have to grow to several hundred times its size, lose all its hair, and grow a thick layer of fat (blubber) for warmth.  As mammals, whales must maintain a body temperature higher than fish, reptiles, and amphibians to survive while surrounded by an ocean of cold water. (Actually, the whale’s fins have fascinating biological structures called countercurrent heat exchangers to conserve heat.

    In addition, the land ancestor of the whale would have had to gradually eliminate its pelvis, replacing it with a very different skeletal structure that would support a massive flat tail.

    This whole idea really does sound like a “whale of a tale.”  The most credible and factual explanation, of course, is found in the Genesis account of creation which says that on the 5^th Day  “God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind” (Genesis 1:21a).

    As you may have noticed, creationists and evolutionists agree on very little.   One of the greatest disagreements between the two worldviews deals with the age of the universe and Earth.

    Most people alive today have grown up in an age where the “billions of years of an evolutionary process of random chance and mutations” have been taught in schools and presented in museums and in the media as proven scientific fact - - and that you some sort of radical misfit if you don’t believe it.

    It’s quite natural, then, for people to ask creationists: “Is there really any evidence for a young universe and earth?”  The answer is, of course, a definite YES!  Aside from the obvious (common sense), there are 50 to 60 examples of natural phenomena that conflict with the idea that the universe is, or could be, billions of years old.

    For example, there’s the fact that spiral galaxies are winding themselves up too rapidly, that comets disintegrate too quickly, that earth’s continents erode too fast, that there’s not enough sediment on ocean floors, that the oceans accumulate sodium too fast, that the earth’s magnetic field is decaying too fast; that multi-layer fossil trees straddle several geologic strata; and that stalactites and stalagmites form too quickly - - just to name a few.

    Then, there’s the evidence that there’s not enough Helium present in the earth’s atmosphere to account for the alleged evolutionary age of 4.5 billion years.  Some atmospheric Helium comes in from space, especially from the sun, but most get there from the constant decay of Earth’s naturally occurring families of radioactive elements (especially uranium and thorium) - - which generate Helium as they decay.

    The estimated rate of formation of atmospheric Helium (HE-4) is reportedly about 300,000 tons per year.  Scientists have calculated that if decay of radioactive elements has been going on for some 4,5 billion years, the atmosphere should contain about 1.4 million parts per million of Helium.  However, a noted physicist in 1990 calculated that our atmosphere contains only 0.05% of the amount that should have accumulated after 4.5 billion years.

    What this means is: there is only enough Helium in the atmosphere to account for about 10,000 years of radioactive decay.

    Then there’s a study by Dr. Robert Gentry of the Oak Ridge Laboratory, published in Geophysical Research Letters(Vol.9, Oct. 1982), which presents data showing that Helium produced by decay in deep, hot rocks has not had sufficient time to escape into the atmosphere - - suggesting a young earth age.  The rocks were aged, by the way, at one billion years by common evolutionary aging techniques.

    In other words, there’s not enough Helium in the atmosphere, and too much Helium still in the rocks, to allow for the alleged 4.5 billion years of decay.  Interesting!

    The lack of transitional forms in the fossil record has long been a serious problem for the theory of evolution.  The discovery of a fossil called Archaeopterix was touted for years as being part reptile and part bird - - therefore “proving” the evolutionary link.   It was later proven that Archaeopteryx was actually 100 percent bird, and more recently, fossil evidence of modern birds has been found in the so-called “older” rock strata.

    Back in about 1975, Yale professor Stephen Jay Gould and his colleagues, determined to overcome this little problem of no transitional forms, proposed a new theory - - a process which they called “Punctuated Equilibrium."

    That new theory was quickly accepted by many scientists to be the answer to the lack of evidence of  “gradual” change in the fossil record.

    Briefly stated, “Punctuated Equilibrium” proposes that existing life forms remained unchanged for millions of years until, as a result of some catastrophe, evolution occurred in rapid spurts and in isolated locations, so rapidly that it left very little or no evidence.  That is the reason why there are so many gaps in the fossil record.

    In other words, things remained the same for so long there are no fossils showing any noticeable changes - - then, things changed so fast over a short period of time that we missed it! The problem is that no genetic mechanism can be found to explain how it happened - - and the gaps in the fossil record are too ordered to statistically fit such a theoretical process.

    The Bible tells us that “all flesh is not the same, but there is one kind of flesh of man, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds” (1 Corinthians 15:39).   God created each kind separately during the six-day creation week, and that is the reason they appear abruptly and fully formed in the fossil record.

    However, the Bible also tells us that in the last days, “scoffers” will be “willingly ignorant” of what God has told us in His written Word (2 Peter 3:5).   We might do well to remember what the late Professor Gould himself wrote in 1977, in the journal Paleobiology, Vol.3 (1), Pg. 34;  “Paleontologists (and evolutionary biologists in general) are famous for their facility in devising plausible stories, but they often forget that plausible stories need not be true”

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, several events were set in motion.  First was their feeling of guilt - - which was expressed in two ways, shame and fear.  They saw they were naked and were ashamed - - and, in fear, they tried to hide from God.

