In the Beginning!
“In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 ESV)
At the moment, one of the areas I am studying for my
own information and edification is the subject of creation.
Most people know that I am a convinced six-day literalist when it comes
to my understanding of creation. Or
in the words of the
Westminster
Confession of Faith:
It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and
goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all
things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days;
and all very good. (Chapter.
IV.I)
I realize that there are some differences of
interpretation among many good and godly Christians as to what time frame was
actually involved in the “creation days”, i.e., Were they literal
twenty-four hour periods of time, or were they extended periods of time, or
ages? For myself, I am
convinced that the “creation days” were literal, twenty-four hour days.
(Please don’t send me any books or articles to contrary right now, as I am
buried up to my eyeballs with “stuff” that needs to be read—SOON!)
J
However, in my reading I came across an interesting
story about the late Christian philosopher, Francis Schaeffer.
Dr. Douglas Kelly recalls hearing Dr. Schaeffer in a discussion group at
L’Abri, back in December of 1968 state that if he had an hour with a person on
a plane who did not
know the Lord, he would spend the first fifty-five
minutes talking about creation in the image of God and where that man came from,
and the last five minutes on the presentation of the Gospel of salvation.
Dr. Kelly writes:
Schaeffer felt we are greatly mistaken to avoid the
important subject of how we got here, why we are like we are, who is in charge,
by whose rules should we play, and by whose rules we will be judged.
Schaeffer thought that when one avoids those questions, which are deeply
implanted in every heart, and jumps immediately to salvation, one loses the
major impact on those who are seeking the truth.
(Douglas F Kelly, Creation and Change, Mentor
Books, page 17)
While I’m not quite sure I would use Dr.
Schaeffer’s time breakdown as to how much time I spent sharing the biblical
account of creation and how much time I would then give for the sharing of the
Gospel, I am convinced that he is fundamentally correct in his understanding of
creation as necessary to a proper understanding of the Gospel.
It is not enough to simply state: You need to accept Jesus Christ as
your Savior because He loves you and died for you.
We must especially remind individuals of God’s sovereign right in
their lives as their Creator. Our Creator
commands all people everywhere to repent!
(Acts 17:30) He is the Creator
and we are His creation. Trouble
is sure to follow when we fail to acknowledge that distinction!
I have thoroughly enjoyed my study of creation—so
much so that I am working on memorizing Genesis chapter one for its beauty,
instruction, and edification. Perhaps
you would like to join me in this endeavor.
Let me know how it is going.
The Biblical creation account is important.
Not just so that we can be better equipped to defend our understanding of
the Hebrew word Yom, but that we might also remember again the importance
of these words to all us: In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the
earth. (Genesis 1:1)
~ Pastor Rob ~
