"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Many have tried to get around this opening statement of the Bible by calling the account of creation an allegory of ancient Hebrew myth!
To this one should ask: "What saith the scriptures?"
We read in II Tim. 3:16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God...." Is Genesis chapter one scripture? Then in II Pet. 1:20-21 we read: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
The book of Genesis is the foundation book for the whole Bible. If the Bible is unreliable at its very beginning, there is no reason why we should contend for the integrity of any other part of it.
Many passages throughout the Bible refer to the Lord's work in the creation. In Gen. 1:2 we read: "And the earth was without form and void...." Then in Isaiah 45:18 a parallel statement showing that God did not intend for this created mass to remain "without form and void," but that he was preparing for man's habitation: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else."
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:1-3). "For by him were all things created..." (Col. 1:16-17). "And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth..." Heb. 1:10).
The Lord in Matt. 19:4 refers to Adam and Eve: "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female." Then in Mark 10:6 Jesus shows that this "beginning" was "the creation." Note carefully: "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." There are only two choices: creation or evolution. Jesus said it was by creation!!
"And God said, let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness night. and the evening and the morning was the first day" (Gen. 1:3-5).
In our next article we will study how long these days of creation were.
"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" (I Pet. 4:11).
Don H. Noblin
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