A.Previously, we considered that the Bible’s teaching of creation is foundational to the Christian faith.We also examined days and kinds in the Genesis account of creation.
B.In this lesson, we will consider the goodness of God’s creation and the corruption of it by sin.
II.THE GOODNESS OF GOD’S CREATION
A.Let us recall the day-by-day account of God’s creation of the world given in Genesis.
1.Day 1 (vv. 1-5) – God created a "formless and void” earth.He then created light and separated it from the darkness.
2.Day 2 (vv. 6-8) – God created an "expanse in the midst of the waters” called heaven, which is the sky.
3.Day 3 (vv. 9-13) – God separated the dry land from the seas, and He commanded the earth to bring forth vegetation.
4.Day 4 (vv. 14-19) – God created the sun, moon, and stars to provide light and to govern the days, years, and seasons.
5.Day 5 (vv. 20-23) – God created the sea creatures and the birds, and He commanded them to "be fruitful and multiply.”
6.Day 6 (vv. 24-31) – God created the beasts of the earth and "everything that creeps on the ground.”He also made man in His own image, and He created them both male and female.He then commanded the man and woman to "be fruitful and multiply” and to subdue the earth.
B.Everything God created was good.
1.Six times during the progress of creation in Genesis 1, it is stated that God saw that the elements of His creation were good (the light, v. 4; the dry earth and seas, v. 10; the vegetation, v. 12; the sun, moon, and stars, v. 18; the sea creatures, v. 21; the land animals, v. 25).
2.At the conclusion of His work, "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen.1:31).
a.When God saw that His work was "very good,” there was nothing bad in it whatsoever.This means that there was no sin, death, pain, sadness, sorrow, etc.God’s creation was purely and completely good in every way.
b.It was not until sin entered the world that anything bad came into God’s very good world (more on this later).
C.The account of the creation of the world is an amazing record of God’s goodness.
1.Our good and great God made a good world that is perfectly suited to life and specifically to the life of man.He blessed man with His image and gave man dominion over His good earth.
a.The conditions that exist on earth form an amazing design for the sustenance of life.Factors such as the distance from the sun to the earth, the amount of water on earth, the makeup of the earth’s atmosphere, and the gravitational pull of the moon on the earth all contribute to the earth’s ability to sustain life.These exist because God carefully designed them for this purpose.
b.How blessed we are as creatures made in God’s image to have dominion over this planet.How good is our God who made such a good place for us to live.
2.The Scriptures do not tell us how God made the world other than saying that He spoke it into existence.This fact alone reveals both the power and the goodness of our God and His word.
a.In the English versions of the Bible, the word "created” is translated from the Hebrew word bara' (בָּרָא), which means to create, shape, or form.When used in such a context, this word always has God as the subject in the Scriptures.In other words, only God has the power to create something from nothing.
b.In Psalm 33:6, 9, the Scripture declares, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host…For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”Likewise, Hebrews 11:3 states, "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”No further explanation is necessary.
c.Jesus Himself is identified as the Word through which the world was made (John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 11:1-3).
d.The same good God who made the good world through His good word has also given us His word regarding life and godliness (2Pet. 1:3).If His word was good enough to create the world, then surely it is good enough for our salvation (Rom. 1:16).
III.GOD’S CREATION WAS GOOD, BUT SIN BROUGHT DEATH
A.It was not until sin entered that the world was changed.
1.Sin, death, and all of their consequences have altered the world and its creatures so that they are not the same now as they were when God made them.
a.From the beginning, the penalty of sin has been death.
i.God warned of this penalty before Adam sinned, and He enforced it afterward (Gen. 2:17; 3:19).Notice that God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins, which is notable because it is the first indication of death in the Bible (Gen. 3:21).
ii."The soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4), and "the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23).From the time of Adam, this law of sin and death has ruled in the sinful world (Rom. 6:12-21).
iii.It is Satan who has dominion over the realm of sin, death, and corruption in the world (1John 2:16; 5:19).
iv.Only through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ can we escape the law of sin and of death (Rom. 8:2).Only through Him can we be freed from the dark domain of Satan (Col. 1:13; Heb. 2:14-15).
b.Also, consider that the global flood has severely affected the climate of the earth (Gen. 2:5-6; 6:1-9:17; 2Pet. 3:3-7).Because of sin, the very good creation of God has been changed into a violent planet.
2.Thus, we see that the effects of sin not only touched man but also the entire world.Notice Romans 8:20-22 – "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
B.Consider how the law of sin and death refutes the doctrine of theistic evolution.
1.In the last lesson, we considered some of the attempts to blend the theory of evolution into the Bible’s account of creation (day-age theory, gap theory, etc.).These faulty explanations can be described as doctrines of theistic evolution (evolution caused and controlled by God).
2.No form of theistic evolutionary doctrine can be true simply because the theory of evolution defies the Bible’s law of sin and death.
a.The theory of evolution teaches that death existed for millions of years before the first sin was committed.Conversely, the Bible teaches that death entered the world after the six days of creation at the time when Adam and Eve sinned.These two teachings oppose one another and cannot be reconciled.
b.God looked on His creation prior to the entrance of sin and saw that it was very good.He did not create a world that was dominated by death, disease, killing, pain, and suffering according to evolutionary theory.
c.If death existed before sin, then death is not the result of sin.If death is not the result of sin, then the forgiveness of sin is not the key to eternal life.If the forgiveness of sin is not the key to eternal life, then Jesus is not the Savior.Obviously, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Savior, so this is one more point in which the theory of evolution contradicts the Bible.
d.All of this proves that the theory of evolution and the Bible are not compatible.
IV.CONCLUSION
A.Most of the goodness of God’s creation remains, but just as the image of God in man has been marred by sin, so also has rest of the world been affected by sin.
B.All of the created world, the sin that corrupted it, and the sinners whom God will judge will be destroyed (2Thess. 1:8-9; 2Pet. 3:7-12).However, we who have faith in Christ are becoming new creatures (2Cor. 5:17) and are looking for a new creation in which righteousness dwells (2Pet. 3:13).In that new creation, everything will once again be very good (Rev. 21-22).
