Video Transcript: Creation (8:22)

Hi, I'm David Feddes and this talk is about creation. The statement of faith of Christian Leaders College and Institute says, God created the universe from nothing, and made all things very good. It also says God governs all things, in accordance with His perfect character and eternal plan for His glory, and the good of his people. 

So two main things are being said, Everything originated with God. And God is still involved with his creation, and running it according to his wisdom, and will and for our good, and for his honor and glory. 

In the beginning, God created the heavens of the earth.That's how the Bible begins. And then it describes the six days of creation, and wraps it up by saying, And God saw all that he had made. And it was very good. 

In Exodus 20:11, in giving the 10 commandments, the Scripture says, In six days, the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Everything originated with God, in that great six day creation.

Now, when we read the story of Genesis, we may have some questions, what kind of story? Is that? What's going on? When God describes the creation of the heavens and the earth? Well, let me just switch to a different kind of question. Where do babies come from? If a little child asks a parent, where do babies come from? The answer might be, well, mommy and daddy loved each other a lot. And their love resulted in a baby being born. And there might be some descriptions that are simplified and a few figures of speech as well to tell the little child where babies come from.

 Now we have a biology professor asks on an exam, describe the process of conception of human reproduction from conception through birth, and you give an answer. Mommy and Daddy love each other, and there came about a baby, you would flunk the exam, and you would deserve to flunk the exam, because you're supposed to be answering the question in terms of more details. And so you're supposed to be talking about fallopian tubes, and zygotes, and all the various body parts and anatomy that go into reproduction, and then describe that whole process. 

Now, you might say, well, you know, when the parent tells the child that a baby comes from the love of mommy and daddy, that's just a lie. That's not so at all. That story that is told to the little child about a mom and dad's love, and some figures of speech will reveal more about what that child is then just a story about zygotes, and fallopian tubes and so forth. 

Because for a child to know what that child really is, then to know about the love of the parents, and maybe to have simplified descriptions would be okay, now there's a third kind of answer to give to the question. Where do babies come from? The stork brings them. That's not helpful. In any sense. It doesn't tell you anything about the love of parents. It doesn't tell you anything about anatomy. It's just a myth. 

Now, back to what kind of story is Genesis is a story that doesn't intend to give us every scientific detail about how God did things. But neither is it? Well, it's a myth. The stark did it. The Book of Genesis may use some figures of speech that may be speaking very straightforwardly, and literally in many of its statements, and it's not always easy to know exactly where it's being a little more figurative, and where it's being very straightforward and literal. 

For myself, I use a rule of thumb, when in doubt, I'm going to err on the side of taking the story too, straight forwardly, and literally, but when I'm dealing with fellow Christians who may think that some portions are more figurative, then I'm going to deal with those fellow Christians and err on the side of being too charitable. 

Rather than judging somebody whose understanding of exactly what kind of story it is, and judging them harshly, I'm gonna say, well, we may differ on some of the details. But we agree that in the beginning, God created the heavens in the earth, and that he brought it all from nothing and made this fantastic universe and did it in such a manner that it was all very good when he originally made it. And that is not a myth. 

It is the absolute truth. We know I believe that God is the Creator of all things. And then we must also know that by faith, 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. That's the doctrine of creation X Nee Hello, out of nothing. God didn't need some material to get started or to work with. Gods further out spoke it. And it happened. 

Because God is the origin of everything. And by faith, we understand that. And so the doctrine of creation X Nee Hello is absolutely essential to the Christian faith that God is the origin of all that exists. But we can't stop there. There is a group of people called deists who believe that a supreme power and intelligence made everything but once it was made, he kind of just let it go on its own steam and whatever happened to happen. 

Those deists are wrong because God is involved in still governs everything, The Lord reigns, Jesus Himself said, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God isn't some distant creator who got things going long ago, and that's all he is. He's the Creator, but he's also the one who's still involved, you might not have as much hair as you used to. But that didn't happen apart from God's governance. 

Sometimes a sparrow might fall to the ground. But that doesn't happen apart from God's governance, every little detail. And every galaxy is governed by God, for His glory, and for the good of those who love Him. This is what Christians call the doctrine of Providence. You see, the first part of that word Providence is simply provide that God cares for all his creatures and watches over them, and provides for them. And Providence basically means that God has a plan for all things, and that God in that plan provides for those who trust and loves him. Romans 8:28, is a classic statement of that. 

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Ephesians 1:11, speaks of all things being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things, according to the counsel of his will, the reign of God. That's what we mean by providence, he has a plan and reigns over all things. And that plan is for the good of those who love Him. 

God is carrying out his purposes. And so, Christian Leaders College and Institute confesses the doctrine of creation and the very closely related doctrine of Providence. God created the universe from nothing and made all things very good. And God governs all things in accordance with His perfect character and his eternal plan for His glory and the good of his people.