Can the Bible Stand the Test - Part 1 - Creation

No I was talking to a friend. Not too long ago a guy that I've been drawn towards the kingdom of God. And here's what he said to me he's a lawn. The problem with this whole thing is that the Bible is just a bunch bunch of myth and legend. It's historically unreliable. It is scientifically unreliable and therefore if it's historically unreliable and scientifically unreliable, then why in the world do you think God be willing to say that it is theologically reliable.

It makes no sense that you know the man points out a very important truth and that is that everything in the Christian faith rises and falls on the Bible and all rises on foot and falls on the trustworthiness the integrity and the veracity of the written word of God.

Now that being true, I wanted to come in here and do a three part series with you called.

Can the Bible stand the test and what I want to do tonight is start by talking with you about the Bible's account of creation and the reason I want to start their is because I believe the Bible's claims about how the world was created represent one of the major stumbling blocks for people in terms of giving their life to Christ or the United States of America, particularly this is true for young adults under the age of 40 who grown up in the public education system of America newly been taught that the Bible's claims about how the world came into being, are absolutely stupid are absolutely nonsensical.

Their naughty their prehistoric now many of you were trained in that kind of environment. What I want to do tonight is I want to try to show you that indeed you been sold a bill of goods. Now can I prove to you tonight that the Bible's claims.

The Bible's representation of how the world was created. Cannot prove to you beyond any shadow of a doubt that that's correct know I can. May I point out to you that the people who believe in the evolutionary model of the universe.

They cannot prove that there account of how creation happens is absolutely correct either. All I want to do tonight is I want to show you that the Bible's account is not nearly as naughty and is crazy and is nonsensical as many high school science teachers you had told you it was many college professors told you it was as a matter of fact I want to show you tonight that the Bible's account actually makes a lot more scientific sense in the evolutionary model makes when you really look at the evidence from an unbiased point of view they say Milan just before we get into that, let me ask your question and that is I mean, what credentials do you have whatsoever to come in here and talk about a subject like this I mean you are a preacher, I mean no offense but you're just a preacher.

Well friends. No offense taken, may I point out to you that I when I went to undergraduate school. I did not train in preaching. I did major in religion or theology.

I went to the University North Carolina Chapel Hill in my undergraduate degree is actually in chemistry. I've a BS in chemistry and that means over 60 hours of college chemistry 30 hours of college math and physics, and I've never won a Nobel Prize or anything you know, but I believe that I can talk to you in at least an intelligent way about some of the scientific issues that are involved in all of this and so with that little bit of an introduction let's open your Bible to brought it with you to Genesis chapter 1 and that's on page 1, folks, this easy. That's not hard to find Genesis chapter 1 and let's see what the Bible says about the way the world was created. The Bible starts off and says in the beginning God. Now let's stop right there for a minute, not in the beginning Mandarin the beginning, protoplasm, or in the beginning, amoebas, or in in in the beginning, primeval slugs, or in the beginning courts were in the beginning, dark matter, or in the beginning, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and lightning. But in the beginning God. The Bible starts off by saying that when there was no living creatures anywhere when there was no earth for them to live on even if they had been here when there were no atoms, no electrons, no protons, no neutrons, no energy, no light, no sound, no heat, nothing of any kind.

There was God and what did this God do well. The Bible goes on to say in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Not a word to choose different created is a very important word.

If the Hebrew word baccarat in the Hebrew word baccarat.

Very interestingly enough is never used in the Bible with anyone else as its subject, but God. In other words God can baccarat you and I cannot you say well that's very interesting. I appreciate tell me that always wanted to know if I could baccarat, and now I know I cancel thank you for clearing that up know that's important friends because the word baccarat means to create something out of nothing with the Bible is telling us is that everything in this world that we see God created out of nothing. Now this is not something you and I can do as human beings we can take something and make something out of something, but we can't take nothing and make something out of nothing. You followed that right. Okay.

