Video Transcript: Lesson 3 Exploring Further

Hi, welcome to exploring further in lesson three of our Christian basics course, the lesson on  origins. I'm David Feddes. And I'm presenting material written by Dr. Ed Roels as well as some additional thoughts. Question number one, what difference would it make in your life if you  did not believe that God created the world. If God didn't create the world, then all of us are  here simply by chance, we would have no real hope for the future and would definitely have  no certainty of having eternal life with Christ, we would probably focus much more on  meeting our own needs or desires, and have less interest in helping to meet the needs of  others. We might also throw off some restraints, which presently keep us from doing things  which we believe would bring dishonor to the name of God, we obviously would not gather  with others for worship of the Creator. And we would probably not spend much or any time  reading and studying the Bible. Some of us might work hard to preserve the world and its  resources since that's all there is, however, others might have less concern for the natural  world, and would have a little concern about trying to preserve it. Who cares if God didn't  make it? I'm going to do what I want with it. And if somebody else has a problem with it too  bad about them, that might be the attitude of some question, too. How important is it for us  to know how old the Earth is? Some believers feel that it is very important to know  approximately how old the Earth is because they believe that the Bible teaches that the earth  is relatively young, say six to 10,000 years old. Some of them are also convinced that science  demonstrates that the world is not nearly as old as many people claim. Other believers,  however, are not at all concerned about scientific teachings about the age of the Earth. They  strongly believe that the Bible did not intend to teach us anything about the age of the Earth.  Rather, they emphasize that the Bible clearly teaches that God has created the world, but  does not give us any definite indication of the time when he created it, or the length of time  that it took him to create it. And they give some very thoughtful arguments to support their  position. Does it make any difference which position is correct? For many people, it makes a  lot of difference. For others, it makes no difference at all. Clearly, the most important thing is  to remember that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, no matter when  that happened, or how long it took. It may also be helpful to remember that for many years,  believers emphasize that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun rotated  around the Earth. Those who believed and taught this based their argument at least partly on  their understanding of the Bible. Very few Today, however, believe that or teach that any  longer. And few people seem to be disturbed about the fact that the sun only appears to rise  and set even though the Bible uses language, which might seem to indicate that it actually  does rise and set. Okay, even today, knowing that the Earth moves around the sun, we still  speak of sunrise and sunset, because that's kind of the way we experience it. Even though  the Earth is actually moving around the sun. It's important for us not to insist that the Bible  teaches something which it does not intend to teach. On the other hand, it's also important to recognize that the scientific community has also changed its position on a number of things  over the years. So we should not accept everything taught by scientists as ultimate truth. The Bible is clearly our final authority on matters of faith and doctrine and Christian living. But we  should not claim that the Bible teaches something it does not intend to teach. Question three. How important is it to know exactly how God created the world and how long it took to create  it. Many Christians strongly believe that God created the world in six ordinary days of 24  hours each. They argue that the first chapter of Genesis as well as Exodus 20:11, allow no  other interpretation. case you're not familiar with Exodus 20:11, it comes in the course of the  10 commandments, and it says, In six days, the Lord made the heavens in the earth, the sea  and all that is in them and he rested on the seventh day.Now, any evolution that did take  place and everybody agrees that some form of evolution takes place change over time, such  as micro evolution involved in the formation of new species took place after the original  creation, described in Genesis. So there are some who argue that the most natural  interpretation of the word day in Genesis one as well as in six days, God made the heavens in  the earth. It would make it sound very much like six 24 hour days is the period of time that  God took. And there may have been development of main kinds such as cats turned into  tigers, leopards, cheetahs, and all of that later on different forms and sizes of cats, from the  originally created kind, but they believe God created quickly and relatively recently, other 

