What was the best party you have ever been to? How did you get invited? What was your relationship with the host? With the guest of honor? Who else was there? What did you wear?
Or, maybe there was a party you were invited to that you didn’t make time for? Perhaps you didn’t really know the guest of honor that well so you weren’t too interested. Or maybe you were mad at the host so you stayed away? Or you figured it would be boring since they didn’t have (insert hobby/entertainment of choice). But then, come to find out – you missed out on the party of the century.
Jesus knew we like to talk about parties. Wedding receptions are particularly exciting – and royal wedding parties top the charts. So what a perfect parable and analogy for the Kingdom God is preparing. God is the King – and as host of the party he decides who to invite to this event of all events which will honor His Son – Jesus.
The guest list starts out somewhat small and elite which is very fitting for a royal party. The Jews were the first to be invited to the party. They could trace their heritage back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the fathers of the faith. But, they ignore their invite and the God who sent it. They don’t even RSVP. God sends his servants out as messengers (the prophets and those who speak for God) to remind God’s people of the graciousness of their host and the splendor of the party. But, the potential guests of the party are too deep into other things – their fields, their businesses, their homes, their selfish pursuits, their false gods. Most just ignore God’s messengers – but some decide the best way to decline the invite is through violence. In rage they attack God’s messengers, even killing some. For a time they may have thought they got away with it. But, God knows and delivers judgment.
The guests didn’t show but the party isn’t cancelled. God sends his messengers again. They hit the streets with new invitations. “Invite them all,” says the host. It no longer matters who your great great great grandfather was. It doesn’t matter who you were or what you did. Old, young, rich, poor, men, women, children, black, white, and every color in between. You are invited! And all your neighbors in the world are invited! Let the party begin.
But, wait – that’s not yet the end of the parable or God’s expectations. The host has indeed invited all and is ready to receive all into His Kingdom Party. But, you must come dressed appropriately for the party so you aren’t tossed out. No, God won’t check to see if you have a designer label – but He will check to make sure you have clothed yourself with salvation. To accept your invitation accept God’s Son as the only way to salvation. And then put on the robes of righteousness – seek to live the life that will bring glory to the Father and the Son. There are many passages that continue the analogy of being properly clothed with righteousness, not stained with sin – some are Job 29:14, Isaiah 61:10, Jude 23, Revelation 3:4 and 19:8).
The greatest party ever to come is about to begin and you and all your neighbors are invited. Don’t turn down the invite because you are mad at God or don’t know Jesus well or are busy at home and work. Accept His invitation. Come to the party. But don’t make the fatal error of trying to sneak in unprepared. Accept His Son and clothe yourself with righteousness. Make sure your neighbors know they are invited and help them select their proper attire.
What would you do if you knew you would die in less than a week? Is there anywhere you would want to go? What changes would you make in your schedule and priorities? Less TV, pinterest or social media? More meaningful interactions with those who mean the most to you? Would your tone change? Would you give more hugs? Are there any difficult conversations you wouldn’t put off any longer? If there was anything you could do to prolong your life would you do it?
Jesus was in a very unique situation as he was coming into Jerusalem in Matthew 21. He knew he was quickly approaching both the time and place for his agonizing death by crucifixion. Many would run in the other direction. Maybe if he laid low and avoided Jerusalem longer the chief priests and leaders of the law would forget about him and find some other religious teacher to get mad at and crucify. Think of how many more people he could heal and teach if he could stay away from them just another month? Wouldn’t it be worth it?
But, Jesus didn’t hide or try to dodge the bullet. If anything he boldly intensified his work and purpose. Previously he had mostly stuck to the smaller towns and villages rather than camping out in Jerusalem – the holy city of all Jews. Often he had told those he healed to be quiet about it. He was never trying to draw a crowd – but the crowds still had a way of finding him anyways. Now, as he made preparations to enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey (to fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy) he knew the crowds couldn’t be held back any longer. On this day they would shower Jesus with shouts of praise, but in a few days they will cry out for crucifixion.
We don’t know the day or hour or location of our death. We also don’t know how long the tomb will hold us. But, like Jesus – and because of Jesus’ resurrection and God’s promise to send Him to earth again – we can be sure of a resurrection to come. How will that impact the intensity of your ministry today – how you spend your time, what conversations you have, what passion you have for the Father’s work and will?