And therefore, the word baccarat is only used of God and the Bible says that God brought Rod everything we see the planet galaxies, the stars, the living creatures here on this earth the trees the sky the sun and the moon. He baccarat out all out of nothing. Now this is the clear, simple, definitive explanation of how the universe came into being that the Bible gives us time magazine had an interesting article called unraveling the universe. Here's what it said and I quote it said the experts don't know for sure how old or how big the universe is they don't know what most of it is made up they don't know.

In any detail how it began or how it will in and beyond our local cosmic neighbors.

They don't know know much about what it looks like now, in light of all that they don't know when you think the scientists of this world would be at least open to considering as an option the account of how all of this happened, that the Bible gives us well friends, the answer is no, they're not the slightest bit open in May I tell you why it's not because the Bible's account is illogical or nonsensical. There is a theological bias as to why they are not open to all of this and here's what it is friends. If we admit that the world was created. Then we have to admit that there is a create tour and a create tour who was obviously more powerful than we are obviously more majestic than we are mean just look at all the stuff that's in our world. Now, if there is a creator like that then it only makes sense that we should humble ourselves in front of this creator that we should submit our lives to this creator that we should seek his will as to how we run our life that we should seek his will as to how we run our society that we should ask him advice as to how we make choices in our life that we should even ask him how to get to heaven his way friends.

This is a level of capitulation that the scientists of our world are not prepared to make in their personal lives. This is a level of surrender and submission that they are not prepared to give in their personal lives. There is a personal lifestyle bias behind why most scientists in this world are not the slightest bit open to a creation model of the universe and what they're forced to do if they don't want creator and they don't want what comes with the creator friends, they are forced to accept and look for the most cockamamie excuses for how in the world came over the world came into being.

The only thing that an explanation has to have, no matter how crazy it might be the only thing it has to have is no creator God in its and that's what you see in our world today. Don't think that this is all a matter of science friends. There is enormous bias in why the creationist model is not even given a fair hearing in our world today was God. Think of all these crazy theories that people have come up with to explain the world listen to what he says in the Bible.

Psalm 19 the heavens declare the glory of who God that's right, just look around. God says the skies proclaim his handiwork. Day after day creation pours forth speech about God. Night after night, it reveals knowledge about God creation's voice rings out to the whole earth. There is no culture or language where it gets voice is not heard. God's is what I think of all these crazy theories of people of come up with to explain the universe what I think God says is that those people must've come up with those theories with their eyes shot. How in the world can you look around, God says, at creation and not seeing me you do that and that's why he says, Psalm 14 verse one the fool has said in his heart there is no God. The post listen. It is a fairly serious thing for the God of the universe to call you a full and yet God says anybody who looks at all of this created majesty and doesn't see, therefore I say okay Lana, I hear what you're saying but you know I got some water valves that I want to ask you will go right ahead you so here's my first what about the fact that almost no scientists in the world agrees with the Bible's account and agrees that it might be right. Well let me just say to you, that's not true.

There are a lot more scientists than most of us realize who either reject or at least they expressed serious doubts about the evolutionary model in the of the universe. I got just a few of them here that I've written down for examples finds God just quoting from science digest, and here's a quote scientist to utterly reject evolution. Maybe one of our fastest-growing minorities.

Many of these scientists hold impressive credentials in science, William D. Hamilton, Oxford University, a biologist, not a Christian.

The theological possibility he says that is of how the universe came into being.

The Bible's explanation is still certainly alive. Now, several years ago, 60 world-class scientists, including 24 Nobel Prize winners got together and they produced a book called Cosmos Rios and Theo's and in that book, Yale physicist, Dr. Henry Morgan, Elsa Bisson, I quote he said there is only one convincing answer for the intricate laws that exist in the natural world creation by an omnipotent, all lies.

God" now, folks, this guy is not from Jerry Falwell's place and say what I'm saying you this God teaches at Yale University.

He's a published scientific. He's not a Christian but you saw what he just said in that same book.