Then came condemnation.  The serpent was cursed (Genesis 3:15), Eve was to be subject to pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16), and the ground was cursed so Adam’s life would involve hardship and toil (Genesis 3:17). 

And finally, there was separation - - separation of Adam and Eve from their intimate fellowship with their Creator.  They had died spiritually, and the process of physical death had begun.  Because of the Fall, sin, and death entered into the whole universe - - forcing God to place a curse on His entire creation.  Since that day, “… the whole creation groans and travails until now (Romans 8:22).  But thank God it’s only temporary!

The curse was reinforced by the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.  Genesis chapter 3, verses 22-24, explains exactly what happened and what had to be done about it;  “Then the Lord God said “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.  And now, lest he put out his hand and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” - - therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken.  So He drove out the man, and He placed Cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life”.

Being driven out of the Garden and making death the penalty for sin actually provided a future blessing for us.  If Adam and Eve had remained in the Garden, they could have eaten from the tree of life, and mankind would have been immortal.  We, then, would all be cut off from God forever!  However, if we repent and have faith in Christ’s work on the cross for us, physical death brings us into the presence of God in heaven to be with Him for eternity.

So, death was the ultimate penalty for sin and the very means by which believers are restored to God and, in His eyes, perfection.   And as a bonus, the Bible assures us that in heaven there is no more curse and  “the tree of life is in the midst of the Paradise of God” and is available once again (Revelation 2:7 and 22:2-3).

    “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel”  (Isaiah 7:14).

    The one basic fact that makes Jesus’ birth different from any other in history is that He was born of a virgin.   For centuries, this virgin birth (or more specifically, the conception by a virgin) has been laughed at, refuted, and attacked - - and at one time or another, most people have probably wondered:  “Why a virgin birth, anyway?”

    The answer is - - if it were not so, God’s plan of redemption would never have been complete.  Jesus had to be born of a virgin in order for Him to be without sin - - without the blood of fallen man flowing in His veins.  To have authority on the earth, He had to have a physical body, so He had to be born of a woman.  But to have authority with heaven, He had to be pure in Spirit - - one with the Father.

    Every person born after Adam sinned has been born in sin - - with a sinful nature.  But Jesus did not have an earthly father, and this is what makes being  “born of a virgin” a must!

    Medical science once thought that the mother furnished the blood for the baby in the womb, but for some time now, it has been known that this isn’t true.  Under normal circumstances, blood doesn’t pass from the mother to the baby.  The blood type and chemistry are determined by the father.

    As we know, the life of the flesh is in the blood, but because of Adam’s sin and the fall of man, the death of the flesh is also in the blood.  Therefore, if Jesus had an earthly father, He would have had death in His blood like we do.

    So, thankfully, the conception of Jesus was indeed a supernatural act.  God created the first cell for the body of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit over-shadowed Mary and, by the power of God, a seed - - “a Holy thing” - - was planted in her womb. The embryo within her was the Word of God (John 1: 1, 14).  It had to be this way, because to redeem mankind that was under the law (Gal. 4:5), the Son Himself had to be “without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). 

    Just as Adam was specially made by God, the “last Adam” was a special creation.  Jesus, as the “last Adam”, had to be like the first Adam before the fall.  He had to pass the same test that Adam failed.  The ultimate sacrifice had to be a perfect man - - in right standing with the Father - - to restore mankind to its rightful position in God’s eyes.  A most significant event!

    The Old Testament contains several hundred references and some 60 direct prophecies concerning the coming Messiah - - all of which, of course, were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.   For example:

1)The Messiah was to come from the seed of Abraham;  2) He would come through the line of Isaac (Genesis 21:12) - - which eliminates one-half of the lineage of Abraham; 3) He would be of the line of Jacob (Num. 24:17) - - which eliminates one-half of the lineage of Isaac;  4) He would come from the tribe of Judah (Gen.49:10) - - which now eliminates eleven-twelfths of the tribes of Israel;  5) He would come from the family of Jesse, namely the house of David (Isa. 11:1) - - which eliminates all of Jesse’s sons except David;  6) He would be born in the town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) - - which eliminates all the cities of the world except one;  7) and the “clincher”, He would be conceived and born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14). 

Other prophetic statements concerning the Messiah include:  He would receive gifts from the Magi;  He would come out of Egypt;  He would be known as a Nazarene;  He would be preceded by a messenger (John The Baptist);  He would receive special anointing of the Holy Spirit (Christ means Anointed One);  He would begin His ministry in Galilee;  He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey;  He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver;  He would be crucified between two thieves;  He would be buried in a rich man’s grave;  He would be resurrected on the third day and ascend into heaven;  etc.

These and other Old Testament declarations establish a solid confirmation of Jesus’ credentials as Messiah and that He alone could be that “Babe in the Manger”.  In fact, scholars have determined that the probability of a single person fulfilling all of the Old Testament prophecies is only one chance in 10 to the 127^th power!  We can, therefore, be confident in the fact that Jesus is indeed exactly who He says He is!

