GENESIS
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Notes on Genesis 1
There are those that believe there is a great gap of time between verse one and verse 2 of Genesis. I will admit that I too use to believe this theory, but just like the theory of evolution, it is just a theory. This theory gives credence to the assumed scientific evidence that the earth is very old, even billions of years. If the earth is very old as many scientists believe then the gap theory is certainly the answer that makes sense much more so than evolution. We got to realize however, that scientists have been wrong so many times in the past and they could be wrong about the age of the earth. I believe they very well may be wrong and the earth is not as old as they previously thought. Ah, if scientists would only be true scientists, honest, searching and not have an agenda, we might discover truth. After further study and listening to former atheists who once believed in evolution but has since found not only credible evidence of a creator but have found the Lord Jesus Christ as savior and Lord of their lives, I have changed my mind. I now believe after reading of findings at Mt Saint Helen and other studies in the new earth theory, that the earth is very young. I will provide links to other sites on this subject and include one on the old earth theory to be fair. Evolution though I discount as an impossibility. There is no way that we could have evolved over billions of years into what we have today. Unless someone suffers a birth defect, look at a baby that is born. Two eyes, two ears, a nose, a heart, kidneys, blood, vessels, digestive system, etc. I could go on and one. It shows clearly that there has to be a designer. In modern times just when needed we also have DNA evidence that shows us we all have a different DNA and also who we descended from. They've discovered that the original Mormons that followed Joseph Smith were not part of the lost tribes of Israel like they once believed. They determined this by the discovery of DNA. Look at a building. Did that building get there by accident? Did it evolve over hundred's of years. No. In fact in a few hundred years the building would decay if left alone without human intervention and eventually fall to the ground. We look at a building and we know that someone not only built it but designed it. It has a designer. If I tried to teach you that the building just appeared over many years by itself, you would say I was crazy. Yet many expect us to believe that a perfect human being with eyes, nose, ears, heart, throat, respiratory, digestive systems and many others parts including a brain that causes all of them to function, evolved over millions of years by accident. No. I see the work of a designer. That is why I will not include any links to evolution teaching because it is just plain silly and even some modern scientists are starting to find large holes in that theory. It is just a theory by the way based on speculation, not facts. Darwin has a lot to answer for. I feel sorry for the man where ever he is today, heaven or hell.
The gap theory believers use verse two to prove their point. They claim that God would not have created something that was without form and void. So they believe at this point in Genesis, God is recreating an earth that was once destroyed by an earlier flood which caused it to be without form and void. They believe that Satan once ruled the former world and when he fell the earth was plunged into darkness. That would explain the dinosaurs if they existed at that time. However, there is evidence that the dinosaurs lived at the same time as man and are not as old as we once believed them to be. Fossils of dinosaurs have been found that still contain red blood cells and soft tissue. There are many things that we don't yet know and to teach the theory of evolution based on one man's notion, is foolishness. I wish scientists would be honest and admit some things are yet to be discovered instead of teaching things like the big bang as fact instead of the theory that it is.
God is light and is the creator of light on the earth. Here is a different kind of light to come.
Again we see God bringing light to that which is dark. This is another claim of those that adhere to the gap theory. They claim that God would not have originally created an earth with darkness and the earth would not have been without form and void. Which ever the case, we see God bringing order and light to that which is in disorder and in darkness. Like I said before, I started out this series sort of believing in the gap theory but after listening and studying more on this subject, I'm believing that it was the flood of Noah that caused the fossils and many mysteries we see throughout the earth and that the earth is not as old as science seems to claim it to be. I'm not really dogmatic on that though but I want to encourage everyone to do their own research but in doing so try not to be removed from the main purpose of the book of Genesis. Whether their were two floods or one, would still cause the same things. Since science changes from decade to decade we should never put our faith in it but in the word of God alone which will stand when everything else fails. Unfortunately, when scientists discover that they have been wrong in a certain area, it takes a long time to get it into the textbooks. The book of Genesis however as with all books of the bible are not meant as history text books but mostly contain theology. All the facts within them are true but are not meant to be a complete history. The emphasis is upon learning about God, showing us the law and how mankind has fallen, then lead us back to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. The brontosaurus was actually taught as something that existed and we find that someone put the wrong head on him and it wasn't the head that was supposed to go with that particular body. This probably has happened many times. When they find fossils and try to piece them together, we know they are going to get it wrong and do a lot of guessing on occasion. That is why finding God through faith and His plan of salvation is more important that proving things by fact but God is merciful and to those that really want to know truth, He reveals truth. They've discovered the Piltdown man that was publicized as the missing link for years, is in fact a hoax. I bring up this to show that sometimes people find things and want so much to get credit for their discoveries that they are tempted to distort the facts. We cannot trust in them to the point of assuming they are absolutely correct, they are just learning as we all are. Scientists can actually make fossils with the right conditions in a laboratory. It doesn't take billions of years.
