When God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, He pronounced His completed creation “very good” - - and for a while, things were indeed very good (perfect).

   Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, which God had prepared especially for them.  They had a perfect marriage and a perfect relationship with their creator - - the way God had created it to be.  The animals (being vegetarian) got along perfectly - - wolves played with lambs, behemoths ate quietly beside the tyrannosaurs, etc.

So what went wrong?  Well, to answer this question, we need to go back in time, just a little.

   Late on the sixth day of the creation week, God formed man (Adam) from the dust of the earth.  God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2: 7) - made in His image.  God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to “dress it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). There were two trees in the midst of the garden which held the key to the entire history of mankind on the earth.  They were physical trees, but they represented spiritual realities.  The tree of life represented the “experiencing of the life of God”, including immortality.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represented human self-rule - - an “assumed independence from God in all areas of life”.

   God told Adam that he could freely eat of every tree in the Garden (including the tree of life), but he was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. - - and if he did, he would surely die (Genesis 2:17).  In Hebrew, this more accurately states “dying you shall die” - - not that he would be struck dead immediately.

   God then said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Genesis 2:18).  Remember, Eve had not been created yet.  Adam named all the animal kinds that God brought before him, but there was no comparable helper among them.  God then made woman (Eve), whom Adam called “bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

   OK - - back to the question “what went wrong in the perfect Creation”?  Well, sadly, the Second “C” of History became “Corruption”.  Something, or someone, obviously corrupted the “very good” world into the world we see today  - which is full of sickness, suffering, sorrow, and death.  That “someone”, of course, was Satan - - once Lucifer, the most beautiful of the archangels, an anointed cherub and heaven’s leader of praise and worship.  Lucifer was there in the Garden (Ezekiel 28:13-15) and witnessed that special relationship Adam and Eve had with their Creator.

   He had said in his heart, “I will ascend into heaven”, “I will be like the most High”, etc. - - the five “I will” statements recorded in Isaiah 14:13-14.  Wanting to rule over the creation himself and have humanity worship him instead of God, Satan then devised his strategy - - the same strategy he uses on mankind today - - deception.

   First, He tempted Eve to “doubt God’s Word” - - asking her if God really said what she thinks He said (Genesis 3:1).  Then Satan “denied God’s Word” – saying that she wouldn’t “surely die”(Genesis 3:4).  Next, he caused Eve to “disregard the judgment of God” - - suggesting that she and Adam would become as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5).

   Finally, Satan “defamed the character of God” - saying that God was withholding something from her that she was entitled to. Eve gave in to the temptation and “ate of the forbidden fruit”.  She then gave it to Adam, and he ate of it too - - and the Edenic covenant was broken!   Eve was truly deceived - - but Adam (the one who had the first perfect covenant with God and received the warning not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil directly from God) was standing there observing this all along.  He had no excuse.   Adam failed to exercise his God-ordained dominion and authority on earth to stop Satan’s evil plan - - and in doing so he, in effect, signed over authority in the earth to Satan.

   The first consequence of their disobedience was a feeling of guilt - - which was shown in two ways: shame and fear.    “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings …”(Genesis 3:7).  Then, in fear, they tried to hide from God.

   Then there was condemnation - - the serpent was cursed, Eve was to be subjected to pain in childbirth, etc., and the ground was cursed so Adam’s life would involve hardship and toil.

   Finally, there was separation of Adam and Eve not only from the Garden, but more importantly, from their intimate fellowship with their Creator.  They had died spiritually, and the process of physical death was set in motion.

   Because of Adam’s disobedience, 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! - - and there is some good news for us in the midst of this corruption of the perfect creation.

   When the curse was put on the serpent, God said: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed: He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).  This verse was, of course, directed against Satan and alludes to the future descendant of Eve who would have no earthly father (Jesus). This is known as the “Protoevangel” - the first Gospel proclaiming the coming Messiah.