May we not be like the fig tree that had life but failed to bear fruit for Him.
May we not be like the son who said he would do the Father’s work – but then didn’t.
I remember a song we used to sing in Sunday School:
“Jesus and Others and You, what a wonderful way to spell J-O-Y!
Jesus and Others and You, in the life of each girl and each boy.
J is for Jesus for he has first place. O is for Others we meet face to face.
Y is for You in whatever you do. Put yourself third and spell Joy.”
It’s not just a sweet song with a catchy tune for little girls and boys. There is a lot of truth in those lyrics. And it comes to play in two passages in Matthew 19 – Jesus’ teaching on divorce and his conversation with the rich young man regarding materialism. Let’s look first at divorce.
Too often marriages start to crumble when the relationship becomes a ‘his side’ vs ‘her side’. Gone is the teamwork and working together and dream of always being together that brought them together in the first place. It is replaced with selfish goals and pursuits, quick tempers and irritations, and eventually seeing their mate tragically not as their better half but as their enemy. It is not a new thing – it was a problem 2,000 years ago as well. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason.” (Matthew 19:3). She doesn’t make me happy any more. He never picks up his dirty socks. This isn’t as fun as I thought it would be -it’s too hard. I think I love someone else. He’s changed too much. She never has time for me. He works too much – or not enough. Times have indeed changed, but people, not so much. We would do well to remember and put to daily use Jesus’ reply.
Marriage was created by God – for a male and female to become one – for life. What God created is good. Humans have a way of messing up his creation – including finding ways out of marriage. So how do we avoid the hard hearts that lead to divorce? Remember the proper order. Jesus-Others-You. As you and your spouse draw closer to God and His Son it draws you closer to one another so your spiritual health is a great place to start. And nothing breaks the viscous his side/her side battle like seeing yourself as one – the way God intended. It’s harder to go into attack mode when you are actually shooting yourself, or your other half. Before you know it – you are naturally putting him or her ahead of yourself because you realize the team benefit. And the JOY creeps back into your marriage – the way God intended.
And then we have the rich young man who wanted to know what he had to do to ensure eternal life. Jesus said start by following God’s law – that is the part about putting Jesus first since Jesus came to do and teach God’s will. The man was pleased to report he did that well – but what else could he do? Sell your possessions, give the money to the poor and follow Jesus – that is putting others before yourself in a big way. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Matthew 19:22). He lost his JOY because he was too attached to what he had amassed to keep himself comfortable. He boasted of how well he kept God’s commands – but it was too hard to love his neighbors like himself. He got himself out of order. That’s the trouble with wealth – it often makes us forget to put God and others first. Jesus didn’t say NO rich man would gain eternal life, but it would be very hard. Rather than solving problems wealth often creates more. It becomes harder and harder to keep priorities straight and in the proper order when you have more and more to juggle and prioritize.
Jesus – Others – and You. Put yourself at the end of the line because at the judgment, “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Matthew 19:30). It’s the order that leads to lasting life and joy.
I have watched just enough mobster movies to know the awful fate of those who anger the mafia boss and receive the “cement shoes” treatment. That is the vision that always comes to mind when I read of the seriousness of leading a child to sin. “And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:5,6 NASB) Jesus was giving a pretty heavy answer to the disciples who had asked who would be greatest in the kingdom. He answered that instead of trying to be great, they should focus on being childlike instead – not immature (we see enough of that), but humble, knowing that they don’t know everything and they need a Father and a Savior. And while the child is standing in their midst – Jesus commends those who welcome a child and blasts those who recklessly (or accidentally?) lead a child to sin. As a parent and a Christian this is a strong warning that I will be judged based on how I am spiritually leading and guiding God’s children. I do not know where the line will be drawn. We might be able to safely point out some cases that would definitely receive Jesus’ condemnation (those who exploit children and youth for sex trafficking, pornography, cults or gangs). But what of the parent who signs their child up for the youth sports, campouts and Sunday morning jobs knowing it will take them away from opportunities for God’s little children to grow closer to Him? I don’t know. But it seems wise to do my best to err on the side of caution. What else can I be doing to spiritually guide His children away from sin? Life is easier when you don’t feel the weight of a millstone around your neck or cement hardening in your shoes.