Paul Davies physicist writes the very fact that the universe is creative and that it has permitted complex structures to emerge and develop to the point of consciousness. In other words, the fact that the universe has organized its own self awareness is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all. The impression of design is over whelming and finally historian Rachel Ronald members of the University of with Wisconsin. This guy is not a scientist is a star historian who keeps track of the creation versus evolution debate.

He says and I quote published scientists with creationist beliefs are not on common friends. The truth of the matter is we've been duped into thinking that every scientist and every thinking person has bought into the evolutionary model of the universe 100%, and that there's nobody out there except those crazy Christians who even have the slightest bit of doubt about it. May I say to you, that's not at all true. Did you hear what we just all read that's not true at all is a cocktail care got another one about my second what about law is this what about the age of the universe. I mean, the Bible presents a picture of a very young earth while all these scientists say that the earth is billions and billions of years old member roll call Sagan that he knows the truth now but anyway we'll move on from you anyway. Now you say why is it employees a long why is important about the age of the earth to me. Why do we even care how old the earth is let me tell you why.

It's because the mathematical probabilities of the evolutionary model working are so astronomical.

They are so infinitesimally small that the only way of thinking. Scientists could ever imagine that the evolutionary model could work is that the person's gotta give it billions and billions of years to even have a chance of happening. But what about this is the earth really billions and billions of years old.

Well, there's two ways we use today. Fear.

The first is from carbon-14 dating another radioisotope dating you know this is by measuring the decay rates of uranium and thorium and radio and carbon in some of these other isotopes and and people say what you know that's a that's a pretty good scientific way to do it. You know well, wait a minute, wait a minute evolutionist Frederick human Dr. Frederick human, not a believer, listen to what he says.

He says the age of our globe is presently thought to be some 4.5 billion years old. Based on radio decay rates of uranium and thorium. However, there has been in recent years the horrible realization for him that is that radio decay rates are not as constant as previously thought.

Going to stop second you understand how this works. This, says the whole radioactive dating says that the decay rates of every single one of these isotopes and the concentration of every single one of these isotopes in every living thing and every nonliving thing has always remain the same. If for any reason. There's been a change in those concentrations or change in those decay rates than radioactive dating is bogus. Okay, so look what he says there has been in recent years the horrible realization that radio decay rates are not as constant as previously thought, nor are they immune to environmental influences, and this could mean that the atomic clocks have to be reset during some global disaster, and events which brought the Mesozoic age to a close, may not be 65 million years ago, but within the age and the memory of man that friends can we think of any.

As he says it global disaster that might've possibly reset the atomic clocks in this world will have about you think I want. How about Noah leaving the two by twos on the little boat. Remember that one where the Bible says that everything soaked in water for a year and oh by the way that water did not come from Ray. You cannot rain enough on the earth. Although this weekend is a challenge, but you cannot rave a knock on the earth to fill it with that much water. If you read Genesis chapter 6, you will find out. The Bible says that the fountains of the deep were opened up that the Earth's crust actually split wide open and whether it was subterranean water or whether it was condensation from the magma that came up from the earth crust, or some combination of the two most of that water came from under the earth's surface not from above it and that water that came in so everything for year was full of radioactive isotopes that soaked everything for a year. There is no way in the world. Radioactive dating can possibly be accurate if Noah's flawed really happen it reset all the atomic clocks will you say all right for me. The other way we tell the date of the age of the earth is by the expanding universe right well that's true where were given the impression that this is a very finely tuned scientific exercise that the results are airtight because I read to you from time magazine again.

The article unraveling the universe, and I quote, astronomers have known since Hubble's heyday in the 1920s that you need only two pieces of information to deduce the age of the universe. Number one, you need to know how fast the galaxies are flying apart. Number two, you need to know how far away they are.

The ratio of these two numbers tells how fast the cosmos is expanding a simple calculation then tells you how long it's been since the expansion started now. Then they quote University of Oklahoma astrophysicist David branch.