Christians believe that God brought our world and various life forms into existence through a  long gradual process called macro evolution. Though the process may have been very slow,  they believe that God was in complete control of all that took place. It's very important to  remember that this disagreement among Christians is not about the who of creation, but the  how of creation. All the Christians agree on the WHO that God did it in the beginning God  created the heavens in the earth. And the disagreement is over how figurative a bit of the  language in Genesis one might be. But then, we, even where we have disagreement, we who  are Christians have to also recognize these fundamental areas of agreement. Those who  believe that God simply spoke the world into existence, do not believe that the formation of  the world took a long time. Those who believe that God brought the world into being over a  long period of time, do not believe that the work of creation was limited to just six 24 hour  days. Both groups, however, agree that this is our Father's world, and recognize that God was  the one who brought our complex world into existence. God is also the one who is recognize  and honor as the creator and sustainer of our world, and the one who will determine the  world's future, as well as its beginning. Without going into great detail, it's helpful to  recognize some of the reasons why some Christians believe that Genesis one is not intended  to present a literal description of the creation of the world. One may accept or reject these  reasons, but it's at least helpful to be aware of them. Among the reasons of following a the  account in Genesis one is significantly different in several ways from that in Genesis two some argue, therefore, that it's quite possible that neither chapter intends to give us details of the  time or method of the creation of the world. The Genesis one gives us the impression that  God spoke and suddenly all kinds of creative activity took place. Other passages whoever  refer to the hand or the arm or the fingers of God, in creating the world. Both the Genesis  account and the other passages may be speaking somewhat poetically, without intending to  give us details of the method, God used to bring the world into existence. C, Genesis one  indicates that the earth brought forth vegetation, and also brought for the animal world. We  all recognize that plants and trees grow out of the ground. But we also know that animals are  normally produced by a totally different process does Genesis 1:24-25 intend to teach us that  the land produced both vegetation and animals, some believers did seem to teach that in the  past, and some may still do to do so today. D, Genesis 1:14-19 describes the creation of the  sun and moon in some detail, but but provides only a very brief reference to the creation of  the rest of the starry world. We realized today that the earth with its sun and moon form only  a very tiny fraction of the entire universe, but Genesis one gives us little information  concerning the creation of most of the universe, E, Genesis 1:16-27 refers to the creation of  Adam and Eve on the sixth day after the creation of the animal world on that day. However,  Genesis 2:19-22 indicates that Eve was apparently created some time later, after Adam  became painfully aware that he did not have a partner as the animals did. F. Genesis one, one and two seems to describe the original creation as a world that was dark and formless and  empty. In the beginning, God created the heavens in the earth, and the earth was formless  and void. Now, many regard that as an unusual beginning for the creation of a perfect Earth.  Moreover, since there's no indication how much time existed between verse two and verse  three and Genesis one, some believe that verse two may possibly describe an earlier world  which might have been destroyed and then recreated in some way. This is sometimes known  as the gap theory that there's a gap between Genesis one verse two and Genesis one verse  three that God just doesn't go into any detail about what happened between the time he  created the heavens and the earth and the earth was formless and void, and then he made  that world that he placed Adam and Eve in some suggests that this earlier Earth might have  been inhabited by angels or other beings who were created by God, but then later fell into  disobedience and sin which led to the destruction of their world. Now, there's obviously no  definite proof of this, but we do know that the angelic world was created before the human  world, and Satan fell into sin before Adam and Eve were created. The first three verses of  Genesis do therefore seem to provide room for various interpretations of the Creation  account. G Genesis one is written in a poetic form, which has a unique structure not found in  Genesis two. Since most people recognize that poetry in the Bible, such as that found in the  books of Psalms and Proverbs is not interpreted literally, some people argue that maybe 