And, if that isn’t scary enough – Jesus broadens the picture next – to all people and sinners and the extreme measures that need to be taken to keep oneself from falling into sin. “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” (Matthew 18:7 NIV). And then comes the gruesome cutting off of body parts that causes you to sin. This gives a strong mental picture of doing whatever it takes to hold oneself accountable and keep oneself from sin. If your eye causes you to sin, cut it out, to save yourself from judgment and hell. This is definitely true in a metaphorical sense. We need to do all we can, even what would be considered extreme measures, to keep ourselves from sin. And, sometimes that will mean cutting off the influence some people hold over us – cutting off a friend or family member or social media/entertainment who entices us to sin. It’s a hard thing to do, just like cutting off your hand – but it could save your eternal life. And, we must watch ourselves to make sure we are not the ones enticing others to sin!
While I love the parable of the lost sheep and it hurts to skip over it…I am going to skip ahead to the next two passages in Matthew 18 which both deal with the brother who sins against you. Having just established the seriousness of sin, the consequences for those who lead others to sin and the extreme measures we are to employ to keep us from sin – it is easy to assume that the best course of action is to shun all sin and sinners. But, wait, what kind of cut off, silent, lonely, bitter world would that be? While we are all sinners – God gave us a way to be forgiven and to restore relationships. Jesus begins to explain it here.
First, if a brother sins against you – go and talk to him. Matthew 18: 15-17 goes through an important series of steps to work towards either resolution or healthy distance and cutting off -and it starts with talking to the “offender”. Too often when we feel someone has sinned against us we talk to others about it. I know I am guilty of this and need to do a better job of lovingly confronting the person I have an issue with – first. So the steps Jesus laid out are: talk privately to the person, if he doesn’t listen take 1-2 witnesses and try again, if he doesn’t listen tell the church, if he still doesn’t listen cut him off. The goal is always to win him back to ‘God’s saving side’, not to humiliate, point fingers or feel better about ourselves or peace at any cost. But, sometimes repentance doesn’t happen, and then we must be willing to cut the ties that would bring others down to sin as well.
So, let’s assume we correctly followed the steps Jesus left. Peter asked how many times he needed to forgive a brother who sinned against him. He thought 7 sounded like a lot. But Jesus said no – 77 or 70 x 7 or whatever number you want to use to remind yourself to keep forgiving – the same way you want others to forgive you. And the same way God has forgiven you. I think we can safely assume this is not the brother who was unrepentant and cast out of the church, but a brother who was repentant and seeking to live a godly life – but still tripped up – like you and me. And so Jesus lays out the powerful Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (make sure you read it again). Now the harsh words and judgment are not for the sinner who tripped up, or even the one who caused him to sin, but for the one who didn’t forgive. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.” (Matthew 18:32-34).
It isn’t that sin is nothing – and easily forgiven. Sin (of all kinds) is something huge and serious and able to block us from eternal life. If we could see how much our sin hurts others, handicaps ourself and damages our relationship with God we might more readily run from it. But we don’t always, and God in His mercy still lays out a way for us to restore a relationship with Him, ultimately it would cost Him the death of His Son Jesus. To accept the forgiveness offered to you, but not extend it to others puts you again in grave danger. Sin is a big deal – and so is mercy.
Here we are beginning the 3rd full week of 2021 and so much has happened already. 7 days of careful investigation revealing solid scientific evidence supporting a Biblical view of a miraculous creator (and destroyer) God. And then 7 days of the Old Testament patriarchs of Genesis and fathers of the faith: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and what they teach us still today about following God with the faith of Abraham. This week our devotions will be following our New Testament readings in the book of Matthew (one chapter a day) to see what God is doing…
Matthew 17 begins with an awe-inspiring mountain-top experience (often called the Transfiguration) in which God’s glory radiates through and around Jesus Christ – showing a snippet of the beauty, majesty and glory of God’s coming Kingdom which will feature His dazzling Son amongst the risen heroes of the faith. Peter, James and John were there to see it – and they were shaking in their boots at the power of the moment and the voice of God heard from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” (Matthew 17:5)
But wait…we really can’t start there. Our spiritual journey doesn’t exist only on the glorious mountaintop. What comes before the glory? About a week before the events of Matthew 17, Jesus was telling his disciples that he would face much persecution and even death (before being raised to life) (Matthew 16:21). Bold, strong, impetuous Peter who thinks he knows better than the Son of God tries to correct Jesus – Peter would never let that happen to Jesus. But Jesus isn’t encouraged or amused by Peter but rather calls him “Satan…a stumbling block….you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23). Jesus continues to prepare his disciples, letting them know that he would not be the only one expected to suffer – but that they too would be required to endure the agony of “taking up their cross” to follow him.
