Should I trust Genesis?

Does it really matter what I believe about evolution?

Is there any science at all behind the silly claims that the Earth is less than 7,000 years old?

If you’ve ever asked yourself questions about the Genesis account of Creation, the age of the Earth, and the origin of life, may I encourage you to look a little more closely into these matters? Beginning Thursday, September 10th, at 6:00 PM, we’ll be hosting a series of Creation sessions in the upstairs conference room at Chaney’s Dairy Barn. In other media I’ve shared this news with a brighter tone! And, to be clear, I’m very excited about the opportunities that may come from being at Chaney’s for eleven straight weeks. I’d like to be clear, also, about how serious this issue is, and why it truly is a problem today’s Big-C church culture in America.

G. Richard Bozarth wrote, nearly fifty years ago, these words: “Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the Son of God. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing.”

I could clutter much “white space” on the page with a longer explanation. If you’re really interested, get your hands on Refuting Compromise and The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution. Both of these books are out there and available, and both written by Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D. Or, if you have less time for it, go here: The relationship between the Fall, the Curse, and the Gospel, and its incompatibility with theistic evolution · Creation.com. For my present purpose it’s enough to say that even the atheist sees right through the clumsy attempts to unite Genesis with evolution and a very old Earth.

There’s always the temptation, when encountering difficulties that arise from so rocky a marriage as the one between Genesis and uniformitarianism, to counter, “Well, was the thief on the cross a creationist?” This position assumes that the matter can thus be put to rest. Not so!

First and foremost: The thief on the cross was a Christian for maybe several hours before his death. Issues regarding his own origins, the meaning of his life, how he should live, and his ultimate destiny were cast aside as a group while he hung, dying, beside Jesus. His was the faith of a person who “grasped the hem of Jesus’ robe” and had no time left to consider how to live as a Christian, nor to experience the truth of Jesus’ words “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33b). Such are the matters that the acceptance of uniformitarianism smears into chaos.

If we, you or I, accept the uniformitarian view that the Earth is about 4.6-billion-years-old, then we WILL suffer in our faith. Opponents counter that they’re happy or pleased with their faith. But, the questions come, “Faith in what? Faith in whom?” We people have been warned by God since the Gospel of Jesus Christ came to the world that counterfeits were coming. The Apostle John wrote, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.” (1John 2:18a).

Antichrists seek to change, even subtly, the truth of God, Jesus Christ, and our salvation. For you or I to base our faith in Jesus on the idea that death and suffering DID NOT enter the world through Adam, then who is the Jesus who paid for our sin? Why did he have to pay for sin? Who, exactly, had to be saved? If the argument is that the Genesis accounts of creation and the fall are allegoric, then why would ANYONE have to REALLY die?

Back to the question that faith in the Jesus of the Genesis allegory calls forth: Which Jesus are you placing your faith in?

“Well, it doesn’t matter, really. As long as I believe in Jesus.” I don’t know that is true. What I do know is that anywhere from 2/3 to 9/10 of all college-aged people who leave home after high school quickly abandon their faith. Who am I? Where do I come from? What is this life thing? What’s going to happen to this ‘me’ in here when my body dies? These are the questions your kids have struggled to answer. Your faith in a Bible that gives an allegoric presentation of your child’s origin creates a wedge: If they cannot trust what the Bible says is true of their origin, why would they ever place their destiny in what’s taught within that same Bible? If Genesis is wrong, how do we know that the need for salvation isn’t wrong, too?

If you think such conclusions are ad hoc, see here: Fallout! Students explain why they left or remained in church · Streaming Videos · Creation.com

Faith in a false gospel cannot save anyone. Faith in an allegorical Jesus cannot save you. Earlier I mentioned what Jesus had said in John 6:33. There’s more to the quote: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Yes, we will have trouble in this world. Our hope is faith in Jesus Christ – the real Jesus Christ, who was adamant about who He was and what He needed to do; what He needed to do for us… for you.

For you.

So… Please come if you can to our Thursday evenings at Chaney’s Dairy Barn. Yes, there will be a lighter prevailing mood, good food, and the best ice cream around! And… there will be a staunch defense of the Genesis accounts of Creation, the global flood, and the dispersion from Babel – all topics that provide the best scientific models for what we see in the world today.

I sure hope you can make it!

God’s Peace.