Genesis one should not be interpreted literally either. Now, these are some of the reasons why some Christians teach that the account of Genesis 1:2-31 is not intended to represent a  complete or a literal account of God's work of creation in the beginning, oh, a person might  reject those arguments, but it's still helpful to be aware of them. When making judgments  concerning the manner and length of the creation process. My own tendency is this general  way of proceeding, when in doubt, take the Genesis account, literally, if you're going to err in  any direction, err on the side of taking it too literally, in dealing with other believers, if you're  going to err in any direction, err on the side of treating them too charitably, and kindly, even  if they may differ with you on this to that point. Now on the question of how long it took, and  on how literal these chapters of Genesis are to be understood, and maybe just a general  framework for thinking, let's say that a little child comes up to you and says, Where do babies come from? The way you will answer that little child's question may tend to use a few figures  of speech, you may give them an overall description, while Mommy and Daddy love each  other. And because they love each other. They together, have a baby together, and you might use some figures of speech along with that. Now, that might be a very good explanation to  give to a little child. Let's suppose instead, that on a biology test in college, a student is asked to describe the process of human reproduction from conception to birth. If the student writes  on that college biology exam, mommy and daddy love each other, and along comes a baby,  they will probably fail the exam, because that's not the kind of answer that the biology  professor is looking for. Now, the student may go into all kinds of detail about the anatomy of  reproduction. And at the end of it, it may be a good scientific answer. And it may leave out the most important thing that mommy and daddy are supposed to love each other and that the  child is supposed to be the result of Mommy and Daddy's love. And so one description covers  some things. Another description covers another and one is more literal, more scientifically  precise, but another is actually more revelatory of what the process of baby making is  supposed to be about the love of a man and a woman, and then God's blessing of their union  with a child. Now, there's a third way the question could be asked, or at least answered the  question. Now, where do babies come from? If your little child asks that question, you could  answer with a few figures of speech, but mommy and daddy are real and you're giving them  accurate information. Even if it's somewhat figurative. The biology professor, you give a  different kind of answer. But in no case, is it correct to say to the child or to the biology  professor, the stork brings babies. That's a myth. That's just got no truth in it whatsoever. You  know, it's kind of a little joke that the stork brings babies. But it doesn't happen that way. It's  just a lie. It's just not a helpful way of answering the question. Now, on the question of  creation. We may say, Well, I think the Genesis was giving, even if not a technical and  scientific, a pretty straightforward account and the sequence of days and the manner in which God did and I think that's how God was answering our question. Where did the world come  from? And others may say, Well, I think God is answering kind of the way a parent would  answer a little child's question about where babies come from. He's giving us the gist of the  matter, the most important things about the making of the world that he did it that he did it  by the Word of His wisdom, that he did it in an orderly manner, but he didn't mean to give us  necessarily a detailed biological of description. One thing for sure about Genesis one and two, it is not merely a myth, for a lie. It's not the equivalent of the stork made it or brought it.  There was a real God who made a real world and There was a real outcome and a real Eve,  and a real creation. And in my estimation, still a real process of a fairly a fairly young earth to  be honest and six creation days. But I know that some Christians may disagree with me on  that I'm just trying to give you an understanding of, of how different modes of communicating and answering the question might lead to somewhat different answers, which are still truthful  answers. But you've crossed the line, when you get into the rough equivalent of the stork  brings the babies, and you say, Well, you know, those first few chapters of Genesis are just  kind of a nice story, and kind of a nice poem that ancient people made up. No, it is a  revelation from God. And the only question is how best to understand that revelation, as God  himself said, in the book of Job, where were you when I made the, the foundations of the  earth? And so when we want to know about the most important things about ancient origins,  we have no better source than the word of the one who did it himself, the living God. And 

