Today in our culture there is a huge shift from a majority that once believed in God's account of Genesis ( 6 day creation ) to many more who have embraced a secular mindset of a God-less millions of years evolutionary process.
Recently there was a debate that was broadcast on the internet between a Creationist and an Evolutionist that made me consider some important points. This post is not to discuss the detailed evidence (or lack of it) from either side but it is to ask the question:
Just how should a Christian address others to rightly defend God's truth and Word?
We know from the account in Genesis that God stated He created the world and it gives a 6 day creation process that we can clearly read.
Genesis 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Quickly I will just say this about the evidence for creation then move on to my main point:
The defense of Genesis and creation is indeed vital as if we deviate from what the bible says in Genesis 1; then we might as well start ignoring or doubting the rest of His Word as well. (Many have already done this as it has opened the door.) There are several main issues that need to be addressed or questioned if you decide to cast off this biblical account as just a story and not really true.
1) Jesus said "from the beginning of creation" in the gospels referring to Adam and Eve's marriage so are we willing to say Jesus was a liar about the beginning of creation?
But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ Mark 6;10
2) It takes as much faith to believe in evolution as creation because after many years of digging up rocks; there is zero transitional fossil evidence to support evolution but much evidence to support the biblical account. (Evolutionists seem to have a bent to disprove/dethrone God and that is a pride sin issue.)
3) Evolution has no answers to the very driving questions that all of mankind has asked for centuries: Why are we here and where did the matter come from to start life and the universe? (The bible teaches simply we are here to glorify God and He is the Alpha and Omega and was and always.... will be.)
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev 22:13
So in truth; the bible has the answers that all of the evolutionists theories just cannot address at all.
If you study this matter with an open mind for truth you will see that evolution has no real answers but much theory behind it. It is clear that God did just what he said He did. He created all we see and He did it just as Genesis records it for us. We as believers are standing on God's unchanging Eternal Word while these scientists are standing on man's ever changing science. (Yet it still takes faith to please God.) So where do you want to stand?
Moving on to the matter of this post; as my wife and I watched the debate and we analyzed it afterwards we realized this was a very bad idea regarding how and why it was done. Let me explain.
For your own understanding; a creation museum had invited in a famous evolutionist to come debate the museums founder before a large crowd. As they went back and fourth each with own data and facts I have to admit that I saw no clear winner of the debate and being a creationist myself, I think I know why.
The evolutionist came ready to debate using nothing but scientific data as he knows it today and as ever changing as it is. He did a very good job of casting doubts on the physical facts, the bibles accuracy, he tossed many interesting ideas and concepts out that could indeed sway or cause a weak person to question their creation faith. He was very detailed in his presentation and he chipped away at various points over and over and many went unanswered.
On the other hand the creationist also gave much good data/information about what could have happened trying to counter the God-less view of what we see today on earth. He gave much scientific evidence and did try to toss in small amounts of biblical theology. Honestly it didn't work very well. He seemed to be uneasy about going hard after and head to head on the science end and he did not use the truth found in the scriptures nearly enough. Again I saw no clear winner but some possible big losers!
So what can we learn from this public planned out debate? I believe there are several area's we must consider before we ever place ourselves or others in such a situation for God's glory:
*One big error made in a debate like this is while the bible does not contradict science, we know it is NOT a science book at all. To try and debate someone from a pure science angle plays right into the hand of the Godless people we hope to refute. I do not believe Christians should ever set up anything like this debate based on the teachings from God's Word. We need to stick with God's plan and take the example from the Apostle Paul to preach the gospel and stay with God's Word to win over people and not revert to science fights. Can we give answers if asked about evolution? Of course and this is best done in the circle of believers and not with the enemy right in the ranks ready to pounce. We must do what the bible has commanded of us and that is to preach the gospel, make disciples and to not resort to preaching science. I think this attempt to use the sensational ways of the world vs God's command to simply preach the Word in season and out of season.