Imagine being frightened in darkness and no way possible to see where one was going and all the sudden there was light. Once the eyes adjusted to the light, what a relief to be able to see. I'm sure light existed before this time, so I assume that this was the explanation of how God created light upon a dark earth. Since God is light, there would have already been light. Still I wonder why he kept a season of darkness that he called night when sin had not yet entered the world. In the book of Revelation we see that in the new heaven and new earth, there will be no more darkness. It is interesting to think about. Rev 21:1-7 can be read for further study. I do believe sin existed before the creation of man for some of the angels sinned before the creation of man.
This verse in Romans 5 is the one many use to teach that before Adam sinned there was no sin. Yet it could just simply mean that sin had not yet entered the world of man or the world God created in which He placed man. We know that there was evil before that because in the midst of the garden of Eden was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
I realize that I'm giving more and more proof of the gap theory that I claim to no longer believe in by saying sin existed before the creation of man, but I'm interested in the truth, not in pushing a theory. Whether the earth was recreated or created for the first time in Genesis chapter 1, I still believe the earth could be very young and dinosaurs could have existed at the same time as man. They use to be called dragons and that is where the old mythical legends of mighty men and dragons came from. The main idea here is the fact that whether the earth is old or young does not take away from a divine creator we call God. We don't have to get upset if someone believes the earth is young or that the earth is old. Open our eyes and we can see that there is a creator, a designer and the earth and planets are not hurling helplessly in outer space with no one in control. That would be a scary thought indeed. I'm glad there is a God in charge of it all.
Firmament is the heavens. There is the heaven which is the atmosphere that surrounds the earth. The clouds that contain water is part of the 1st heaven. The birds fly in this part of heaven. We call it the sky. The second heaven is where we see the stars, the moon, planets and other bodies in the universe. We have not yet explored all the heavens. The third heaven is where the throne of God is. We do not know where it is. I believe it is closer than we think only invisible to us at this time. It could be in our own atmosphere or in the 2nd heaven we call space but it is invisible to us. God can do that if He chooses. I don't believe it is beyond our universe, I believe He is closer than that. Paul was caught up into this heaven at one time. 2Corinthians 12:2 is the reference for that one. Also Revelation 4:1-11 the apostle John sees heaven.
The earth seemed to be so full of water that the whole atmosphere around the earth including the clouds were joined in one big body of water with no dry land in sight. There was water under the earth and above it. Once these fountains were broken up, it naturally would cause a worldwide flood. In the days of Noah's flood, Genesis 11:1-12, we see the earth completely covered with water again. It could be that there were two floods supporting the gap theory. Actually when God created the earth or as some believe, recreated it, he could have done so thorough a job that it was made new so it would appear new to those that find evidence of a young earth. There are many things to explore and learn. None of which will make God disappear so we don't have to fear shaking our faith. He is real, He is our creator and He is God. There is to be another new heaven and earth in the latter days. So we do have enough scripture to support both old earth and young earth. Yet I believe it really doesn't matter to the whole plan of God and the salvation made available to all of us. It doesn't matter how old the earth is, there is still evidence of a divine designer or creator. Evolution is a theory that is being debunked more and more as more discoveries are made. Sadly though, I do not believe when evolution is completely disproven that the whole world will turn to God. The book of Revelation shows us that it will not happen that way. Instead we may have a revival of old heathen, pagan religions that will arise to explain the universe. In fact through New Age, mysticism and many other idolatrous religions even mixing with Christianity, it is already on the way in. An alternative explanation for our existence in already in the works waiting until they disprove evolution to the public. I believe that real scientists already know that evolution is a myth. Won't the churches that embraced evolution be embarrassed when that happens. I'm glad to be part of a church that has not sold the creation belief down the river of compromise. I use to read Revelations as a young teen and wonder why there were references to those that worship idols when in my particular world people didn't worship statues and icons. Even though some Eastern religions and the Catholic church uses images, the churches I was familiar with did not. However, through the emerging church movement and the New Age movement, the use of images in worship is being revived. God's second commandment clearly forbids this in both the Old and New Testaments. Yet that is what will take the place of evolution and secular humanism. You might ask, are we really that stupid? Yes. We certainly are. This is what happens when we reject the truth of God's word and do not retain it in our knowledge. Romans chapter 1 explains that. If we do not retain God in our knowledge, we cut ourselves off of His presence and it opens us up to all kinds of demonic deception. One might say that we still claim to believe in God but if we deny His word, we are denying Him. To not retain God in our knowledge is to reject His Son that He sent to save us from sin. To reject the written word that guides us to the Son is also another way of not retaining God in our knowledge.