Here's what he says. He says there are these two loopholes go, what is the right distance and what is the right speed. These loopholes he says are big enough to drive the Starship Enterprise through." The point is friends. This is not a precise science measuring the age of your and in fact some of the evidence actually goes the other way. There was a Newsweek article were John Baum, John Baumgardner was a geophysicist at the Los Alamos National laboratories and limit New Mexico. He gave her report in 1994 at a geological convention where he said that he has found evidence that the slipsliding of the geological plates here on this earth actually used to happen at a rate thousands of times faster than they happen. Today, and if true, he said, it means that the earth is actually very young so I'm and I got one more about one more. What about okay were running on time yourself is not all about. What about we got time for friends is a wind along his mind is my last what about what about the big bag. I mean, not that everybody seems to admit the Big Bang kind of explains everything right that Econo works well yeah that's true, you know, the interesting thing about the Big Bang is the Big Bang is a horrible problem for scientists to know why because The Big Bang Theory admits that there was an absolute beginning to the universe. There was someday somewhere in time where everything absolutely started from nothing will G you recognize any other explanation of the universe. It says that I do in the beginning God created the heaven and near you know I have a quote here from Dr. Robert Jethro.

He is an astronomer, definitely not a Christian. He's an outspoken agnostic, and here's what he says.

He says astronomers now find that they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven by their own methods that the world began abrupt early in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star every planet every living thing in the cosmos and on earth, and they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover Dr. Jethro continues the scientist pursuit of the past and in a moment of creation. This is an exceedingly strange development unexpected by every body except the theologians then he says what we see is that the evidence from astronomy leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world cannot repeat that.

That is an exact quote what we see is that the evidence from astronomy leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astral in the a/in the astronomy model and the biblical account in astronomy model of the biblical account of Genesis are the same then the interesting disguise, not a believer. Now I have one more.

What about that I want to ask you as we close, and that's this. What about the fact friends that are world seems so precisely calibrated to support human life. I don't know if you realize this but our world has an unbelievable calibration that seems designed for one purpose and one purpose only, and that so that human life could exist to your listener now quoting from the time magazine an article entitled science God and man, and I quote one intriguing observation that is bubbled up from physics is that the universe seems calibrated for life's existence.

If the force of gravity were pushed upward a bit stars would burn out faster, leaving little time for life to evolve on the planets circling them if the relative masses of protons and neutrons were changed by a hair. Stars might never be born since the hydrogen they burn wouldn't exist if at the Big Bang. Some basic numbers had been jiggled matter and energy would never have coagulated in the galaxy, stars, planets, or any other platform stable enough for life as we know it, and so on. In fact, Dr. Hugh Ross wrote an interesting article in which he listed 72 characteristics of the universe, said that if any one of them was was just a tiny bit different life on this earth would be impossible.

For example, he noted. If there was 4% more oxygen or 6% less oxygen here in our atmosphere. Life would be impossible if gravity the force of gravity were altered by one part in 10 to the 40th power. The song would not exist at all. Life would be impossible if Jupiter were not in the exact orbit that it's in life on this earth would be impossible and on and on and on with the thickness of the Earth's crust was a little bit goes thicker or or or thinner if the length of the day was different at the amount of seismic activity was different and on and on and on. The truth is our universe has been precisely tweaked to support life here on earth. Now that being true, you know what the probability is of all 72 of these things that have to be in the way they are to support life. You know what the probability is all 72 of them happening. It is one chance in 10 to the 65th power. Dr. Ross calculated that is one chance in 10 million trillion trillion trillion that you know what it takes faith to believe either model of the universe, but I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. I'm sorry 1065 zeros. I don't have that much faith in our about me you maybe you do, but I don't know. I think that if you went to Las Vegas with those are to be a poor man. That's all I gotta say no. Dr. Jethro limit close with our agnostic astronomer friend. Here's what he says when the closing the article that I quoted from earlier. He said for the astronomer who is lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance.

