HOW CAN WE BELIEVE IN CREATION IN SIX DAYS?
by Dr John C WhitcombFROM SWORD & TROWEL 2006
No 1
To the glory of God the Father, all things in the universe (angels, galaxies, planets
and people) were created through the Word of God’s Son. ‘All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made’ (John 1.3). Indeed, ‘He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not’ (John
1.10).
How can anyone in this age of naturalistic evolutionism really understand the
Creation record in Genesis 1 and 2? It is not by rationalistic
arguments and evidences, because the natural (unregenerate) man, however brilliant,
‘receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God’. In fact, ‘they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Corinthians 2.14).
We thank God for the enormous flood of recently discovered evidences of
supernatural design in the universe above us, and the living world around and within us. Even
more amazing are discoveries of the recent origin of our oceans and fossil-filled rock strata,
and even radioactive elements, by Creation scientists.
But to truly understand the timing, order and manner - and thus the true
significance - of Genesis 1 and 2, we must first know Who the
Creator Himself really is.
Consider first, the timing of Creation. Could Christ our Creator
have completed His Creation work in less than one week? Watch Him performing sign-
miracles in the Holy Land at His first coming. Every sick and crippled person He healed was
cured instantly. Every dead person He brought back to life was raised immediately. Lazarus
was not dragged out of the tomb half-dead, needing months of recuperation. Likewise, it took
no time at all for the Son of God to create our first parents, Adam and Eve.
Secondly, the order of Creation events is profoundly significant.
Why were the sun and moon created after the earth (Genesis 1.14-19), and even
after plant life? Answer: To demonstrate once for all that the sun is not the source of life (as in
evolutionism) or a god to be worshipped (as in most of the ancient world). Job understood
this: ‘If I beheld the sun when it shined . . . and my heart hath been secretly enticed . . . this
also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is
above’ (Job 31.26-28). No, the sun was not here first. The Son of God was here
first, and He alone is to be worshipped by men and angels. ‘I form the light, and create
darkness . . . I the Lord do all these things’ (Isaiah 45.7).
Thirdly, what about the manner in which things were created?
This, too, can only be understood by observing how Christ confirmed His true deity during
His public ministry. He created highly complex, organic substances with a superficial
appearance of age. At a wedding feast He created the juice of grapes without the use of grapes.
As a result, ‘his disciples believed on him’ (John 2.11). To feed 5,000 hungry men
and their families, He created thousands of full-grown, dried fishes. These fishes had never
hatched from eggs, never grew, and were never dried, because they were never wet. They were
created with an appearance of history which they never had, and as a result, the people said:
‘This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world’ (John 6.14).
So, we should not be surprised to find Him creating full-grown ‘fruit tree[s]
yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself’ (Genesis 1.11). Likewise, the
first human beings were not created as babies or even teenagers, but as full-grown adults ready
to be married before they were one day old (Genesis 2.22-23; cf. 1.26-
28).
How can a person become convinced of such vital truths of Creation events
apart from knowing Who the Creator really is? As the chief of the apostles expressed it, before
we ‘give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in [us],’ we must first
‘sanctify [that is set apart, honour, respect] the Lord God in [our] hearts.’ Then, and then
only, are we truly ‘ready always to give an answer . . . with meekness and fear’ (1 Peter
3.15).
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