It doesn’t sound fun or exciting. It is hard to get people to sign up for suffering. Peter and the disciples didn’t like the sound of it. Most people today don’t. But it is not suffering without a goal. It is a fight worthy of the cause and the prize. Jesus said those who would suffer for him and lose their life would find it – because after the suffering for Christ – comes the glory. Jesus explained, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:27-28 NIV)
And, a week later, Peter, James and John found themselves on a mountain-top getting a taste of the splendor that will be when God tells His Son, Jesus, it is time to go to the earth to set up a kingdom like none have ever seen before. A kingdom greater than anything set up in the time of the Law (Moses) or the prophets (Elijah) or Jesus’ first coming. God was revealing His perfect plan for His perfect Son and all those who will listen to him.
Contrary to both today’s “prosperity gospel” and Peter’s human thinking, God’s perfect plan does not consist solely of beautiful, bright mountain-top experiences. There is also the ugly, dark and painful cross. For Jesus – and for those who listen to him and carry their cross. But don’t fear, God’s got this. He’s got those who listen to His Son. Our trials will not last forever – but His Kingdom will. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV)
How can you be sure your suffering will have a reward? Are you suffering for Christ – or yourself? Is your master plan for your life from the mind of man (how can I get ahead and protect myself best?) or from the mind of God (suffer for the sake of God’s Son and look forward to the reward to come)? What will listening to Jesus look like for you in 2021? What will suffering before glory look like for you today?
I’ve covered quite a lot this past week about the truth of the Bible, especially in contrast to what some scientists say about certain matters. My goal has been to try to steer folks back to a belief in what the Bible plainly says and to also demonstrate that scientific observation actually supports what the Bible says. I have seen too many cases of believers who start to question if the Bible is accurate in a certain area, and then begin to question at what point you can actually trust scripture.
I believe we can trust the Bible for many reasons, not the least of which is that real world evidence supports it. Theologian John Wycliffe once said, “On all domains of doctrine and in life, the authority of scripture is to be placed higher than all human understanding, for it is God’s word and as such the highest authority.”
Some people point out that the Bible is not a science textbook and so we shouldn’t put too much stock into what it says on science-related topics. My first response is usually, “Thank goodness it’s not a science textbook. Those are always being corrected and updated but the Bible has stood the test of time.”
There is one particular issue that I hear brought up time and time again in regards to the Bible not being trustworthy, and that is an apparent contradiction in Genesis chapter two, in the detailed account of Adam and Eve.
If you will recall, Genesis chapter one states that God created vegetation on day three, but did not create man until day six. But chapter two seems to indicate a different order.
Genesis 2:4-7 (NIV) – This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrubhad yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
So which came first the chicken or the egg, or in this case, the man or the brussel sprouts?
Let’s read the passage in the New King James version to see if it sheds any light on this apparent contradiction.
4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Aha! So it wasn’t that there were no plants when Adam was created, in the more detailed chapter two summary, it’s that certain types of plants were not created until after Adam was created. Specifically, what we would consider crop-like plants. That is made clear when it says part of the reason the plants had not been created yet is that there was no man to work or till the ground, so it should be clear these were crops. Soon after God created Adam, He created the Garden of Eden to place Adam and Eve in, and there God finally created these edible plants for them.
But doesn’t it say in Genesis chapter 1 that God created EVERY plant on day three? In fact it does not say that.
Genesis 1:11-13 – Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
Nowhere does it suggest that God created EVERY plant on day three. Contrast that with:
Genesis 1:20-25 – Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its 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 birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
It seems clear to me that there is no contradiction. Not all of the plants were created on day three. Instead God waited to create the plants intended for human consumption until after He created humankind. Those plants were created as part of the Garden of Eden, where God placed Adam and Eve.
Why does talking about Creation matter? Primarily, because studies have shown that anywhere between 70 and 88% of kids that were active in youth groups leave the church within a couple of years of graduating.