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 1 Peter 1:25
*By bringing in an evolutionist wolf right to the den of believers, they have unknowingly allowed doubt, seeds of scientific question and a very sinful bad influence when the bible says to not allow such a thing. Would an elder ask a satanist into his body or would a bible study bring in a Jehovah witness to give them access to believers? I think not so why would we allow a anti Christ man who believes not in the Creator God to have access to those who claim faith in Christ? I am sure the idea was to debate the evolutionist and that will undo his credibility/power before people and we will have more converts stay in the faith. But the bible doesn't teach we win people by science knowledge at all. The fact is that people are won by the preaching of the Word of God. If the creationist would have given some science facts but clung to the Word of God more; he would have served his purpose far better. In fact when he did stay on the word alone he had a few shining moments in the debate and that should be a lesson to us all. Paul warns us to NOT associate with such people.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
*Sadly as the evolutionist keep hammering away time after time with lies about the error filled translations and inaccuracy of God's Word and not once did the creationist challenge back and say " well why don't you prove the bible is wrong and then you will have crushed me and my arguments completely". And why didn't the evolutionist just bring evidence to disprove the bible? Because he cannot do that as it is true.
For thousands of years the bible has stood as a rock of truth being proven more and more accurate as new discoveries are made. If the creationist would have stood there on the Word and not budged he would have clearly won the debate and shown everyone a great example of defending the faith using the Word. But instead he took a more scientific route that really failed his cause in the end. God's Word is all we need and it is our strength; not science no matter how good the facts may be.
Jesus said: It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt 4:4
I want to encourage all of you who desire to be biblical discernment minded people who can and will defend God's Word. Never put yourself purposely in a place where you have to defend the Word by using anything other than "primarily" the power and truth of that Word. We will not see conviction of sin and new converts to the faith come from science facts about fossils or stars. While that info can help point people to God's Word and the Creation events; we must rely on what He has given us as the sword of the spirit...the Word. Please know I am not saying to never use facts outside of the Word to help rebuke lies being taught. What I am saying is never let yourself plan out and place a wolf before God's sheep or you get so far away from the gospel and the proclaiming of His Holy Word as to compete with men's ideals. They are only sounding off about what poor science and fallen mankind thinks today which is not truth at all. God's Word tells us there will be many mockers in the last days. (see Jude 1:18)
From this debate we saw a blurring of what God has really said & done and we saw a platform was given to a mocker before those who claim to believe in Christ. In the end; it was not a good or wise thing to have done when we are called to proclaim the gospel, teach those with sound doctrine and avoid those are God's enemy.
Christians have a message and His eternal truth to proclaim. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts and guides one into eternal truth. All we can do is be faithful mouth pieces for the Lord and for His glory and cling to that Word till He returns.
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Jude 1:18
www.dontperish.com
Recently there was a debate that was broadcast on the internet between a Creationist and an Evolutionist that made me consider some important points. This post is not to discuss the detailed evidence (or lack of it) from either side but it is to ask the question:
Just how should a Christian address others to rightly defend God's truth and Word?
We know from the account in Genesis that God stated He created the world and it gives a 6 day creation process that we can clearly read.
Genesis 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Quickly I will just say this about the evidence for creation then move on to my main point:
The defense of Genesis and creation is indeed vital as if we deviate from what the bible says in Genesis 1; then we might as well start ignoring or doubting the rest of His Word as well. (Many have already done this as it has opened the door.) There are several main issues that need to be addressed or questioned if you decide to cast off this biblical account as just a story and not really true.
1) Jesus said "from the beginning of creation" in the gospels referring to Adam and Eve's marriage so are we willing to say Jesus was a liar about the beginning of creation?
But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ Mark 6;10
2) It takes as much faith to believe in evolution as creation because after many years of digging up rocks; there is zero transitional fossil evidence to support evolution but much evidence to support the biblical account. (Evolutionists seem to have a bent to disprove/dethrone God and that is a pride sin issue.)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Psalm 14:1
3) Evolution has no answers to the very driving questions that all of mankind has asked for centuries: Why are we here and where did the matter come from to start life and the universe? (The bible teaches simply we are here to glorify God and He is the Alpha and Omega and was and always.... will be.)
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev 22:13
So in truth; the bible has the answers that all of the evolutionists theories just cannot address at all.
If you study this matter with an open mind for truth you will see that evolution has no real answers but much theory behind it. It is clear that God did just what he said He did. He created all we see and He did it just as Genesis records it for us. We as believers are standing on God's unchanging Eternal Word while these scientists are standing on man's ever changing science. (Yet it still takes faith to please God.) So where do you want to stand?
Moving on to the matter of this post; as my wife and I watched the debate and we analyzed it afterwards we realized this was a very bad idea regarding how and why it was done. Let me explain.
For your own understanding; a creation museum had invited in a famous evolutionist to come debate the museums founder before a large crowd. As they went back and fourth each with own data and facts I have to admit that I saw no clear winner of the debate and being a creationist myself, I think I know why.