   When Adam and Eve saw that they were naked and made those aprons of fig leaves, the aprons were inadequate - - showing that “man-made efforts to prepare for God’s presence won’t do”.  So God made coats of skins to clothe them (Genesis 3:21).  To do that, God Himself had to shed the blood of two animals - - illustrating the Biblical principle of a substitutionary atonement or “covering”, where the shedding of innocent blood was to be a condition of forgiveness for the sinner.

   Also, being banished from the Garden and making death the penalty for sin actually provided a future blessing, so to speak, for us.  If they 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.  

   In Genesis chapter 1, God tells us that in the beginning, He created everything - - in six 24-hour days- and He rested on the seventh day.  Just as any building is only as strong as its foundation, so the doctrines of the Bible and Christianity rest on the foundational doctrine of Creation and are bound to fall if that foundation is undermined and weakened.  Our job is to support and strengthen that foundation with the truth.

   The first questions skeptics usually ask are: 1) Why do you insist on saying that the days were ordinary 24-hour days? (After all, doesn’t 2 Peter 3:8 suggest that the days could be 1,000 years long?) 2) Couldn’t God have used a different creative process with gradual development over millions of years? or 3) Is there any scientific evidence that the universe and Earth are only a few thousand years old, not 20 or 4 billion?

   First of all, God probably could have taken His time, or even created everything in a few hours - - however, it's not a question of what God COULD have done, but what He SAID He did.  Second, 2 Peter 3:8 doesn’t say that with the Lord a day is a thousand years - - it says that with the Lord a day is as, or like, a thousand years. Look at Peter’s statement in context.  He was simply explaining to those who complained that the promised second coming had not happened yet that God is outside of time and is not constrained by man’s concept of natural processes of time. 

   So then, what does the word “day” in Genesis really mean?  The Hebrew word “yom” can have more than one meaning (not one of which is thousands or millions of years, by the way). Its meaning depends again on the context in which it is written.  It can mean an unspecified period of time when discussing something that happened “in the Day of King So-and-so”.

   When used with a number such as second or third, etc., Yom always means a 24-hour period.  The words evening and morning provide further clarification.  Outside of Genesis, Yom is used with a number 359 times, and with evening or morning 23 times, and each time it means a normal day.  Why would Genesis 1 be the exception? 

   There’s an additional point that might settle the question of the length of a creation  “day” once and for all.  Exodus 20:8-11 & 31:15-17  say that man is to work six days and rest on the seventh - - just as God had created all things in six days and rested on the seventh.  The creation week was a pattern for us!  So, aren’t you glad that a day isn’t a thousand years long?

   Over the years, some have attempted to blend supposed “scientific evidence” of millions of years with Scripture.  Several theories, which we call “accommodation” or “compromise” theories, have actually been accepted by some within the body of Christ - - primarily because they have come to believe that “science” has “proven” that the universe must be 15 to 20 billion years old, and the earth has been around for more than 4 billion years.

   The Gap Theory is probably the most popular compromise theory.  Often called the Ruin-Reconstruction theory, it suggests that the only place to fit “millions of years” without affecting the rest of Scripture, is between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.   To do this, however, supporters must believe that when the earth was created, it was not originally “without form and void”, but was perfect, and “became” without form and void when, they say, Satan was cast out of Heaven - - destroying dinosaurs and some kind of pre-Adamic beings that supposedly lived at that time.  The six-day creation period in Genesis, then, would actually be a “re-creation”.  

   Other “accommodation” theories have been promoted, such as Theistic Evolution, The Day-Age theory, Progressive  Creation, etc., but they all violate Scripture and scientific evidence.  Not only do they depict God as being an indecisive, trial-and-error, and uncaring creator, but they violate Romans 5:12 - - allowing for death in the world before Adam sinned.  How then, could God call His creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31) if it were established on top of the billions of bones of creatures that had died violent deaths?

   The truth is, the Genesis account of creation is confirmed by the most basic principles of nature and laws of science.  Also, the notion that the universe and all that is in it could have come about by random chance and mutations has been found to be a mathematical impossibility - - considering the Laws of Probability.

