I delivered this message at Spring Creek Bible Church on September 27, 2015, as part 2 of The Doctrines of Man and Sin series.
Prefer what I actually said? Read the transcript (lightly edited for readability).
1. Introduction
This is part two of our ten part series on the doctrines of man and sin. Last week we gave a high-level overview of what we’ll cover in our series and why it’s important to study systematic theology in general and these doctrines in particular. If you missed it, you can download it from the church website.
Unlike last week, we’re going to be covering a lot of Scripture today. You don’t need to turn to each passage. I’ll be putting them on the screen. You don’t need to try to write all the references down either. I’m happy to share my notes with you. You may be better served by looking and the screen and listening to the message in each verse as we work through them.
Housekeeping
If you’re following along on your mobile device and need access to the Wi-Fi network, you can join the guest network and use this password: scbcguest.
Some of you didn’t get the email signup list last week. We’re going to send it around again this week. I’ll use your email address to (1) invite you to take a survey to help me decide what to cover and (2) join our discussion group on Faithlife—which is completely optional.
Thanks to those of you who already took the survey. There’s quite a bit of diversity of interests, but there’s some clear areas where most people have interest. If we cover something that’s not of particular interest to you, ask the Lord to give you ears to hear. You may benefit in ways you didn’t anticipate.
2. The Origin of Man and the Seven Epochs of Time and Eternity
Today we’re going to start at the beginning of the Bible and talk about the origin of man. Understanding where we came from, how we got here, is foundational for getting the rest of the Bible’s teaching about man and sin right.
It’s helpful to situate our discussions of man and sin in the larger epochs of history. For our purposes, I’d like to consider seven major epoch of time (and eternity).
- God alone: God exists from all eternity lives in perfect fellowship with himself.
- God and his heavenly host: God creates the spiritual realm and fellowships with his heavenly host.
- The fall of some of the heavenly host: Some of the heavenly host rebel against God.
- Creation of humans: God creates the physical realm and has fellowship with Adam and Eve.
- Fall of humans: Adam and Eve rebel against God and plunge mankind into sin.
- Redemption of humans: God provides redemption for his fallen creatures.
- Restoration of humans: God destroys the fallen world and creates a new heaven and new earth.
Our discussion today is focused on the fourth epoch.
3. The Role of the Bible in Answering Questions about Origins
Before we jump in, I’d like to talk a little bit about the role of Scripture and other sources of truth as we grapple with these questions.
Special Revelation
This isn’t a class on bibliology. That’s Tony’s class. But it is important at the outset to remind ourselves of the role the Bible plays as we wrestle with questions about life.
We affirm that the Bible is
- inspired / breathed out by God,
- authoritative,
- infallible and inerrant,
- relevant, and
- sufficient.
It’s our ultimate authority for faith and practice. It has primacy over everything else as we seek for answers about life. We affirm the Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura, Scripture alone.
The Bible testifies to its own inspiration and authority and sufficiency:
2 Timothy 3:16–17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:19–21: And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 19:7–11: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
The Bible doesn’t directly address all of life’s questions, but it does speak to all of life and provide us with everything we need to live godly lives.
2 Timothy 3:16–17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:3: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence . . . .
But this special revelation isn’t the only revelation God has made to us.
General Revelation
God has also revealed himself to us through his creation.
The Bible teaches this in several places:
Psalm 19:1–6: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Psalm 50:6: The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge!
Psalm 97:6: The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
Job 12:7–9: “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?”
Acts 14:15–17: “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
This revelation of God is in creation itself, but it’s also in our hearts:
Acts 17:24–27: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, . . . .
Romans 1:18–20: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 2:15: They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them . . . .
General revelation, like special revelation, is both authoritative and infallible. Paul even says it is clear (Rom 1:20). But it differs from special revelation in that it is not as direct and explicit and precise. Special revelation is communication through words. General revelation is communication in more abstract ways: our fallen hearts testifying to the truth we observe in God’s created world.
We’ll come back to some of these thoughts latter when we consider how we should view and interactive with science and other disciplines that challenge our understanding of the Bible.
