On January 18, 2013, I shared this blog which was inspired by the article "Does Genesis Really Matter?" in the Institute of Creation Research magazine, Acts & Facts, the May 31, 2012 issue. It was written by Jason Lisle, Ph.D.
For many years, I have firmly believed and written that the two most important books in our Bible are Genesis and John. Why do I say this? The Bible is His Written Word, His written prescription for healthy and fulfilled Christian living.
If you visit your doctor and he gives you a prescription to cure the illness which brought you to his office - will you ignore or just throw away that prescription? Or will you have it filled and ingest it as he prescribed? Yes, if you have the intelligence of a rock, you will fill that prescription and take this medicine to cure your affliction.
All people are born with an affliction. It is called the inherited Adamic Sin Nature. And, other than His prescribed cure; there is no cure. If you ingest His prescribed cure, you will be healed eternally. If you refuse, you will be lost in eternal death.
So, what is this wonderful cure prescribed by God? It is the message of salvation and Christian life found only in His Written Word, the Bible. This book is fully sufficient to assure that all who sincerely ingest, believe, and receive it will have eternal life in Christ - and it is fully sufficient to assure that you can walk daily with Him without falling.
"Okay, Bill, but you still have not told us why Genesis and John are so important?" Glad you asked!
The book of Genesis, i.e., the book of beginnings - is the foundation upon which the entire Bible is built. A home or building without a firm foundation will soon crumble and fall. With a firm foundation, it can withstand the storms.
So, without the foundation of Genesis, the Bible, God's Written Word, would make no sense to us. No Genesis - no Bible!
And, the book of John is just as important, for starting in John 1:1-3, we learn that Jesus Christ is our preexisting Lord and Savior, the Incarnate God - and throughout the book of John we learn what He has done to offer salvation and eternal life for all who, by grace, through faith in His finished work, will believe and receive His "paid in full" pardon from our Adamic Sin Nature death penalty. No preexisting Savior - no eternal life!
Why is the frontline of battle for atheist and Darwinian evolutionary factions - always the Creation? Why is the great battle in our public school systems always between the teaching of Darwinian Evolution and Creation?
In Genesis, we learn how "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Destroy a person's faith in Genesis, in the Creation, and that is the first step in destroying his faith in God. First step, doubt - second step, agnosticism - third step, atheism - fourth step, eternal life without God. That is the formula for the atheist's war against God.
What they do not realize is that Christ has already won that war, over 2000 years ago on the cross. Today, we are just fighting the skirmishes, the clean-up battles, and saving as many wounded as possible - as we wait for our Lord and Savior to come for us (John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:50-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
And our primary defense in these skirmishes is our Full Armor of God: Girded with TRUTH; Shielded by RIGHTEOUSNESS; Prepared by the GOSPEL; Protected by SALVATION; Armed with the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, the Word of God. We wrap these all with "Prayer in the Spirit" - and we cannot lose (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Therefore, keeping in mind our Great Commission, the marching orders given to all Christian believers by our real Commander-In-Chief, Jesus Christ - we must always be ready to "Go, Make disciples, Baptize them, Teach them - be His frontline witnesses to all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).
Okay, all you Christian soldiers, "Attention! Right face! . . . Forward March!'' If you like, it is okay to sing the old hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers!" as we march to victory.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
For many years, I have firmly believed and written that the two most important books in our Bible are Genesis and John. Why do I say this? The Bible is His Written Word, His written prescription for healthy and fulfilled Christian living.
If you visit your doctor and he gives you a prescription to cure the illness which brought you to his office - will you ignore or just throw away that prescription? Or will you have it filled and ingest it as he prescribed? Yes, if you have the intelligence of a rock, you will fill that prescription and take this medicine to cure your affliction.
All people are born with an affliction. It is called the inherited Adamic Sin Nature. And, other than His prescribed cure; there is no cure. If you ingest His prescribed cure, you will be healed eternally. If you refuse, you will be lost in eternal death.
So, what is this wonderful cure prescribed by God? It is the message of salvation and Christian life found only in His Written Word, the Bible. This book is fully sufficient to assure that all who sincerely ingest, believe, and receive it will have eternal life in Christ - and it is fully sufficient to assure that you can walk daily with Him without falling.
"Okay, Bill, but you still have not told us why Genesis and John are so important?" Glad you asked!
The book of Genesis, i.e., the book of beginnings - is the foundation upon which the entire Bible is built. A home or building without a firm foundation will soon crumble and fall. With a firm foundation, it can withstand the storms.
The book of Genesis is not simply a collection of moral stories or fables about our origins. It's a book that sets the foundation for the whole of Scripture and upon which all the other books of the Bible rest. Genesis is essential to understanding God our Creator, Judge, and Savior. Every vital Christian doctrine finds its roots in the Genesis record.
In his book, "Why Genesis Matters," Dr. Jason Lisle points us to the very first book of the Bible to understand the foundation of Christian doctrines. Which doctrines are first introduced in Genesis? How do we really know if we're interpreting Genesis correctly? What about the debate over the age of the earth? And how does Genesis help us when we share the Gospel with others? (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18484959-why-genesis-matters)
So, without the foundation of Genesis, the Bible, God's Written Word, would make no sense to us. No Genesis - no Bible!
