Of Jesus Christ alone do the following Bible Scriptures speak: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist Colossians 1:15-16. For the encouragement of new believers: The next time you hear or read of strong attacks and ridicule on the Creation narrative in Genesis 1:1-31, be reminded it is Jesus Christ who is being strongly attacked and ridiculed equally so.
Sooner or later you will encounter those whose god is science, and they will try to set you up for attack and ridicule. First thing to remember: They don’t know any more about the Creation than we do; they were not there to witness it, as we were not there to witness it. Second thing to remember: Jesus Christ was there to witness it! Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Quote: “He is the incarnation and embodiment of truth. He is either that or He is a liar, a fraud and a charlatan. Every person has to decide which one He is……… You and I have to face what I call the inescapable Christ. He cannot be avoided, you have to do something with Him. You have to decide whether He is what He claimed to be or whether He is a fraud.” – Billy Graham.
Many whose god is science (perhaps more accurately, pseudoscience) have not as yet made that decision, they’re merely parroting what they’ve heard or read from others, equally pseudo-scientific. Some have made their decision about Christ; they’ve rejected His claim. They did so not for intellectual reasons, but rather, for moral reasons. In other words, their sin and self-will hold far greater appeals for them than the truth of Christ and His will. Definition of pseudoscience according to Google: ‘includes beliefs, theories, or practices that have been or are considered scientific, but have no basis in scientific fact. This could mean they were disproved scientifically, can’t be tested or lack evidence to support them.’
Christians know the “how” of the Creation though. How did Jesus do it? He spoke it into existence! The first Chapter of Genesis declares 10 times, And God said…… Jesus spoke and the moment He did so it happened. Not only is Jesus Christ the Creator of the earth and universe, but in addition, He upholds each by His word. In fact, Jesus is upholding all things by the word of His power Hebrews 1:3. All things, not some things. For the word of God is living and powerful…… Hebrews 4:12. The all pervading power of Christ is mind-boggling – He spoke and all things were created; He speaks and all things are sustained. Note too, when Jesus disposes of this present Creation and brings in the new one, these will happen by His word of command also 2 Peter 3:7,10; Revelation 21:1.
Quote: “…… the Son himself, who upholds all creatures He has made; bears up the pillars of the universe; preserves every creature in its being, and supports it, and supplies it with the necessaries of life; rules and governs all, and providentially orders and disposes of all things in the world, and that by His all powerful will; which makes it manifest, that He is truly and properly God……” – John Gill. Question: How could Christ uphold all things when He was a baby, a small child and an adolescent when here on the earth? Answer: “The Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, He willed to be borne in the virgin’s womb, to go about the earth, and to hang upon the cross; yet He continuously filled the world as He had done from the beginning!” – John Calvin.
In the beginning God (the eternal one who had no beginning) created the heavens and the earth Genesis 1:1. Who is the eternal God? The Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…… John 1:1-3, 14. Who is the Word? The Lord Jesus Christ. “Jesus never said He was God,” so goes the tired old mantra. Wrong. He said He was the Son of God, and His enemies were fully aware of that meaning – God Almighty Incarnate! Jesus was not led to the slaughter by them because they believed him to be a liar, a fraud or a charlatan!
And the men (Jesus’ disciples) marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:27. Later they were to learn who He truly was; not simply “a good man” or itinerant preacher as He is commonly thought of and spoken of even by many in church leadership. Not that they will accuse Jesus of being a liar, a fraud or a charlatan, but they will reject the Bible as being the authoritative, inerrant, written word of God for the entire human race. When one does that, one will readily create a Jesus of one’s own imagination at the drop of a hat! But that is also why society in general views the institutional church as totally irrelevant and non-influential, in spite of what those within its ranks might think or say to the contrary.
More encouragement for new believers: The word of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Upholder of all things in the world and universe is more trustworthy, than the word of Al Gore and David Attenborough. The word of the Lord will fill you with hope, the word of those two will fill you with hopelessness! Are they liars and deceivers or simply deceived? I don’t know and that’s not my accusation. What I do know is, their word clashes with the Creator’s word and therefore must be dismissed. As mentioned above, the earth (and the universe) will destruct one day but it is Christ who will do that, not the earth’s inhabitants. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease Genesis 8:22.
Quote: “As long as it does remain God’s providence will carefully preserve the regular succession of times and seasons, and cause each to know its place. To this we owe it that the world stands, and the wheel of nature keeps its track. See here how changeable the times are and yet how unchangeable. First, the course of nature always changing. As it is with the times, so it is with the events of time, they are subject to vicissitudes – day and night, summer and winter, counterchanged. In heaven and hell it is not so, but on earth God hath set the one over against the other. Secondly, yet never changed. It is constant in this inconstancy. These seasons have never ceased, nor shall cease, while the sun continued such a steady measurer of time and the moon such a faithful witness in heaven.”
Continued: “This is God’s covenant of the day and of the night, the stability of which is mentioned for the confirming of our faith in the covenant of grace, which is no less inviolable. We see God’s promises to the creatures made good, and thence may infer that His promises to all believers shall be so.” – Matthew Henry. The motives and agendas of Gore and Attenborough may be sincere, they may be fraudulent; I neither know nor care. Sincerity is not the issue, truth is the issue. History is replete with people and nations who were sincere about what it was they embraced, only to discover too late that they had been sincerely deceived. This applies no less so to people affiliated with churches. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompense Job 15:31.
One primary area of mass deception: the belief that the earth is millions to billions of years old. It is not. It is but a few thousand years old. Christ created this present earth so as to take out from it a people for His name – believers – Christ ones. It is His deep desire that all would believe but He knows most will not Matthew 7:13-14. The gift of free choice means it is ours to choose, not His. Jesus calls, we answer the call – or not. In any case, the Lord doesn’t need millions to billions of years to accomplish that goal; a few thousand will do! The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein Psalm 24:1; 1 Corinthians 10:26. The heavens are Yours, the earth is also Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them Psalm 89:11.
New believers, the very moment you submitted yourself to Jesus Christ you became a new creation in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:17. You became a new creation for a new creation we could say, because that will be the eternal reality one day. When Jesus the Creator returns, He will change this present earth dramatically to suit His millennial reign. For His eternal reign however, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away Revelation 21:1. John the apostle saw this in a vision and wrote of it in the 90’s AD. In the meantime expect the attacks and ridicule on both the Creation narrative and Christ the Creator to increase, but don’t forget why; the reasons are not intellectual, they are moral. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away Matthew 24:35.