But I want us to be reminded at the outset of the unique and central role the Bible plays in evaluating these issues and questions.
4. Where did we come from (and how)?
The most fundamental assumption about God in the Bible is that he exists. Perhaps the second most fundamental assumption is that he created all that is.
God exists, and everything else exists because of him.
The Bible’s clear answer to where we came from is that God created us. We know this from passages that say it explicitly and passages that imply it by calling God the creator of everything.
Explicit Creation of Man
In several places we’re told explicitly that God created man:
In Genesis 1 and 2
Genesis 1 and 2 are the best known and most detailed passages on God’s creation of man:
Genesis 1:26–27: Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:7: then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Genesis 2:18–23: Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
In the Rest of the Bible
This is reaffirmed all throughout Scripture.
Genesis 5:1–2: This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.
Genesis 9:6: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Job 4:17: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
Job 10:3: Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?
Job 10:8–12: 8 Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. 9 Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? 10 Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? 11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. 12 You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.
Job 14:15: You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
Job 31:15: Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
Job 33:4: The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Job 34:19: who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
Job 35:10: But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
Psalm 8:5–8: Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
Psalm 95:6: Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Psalm 100:3: Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 103:14: For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 119:73: Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Psalm 138:8: The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 139:14: I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 149:2: Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Proverbs 16:4: The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
Ecclesiastes 7:29: See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
Ecclesiastes 12:7: and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Isaiah 17:7: In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 42:5: Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
Isaiah 43:7: everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
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.
Isaiah 64:8: Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Jeremiah 27:5: “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.
Zechariah 12:1: The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:
Malachi 2:10: Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Matthew 19:4: He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
Mark 10:6: But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
Acts 17:26: And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
1 Corinthians 15:47: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
James 3:9: With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
The fundamental relationship between God and man is that of creator and creature.
One thing we notice from these passages is how often they point back to Genesis 1 and 2 and treat them as literal and historical accounts. However we interpret Genesis 1 and 2, we should make sure that our interpretation is consistent with the rest of the Bible.
Did God make us out of nothing (ex nihilo)?
The word for creation often designates creation out of nothing. When God created the universe, he did so without materials. But the Bible says that God made Adam from dust of the ground (Gen 2:7) and Eve from Adam’s rib (Gen 2:21–22). It also says he formed the birds and animals from the dust (Gen 2:19).
God spoke most of creation into existence.
Implicit Creation of Man
Nehemiah 9:6: “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
Psalm 33:6: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Psalm 136:5: to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
Isaiah 42:5: 5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
Isaiah 45:18: For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
John 1:3: All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Colossians 1:16–17: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Hebrews 1:2–3: but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:10: And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
Hebrews 11:3: 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.
Revelation 4:11: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 10:6: and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay,
Revelation 14:7: And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Acts 14:15: “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
Acts 17:24: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
The Bible is unambiguously clear that God is the creator of all things and that we came from his creative work.
4. What are the theories of origins and the creation of man?
If we are going to accept the Bible, we must accept that God created us. There are a number of different perspectives on where everything came from and how it got to what we know today.
Views on Origin
There are really only two views on where everything ultimately came from.
- Theism: God made everything.
- Atheism: The universe is eternal.
Views on Development
There are also a number of views on how we arrived at life as we know it today.
Theistic Views
These six views all hold that God created everything that exists outside of himself.
Young Earth
There is one view that considers the earth to be relatively young.
- Young-earth creationism / fiat creationism: the view that God made the world in six 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago.
Old Earth
There are several views that concede to science that the earth is really old. These views attempt to harmonize science with the Bible.
- Deistic Evolution: the view that God . . .
- Theistic Evolution: the view that God used evolution to bring about the world as we know it
- Progressive Creationism: the view that God . . .
- Day-Age Creationism / Day-Age Theory: The view that God took a long time to create the universe and that each “day” in the Genesis account was really long periods of time.
- Gap Creationism / Gap Theory / Restoration Creationism: The view that God created the universe before Genesis 1 and that in Genesis 1 and 2 we read about its recreation.
- Agnostic View: The view that Genesis 1 and 2 don’t tell us when and how God created and that we don’t know.