that's right there in Genesis One and Two, Question four, since God told Adam and Eve to rule  over the earth, and all he has made, what are some of the implications of that for our lives  today? It's important for Christians to promote those activities which make the best possible  use of the Earth's resources, we should not disregard or take lightly in the activities which  unnecessarily spoil the earth, or waste any of its resources. Neither should we carelessly  pollute the atmosphere, or our streams, lakes and rivers, we should also protect the animal  world from careless and thoughtless destruction. The Bible even says the wise man cares for  the life of his beast, we should care about the animals and, and we may eat them. God gave  permission later on to do that. But we should not just senselessly destroy animals or wipe out  entire species where we can help it. Though believers value the spiritual dimensions of life  over the material ones, we recognize that we have to make the best possible use of all that  the Lord has entrusted to us, including this beautiful, physical world that he made. And  Christians should not thoughtlessly use the Earth's resources in order to promote the  economic well being of a few, while neglecting the fact that others may be hurt in some way,  by what they're doing. You may get richer by just dumping your pollution into sunlight, but it  may ruin the lake for other people. And for the animals, you may get rich by hogging all kinds  of energy resources and, and burning it all in factories or cars. But you need to work to do  that in a cleaner manner and make sure that other resources are available for other persons.  That's part of the implication of the Earth, being the Lord's first of all, and then put under our  care. God is not glorified, when we treat his world in a way which does not honor Him as the  creator. And as the sustainer of the universe he's made, though the earth will someday be  destroyed by fire, according to God's eternal plan, and then he'll replace it with a renewed  and purified her. This does not give us the right to treat God's creation without appropriate  care and concern for now. It's God's good creation still, and it's our home, and God calls us to  take good care of it. Question five. What are some of the practical implications of the fact that God created man and woman in His image? Well, in some parts of the world, women are still  regarded as second class citizens, they are considered to be less important, less valuable and  less worthy than men and they're treated accordingly. They don't have the same rights or  privileges that men have and often do not have equal standing with men in a court of law. In  marriage, they may be considered important only for giving birth to children, especially male  children. Their husbands may have other wives or mistresses, if they so choose, and wives  may be considered disposable when their husbands tire of them. Even some Christians,  hopefully not many, may be so strongly influenced by their culture and upbringing, that they  may try to justify their belief and or feeling that women truly are inferior to men. All of these  things, however, are totally wrong. And in conflict with the Bible's teaching that men and  women are both image bearers of God and should be treated accordingly. Women should be  treated with respect and honor, and should be given equal privileges in society and before the law. Though the Bible teaches that men should have a leadership position in marriage. This  does not mean that women are less valuable or less important than men. The subject will be  discussed at greater length in Lesson Nine. Just think about what difference it makes when  you believe that man and woman are both created equally, in the image of God. The great  Greek philosopher Aristotle said that women and females are malformed males produced by  the malign influence of a moist south wind during the day time of conception. You know, we  laugh at that kind of a mythical theory today by somebody who was considered to be one of  the great and most profound thinkers of his time. But if you think that females are just kind of  a deformed male that was conceived at the wrong time, you're gonna have a lower view of  them. There were famous Greek leaders who would say of women, well, the prostitutes are for our pleasure, and the wives are for producing the children, and the slaves are for doing our  work. They had three kinds of women, the slaves do the work, the prostitutes, hey, we have  fun with them. And the women, the wives, well, we need some kids don't wait. So you see the huge difference it makes to believe that God created women in his own image, as well as  men. Question six, in what way did Adam and Eve die when they disobeyed God? When Adam and Eve sinned, their bodies became subjected to physical death, and they lost the  relationship of love, trust and obedience between themselves and God, which they had once  enjoyed. So there was a relational death, as well as the eventual onset of physical death. 