When we teach our kids that either the Bible is wrong in places, or tell them the Bible despite what some scientists claim, but then do not back that up with good reasons, we are setting them up to question their faith. Or when we try to fit millions of years and evolution into scripture, as many well-meaning Christians try to do, eventually many young people come to the conclusion that it doesn’t actually fit, and then they also find themselves questioning their faith.
But when kids are given the evidence that actually supports what scripture says, wow, what a difference that makes! I have seen it first hand many times.
If anyone has any questions or comments regarding the devotions dealing with creation, please reach out to me at gregrlandry@gmail.com.
SeekGrowLove Editor: We thank Greg for giving us all a week of devotions on creation and God’s reliable Scriptures. We can benefit greatly from the many years Greg has studied and analyzed the creation and evolution arguments. As we reaffirm the truth of God’s Word and understand the errors of some scientific theories that attempt to strip God of His power, might and even existence, we develop a deeper love for God, His Almighty power, and truth. As supposed inconsistencies with God’s Word are explained logically, we are reminded that God is right – again and again and forever and ever. May we love Him and trust Him more and more.
This coming week we will hear from Steve Mattison as he connects with God’s word in Genesis and guides us in continuing to SeekGrowLove. If you got behind on your Bible reading at all now is a great time to get caught up.
This conversation can be a great jumping off place for reaching non-believers. I hope you have an opportunity to use it for that purpose.
According to Genesis, God created the first life on Earth, in the form of plant life, on the third day of creation. Then He created sea creatures and birds on the fifth day of creation, and finally, He created land animals and then man on the sixth day of creation.
Christians certainly believe that God created life. But not everyone believes in a creator, so how do those folks, especially scientists, propose that life got started here on Earth? The image below, from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History gives a clue:
The first part, about living things being made up of organic compounds, is not disputed. But how those organic compounds, known as the building blocks of life first appeared, is really not clear to scientists. That is clear from the language used in this sign – “may have formed” and “may have been carried to Earth”.
But then, students are presented with a misleading experiment in their textbooks, known as the Miller-Urey experiment. In 1953, Stanley Miller reported that he had conducted an experiment which replicated the primeval conditions on Earth and had produced the chemicals that were essential for life to begin. The point being made to students to this day is that if the building blocks of life could start on their own, as this experiment demonstrates, then certainly life could eventually follow.
Even if the building blocks of life were there, to say that life could begin from non-life is actually a non-starter. It has never been observed and is not even remotely possible. There is something called the Law of Biogenesis which is the principle stating that life only arises from pre-existing life, not from nonliving material.
But the Miller experiment was actually a failure, and did not create the correct kinds of amino acids, which was the experiment’s goal. Also, the fake environment created for the experiment lacked oxygen, because Miller knew it would prevent the molecular bonds from forming, though scientists believe the early Earth had higher oxygen levels than today’s atmosphere.
But let’s pretend for a moment that amino acids were actually able to come about completely by chance. What then? They would have to form into proteins, which are the building blocks of living cells. This is no small feat however. The law of probability states that an event with a chance higher than 10 to the 50th power (that’s 10 with 50 zeroes behind it or 10⁵⁰ in scientific notation shorthand) will never happen. It has been estimated that the chance of a single protein arising by chance is 10 to the 191st power! And cells are made up of millions of proteins. The possibility of an entire cell arising by chance is estimated to be 10 to the 40,000th power!
The idea that a single cell is somehow simple in composition is a fallacy that has lived on well after the truth of its complexity has been discovered. One scientist described a single cell as, “a high-tech factory, complete with artificial languages and their decoding systems, memory banks for information storage and retrieval, elegant control systems regulating the automated assembly of parts and components, error fail-safe and proof-reading devices utilized for quality control, assembly processes involving the principle of prefabrication and modular construction… and a capacity not equaled in any of our own most advanced machines, for it would be capable of replicating its entire structure within a matter of a few hours.” That does not sound like something that could have arisen completely by chance.
Even biochemist and spiritual skeptic Francis Crick, who shared the Nobel Prize for discovering the molecular structure of DNA, said, “an honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.”
He’s right of course. Secular science is missing the most important parts of how life begins. A Creator, and the breath of life.
