The Biblical Story, pt. 1, Creation and The Flood

 
“Critical Questions, Foundational for Life” “Where Did Life Come From?” And, “The Reality of God’s Judgment.” Genesis 1-4; 6-9 The Biblical Story, pt. 1, Creation and The Flood By Pastor Dan Kennedy © January 5, 2014 www.pastorkennedy.com “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” Hebrews 11:3 “Where Did Life Come From?” And, “The Reality of God’s Judgment.” These questions are two of the most fundamental questions of life. If we can conveniently, and somewhat “educationally” push aside the fact that a Supreme Being intelligently created the world, then we can more conveniently brush off that there is a God. If we can become comfortable with denying that there is a God to whom we may be accountable, then we can follow whatever course our carnal human nature decides to follow, without such a guilty conscience. Somehow, even though our conscience may become confused and/or clouded by vain politically correctness or peer rejection of the idea of a Supreme Being, we still have to wonder where these fantastic and enormously complicated life forms around us originated (including ourselves) – in the first place. Where did life really come from? The answer to that question profoundly affects everything we do in life! • How we live our life… • How we raise our family and what teach our children… • How we treat our parents, spouse, children and all those around us… • And, ultimately what happens to us when we die. All of these things and many, many more are critically affected by this one belief: “Is there a God who made everything? Who made Me?” If there is an all Powerful God, does He hold His creation responsible to live by standards to which they will be held eternally accountable? Before we look at the Judgment of God at the Flood, first we will be reviewing the Creation Story of the Judeo-Christian Heritage. Everyone Needs a Clear Understanding and Reason for His or Her Existence…even if they make it up. There are many creation stories in the world. Because of the clear necessity of understanding this reason for our existence, every culture, tribe, nation and ethnic group have at least one story by which they explain their existence on the earth. Many of the world’s creation stories are fantastical, mythical and without what most would consider any human reasonability. The Biblical narration of creation is obviously supernatural, but it is also without parallel when it comes to understanding creation. There are only three possibilities for our existence: 1. A Personal Creator created us, to whom we are accountable. We call this Ultimate Creator, GOD. 2. An impersonal creator, who somehow was supernatural and powerful enough to create the billions/trillions of galaxies with their billions/trillions of planets in this unfathomable universe! Then this impersonal creator, “whatever it is” swings by and plants the “seeds” of life on this insignificantly small planet called “earth” (that “just happened” to have all the unique qualities to perfectly sustain life), tucked away among billions of other “dead” stars in one insignificant galaxy among billions and billions of galaxies. This “something” then irresponsibly goes away without care or reason for the phenomenal life it haphazardly planted, without requiring its creation accountability or responsibility to itself… and it never comes back…unless, of course, it does return 5-7 billion years later as an alien life form – (most likely as all the alien space movies so graphically project :). 3. Nothing made everything. All of us intuitively and realistically know that nothing cannot make anything! Yet we base our current science in our highest institutions of learning on this “fact”. Nothing cannot make “something”, especially if that “something” is visible and tangible everywhere around us – so fantastic, so infinitely intricate and complex, so living, and yet so fragile… such as the universe, the earth, the atmosphere, the oceans, and all the living breathing, reproducing and growing vegetation, animals, birds, fish and amphibians, and conscious, creative people, etc., etc. There are no other options for our existence. 1. A Personal Creator – God. 2. An Impersonal Creator 3. Nothing There are many creation stories found in every culture in the world, from the beginning of time. Many are founded on mythical creatures and folklore. The Most Unbelievable Creation Story – is that we came from NOTHING! The most widely taught creation story in North America taught in our Educational Institutions: IS that NOTHING together with time and chance brought into existence the amazing creation all around us…the profound dynamic of Life as we now know it, including who we are as conscious, thinking, reasoning and creative people. Is there an Almighty God who spoke all things into existence? Everyone Needs a Clear Understanding and Reason for His or Her Existence…even if they make it up. There are No Transitional Creatures between Species…None In all of the fossil record that scientists, anthropologists and geologists have accumulated for hundreds of years, even from the 1800’s to 2014, in thousands of digs, there has not been found one testable and observable creature that can be proven to be transitional from one specie to another. Without transitional creatures from any specie to another, the theory of evolution cannot be sustained. Everyone Needs a Clear Understanding and Reason for His or Her Existence…even if they fabricate the reason. What we believe about how we were created will, in some way, affect how we think about and respond to everything we do; how we live our life; and, what we teach our children. Genesis 1:1–27 The Beginning – How everything was created 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 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. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse 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 expanse 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. 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, 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: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and 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. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God Created Man and Woman in His own Image: Conscious, Thinking, Creative, Understanding, and Reasoning, with the ability to communicate, interact and fellowship with each other and with Him. A thought provoking movie on evolution and God, which one can view online or purchase as a DVD is found at: www.evolutionvsgod.com Mankind’s Fall and Curse The subsequent chapters in Genesis tell of how mankind disobeyed God, fell into sin (Genesis 3), were broken off from intimate fellowship with God, and were sent out of the Garden of Eden paradise that God had created for them – into a sin-cursed world (cursed with sin and death, because of Adam’s sin – Romans 5:12). This is why we have depraved natures, linked to spiritual and physical death…to this day! Is there a better explanation for sin and death? Mankind’s Plunge into Gross Depravity The Scripture goes on to inform us of the continuing degeneration of the human race, cohabitation by fallen angelic beings with human women resulting in what the Bible calls the “Nephilim” and the gross depravity that ensued? (Are these devious fallen angelic beings related to what some now call the Neanderthal and/or Denisovans – those whose DNA’s are mingled with an unknown DNA?) This horrific human corruption culminated in God’s destruction of all living things by the Flood…with the exception of Noah and his family together with the animals and aquatic life that God allowed to live on the ark and in the sea. When people discount and scoff at The Great Flood and Noah’s Ark, what are they actually trying to discard and discredit? They deny the reality that an All-Powerful God holds Humanity Accountable for Sin. Does the Judgment of God through the Flood, on the corrupt world during Noah’s time give a clear warning that He will always condemn and judge sin? If the world today acknowledged God’s worldwide judgment of the Flood, during Noah’s corrupt and perverted generation, then we would also have to acknowledge God’s assured coming Judgment on the current carnal and depraved world. There are Many Correlations of “Flood Stories” from every part of the world – many are consistent with the basic concepts found in the Biblical Narrative. But, if some were determined to avoid the fact that God will punish sin, they would deny confirmation of worldwide ancient folklore, from many sources contributing to the reasonability of a Biblical Flood. Conversely, the same individuals may rush to affirm validity, if even one or two obscure ancient sources appeared to correlate a subject comfortable with a lifestyle or belief system counter to the Biblical narrative. Will God Always Judge Sin? Genesis 6 The Flood 6 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. 5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (For the full account of the flood, keep reading Genesis 7-9.) Here are other New Testament passages re-affirming the Old Testament account of Noah, and the Judgment of Mankind because of their depravity, with a cataclysmic and disastrous flood: Matthew 24:37–38 – (Jesus Speaking) 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark…. Hebrews 11:7 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 1 Peter 3:20 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water… 2 Peter 2:1–9 2 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. When people discount and scoff at Creation by God, The Great Flood and Noah’s Ark, they deny the reality that an All-Powerful Creator God holds Humanity (that includes us!) Accountable for Sin. Discussion Questions: Creation and The Flood: The Beginning of Life as We Know it: Genesis 1-4; 6-9 In what ways was life in the original creation different from life as we know it today? Why did God create humans in His own Image What does this mean? What was the root cause of Adam and Eve’s sin against God? Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden? Why did God bring the flood upon the earth? What does this act of judgment tell you about God? How does the belief in God and the realization that God will one day judge the world for wickedness affect you and I in our daily life and in our relationship with God right now? There is an Almighty God who Created us. This God will one day Judge the World in a Final Judgment. http://www.pastorkennedy.comhttp://www.evolutionvsgod.comshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1