Atheistic Views
This is the only view that assumes the universe is eternal.
- Naturalistic Evolution: The view that the material work is all there is that that billions of years of random changes have resulted in what we see today.
We’re not going to take the time to evaluate and critique each of these views, but based on what we saw above, young-earth creationism fits best with the testimony of Scripture.
Was Adam really a historical figure, the first human being, and the father of all living?
It’s difficult to read the Bible in any other way that affirming Adam as a historical person and the father of all humanity.
Adam and Other Historical Persons
Adam is listed right along with other historical persons, particularly in genealogies.
Genesis 4:1–2: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
Genesis 4:25: And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
Genesis 5:1–5: This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
1 Chronicles 1:1–4: Adam, Seth, Enosh; 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Luke 3:23, 38: Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, . . . 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Jude 14: It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Adam and Christ
Romans 5:12–21: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:21–22: For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:45–47: Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
Other Verses
Hosea 6:7: But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
Acts 17:26: And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, . . .
1 Timothy 2:13–14: For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
5. When did God create us and the world?
The Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us the date he created man. I think this is instructive for us. God in his infinite wisdom made sure we have everything we need in Scripture. The things he left out or didn’t make as clear are indications that they aren’t as important for us to know in order to obey and please him. Sometimes we find ourselves wishing that God had given us more than he did in the Bible or been clearer on particular issues, but I’d suggest that that kind of thinking dishonors God. It doesn’t affirm his infinite wisdom in revealing for us exactly what he wanted us to know and exactly what we need.
Here’s what we do know:
- He created man at the beginning (Gen 1:1; Mk 10:6).
- He created mankind on the sixth day of creation (Gen 1:26–31).
- The rest of Scripture presents a chronology that doesn’t seem to fit with millions of years or even hundreds of thousands of years of human history.
If we embrace a literal six-day creation with no gap, we have to be left with a relatively young earth. How young, we do not know. Nor is it essential that we figure it out.
I appreciate Charles Hodges discussion on this subject. Hodge was a contemporary of Darwin and wrote at the dawn of scientific challenges to the historic view of a relatively young earth and a six-day literal creation.
“The extreme uncertainty attending all attempts to determine the chronology of the Bible is sufficiently evinced by the fact that one hundred and eighty different calculations have been made by Jewish and Christian authors, of the length of the period between Adam and Christ. The longest of these make it six thousand nine hundred and eighty-four, and the shortest three thousand four hundred and eighty-three years.” (2:41)
Elsewhere he discusses that the method many use to come to an age of the human race—adding up genealogies and assuming an average length of a generation—is suspect:
“The design of those [genealogical] tables is not to give the regular succession of births in a given line, but simply to mark the descent.” (2:40)
He references Genesis 10:15–18; 46:18 (cf. 15, 22); Matthew 1:11, where generations are skipped. If we know they were skipped there, they could have been skipped in other places we don’t know about. As a result, we can’t merely add up the generations and arrive at the age of the human race.
He concludes:
“If the facts of science or of history should ultimately make it necessary to admit that eight or ten thousand years have elapsed since the creation of man, there is nothing in the Bible in the way of such concession.” (41)
The Bible seems to teach a younger earth. How young, we don’t know for sure. It’s not essential to our faith that we know. And we should be open enough to reevaluating it against evidence to the contrary.
6. Why did God create us? Did he have to?
This question is a little ambiguous. Why can signify cause or purpose.
The Purpose of Creation
The purpose God created us was the same purpose for everything he does: his own glory.
Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Isaiah 43:7: everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Most catechisms capture this. The New City Catechism’s fourth question is,
How and why did God create us?
God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism captures it this way:
What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
We know this even from the fact that he created us in his own image. He made us as little likenesses of himself. We’ll talk about this more in our discussion of the image of God, but think about it for a moment. God created billions of little reflections of himself all to display how glorious he is.
We see this as well in God’s purposes of election.
Ephesians 1:4–6: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
We can’t separate God’s purposes in creation from his purposes in election and salvation. They’re both for his glory.