Genesis 2:7 – Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Secular science will never be able to explain or demonstrate how life began on its own, because it is an impossibility. But the fact that you exist is proof that we have an amazing Creator God. And the fact that you are able to read this is also pretty incredible. Why? Because of the design that enables you to see. There are 100 million light sensitive cells in the human eye, which send signals to the brain through the 1 million nerve fibers of the optic nerve! The visual process culminates in our brain which contains 100 billion nerve cells connected by 150,000 kilometers of nerve fibers. It is estimated that there are 100 trillion connections between nerve cells in the human brain! All of that, just so you can see. And that is only one small but miraculous part of the equally miraculous rest of your body.
Indeed, we have a great God! And indeed, you are fearfully and wonderfully made!
-Greg Landry
If anyone has any questions or comments they would like me to address on any of the devotions dealing with creation this week, please reach out to me at gregrlandry@gmail.com
Keep Seeking God – in his Scriptures and with the brain He has created for you. Your faith will Grow. Then Love someone else enough to share what God is teaching you.
The final piece in God’s creation, on day 6, is humankind. Man stands out in all of creation, having been made in God’s own image.
Genesis 1:26-28 – Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Adam and Eve were the first humans, as recorded in Genesis and other places such as in Timothy 2:13 – For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam is mentioned quite a few times throughout scripture, including in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke chapter 3. But there are many Christians who question if Adam and Eve were even real people. Why? Primarily because of Darwinian Evolution. If Darwinian Evolution is true, then there really were no exact pair of first humans per se, because humans would have evolved slowly from an ape-like ancestor. For Christians who believe Darwinian Evolution to be true, it has led some to question how there could have been an actual Adam and Eve in that scenario.
But Darwinian Evolution is not possible, as I shared in yesterday’s devotion, and so there is no reason to try to explain away all of the references to Adam in scripture. Doing so creates the need to start discounting the veracity of a lot of scripture. Another reason to toss the idea that man evolved is that if you allowed one random step in evolution to occur every hour on the hour (much, much faster than evolutionists suggest it happens), it would take around 6.8 billion years for man to evolve from a single cell, which is too much time, even given the incorrect ancient age of the earth.
The supposed evolution of humans is full of a history of hoaxes, exaggerations, and errors. For example, you may have heard it reported that humans and chimpanzees have anywhere from 95% to 99% genetic similarity, as this image from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History claims.
This is intended to support the idea that humans and chimps share a common ancestor. But the truth is that that percentage is arrived upon because researchers only compared the most similar sections of the genomes. But if you compare the entire genomes, it is more akin to a 70% similarity. And still, there are over 900 million DNA differences that divide humans and chimps! This is known to be true, but misleading information that states otherwise still appears in museums and in textbooks today. No wonder so many Christians believe it.
“There is no encompassing theory of human evolution,” concedes Berkeley evolutionary biologist F. Clark Howell. “Alas, there never really has been.”
Is there any evidence that points to an actual Adam or Eve? Yes! Using comparisons of mitochondrial DNA, which is only passed on from the mother, creation scientists, and many secular scientists agree that evidence indicates all humans are descended from a single pair of humans that lived in the relatively recent past. (This study was published in the journal Human Evolution in May 2018.)
Another recent study published in Science Magazine (337, p.64-69) suggests that humans haven’t been around very long. Regarding human genetic diversity, the study concluded, “The maximum likelihood time for accelerated growth was 5,115 years ago.” This time frame aligns rather closely with scripture, and specifically the time that Adam would have been created.
It is exciting for me to see that real world observation continually confirms the Bible. As more and more Christians learn these truths, I hope it leads to an abandonment of attempts to throw out or twist sections of scripture that are not compatible with some scientific claims. In regards to human evolution, you should feel confident that you did not evolve from an ape-like ancestor. You were specially designed, created in the image of God, just as Adam was, in the beginning. Jesus confirmed as much in Matthew 18:4 when he said, “at the beginning, the creator made them (Adam and Eve) male and female.”
-Greg Landry
If anyone has any questions or comments they would like me to address on any of the devotions dealing with creation this week, please reach out to me at gregrlandry@gmail.com
Editor: Do you know someone who could benefit from reading today’s devotion? Pass it on. I believe it could really save a life – an eternal life! Evolution has been used to distort God’s truth and lead youth and adults to question God’s existence, power, and love. It’s time to fight back. And how encouraging to know that Science Really IS on God’s side!
