IN THE BEGINNING

"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16,

… two more diverse views of origins…The first presents a creation that was planned, thought through, calculated, with nothing left to chance. Nothing. In contrast, the evolutionary model is all chance.

Finally, the biblical account teaches that humans were made in the image of God. Evolution teaches that they are made in the image of whatever primate just happened to precede homo sapiens.

CREATION WEEK. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1

The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps. 14:1

^{Ex.20: 11} For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

^{Isaiah 40: 26} Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Everything in the Bible testifies to the fact that the Lord created the world, speaking it into existence just as depicted in Genesis 1 and 2. Jo Ann Davidson, www.ssnet.org

THE PERFECT REFLECTION. NOTHING LEFT TO CHANCE. We forget who we are and who has designed us and this world. We lose sight of God’s love and purpose for us, and we create our own reason for existence. The end result is that we have no reason to exist…When He formed humans, He did so in His image, “both in outward resemblance and in character. Amanda Ridell, Collegiate Quarterly

^{Luc 12: 8} “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

Job 38:  ⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. ⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? ⁶ On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— ⁷ while the morning stars sang together and all the angels^[a] shouted for joy?

It is through this evidence that Job found hope in his Designer and Sustainer—the God who was, is, and always will be in control. Amanda Riddell. Collegiate Quarterly

Earth is the only planet equipped with an atmosphere with just the right amount of nitrogen and oxygen to sustain not only human life, but also plant and animal life. If the earth were any smaller or larger this right amount of gases would change and life could not exist. Andrew Smellie. From Collegiate Quarterly

If the earth were any larger, its atmo­sphere would contain free hydrogen, once again making life impossible. R.E.D. Clark. From Collegiate Quarterly

Brittany Hudson, Amanda Ridell, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

THE HEART OF THE CREATOR. Jer.38: ⁶ On what were its footings set,
   or who laid its cornerstone— ⁷ while the morning stars sang together
   and all the angels^[a] shouted for joy?

^{Gen. 1: 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

^{Deut.32: 10} In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, ¹¹ like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.

 Matt.23: ³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Think of how mother birds lovingly prepare the nest for their babies. Then picture them hovering over their babies, bringing them food, and then teaching them how to fly. Moses, who had taken care of sheep for 40 years, must have seen this natural phenomenon happen each spring, and it made him think of God’s tender care. Under inspiration, he pictured the same emotions in the Holy Spirit’s heart as our human “nest” was being constructed.

Love was there, at the start of the Creation week. What a contrast to evolution, which teaches that love somehow emerged but only after billions of years of selfish violence. Love motivated the creation, and love will be there when this damaged version of creation is created anew.

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

Dwell on the marvels of nature. How do you see the amazing love of God manifested there?

A CHILD CREATION. From a child’s perspective, Mom and Dad loom large over life and seem to be able to handle anything…The good news is that such a Parent exists, and He longs for us to experience a relationship with Him.

After 40 years of wilderness wander­ing, he desired to remind them of their covenant relationship with God. In verse 10, he reminded them (and us) that despite fallen human nature, God has great plans for His people. More than anything, Moses wanted them to understand the significance of the role they were poised to assume. Little could they have known that their story—a story about dirty, tired desert nomads—was to be one of the foundations of Holy Scripture.

In a world that is increasing in knowledge, it is critical that we allow our­selves to be awed by the size, scope, and grandeur of God. Compared to Him, we are but helpless, dependent children looking to our magnificent Creator in wonder and amazement.

David draws a parallel between the beauty and perfection of Creation and the beauty and perfection of God’s law

Obviously our heavenly Father wants us to enter into a close, depen­dent relationship with Him. Obviously He desperately wants us to under­stand that we belong to Him because He created us.

Craig Mattson, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

THE HEAVENS  DECLARE. Psalm 19: ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

He (Davis the psalmist) then links this splendor of the sun to the perfection of God’s law and the power of its precepts. The contents of the law are thereby linked with the grandeur of God’s creative actions (vss. 7–11).

^{Psalm 92: 1} It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,

Scientists continue to learn more and more, not only about the different plants and animals but also about how all systems of life interact with each other in the complex web of life. The more they learn, the more amazing it all appears.

No question, the created world reveals the love and power of the Creator. But our world has also been devastated by sin, by the scars and disruption caused by the great controversy…And yet, even amid this devastation, we can see the love and power of the Creator. Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

REVEALING GOD THROUGH HIS CREATION. One om­nipotent in power, great in goodness, in mercy, and love, has created the earth, and even in its blighted state it inculcates truths in regard to the skilful Master Artist. In this book of nature opened to us—in the beautiful, scented flowers, with their varied and delicate coloring—God gives to us an unmistakable expression of his love.

…but in the deli­cate color and perfume of the flowers, we may learn that God still loves us, that his mercy is not wholly withdrawn from the earth.

“Nature is filled with spiritual lessons for mankind. The flowers die only to spring forth into new life; and in this we are taught the lesson of the resurrection. All who love God will bloom again in the Eden above. ..