The Cause of Creation
But the question many ask is more of a question of cause: why did God create at all?
Another way to frame this question is this: God was infinitely and eternally happy in himself without any of his creatures. He lived in perfect fellowship and love and joy in his triune being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He lacked nothing. He didn’t need his creation or his creatures to fulfill any need he had or make up for any lack.
Acts 17:24–27: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
We ultimately have to say that we don’t know why God created. We must affirm, though, that he didn’t need to create.
Others have attempted an explanation, or at least a defense that creation isn’t a sign of weakness or need or lack. The best answer I’ve seen to this question is that it’s of God nature to overflow.
“Tis no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain that it is inclined to overflow” (Yale: Works, Vol. 8, 448)
I highly recommend John Piper’s sermon entitled “Why Did God Create the World?”
7. Why did God create us when he knew we’d would rebel against him?
The Bible doesn’t directly answer this question for us, but it does give us some truths that have bearing on it.
There are several different views on this subject, all of which are some form of theodicy, a defense of God’s justice.
- Open Theism Theodicy: God didn’t know that man would rebel.
- Free Will Theodicy: God wants genuine love, and the only way to have genuine love is to create free moral agents who can choose both good and evil. Freedom to choose good and evil are a necessary part of being human. God couldn’t have created humans without giving them the ability to choose evil.
- God’s Sovereignty Theodicy: The fall of man was part of God’s plan to glorify himself through the gospel of grace.
We must be careful when delving into matters that the Bible doesn’t directly answer, but good theology does seek to grapple with these kinds of questions. If we didn’t try to apply the Bible’s teaching to things is doesn’t explicitly answer, we’d be left with lots of unanswered issues. The key thing is to keep the focus on what the Bible does say and be humble and tentative about the conclusions we draw from it.
This is a key question that comes up in apologetic discussions, and it’s good for us to have an explanation.
God didn’t know that man would rebel.
This is a modern invention by people who hold to what is called open theism. They hold that the future isn’t knowable and that God can’t know it. They still try to affirm God’s omniscience; they say God knows all that is knowable.
This view has been thoroughly refuting and has many passages of Scripture that contradict it.
God wanted genuine love from free humans.
This is a popular view. At its heart, it simply maintains that God’s omnipotence and evil are compatible because human beings have free will. But I don’t think it sufficiently explains the problem. It paints a picture of God wanting free human love, but at what cost? He certainly knew that many would reject him, and the decision to create had to include the decision to punish those who would not repent. This view ultimately doesn’t keep sin and out of God’s plan. And it doesn’t explain why God created man in the first place.
God was pursuing his own glory.
I believe that the view most consistent with the Bible’s teaching is the last one.
- God is sovereign over all things, including evil.
- God’s plan of election and salvation was already decided before he even created man.
- God pursues his own glory in all that he does.
- God is infinitely wise and always chooses the best means to accomplish his ends.
Creating a universe in which sin would exist and man would rebel against him was part of his wise plan for pursuing his glory.
We get glimpses of this in Romans 9:
Romans 9:13–24: As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
The glory of God’s grace shines all the more brightly in the backdrop of sin. These are deep questions, and we mustn’t go beyond Scripture. It’s fitting to end this discussion where Paul does at the end of chapter 11:
Romans 11:33–36: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
How are we to think about the Bible and science?
All truth is God’s truth. Whether special revelation or general revelation, both come from God are authoritative and infallible. As a result, both are in complete and perfect harmony. They’re not at odds. They don’t disagree.
So why does it seem like the Bible and science are at odds?
Bible vs. Science or Understanding vs. Understanding?
The first thing we have to be clear on is that we’re typically not comparing the Bible and science, or special revelation and general revelation. We’re comparing our understanding of the Bible with our understanding of the created world. It is entirely possible, and probable, that our understanding of God’s word and his world won’t harmonize. When this happens, it doesn’t mean that God’s special or general revelation is wrong or inadequate. It means that our understanding of one or both is wrong. And this is all thanks to our fallenness, which we’ll explore more deeply in the coming weeks. Our hearts and minds have been corrupted by sin and are prone to misunderstanding and misinterpreted what God has clearly revealed.