To reject the word is to reject God Himself. We will open ourselves up to deception. We will believe in something else. Jesus said this:
The days of the man of sin that we call the antichrist just might be closer than we think.
Notice here that God provides the environment and food for the animals and man that He is planning to create before He creates them. God plans ahead. He didn't just make the animals and man and say, now what can I do to feed them?
Light was already commanded to come forth but here we see God regulating the light and making bodies of light to control times and seasons. Now we see this happening on the 4th day, so here it would seem that the young earth believers have more credibility. It would seem like they were created for the first time here on day 4. A simple explanation would be that verse 1 was like a title of the message to follow. In the Beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Then we may be seeing a more detailed explanation to follow. We can assume that Moses was the writer and he starts out writing verse 1, then in verse 2, he begins to explain how the earth was before God formed it. It was dark, watery and without form and void. When I say verse one and verse two, I realize the the original scripture was not divided into verses and chapters as such but still it would seem that they started out making a statement and then follow it with more details. We have to note also that the writer had to write everything in human terms so that the reader of that day as well as the reader in today's world can understand it. They did an excellent job. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we learn more and more as we study God's word. We saw light created on the first day; then we see the light regulated and set in order on the fourth day. The explanation is probably so simple that we miss it when we try to find hidden meanings that may or may not be true.
This may have been when time as we know it started. There is a place for signs from the stars. The wise men saw a star and followed it to the place where Christ was born. Unfortunately, as with many things God makes for our good, mankind with the help of the enemy of our souls, Satan, tries to pollute good things with bad, thus star gazing turns into fortune telling and occult practices that God forbids. When God gives us things to help us determine signs and seasons, we are never to trust in those things and look to them for guidance or objects of worship. It's like God gives us the knowledge to grow food but we do not grow food to worship it but to eat it for nourishment. We are not to use the stars to tell the future but trust God for our future. Science and astronomy are good things to try to learn about our existence and how to make life better for mankind as a whole but when scientists have an agenda to replace God with either other gods or secular humanism, then they no longer can be trusted to find truth. Once we open ourselves up to deception by denying God's right to govern our lives, we open ourselves up to demonic influence. So how do we know the difference? The written word of God was given to us so that we can learn who the real God is and how He wants us to live. He also gives the Holy Spirit to all who believe in His Son Jesus Christ and repent of their sin. He will guide us into all truth if we let Him. When we begin to reject His words, we reject Him. Then we will be open to deception.
Those that will be deceived by the wicked one to come will be those that are already rejecting the truth now. When we reject Jesus Christ that God sent to us to save us from sin, or we reject the word of God which is also the word of Jesus, we in fact reject God. How is it that we can now kill an unborn baby in the mother's womb and call it "a woman's right to choose" when just 100 years ago, it would have been considered murder? We are not retaining God in our knowledge. How is it that men and women can live together without the sanctity of marriage and also men have unclean relationships with men, women with women, people indulge in pornography, which causes all unclean sexual immorality imaginable and then get to the place where any who oppose these things are considered bigots, and hate mongers? We are no longer retaining God in our knowledge. Romans chapter 1 explains what happens when we do not retain God in our knowledge. These things bring disease, shortens life and it endangers innocent children who are abused constantly because evil men have seared their conscience and have opened themselves up to depravity. Who ever heard of child porn a 100 years ago at least in the United States? If it existed it was very rare. It is because we have turned our backs on the God who gave us commandments to live by for our good, not our evil. Every commandment God gives is for our good. Everything He warned us to stay away from is for our good. He is not out to make us miserable. He is out for our good.
I don't believe this implies that the water had reproductive power to produce the fish here but God speaks and from out of the water came forth sea creatures, fish and other water creatures. Water itself even over millions of years could not produce any animals unless ...................God spoke and brought it into being.
Whale is a word that can mean sea monsters. So some could have been dragons. We see also that at this point in creation the birds were created.