Unless something miraculous would happen in their lives, their bodies would eventually die,  and they would live apart from God forever. Their hearts were no longer in tune with God, and their goals and desires were no longer God centered, and God is the source of life without  him, you're dead. They were designed, they were destined to live in a world that was cursed  by God, a life of pain, suffering and toilsome labor, where physical death became the destiny  of all living creatures. Now, that doesn't mean that there would never be any joy or pleasure  for them on Earth. But they were separated from the beautiful holy and pure life which they  had enjoyed before they sin Ephesians 2:1-3, describe their situation and the situation of all  people who are apart from Christ, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you  once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air,  the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in  the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind and were by nature,  children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Romans 5:10, describes unbelievers as enemies of  God. And Colossians 1:21, refers to them as people who are alienated from God. It's important to remember, however, that God in His mercy continues to shower many blessings upon both  believers and unbelievers, on those who are just, and those who are not, as Jesus himself put  it, many people are still able to enjoy times of pleasure and plenty, even though they're not  worthy of these blessings. And even though they don't thank God for them. However, firstly,  life is often filled with sorrow and sickness, frustration and disappointment, and eventually,  everyone will stand before God in judgment. And then for those who are not in Christ, the  time of joy and gladness will be completely gone forever. Question seven, since God is  gracious and forgiving, why should we be concerned about obeying him? He's so nice. Well,  why should we be concerned God is truly loving and gracious and is willing to forgive us when we sincerely repent of doing wrong. However, he's also a holy God who commands us to love  him, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. If we live carelessly or seek, first of all, to  fulfill our own desires, rather than loving and serving God, we obviously do not love God the  way we should. All sin grieves God, and dishonor Him. If we don't remember that or failed to  live in light of that truth, we're putting ourselves ahead of God. If we sin carelessly and  thoughtlessly, we may also lose the effectiveness of any witness we may try to give to others  concerning God and His salvation. As has often been stated, actions speak louder than words  if we talk to others about the power and majesty and greatness of God, but do not love and  serve Him with all our heart, our words will have very little effect, and the Lord will certainly  not be honored or praised. So we dishonor God and we weaken our own witness to others,  even if we're Christians. And of course, if we're not Christians, we've got bigger problems.  We're enemies of God. Also, we should never forget that we must someday give an account to God of all that we think, say or do. Those who seek to live holy and honorable lives will  graciously be rewarded by a loving and merciful God. If those people belong to Jesus. God has rewards for those who live for Him. Those who profess Christ but do not live holy and  honorable lives. They may be genuine Christians, but If we're not seeking to live for him as  they should have, they're going to lose many of the rewards that they might have received.  And so to honor God, to witness to and bless others, and to receive our own greater rewards  as we do God's will. We seek to obey God and honor him, even though we know he's a very  gracious and forgiving God. Question Eight, in what way did Adam's sin affect us? According  to Romans 5:12-18, Adam was our representative in the head of the entire human race. So  when Adam sin, everyone sin in him, think of a president of the country, when he decides to  go to war against another country, the country, the whole country that he represents is  suddenly at war. And so to Adam represented us and suddenly all the human race was at war  with God. So when Adam sinned, everyone sinned in him. All people who ever lived except  Jesus, were in Adam, and all are affected by what he did. Romans 5:12, says, sin came into  the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. And in Romans 5:19, we read by the one man's disobedience, the many were made  sinners, because Adam was the father of a soul. We're all born with a sinful human nature,  and are therefore considered dead in our trespasses Ephesians 2:5. Because of Adam's sin,  the entire world of nature, was also negatively affected. So we all now live in a world that is  under the curse of God, there are still many good and beautiful and pleasant things in our 