How to Handle Conflicting Evidence
The second thing we should mention is that we should deal with these tensions between special and general revelation the same way we deal with the tensions between special revelation and special revelation. When we encounter two passages in Scripture that seem to be at odds, we seek to harmonize them by challenging our understanding of one or the other or both passages. We do this through careful exegesis. We should take this same approach to tensions that exist between special revelation and general revelation. It’s likely that our understanding of one or the other or both is wrong and needs to be corrected.
A guiding principle I mentioned last time is that we should be skeptical of anything that starts to unravel the rest of Scripture. We might find some insight from science that corrects our understanding of the Bible and harmonizes with the rest of the Bible. These are good and helpful discoveries to make. But if an extra-biblical idea cannot be easily harmonized with the rest of Scripture, we should be very slow to accept it.
Special Revelation Prioritized Over General Revelation
While both special and general revelation are truth, authoritative, and infallible, both are not equally precise and concrete. As a result, we should give priority to special revelation as we seek to harmonize the two. However, we should keep in mind that we might be defending our understanding of the Bible rather than the Bible itself.
Consider the Source
A final comment that I’ll make here is that we need to acknowledge the effects of sin on our hearts and minds. We’re all fallible, believers and unbelievers alike. Our hearts still have a difficult time fully submitting to God and his authority, and our minds are tainted by sin and distort our thinking. But even more so, the unbeliever is God’s enemy. He knows God, but refuses to acknowledge him and actively suppresses the truth. He’s a child of his father the devil, who is a liar. It’s crucial that we approach the ideas of unbelievers with a high degree of skepticism and discernment. His heart is deeply opposed to God and actively resisting God and his authority, and the noetic effects of sin distort his ability to interpret God’s clear and infallible revelation accurately.
This doesn’t mean that all the ideas of unbelievers are wrong and unhelpful. Far from it. Even the unbeliever is made in the image of God and retains some likeness to God. And even though he is totally depraved, that is, every aspect of his being is affected by sin, he is the recipient of common grace. Unbelievers are, therefore, capable of some profound insights and accomplishments and discoveries. There is much we can learn from them about science, archaeology, art, music, business, productivity, and so much more.
Yet we should not ignore what the Bible teaches about the fallen man and his anti-God bias when evaluating their truth claims.
Let’s look at Romans 1, which is the clearest discussion of the fallen man’s bias against God and his truth.
Romans 1:18–32: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Resources
Review Questions?
- What does sola scriptura mean?
- Is general revelation infallible?
- Analogy of Scripture
- theodicy
From the survey it seems like some of you aren’t that interested in some of these question about origins, like the historicity of Adam, the age of the earth, where Cain got his wife, etc. And I understand why that’s probably the case. Most of you are confident in your views on these points and don’t encounter a lot of people taking different positions.
But I’d like us to spend a little time considering some of these things together. You may not see it, but there’s a huge divide even within the evangelical church on some of these matters. Professors are leaving solid, conservative seminaries because they’re caving to the onslaught of those who maintain that the Bible’s teaching on these points can’t be harmonized with science.
There are numerous books being written on these topics, and it’s important for us to be well acquainted with the issues.
Where did the races come from?
Where did Cain get his wife?
analogy of Scripture, analogy of faith, rule of faith
Are there inconsistencies between Gen 1 and Gen 2?
Why do men want to deny that God created? Creation establishes ownership and authority on God’s part and possession and submission on our part.
It is interesting how few times Adam is mentioned in the Bible.
The word for man and Adam are the same.
If all die in Adam, it’s unlikely that any predated him.
Talk about how men in their depravity and hatred of God are suppressing the truth. All these scientific attempts aren’t unbiased. They are rooted in an attempt to run away from God to Noah, to hide from his presence like Adam and Eve, to not submit to his lordship over our lives.
Unbelieving scientists are not neutral. They are not faithfully handling the evidence in an unbiased way, eager to discover the truth.
They are morally opposed to God and his authority. They are bent against him. They see and suppress the truth.