God made all things to reproduce after its own kind. Two fish produced more fish. A fish didn't give birth to a bird. Eventually they may have become different species of the fish as we see today but a fish didn't become a bird and a bird didn't become a monkey etc. Except for the birds or fowl here this is the part of creation that didn't need to go onto the ark to be saved from the flood. They stayed in the water although probably not all of them survived because of the force and power of the water that would have been too swift in some places. Still enough survived to repopulate after the flood was over. Fossils are made by sudden catastrophes that cause death rapidly and then bury the dead that they turn into fossils. If dead things are exposed to air they decay and rot. Nothing however, evolves into something better.
Notice that land animals and mankind came from the earth, not the sea. The earth has no reproductive power until God commands life to come out of it. Man did not become a living soul until God breathed life into him. I could go find some clay and make an image of man out of it but I would have no power to make that image live, breathe, reproduce and work. That image could lay in the ground for thousands of years and never turn into a living soul. There has to be a creator, a designer and one to gives the breath of life.
Even though from the first two dogs, there came many variations and types of dogs, a dog and cat did not mate. Everything reproduced after their own kind.
Now we see God creating something different than the animals. Those that are different are persons. Chapter 2 of Genesis gives us a more detailed account of the creation of man. Man was created first before the woman. We also see God speaking to someone here indicating a plurality of the Godhead. I believe He is not speaking to the angels but to His Son because New Testament scripture verifies that the one we know as Jesus was with God at creation. We also see here that God gave man dominion over the earth. They were entrusted to rule over it, multiply descendants, and take care of it properly. In the first chapter of John says that Jesus is the word made flesh that dwelt among men for a season. Further proof that Jesus was with God at creation. He is also the creator.
Also we have the words of Jesus Himself speaking to the church at Laodicea.
So many explain away the fact that God created man in His own image by making it mean that He created man with a spirit, soul and body making him triune like the Godhead is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While I believe that, I believe we also are made in His image in that we look like Him as opposed to looking like a fish, dog, cat etc. True, God is a spirit but I believe He has a form of some kind. We shall be like Him one day. Jesus became a man and when He ascended into heaven he became a spirit that could come and go at will but He still possessed a body.
Another way I believe we are made in the image of God is that we have a conscience, we can make decisions, we can rule, we can serve and do things that animals cannot do unless they are trained. I don't believe however, that a dog can invent an automobile, fly a plane etc. Anyone with half a brain can clearly see that man is different from animals. We are in the image of God.
God gave men and women dominion over the earth, the animals and all things. They were in charge. Notice that at this time men and women were equal and had equal charge over the rest of creation.
There were no eating animals as meat from the beginning. They ate herbs, vegetables and fruit. Both men and animals had this kind of diet. Killing animals for food and animals killing other animals for food only occurred after the fall of mankind. What a time they must have had. No death.
I'll say everything was good. No death, no sin, and a command to fill the earth and spread out. No sickness, no war, no evil, no fear. Fellowship with God every evening. Idealistic way to live. This will one day be restored. The book of Revelation gives more detail on that. Only those who are without sin can be part of this place with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Since all of us that are adults above the age of accountability have sinned at one time or another, the only way we can be found free from sin before the time we die is to have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ who became one of us to die for sin in our place. Since He was sinless and didn't deserve the penalty of death which resulted because of sin, His death can count for ours. Our natural bodies still will go through death but our souls are saved from eternal separation from God if we simply believe in Jesus to take away our sins and we become "born again" by God's spirit. Jesus is the only way to be saved because he was the only one that was qualified to die for sins since He did no sin himself. God had to become man in order to accomplish this and bring in eternal life for those who believe. Paradise regained is only through Christ. Since man brought sin into the world, it took a man to reverse that curse. Jesus had to become a man to do that. Eve was probably the most beautiful perfect woman ever to exist. I would say that Adam had no disease and was a perfect man. A perfect God would create the most perfect specimen ever to exist. We will see in future studies how though everything was created perfectly, God gave man a free will to choose. He wanted our fellowship and our love but He didn't want puppets. He wanted us to choose to live for Him and have fellowship with Him. We have a choice to live for God and be free from sin or to stay in our sins and be lost. Adam's sin caused sin to enter the whole earth but God already made a plan for mankind to be free from sin and be reconciled back to Him. He sent us the second Adam, Jesus Christ to free us from the curse the first Adam brought to us.
Ken Ham debunking the Gap theory: Many audio files on the creation: Radio Free Church The Gap theory: The Bible Genesis and Geology The above links are but a few. There
are countless others both articles and audio on all these subjects.
DC
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