   In a 1981 article in New Scientist, famous British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle and his colleague Chandra Wickramasinghe (both evolutionists and avowed atheists) calculated the odds against the chance formation of life on Earth.  They determined that the formation of just one protein, with a proper sequence of amino acids, by random chance alone, was one chance in 10 to the 260^th power.  They then estimated the probability of life as we know it forming by chance on the Earth to be less than one in 10 to the 40,000th power!  Hoyle compared this to the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard could assemble a functioning Boeing 747.

   Hoyle then calculated that even if such random evolutionary processes were possible, it would take at least 10 to the 343^rd power years to complete.  Therefore, the estimated age of the Earth of 4-5 billion years is certainly not enough time - - not even trillions of years would be enough.

    Hoyle concluded that “the probability of life originating at random is so utterly minuscule as to make it absurd”.

   There is not enough space to go into detail here - - but there is an abundance of scientific evidence indicating that the Earth and universe are only a few thousand years old, not 4 or 15-20 billion. 

   For example, spiral galaxies are winding up too fast: the decay of earth’s magnetic field is too rapid; the moon is receding to fast; the size of the sun is decreasing too fast; meteorite fossils are found primarily in the top layer of earth; soft tissue is found in the oldest fossils; stalagmites and stalactites form too fast (a dead bat that had fallen on a stalagmite in Carlsbad Caverns was encased in calcium carbonate before it could decompose); and there’s not enough helium in the atmosphere and too much still in rocks - -just to name a few.

   Also, the fact that dinosaurs and man coexisted and were not separated by millions or billions of years is evidenced in the thousands of cave drawings and petroglyphs throughout the world. Those people didn’t draw what they had not seen. 

The Seven “C’s” of History - The First “C”:  Creation

   “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  The opening words of the Bible in Genesis, the book of beginnings, describe the first event in all of history.  It is both “ the simple and the most profound statement ever made” and it’s probably “the most widely known sentence ever written, easily understood by a child, yet completely compatible with the most advanced scientific comprehension of the universe”. 

   The Genesis record of Creation was meant by its author to be a sober, straightforward, historical record of the actual events of the Creation week.  God tells us that He created everything in six 24-hour days - - using various methods, which we usually just lump together under the heading of  “Creation”.

   The very first thing He did on Day 1 was to create ex nihilo (out of nothing) all the elements of matter comprising the earth, the universe, and all that is in them.  Along with created matter, God created space and time, as we know it - - what scientists call the space – time – mass – continuum.

   Then God spoke (created by Fiat) light into existence and separated the light from darkness. The earth, molded into a sphere by God’s own hands, was already rotating - - as all it takes for a day-and-night cycle is a rotating earth and light coming from one direction.  This light came from God Himself, as the sun would not be created until Day 4.  Revelation 21:23 tells us that in heaven,  “….the city had no need for the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the Glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb in its light”.                                                 

    On Day 2, He made a “firmament”, or expanse, in the midst of the waters to divide the waters from the waters (Genesis 1:6).  In other words, He formed the atmosphere needed to support the life He would soon create (air-breathing animals, birds, and man) - - and He created the vast expanse above.

   On Day 3, God caused the waters to come together as seas, so that dry land appeared.  Then, in response to God’s spoken Word, grass, plants, and trees were brought forth from the ground - - “to yield seed and fruit after their kind” (Genesis 1:11-12).

   On Day 4, God made the sun, moon, and stars - - to serve as signs for seasons, days, months, and years.  (obviously, these were to be used by the man He was to create later).  The sun and moon were to rule the day and night - - the cycle that began on Day 1.

   On Day 5, God created the fish and great creatures of the seas (Whales, Plesiosaurs, Leviathan), and the winged fowl (birds, etc.) - - and told them to “be fruitful and multiply after their kind, and fill the waters of the seas, and let fowls multiply on the earth (Genesis 1:20-22).

   On Day 6, God created the land animals (including dinosaurs), and the creatures that creep on the earth - - to multiply according to their kind (Genesis 1:24-25). 

   God’s last action on Day 6 was to create the pinnacle of Creation–mankind– in His image - - male and female - - to have dominion over the fish, fowls, and land creatures - - and He gave them herbs and fruit for food.  Yes, the animals (even T. rex) and we were originally created as vegetarian.

