Creation & the Creation and Fall of Man
Creation and The Creation and Fall of Man
Creation
We learn from Scripture that creation is a gift from God, the creator of all things. Everything we experience is from God. During the eighteenth century the Age of Reason introduced explanations for creation that departed from the Biblical, or “theistic” worldview. As a result, two basic camps of people emerged from the debate: those who adopt a strictly Biblical view of creation and those who do not. In the group of those who do not, there are those who try and find common ground between the Biblical account and evidence offered as scientific. There are also those who are not concerned at all about a Biblical perspective and base their beliefs only on scientific naturalism, the belief that all things can be explained in terms of currently operating natural causes and laws.
When people turn to Scripture for a scientific account of creation, they do not find much about how God technically created things. This is because the Bible was not written to be a textbook, but it was written to describe God’s relationship to humanity. We are not told exactly how creation happened, only that God was the creator and that man was the focus of his attention.
Even with this realization, many Bible-believing Christians disagree over some aspects of creation, such as how the earth was made, whether the days of creation are literal “24 hour” days and the age of the earth. The fact of this disagreement should not prevent Christians from fellowshipping or worshipping together, but should drive each to his own study of the verses involved.
The record of creation is contained in Genesis chapter one through three. Additional verses in Isaiah 45:18 and Jeremiah 4:23 support the account in Genesis. The means of creation God used was to speak something into being. Genesis 1:3 begins the account of creation with “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” In the verses following, God speaks, and it becomes reality. This also shows that God created something where there was once nothing; He did not modify an existing entity to make an earth or a sky.
The Views of Creation
Historic Creationism. This view separates the first and second verse of Genesis 1 by an unspecified period of time. God created the world, then waited, then continued with the second verse of preparing the earth for humans. This allows for an “old earth” belief yet still allows for six literal days of creation. The challenge to this view is that the words in Genesis do not naturally imply a gap of time.
Young-Earth Creationism. This view holds that God created the universe, the earth, Adam and Eve and all else in six twenty-four hour days. With this view, the earth is less than 10,000 years old and scientific findings are interpreted in view of Scripture. The challenge to this view is that findings on the age of the earth indicate an age that is older than 10,000 years.
The Gap Theory. This view again separates the first verses of Genesis with an unspecified period of time. The thought is that the entire universe was created, then due to some event (likely the fall of Satan) was destroyed and then rebuilt beginning in verse 3. The challenge to this view is that the evil that happens in the gap would not allow God to call all of His creation as “good”. It also allows for death and bloodshed before Adam’s sin.
The Day-Age Theory. In this theory, the days mentioned in Genesis represent periods of time that are geological ages, thus allowing for an old earth. The challenge to this view includes a discussion on the use of the word “day” in Scripture always referring to a 24-hour period of time, including the references to evening and morning.
The Theistic Evolution Theory. This theory holds that God started the creation process and then allowed a natural evolutionary process to bring the world to what it is today. The challenges to this view are many and are beyond the scope of this book. Studies in evolution indicate too many gaps in the process to allow single-cell organisms to develop into the human species. Biblical challenges occur when the account of Adam and Eve hold that only two humans existed in the beginning as opposed to a herd of developing human creatures. The same challenges of 24-hour days of creation from other theories are present here.
While each theory has advantages and challenges, the one that holds closest to the natural reading of the creation account would be Young-Earth Creationism. The issue of the age of the earth remains a problem for many, but there simply is no specific statement about the age of the earth found in the Bible. Suggestions as to how the earth could be young and appear old are many; including the idea that it was made to appear old, that the flood affected geological findings or that the studies by scientists are flawed and incorrect, to name but a few. As mentioned previously, the Bible does not tell us everything we wish to know, only what God wants us to know.
The Creation and Fall of Man
Like the existence of God, the creation of man must be accepted by faith - see Job 38:1-7. The Word clearly and plainly tells us how humanity came into being. It was not by evolution but by the direct and immediate creation of God.
Some will try and balance a spiritual and a scientific view of creation. They will say that evolution is a process that God created, and so it is “His way” of creating man. This is not supported in Scripture. Genesis 1:26-27 clearly and emphatically shows that man is the result of the immediate, special, creative, and formative acts of God.
Man was not created simply to please himself, but rather was created that he might bring glory to God and enjoy fellowship with Him - see Gen. 3:8-10. It was at the fall that man’s fellowship with God was broken. The fall of Adam and its result upon all humanity can be divided into three areas: Total Depravity, Spiritual Death, and Physical Death. Since the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden all mankind, except Christ, has suffered these three consequences of the fall.
Total Depravity
Through the sin of Adam the entire human race is depraved. In other words, man is without merit in the sight of God.
Total depravity is a difficult pill for many to swallow. We all know people who are not Believers, but who are pleasant, have nice families, are giving and caring and seem “good”. We also live in a world where we need to rely on basic human kindness to get along. Not everyone is out to steal our money, ruin our property and bring death on our families. Obviously, people are able to do many things that are morally right. Even the vilest person may occasionally do something commendable. Total depravity is not speaking of specific acts or even general patterns of behavior, but of man’s inner character. The point is that there is not a single person who has ever lived, apart from the sinless Lord Jesus Christ (II Cor. 5:21), whose innermost being would be characterized as righteous by God’s standard. (Rom 3:10-11)
A study on depravity includes these words:
"Much that we take for granted in a civilized society is based upon the assumption of human sin. Nearly all legislation has grown up because human beings cannot be trusted to settle their own disputes with justice and without self-interest. A promise is not enough; we need a contract. Doors are not enough; we have to lock and bolt them. The payment of fares is not enough; tickets have to be issued, inspected and collected. Law and order are not enough; we need the police to enforce them. All this is due to man's sin. We cannot trust each other. We need protection against one another. It is a terrible indictment of human nature." - John Stott, Basic Christianity
Spiritual Death
A second consequence of Adam’s sin is spiritual death. He became degenerate and depraved. He developed within himself a fallen nature that is contrary to God and is ever prone to evil. His constitution was altered fundamentally and he thus became a wholly different being from the one God had created.
Physical Death
The third result of Adam’s sin was physical death. This is defined as the separation of soul and spirit from the body. It is not spiritual death, but both are a result of Adam’s initial sin. A person can be spiritually dead, but alive physically. A person can also be dead physically, but alive spiritually. If a person is spiritually dead, their only hope of life is to be healed by redeeming grace. Without this grace and healing change, a person is subject to unending second death. - see Rev. 21:4; I Cor. 15:26.
The passing on of the sin nature from Adam to all men.
This is sometimes called the Adamic nature, inborn sin, original sin, or the old man. It is the idea that Adam’s sin has been transmitted through the entire human race. (Rom 5:12) There is no way for a human to escape this sin. Psalm 14:1-3 names the various ways this is seen in mankind and also implies the existence of the sin nature as the source of evil in man. Left to himself, man is hopelessly lost in his sin, dead, and bound for a Christless eternity. It is only through the redemptive work of Christ that he can be forgiven and made alive.
What are five views on the creation of the universe?
What are the three consequences suffered by man as a result of the fall?
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