The evolutionist came ready to debate using nothing but scientific data as he knows it today and as ever changing as it is. He did a very good job of casting doubts on the physical facts, the bibles accuracy, he tossed many interesting ideas and concepts out that could indeed sway or cause a weak person to question their creation faith. He was very detailed in his presentation and he chipped away at various points over and over and many went unanswered.
On the other hand the creationist also gave much good data/information about what could have happened trying to counter the God-less view of what we see today on earth. He gave much scientific evidence and did try to toss in small amounts of biblical theology. Honestly it didn't work very well. He seemed to be uneasy about going hard after and head to head on the science end and he did not use the truth found in the scriptures nearly enough. Again I saw no clear winner but some possible big losers!
So what can we learn from this public planned out debate? I believe there are several area's we must consider before we ever place ourselves or others in such a situation for God's glory:
*One big error made in a debate like this is while the bible does not contradict science, we know it is NOT a science book at all. To try and debate someone from a pure science angle plays right into the hand of the Godless people we hope to refute. I do not believe Christians should ever set up anything like this debate based on the teachings from God's Word. We need to stick with God's plan and take the example from the Apostle Paul to preach the gospel and stay with God's Word to win over people and not revert to science fights. Can we give answers if asked about evolution? Of course and this is best done in the circle of believers and not with the enemy right in the ranks ready to pounce. We must do what the bible has commanded of us and that is to preach the gospel, make disciples and to not resort to preaching science. I think this attempt to use the sensational ways of the world vs God's command to simply preach the Word in season and out of season.
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 1 Peter 1:25
*By bringing in an evolutionist wolf right to the den of believers, they have unknowingly allowed doubt, seeds of scientific question and a very sinful bad influence when the bible says to not allow such a thing. Would an elder ask a satanist into his body or would a bible study bring in a Jehovah witness to give them access to believers? I think not so why would we allow a anti Christ man who believes not in the Creator God to have access to those who claim faith in Christ? I am sure the idea was to debate the evolutionist and that will undo his credibility/power before people and we will have more converts stay in the faith. But the bible doesn't teach we win people by science knowledge at all. The fact is that people are won by the preaching of the Word of God. If the creationist would have given some science facts but clung to the Word of God more; he would have served his purpose far better. In fact when he did stay on the word alone he had a few shining moments in the debate and that should be a lesson to us all. Paul warns us to NOT associate with such people.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
*Sadly as the evolutionist keep hammering away time after time with lies about the error filled translations and inaccuracy of God's Word and not once did the creationist challenge back and say " well why don't you prove the bible is wrong and then you will have crushed me and my arguments completely". And why didn't the evolutionist just bring evidence to disprove the bible? Because he cannot do that as it is true.
For thousands of years the bible has stood as a rock of truth being proven more and more accurate as new discoveries are made. If the creationist would have stood there on the Word and not budged he would have clearly won the debate and shown everyone a great example of defending the faith using the Word. But instead he took a more scientific route that really failed his cause in the end. God's Word is all we need and it is our strength; not science no matter how good the facts may be.
Jesus said: It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt 4:4
I want to encourage all of you who desire to be biblical discernment minded people who can and will defend God's Word. Never put yourself purposely in a place where you have to defend the Word by using anything other than "primarily" the power and truth of that Word. We will not see conviction of sin and new converts to the faith come from science facts about fossils or stars. While that info can help point people to God's Word and the Creation events; we must rely on what He has given us as the sword of the spirit...the Word. Please know I am not saying to never use facts outside of the Word to help rebuke lies being taught. What I am saying is never let yourself plan out and place a wolf before God's sheep or you get so far away from the gospel and the proclaiming of His Holy Word as to compete with men's ideals. They are only sounding off about what poor science and fallen mankind thinks today which is not truth at all. God's Word tells us there will be many mockers in the last days. (see Jude 1:18)
From this debate we saw a blurring of what God has really said & done and we saw a platform was given to a mocker before those who claim to believe in Christ. In the end; it was not a good or wise thing to have done when we are called to proclaim the gospel, teach those with sound doctrine and avoid those are God's enemy.
Christians have a message and His eternal truth to proclaim. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts and guides one into eternal truth. All we can do is be faithful mouth pieces for the Lord and for His glory and cling to that Word till He returns.
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Jude 1:18
www.dontperish.com