And, keep going on your daily Bible reading. Lots of good stuff in Genesis and Matthew!
One of the great questions in life is, “How did I get here?” Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” As Christians, we believe we were created by God, with a purpose. But so many in this world believe that they are a result of random processes, believing they are essentially an accident, and thus there is no greater purpose to their existence.
According to the Bible, during the creation week, not only did God create the heavenly bodies and the planet we live on, He also populated this planet with life.
Genesis 1:9-13 – And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Then, in Genesis 1:20-25 – And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Note that the Bible says that God created plants, sea creatures, land creatures and flying creatures, at the beginning, according to their kinds. In other words, the various types of animals such as elephants, big cats and whales were there from the beginning. Many scientists instead believe in Darwinian Evolution, an alternate explanation of how life came to exist on the Earth.
That is the worldview that results in people believing they are merely accidents and serve no purpose. But which explanation is actually supported by what we observe in nature? Can we trust how scripture says it happened?
The key idea in Darwinian Evolution is that all life that has ever existed descended from a relatively simple common ancestor, and became more complex over time, branching into different kinds of life as a result of random mutations. Although this idea is widely accepted within scientific circles, thankfully, more and more scientists are questioning its validity. There is a group called Dissent from Darwin, that lists over a thousand professors and scientists that do not believe the claims made by the Darwinian theory are valid. https://dissentfromdarwin.org
The problems with Darwinian Evolution are many. Perhaps the biggest problem for evolution is that random mutations are not capable of adding new features to an organism ultimately leading up to a different type of organism altogether. In lab settings, scientists have intentionally introduced mutations into thousands of generations of fruit flies, and have observed that the mutations only lead to inferior fruit flies. Not better fruit flies or different kinds of flies altogether. Mutations NEVER, under any circumstances, add information. They only scramble up whatever information is already there, or instead, there is a loss of information. Even if mutations were able to add new information, it is mathematically impossible for mutations to account for the vast variety of life on Earth, even if the Earth was much older than the ancient age some scientists believe it is.
Secondly, all that has ever been observed are small changes within an animal or plant kind, not changes that have ever led to a different animal or plant kind. Yes, sometimes we can observe changes in a type of fish, for example, that some scientists then label as a new species. But those changes have never been observed to lead that fish to turn into a non-fish.
Finally, there is no record of evolution in the fossil record due to a complete lack of transitional fossils (fossils that clearly show a transition from one animal kind to another) that even evolutionists can agree on.
On the other hand, real world observation shows that living organisms are far too complex to have evolved due to random chance. Not only are the systems that make up your own body, such as the circulatory system, nervous system and so forth unimaginably complex, they are irreducibly complex. That means, that these systems could not have evolved slowly over time because the entire system had to be in place from day one, or else it would not work. Not only does the entire system need to be in place, but the various systems are interdependent, and so they had to all be there together from day one as well. What good is a circulatory system if there is no respiratory system? What good is a skeletal system if there is no muscular system? What good is any system if there is not reproductive system?
As complex as any system is, the individual cells that make up the parts of the system are even more complex. Cells function as tiny cities that work off of a set of blue prints to know what to do at any given time. The blue prints are the DNA in the nucleus of the cell. But if cells came about through evolution, did the nucleus of the cell evolve first, or did the DNA contained within the nucleus, which has the instructions of how to build not only the nucleus, but the entire cell, evolve first? You see, again, everything had to be there together that first time, or it just doesn’t work.
What we actually observe around us fully supports the Biblical account of creation in that God created the different forms of life fully formed from the beginning, according to their kinds. At the same time, what we observe leaves no possibility for Darwinian Evolution.
-Greg Landry
If anyone has any questions or comments they would like me to address on any of the devotions dealing with creation this week, please reach out to me at gregrlandry@gmail.com
Editor: Thank you for reading with us this week as Greg shares on his study of creation. We have an amazing God!
Have you ever been in an outdoor area away from city lights and marveled at the starry night sky? If not, what are you waiting for? The beauty and sheer number of the stars and other heavenly bodies in the night sky are simply amazing. About 3,000 stars are visible to the naked eye on a clear, moonless night, but it is estimated that there are about 100 billion stars in just our galaxy alone. It is estimated that there are about 10 billion trillion stars in the universe. That is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That’s a lot of stars. And if you ever want to feel truly insignificant, search for a video that compares the size of our closest star, the sun, to Earth and to the other stars. But then, while feeling truly insignificant, remember that the same God who created all of those stars also created you and loves you!
