Basic Christian
Doctrines 16
1.
God Created the Universe.
The first verse
of the Bible states one of the most important truths in the whole Bible: “In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God is the Creator. He is
our “Maker” (Isa. 54:5). The universe did not create itself; it was created by
God (Psa. 100:3). God has revealed this great truth through the things which
are created (Rom. 1). Each member of the Trinity was involved in creation (Gen.
1:1-2, John 1:3).
2.
God Created the Universe out of Nothing.
Before creation, God alone existed. When He created the universe, therefore He could create it out of Himself (which the Bible denies) or out of sheer nothingness (which the Bible teaches). He merely spoke it into existence (Gen. 1; Heb. 11:3). This is the power of His word and the word of His power. We say He created all things “ex nihilo”, out of nothing. We cannot comprehend this; there is no adequate analogy in Nature. When an artist paints a picture, he does not really create it as such. God created all things. But not at once. He did it in stages.
3.
God Created the Universe in Six Days.
Gen. 1 describes
the period of creation as 6 days of
“evening and day”. In the Hebrew way of speaking, sundown is the start of a new
24-hour day. While some Christians wonder if these were literal 24-hour periods
or symbols of periods of much greater length, we point out several things.
First, the Hebrew word YOM almost always means 24-hour days. Also, Gen.1 uses
the normal description of evening and daylight markers. Perhaps most conclusive
is that the time periods are equal in length - and Man was created on the 6th
day. If the first 5 were millions of years old, then Adam would have to have
been ancient indeed! Ex. 20:11 says that the 7th day became the pattern for the
weekly sabbath.
4.
God Created Things on Different Levels.
Gen. 1 describes
how God created things from the more simple to the more complex. First He
created the raw stuff of the universe; matter, light, energy. Then He created
inanimate things. Then plants, animals, and finally Man. There are variations
and sub-divisions within these categories, such as gases, sub-atomic particles,
amoebas, etc. These levels display God's “order” (cf. I Cor. 15:39). We might
add that Gen. 1 is describing the creation of the natural side of the universe,
not the supernatural. God created the angels first, for they were witnesses of
the creation of the natural or physical universe (Job 38:4-7). God alone
created the universe. The angels may have been messengers or assistants in the
work of the natural part, but they were not creators, but created beings.
5.
There is No Movement Between Created Levels.
The things on
each level interract with each other, but there is no climbing the ladder of
created levels. For example, a cow may eat grass, but grass does not evolve
into cows. Man drinks water, but water remains water and does not evolve into
Man. Hence, the idea of Evolution is quite wrong. Rocks don't become dogs,
horses don't become humans, humans don't become angels. The New Age Movement,
eastern religion and some aspects of Evolution theorize that all things are
evolving upward along this ladder of existence, resulting in Godhood. This is
very wrong. We were created by God, but not out of God. We were created for
God, but not to become God. Reincarnation says we go up and down this ladder,
but that too is quite wrong. Of course, there is variation within each level,
and some forms become extinct (such as the dodo-bird, dinosaurs, etc).
6.
Creationism Disproves the Theory of Evolution.
The theory of Evolution is not
merely a scientific theory; it has religious overtones and implications for
theology. Simply put, it contradicts Gen.1 and is therefore erroneous. It
suggests that before a “Big Bang”, there was nothing. Then amorphous gas, space
foam, or something like it. Then by mere chance, it developed by itself into
the universe and has been growing ever since. That's not what God says. First,
there is no such thing as chance. Second, God created things on several levels
at the beginning and in a short period of time. Third, the order of Gen. 1 is
different from the order suggested by all Evolutionists. Evolution is just a
theory (and unscientific at that) whose main objective is to eliminate God.
So-called “Theistic Evolution” is an erroneous attempt to say that God used
Evolution in Creation. But this is also unbiblical on many points.
7.
God Ceased Creation After the First Week.
God
rested on Day 7. This does not mean He was tired, for God has all power and had
no less when He created the universe. He never tires. He ceased Creating, and
so has not created any new levels. He began the work of sustaining His
creation, which we call providence. Through providence, He keeps His creation
in existence, develops it, guides it, and so on. But there are no new acts of creation,
except in the spiritual realm. The new birth is called a “new creation” (2 Cor.
5:17). Even so, it is not creation out of nothing per se. It simply means that
God does not save us by reforming the old man, but forming a new man within us
by regeneration.
8. Man's
Sin Affected the Universe.
God
created the universe and pronounced it
very good. It reflected His glory and was free from sin. The sin of Satan had
already occurred in the invisible, non-material supernatural side, but that did
not affect the material universe - at least until he successfully led Adam and
Eve into sin. This brought a curse on creation (Gen. 3:17, Rom. 8:20-22). This
is why there are now storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, droughts,
famines, wild animals, plagues, and death. None of these were part of the
original creation. The levels of things below Man are incapable of sin,
but suffer the consequences of our
sin. Incidentally, Gnosticism wrongly said that matter itself is necessarily
evil.
9.
God Sent a Worldwide Flood to Judge Sin.
Sin
proliferated at a rapid pace after Adam and Eve. Then there was an invasion of demons
in Gen. 6. It got so bad that the cup of its wrath was filled, and God judged
the whole world. He started all over, as it were, by flooding the Earth and
making it resemble Gen. 1:2. Only 8 humans were spared to start the human race
again, but they brought sin with them into the Ark. Two of every kind of animal were
brought on the Ark, so God did not begin creation entirely anew as in Gen. 1.
This massive Flood covered the whole world and caused enormous changes in the
Earth's landscape and weather, among other things. Thus, the Flood was unique.
Such a Flood has never occurred since, nor ever will again. It was the greatest
catastrophe since Creation.
10.
God Will One Day Re-Create the Universe.
The Flood was
only a partial re-creation. Sin left the Ark and began to multiply again. The
material universe was still cursed. God's glory in Nature is still marred by
sin and its effects. But not for long. Jesus Christ came to save Man. Some men
will be saved. Through that redemption, the curse on creation is lifted. One
day, at the Second Coming of Jesus, the effects of the curse will be erased in
the "new heavens and the new Earth" (Rev. 21:1, Isa. 65:17, Rom.8:21,
Acts 3:21). It will reflect God's glory perfectly, far greater even than in
Gen. 1.