“God is the superintendent, as well as the Creator, of all things. The divine Being is engaged in upholding the things that he has created. The same hand that holds the mountains and balances them in position, guides the worlds in their mysterious march around the sun.” Ellen G. White, Collegiate Qarterly

THE CROSS AND THE CREATION. John 1: ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

In numerous places the Bible clearly links the Lord as Creator with the Lord as Redeemer, a link that provides more evidence that evolution cannot be reconciled with the Bible, especially with the teaching of the Cross.

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ. Rom.5: ¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

How is the idea of the Fall, so clearly biblical, explained by those who seek to meld evolution with the Bible? Does God use processes of violence, selfishness, and dominance of the strong against the weak in order to create a morally flawless and selfless being who then “falls” into a state of violence, selfishness, and dominance of the strong over the weak—a state from which he has to be redeemed—or else face final punishment?

Indeed, the idea of evolution makes a mockery of the Fall and the Cross, as well. Jo Ann, Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

CREATION: BASIC BUILDING STONES. Now consider that the doc­trine of Creation is the foundation of Christianity. If we do not understand who created us and why, we have nothing upon which to build our faith.

He took six days to carefully shape the world and all that is in it, rather than dashing it off in a minute.

Always remember that you were created in God’s own image. You are His masterpiece (Gen. 1:27).

Respect creation, and take care of it. Because He has made us rulers over His creation (Ps. 8:5, 6), we must learn to take care of it wisely.

Enjoy God’s creation. Directly explore nature when and where it is safe to do so, or learn about it through reputable books and television shows.

Ask God for wisdom. Ask Him to help you share with others the story of God as our Creator.

Be thankful. Each day, thank God for the blessings of nature—its food, its beauty, and the health it gives us when we interact with it. Elizabeth Downs, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

CREATION AND RECREATION. Esaie 65: ¹⁷ “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

^{Recv.21: 4} ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^[a] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

The question is, will the new heaven and the new earth be created by divine fiat; that is, as depicted in a literal reading of Genesis: God speaks and within an amazingly short time all life exists on the earth fully formed and developed, with nothing left to caprice, violence, or chance?

Or, instead, will the process of creation mean that life will, again, have to endure the “joys” and rigors of natural selection and survival of the fittest for billions of years until a new world, one “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13), finally appears?

The absurdity of the idea that God would use evolution to recreate the heavens and the earth is more evidence pointing to the absurdity of His having created the world that way to begin with. No question, the Cross, Redemption, and the promise of a new heaven and a new earth are themes inseparably tied in with the literal Genesis account.

Try to imagine what our world was like in its pristine beauty. Imagine, too, what it will be like when it is created over. Our minds and hearts can only begin to wrap around what that will be like. Jo An Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

SIGNS OF GOD'S LOVE. Job 38: ³¹ “Can you bind the chains^[a] of the Pleiades?

Can you loosen Orion’s belt? ³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons^[a]
or lead out the Bear^[b] with its cubs?

I am guilty of sometimes equating God’s goodness and love with the amount of blessings I receive. But doing so limits the power and glory of God as well as what He can do for and through us… We forget that He sustains us even when we are undeserving of the very air we breathe (Rom. 3:23)

When we believe that God is Maker and Ruler of the universe, we also must believe that we are sinful and must rely on His strength. We are able to heed His will and completely surrender our lives to Him when we have faith in Him as our Creator.

We may not be anything like the Ursa Major, but in God’s eyes, I know I am a treasure just as great as the constella­tions. We are a manifestation of His love, a priceless gift from the Father above, a carefully thought out, perfectly executed, one-of-a-kind design, ordained by the Divine Maker and King. To Him, we are a beauty much greater than the stars.  Michelle Smith, Collegiate Quarterly, ww.cqbiblestudy.org

 
FURTHER STUDY. “[S]hall we, for the privilege of tracing our descent from germs and mollusks and apes, consent to cast away that statement of Holy Writ, so grand in its simplicity, ‘God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him’? Genesis 1:27.”—Ellen G. White, Education, p. 130.

“When the Lord declares that He made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, He means the day of twenty four hours, which He has marked off by the rising and setting of the sun.”—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 136.

Some folk have been dead for thousands of years; there’s not much left to work with. Yet, if God can re-create them in an instant, why did He use evolution to create them the first time around?

…spend some time in nature and marvel at the various wonders of the created world. As you do it, keep open to the damage that sin has brought, and see how much you can distinguish between the creation and what sin has done to the creation.

Summary:

Despite many attempts to mix a biblical world-view with the doctrine of evolution, the two teachings are polar opposites. Christians must stand firm on the literal Creation story; once that goes, the plan of salvation goes with it.

Jo Ann Davidson, Theology Professor, Andrews University, www.ecolesabbat.org

CREATION—FIRST CHAPTER OF CHRISTIANITY’S HISTORY. Psalm90: ¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

And after Adam and Eve sinned, He promised to be our dwelling place when we feel lost.

CONSIDER: Planting a garden and observing the miracle of growth from seed, to small plant, to larger plant that spreads its seeds to populate the earth and begin the creation cycle again.

Stephanie Yamniuk, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org