   On Day 7, God rested from His creative work - - seven being the number of completion and perfection.  Today He upholds or sustains His creation (Colossians 1:17).

   So - - in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, a perfect functioning entity, complete and fully functional from the start.  This complete and mature status is often referred to as creation “with an appearance of age” - - or, as Dr. John C. Whitcomb, author of The Early Earth, termed it, “superficial appearance of age”.  Does this mean that God has fooled us with some sort of “divine deception”, making things look older than they are?  Certainly not! 

   Adam and Eve were created as full-grown mature individuals, capable of multiplying to fill the earth.  Trees were created as full-grown mature trees.  Remember, the Bible tells us that on Day 3 God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed and the fruit tree that yields fruit…” (Genesis 1:11).  He didn’t scatter seeds and wait for plants to grow - - hoping they might survive.  And the land formed by His hands, the soil, had to be fully mature as well - - containing all the nutrients necessary for plant growth and survival.

   As for the stars, the Bible tells us that God “stretched out the heavens” (Jer. 10:12, Isa. 42:5, Job 9:8, Zech. 12:1).  The light energy from the stars, if it was to provide movements and patterns useful to mankind, would have had light “trails” already established between each star and the earth.  Therefore, the first humans would have been able to see stars millions of light-years away - - as would be expected in a mature creation with the appearance of age.

   There’s no “which came first, the chicken or the egg”? question here.  There had to be a fully grown, mature chicken and rooster from the start - - in order to survive.

   Consider this - - we wouldn’t accuse Jesus of “deceiving” the ruler of the feast when He changed water into wine, would we?  Jesus’ first miracle was a miracle of creation.  The “best wine” (John 2:10) was a brand new creation, with no time for aging or fermentation.  It was created fully aged and mature because it involved a sudden supernatural creation of a complex entity apart from “natural processes”.

   Even though the Biblical account of creation is corroborated by Jesus, who was there (Mark 10:6-8), the secular world attacks the notion of creation in six days - - trying to get people to believe that the universe and earth and all life “evolved” by chance over millions and billions of years.   But what worldview does the evidence support?  Next time, let’s look at some of the questions raised by skeptics and scoffers - - and answers to those questions.

• Creation: Genesis 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. The first major event in history is the creation of all things in six 24-hour days, and at the end of the sixth day God looked at all He had made and “it was very good”
• Corruption: The next major event is sad.  In the third chapter of Genesis, we see that Adam’s disobedience to God allowed sin to enter and caused the curse of death and suffering to impact all of creation.
• Catastrophe:  As fallen mankind became more sinful, God was finally forced to judge the whole earth with a global Flood - - as described in Genesis chapters 6 – 9.  Only a few (8) people were saved from this judgment - - Noah and his family.
• Confusion:  Genesis 11:1-9 tells us that after the Flood, people again rebelled against God’s authority, so God confused their speech (gave them different languages) and scattered them abroad over the face of the earth, resulting in the establishment of the various “tribes and nations”.
• Christ:  Jesus Christ is the Savior that was promised after Adam sinned (Genesis 3:15). Jesus explained His true purpose on earth in John 3:17,  “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”.
• Cross:  Jesus took upon Himself the curse of death, that we might be saved from it. The Good News is that God raised Him from the dead!  When we believe in Jesus and what He did for us on the Cross, our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and we will spend eternity with Him! (Revelation 21:27).
• Consummation:  God promises us in Revelation 21:4 & 22:3 that one day, the curse will be removed, and everything will be perfect again - - full of life, without death, pain, or suffering.  A new heaven and a new earth.

    Be aware, however, these are also the very events that the secular world tries so hard to undermine.  As a result of years of subtle indoctrination in our schools and the various media, the rise of secular Humanism (which promotes evolution as proven fact), and an ever-increasing emphasis on rejecting a literal interpretation of Scripture (especially Genesis), we now have a generation that has either begun to doubt the reliability of the Bible (because of supposed “scientific” pronouncements), or that lacks the foundational. 

    “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!

    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).

    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.