For many years, people have tried to attack the first eleven chapters of the Bible - - saying that Genesis 1 – 11 is non-literal, non-historical drama or poetry.

“But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing; that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8)

In recent years there has been a definite increase in the number of internet and social media sites devoted to anti-Christian opinions and the ridiculing any scientist who accepts the Genesis account of creation instead of the millions or billions of years of chance evolution.

It was back in 1999 when the November issue of National Geographic Magazine presented, with much fanfare, a 10-page article on the claim that a “feathered dinosaur” fossil had been found in China.

Over the past 150 years or so, many theories regarding the “evolution” of the giraffe have been proposed. Even before Darwin’s time, Lamark taught that shorter ancestors of the giraffe had managed to stretch their necks to reach higher branches for food. This “stretched characteristic” was then somehow passed on to succeeding generations until giraffes reached their present height.

When we use the words day, week, month and year in every day conversation, we usually don’t give much thought as to how those words came to mean what they mean.

As Dr. D. James Kennedy often remarked: “The Bible is not a scientific textbook; neither is it a textbook on “religion”. It is not a textbook at all - - it is a revelation from God”.

It seems like every time the subject of creation vs. evolution is discussed, the questions arise - - “What difference does it make whether one believes the world was created or evolved?”, or, “Can’t one embrace both Christianity and evolution?”

At the end of the 6th day of the Creation Week, God looked at all He had made and declared it “Very Good” (Genesis 1:31). But, by only the 10th generation from Adam the human race had become so evil, wicked, violent, and corrupt, that God had no choice but to judge His creation.

Just a note to those who have been fed the lie of evolution throughout your years in school - - you are indeed special in the eyes of the Creator.

The context of the Hebrew language used in Genesis 1 assures us that God created everything in six literal 24-hour days. The history of the genealogies recorded in Genesis 5 and 11 provide an accurate chronology showing that since the earth was created five days before Adam, the earth is only about 6,000 years old.

The question is often asked: Why four Gospels? - - Why not one or two? Or even five or six? Consider the following (taken from The Chuck Missler Update, Nov. 2001):

2 Peter 3:3-7 presents a perfect picture of what has been, and most obviously is today, happening in our world. It tells us that not only in these last days scoffers will come, but that men will be “Willingly ignorant of the truth” - - that is, they will deliberately reject the truth of God’s Word, no matter what the supporting evidence might be.

Specifically, these four verses say that men will “willingly” reject three things: (1) That at the very beginning the earth was covered with water, and the land was formed out of the water - - as described in Genesis. (modern geology insists that the earth was originally a molten blob and that water didn’t form until the earth had cooled over millions of years); (2) That the earth was completely covered by water during Noah’s Flood. (Again, most geologists, and even many in the Church, deny the fact of a world-wide Flood suggesting it instead could have been just a local event); and (3) That there will be a coming judgement by fire. (Many actually accept the idea that the earth and all life on it will eventually die of extreme cold, after the sun burns out).

But why do so many adamantly dispute the Bible’s description of these events? Well, consider this - - if the scoffers, or skeptics, accepted the evidence of a world-wide flood, they would be agreeing with the Bible. Then they would have to accept Jesus’ teaching that as the Creator once judged the world by water, so He will again judge the corrupt world - - but the next time it will be by fire.

It seems evident that the creation/evolution controversy is not really a fight about evidence (although all historical, archaeological, and scientific evidence definitely supports the Genesis account), but it is a fight over beliefs, or world-views.

The fundamental conflict we see in society today is the clash between the Christian faith with its creation foundation, hence its absolutes, and the religion of humanism with its evolution foundation and its relative morality that says we must be tolerant of all beliefs, behavior and practices. Of course the fallacy of the humanistic belief in so-called “tolerance” is first made evident by a zealous “intolerance” of absolutes.

It would follow, then, that someone who is intolerant of absolutes is also intolerant of Christ. Remember, Jesus said “I am THE WAY” (not one of many ways); “THE TRUTH” (not one of several different but equally acceptable approaches to the truth); and “THE LIFE” (John 14:6).

Hopefully, the more the Biblical Creation message is preached, people will come to realize that it gives us the understanding of what is happening to our society and the world - - and why there is increasing lawlessness and deviant behavior. But while creationists fervently proclaim the creation message to strengthen a firm foundation of Christian faith, and shine the light on the real differences between two opposing belief systems, we also know that our primary purpose is to glorify God and to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ - - as the Holy Spirit enables.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). As we can see from this very first verse of the Bible, God created the earth “at the beginning”. This certainly can’t be construed, in any sense, to be an evolutionary statement.

Speaking as a wildlife biologist (retired) - - When we look at God’s creation (especially the various species of wildlife), we are “without excuse” (Romans 1:20) if we choose to deny that the genetic code in each created kind was programmed by their Creator complete, fully developed and functioning, right from the beginning.