How do we know God created the heavenly bodies?
Genesis 1:14-19 – And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
Isaiah 45:12 – I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
Psalm 33:6 – By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Scripture seems pretty clear about this. But you may have heard about something called The Big Bang Theory. No, not the television show. The Big Bang Theory claims that the universe came into being about 13.8 billion years ago with an explosion, all on its own, for no reason at all. Though it is tempting to take the angle that the theory is essentially attempting to scientifically describe what God created, that is not the real intent of the theory. It is an attempt to explain how the universe came into being, without the hand of a Creator God.
“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to…set the Universe going.” – Stephen Hawking.
It is understandable that some scientists would not invoke a Creator or the miraculous nature of the creation of the universe in their explanation of the origin of the universe. And yet, there is no choice but to invoke miracles as part of an explanation of how something can come from nothing, as is the case with the Big Bang Theory.
“[The big bang] represents instantaneous suspension of physical laws, the sudden abrupt flash of lawlessness that allowed something to come out of nothing. It represents a true miracle…” – Paul Davies – physicist and evolutionist – The Edge of Infinity.
Keep quotes like these in mind when defending your faith. Whether it is the universe starting from “spontaneous creation” or life starting from non-life, scientists will often rely on miracles to try to explain the world around us. We as believers certainly accept miracles, but the difference is, we also believe in a Miracle-maker.
Other than the Big Bang Theory not allowing for a Creator, the theory also does not fit with the creation account in Genesis because the creation account says that the earth was created before the stars, whereas the Big Bang theory claims the opposite.
The Big Bang Theory is truly not compatible with scripture, but moreover, it is now a crumbling theory, scientifically, as well.
There are numerous problems with the theory as it stands today. Many things that we observe in the universe around us, both near and far, are simply impossible if the universe started with an explosion billions of years ago.
Without going into multiple explanations, a few of the problems include:
We should find magnetic monopoles, but we don’t.
There should be equal amounts matter and anti-matter, but it’s not even close.
Only about 7,000 years worth of supernovas have been discovered.
Distant galaxies appear far too young.
Galaxies as we know them shouldn’t even exist.
There are millions of years of missing collisions.
The echo for the Big Bang is missing.
Dark matter and dark energy are needed for the Big Bang model, but there is no evidence that either exists.
Mercury shouldn’t be dense, but it is. And it shouldn’t still have a magnetic field, but it does.
The surface of Venus is too young, and it should not be rotating sideways or have a magnetic field.
The Earth shouldn’t have any water, and its magnetic field is too young.
Stars shouldn’t exist.
Our moon’s origin and geologic activity are unexplainable.
Saturn’s magnetic field shouldn’t be there.
Neptune appears too young and shouldn’t even exist.
Uranus should not still have a magnetic field and gives off too much energy.
Jupiter also still gives off too much energy.
Comets should no longer exist.
“Big Bang cosmology is probably as widely believed as has been any theory of the universe in the history of Western civilization. It rests, however, on many untested, and in some cases untestable assumptions. Indeed, big bang cosmology has become a bandwagon of thought that reflects faith as much as objective truth.” – G. Burbridge, Why only one big bang? Scientific American, 266 (2):96.
Either the universe started on its own, breaking multiple laws of physics in the process, and somehow resulted in many phenomena that indicate it didn’t begin as they say, billions of years ago, or our amazing God created all the stars and heavenly bodies that we see in the beautiful night sky just as scripture tells us.
-Greg Landry
If anyone has any questions or comments they would like me to address on any of the devotions dealing with creation this week, please reach out to me at gregrlandry@gmail.com
SeekGrowLove Editor: We thank Greg for tackling the job of discussing creation and the Bible during our devotions this week. Too often Godly kids have turned away from the truths of Scripture when faced with “smart” college professors teaching evolution. Greg has studied much and presents the truth of Scripture as well as the errors and inconsistencies of evolution. So, this week we offer a deeper look at creation than could be covered in one day of devotions. Dig in with us – and keep reading from the Bible reading plan as well. Print your copy below and mark off those passages as you go. God bless your journey with Him – from beginning to end!
Seek Grow Love 