world. But it's far from what it was in the beginning. Nine, in what way was Adam like Jesus,  Adam was the representative of every one of his descendants. Because of his sin. We're all  considered guilty before God and are born with a sinful human nature. Jesus became the new  representative of all who trust Him and believe in Him. Jesus did what none of us could ever  do for ourselves, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. And he promised that all who trust and  believe in Him will have the gift of eternal life. Romans 5:15-18 says, For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have a grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. For us, because of one man's trespass, that's Adams  trespass, death rain through that one man, Adam, 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, therefore, as one trespass lead the condemnation for all men, so one act of  righteousness leads to justification gths, a company that buys out company with major issues, all of a sudden acquires all of those issues and problems of the company that it just bought.  And so it gets responsibility for something that wasn't originally responsible for, because it  has decided to acquire them Jesus is God's plan for God acquiring us back again. And Jesus  takes the responsibility to acquire us. And therefore he also takes our problems and our  wickedness upon himself and gives himself the obligation to pay for those things. And so  Jesus is not just another Adam, but he is so much more than Adam, he is God with us. He is  the one who undoes Adam's damage he pays for the sins of Adam and the rest of the human  race of sin and Adam, and not only that, by His perfect life, he merits eternal life for himself  and for all of humanity, who trust in Him what a blessing it is to know Jesus and you  understand Jesus better. If you understand Adams role as representative better than you  begin to understand how Jesus is the new representative of a new humanity. Ten What does  the Bible mean? When II Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan is the god of this world? God the  living God, the Lord continues to rule over the entire world and has given all power and  authority in heaven and on earth to his eternal Son Jesus Christ, according to Ephesians 1:18- 22 Jesus reigns far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every  name that is named not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things  under his feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church. See also Matthew 28:18,  where Jesus says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So whatever the Bible means, when it called Satan, the god of this world, that does not mean that Satan has  been promoted to God, or that he has the right to rule this world. The Lord God rules the  world and Jesus is the one who has all rightful authority in heaven and on earth. However,  when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God, Satan gained a position of great  authority and power in this world. Sin put humans in league with Satan, and trapped them in  the grip of Satan's authority. Satan is a powerful opponent of both God and man and he  continues to tempt people to follow himself rather than Jesus. See, for example, I Peter 5:8,  your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour the  Bible compares him to a lion, it compares him elsewhere to a multi headed dragon. These are  all symbols and pictures, but they show how deadly and how powerful and how nasty Satan  is. Now, because Satan has this power, he's called the god of this world. It's very important to  remember, however, that Satan is not the God over those who belong to Jesus. Besides, even  though Satan's power is great, it's also very limited, and the authority claims is usurped. It's  grabbed by him, and it's not rightfully his. Satan can do nothing to God's people without the  permission of the real ruler of the universe, our Lord Jesus Christ. See, for example, Luke  22:31, where Satan had to ask Jesus for permission to tempt and ruin Simon Peter, and he  was not allowed to completely ruin Peter, Jesus said that I prayed for you. And after you fall,  after you deny me, you'll be restored again. So Satan received an opportunity, he wouldn't  have even been able to do that if God had not permitted it. But then God raised Peter back  into a right relationship with Him, also have see the story of Job in those early chapters of Job. God boasts of Job's goodness, and Satan says oh does Job fear God for nothing, you're just  paying him off. And God allows Satan to take away Jobs, possessions and property, as well as  his family members and become to ruin. And even there Job holds true and faith to God. But  the point here is, Satan couldn't have done any of that without God's permission. So even  when Satan is doing bad things, he's on a leash. And he can't go beyond what God allows and

forJob to at the end, it led to a fuller revelation, to Job of who God really is. And so God had his purposes even in allowing Satan to do those awful things. See also the comforting and  encouraging words of I John, For he who is with you, is greater than he who is in the world.  Whoever, confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he and God. So we  have come to know and to believe the love God has for us. We should never underestimate  the power of Satan. That's a big mistake to underestimate him. But we should not  overestimate Satan's power either. Satan is powerful compared to humans, and we can never  break free of his grasp on our own. But Satan is not powerful compared to God. Remember,  Satan is a fallen angel, angels were all created by God. If you take all the power of the angels  and add it all together, it is still as nothing compared to the power of God. Satan is strong  compared to us. He is nothing compared to the power of God and God by his own purposes,  and by his own power has allowed Satan some room to do harm in our world. But the Bible  says that God will crush Satan, and that God has supreme authority. And so when it refers to  the god of this age, we say, well, yes, there are people who unfortunately and sadly, are in  the grip of Satan right now. And they need the power of Jesus Christ to set them free. But we  know that that power of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit living in us that one who is living in us is greater than the one who is in the world.