And, the book of John is just as important, for starting in John 1:1-3, we learn that Jesus Christ is our preexisting Lord and Savior, the Incarnate God - and throughout the book of John we learn what He has done to offer salvation and eternal life for all who, by grace, through faith in His finished work, will believe and receive His "paid in full" pardon from our Adamic Sin Nature death penalty. No preexisting Savior - no eternal life!
Does Genesis Really Matter?
ICR Acts & Facts, May 31, 2012 issue
By Jason Lisle, Ph.D.
http://www.icr.org/article/6785/
Does the creation versus evolution debate matter today? Perhaps you have heard people say, “With all the problems in today’s world, we really shouldn’t bother arguing about how it all began. We need to be concerned about the future, not the past.”
Our world faces enormous problems - violence, war, crime, disease, famine, economic collapse, natural disasters, and much more. We’re seeing attacks on the sanctity of human life and attempts to redefine marriage. We have witnessed a decline in Christian values worldwide, but it’s perhaps most disappointing that the United States - a nation founded on Christian principles - is losing its Christian base at an alarming rate.
How can these things be? Our nation is saturated with Christian bookstores, radio stations, television programs, and schools. And yet for all of this Christian influence, it seems that the United States is rapidly becoming a pagan nation. It’s tempting to think that we should be fighting social issues and not waste time on “academic” topics like origins.
But what if there is a connection between origins and all these social issues? I suggest that there is, in fact, a very strong connection. The social issues many Christians find distressing are not problems in themselves, but rather symptoms of an underlying root cause - the loss of Biblical authority stemming from attacks on the book of Genesis. Christian values cannot exist in isolation; they only make sense in light of the history recorded in Genesis. So as society increasingly rejects Genesis in favor of evolution or an old-earth creation view, it is a natural consequence that we will experience the decline of Christian America.
Where do Christian doctrines such as “marriage” originate? This doctrine goes back to Genesis. God instituted the family unit. He created Adam and then Eve from Adam’s side; and this was the first married couple. Genesis 2:24 tells us that this historic event is the reason for marriage. The Bible defines marriage as one man and one woman united in God for life. Jesus affirmed this in Matthew 19:4-6, and He quoted Genesis to prove His point.
But if the history in Genesis were not true, then why would marriage have to be so defined? Why not a man and a man, or a man and a rock, for that matter? Without the foundational history in Genesis, marriage is reduced to simply a cultural trend - one that is subject to the shifting winds of human opinions and feelings. It’s not surprising that marriage is under attack today, since its foundation in Genesis is being undermined by evolutionary dogma.
Likewise, the sanctity of human life, human freedom, laws, and justice - all of these have their foundation in the literal, historical understanding of Genesis. And yet, Genesis continues to be attacked throughout our culture. We are told that millions of years of evolution resulted in all life on earth. And as more people reject Biblical history, the more we will see the decay of Christianity. Individuals may believe in evolution and still behave in a Christian fashion, but their belief and behavior remain logically inconsistent. People will tend to act on what they believe. And the more people believe in evolution, the more they will behave as those who reject God as Creator.
If we are ever going to see America turn back to God, we must faithfully teach and defend the Bible - starting with the creation account in Genesis.
Dr. Lisle is Director of Research at the Institute for Creation Research and received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado. Cite this article: Lisle, J. 2012. Does Genesis Really Matter? Acts & Facts. 41 (6): 22.
Note: Bold, italic, and underline emphasis in the article above are mine.
Note: Acts & Facts monthly news magazine contains articles and information of current interest dealing with creation, evolution, and related topics. Current and past issues can be read online, and you can sign up to receive future issues via snail-mail, all for free.
To subscribe: http://www.icr.org/icr-magazines
Why is the frontline of battle for atheist and Darwinian evolutionary factions - always the Creation? Why is the great battle in our public school systems always between the teaching of Darwinian Evolution and Creation?
In Genesis, we learn how "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Destroy a person's faith in Genesis, in the Creation, and that is the first step in destroying his faith in God. First step, doubt - second step, agnosticism - third step, atheism - fourth step, eternal life without God. That is the formula for the atheist's war against God.
What they do not realize is that Christ has already won that war, over 2000 years ago on the cross. Today, we are just fighting the skirmishes, the clean-up battles, and saving as many wounded as possible - as we wait for our Lord and Savior to come for us (John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:50-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
And our primary defense in these skirmishes is our Full Armor of God: Girded with TRUTH; Shielded by RIGHTEOUSNESS; Prepared by the GOSPEL; Protected by SALVATION; Armed with the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, the Word of God. We wrap these all with "Prayer in the Spirit" - and we cannot lose (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Therefore, keeping in mind our Great Commission, the marching orders given to all Christian believers by our real Commander-In-Chief, Jesus Christ - we must always be ready to "Go, Make disciples, Baptize them, Teach them - be His frontline witnesses to all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).
Okay, all you Christian soldiers, "Attention! Right face! . . . Forward March!'' If you like, it is okay to sing the old hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers!" as we march to victory.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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