He is about to conquer the highest peak and as he pulls himself over the final rock he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries, laying in the beginning God created the heavens and their and and that's kind of the way it is not proven you tonight that God that the creationist model, the God creating the heaven and the earth is right no cannot prove that to you I said earlier, I can't but I what I hope I've done and I to show your couple things number one. The evolutionary model that you been taught as being such establish that fact with every scientist in the world buying into it friend you been sold a bill of goods. That's not true. As a matter-of-factly at the mathematical laws of the evolutionary model working are so astronomical that even with billions and billions of years to give it a chance there people who don't believe it and are not believers there just good scientists and it'll believe in The Big Bang Theory all yeah that sounds like a wonderful theory to me because you know why is Dr. Jethro said all it does is agree with what the Bible's been saying for thousands of years that at some absolute beginning we say God Dr. Jethro says I don't have a clue.

Hello, but something created everything that we say to friends let me to suggest to you the Bible is not a scientifically stupid as people are legibly as a matter fact, the Bible makes a lot more scientific sense and a bunch of us all the gobbledygook that you been taught high school and college makes a lot more mathematical improbability since a lot of this gobbledygook you been taught and I don't know about you, but I'll just tell you, take my chances. Sticking with the Bible. I think in the end, come out just fine. Now let me close by saying this that this all of this is not just theoretical. This is all just not just intellectual plague that were doing here. There is some enormous practicality to all of this true remember what we said earlier, if there is a creator God that he is an awful powerful be if there is a creator God in everything we see around us is being sustained Ron and organize by him. And if that's true, you know what that means friends.

That means that you and I and our lives here on earth.

We are not the victims of of of random fate. We are not the victims of senseless events, but rather there is a sovereign in control. God who's running this whole show. That's important for us to know because you know things don't always go the way you want them to go. Sometimes things go tragically, sometimes things go disappointingly, sometimes things happen that we don't like and we don't understand, and we have one of two choices. We can curse the sky and say how can random fate do this to me and I'll tell you that's a pretty depressing situation be for we can go to a supernatural sovereign God running the universe and say, God, thank you for telling me and Jeremiah 2911. I know the plans I have for you say the Lord, plans for good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope now that gives me encouragement. Many of you know I have a severely disabled little girl. She's 10 years old.

Her name is Jill and you know what it's been a long hard 10 years. What you there's been many a time that I've been tempted to sit down and say, God, what in the world are you doing why I'm so I'm not serving you in my life. Why would you send something like this to me. I mean, you know you want to send something like this to Saddam Hussein why you send this to me this that make any sense but friend you know what, I'm okay with this, even though it's been hard and it's been extremely painful and even though it has really challenge me in a number of different areas of my life. I'm okay with this. You know why because I believe what the Bible says about God I believe is really in charge of this universe. I really believe Jeremiah 2911.

He has a plan for me and Jill and my wife and my family that is higher and better than anything planned that I could ever think of. And if I don't understand it doesn't matter if I can figure it out.

That doesn't matter. I mean, I don't know how God made the planets and the nebulae in the galaxy. So if I don't know exactly how God running my life. That doesn't matter all that much right now. What matters is that I have the confidence that God is running my life. That's what matters. And I know there's a lot of you hear about a lot of things happen in your life that you don't understand why your parents broke up. You don't understand that why somebody you really loved and cared about, died at such a young an early age. You don't understand that why you may have a disability you don't understand that why some friend of yours may have been injured and damaged up physically in some kind of an accident.

You know why your single at this point in your life and you done everything but hang a sign around your neck that says marry me, and nobody had you say what is it Neil.

Well let me just tell you you need to have a confidence that I got when it comes to my daughter and that is I have a plan for you, says the Lord.

A plan for good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. Now I can run the universe if I can create the universe. If I can keep the crab nebula from bump bump in the Milky Way that I can take care you. So trust me when you trust me, if I'm powerful enough to make the world on powerful enough to take care you and I'm powerful enough to get you where you need to go and I got a plan.

Just trust friends.

It's a wonderful thing to know we got a God who is this kind of majesty was this kind of power in the not only is he running the universe. That's wonderful, but far better to have the confidence he's running our lives. My advice to you is with a God like this.

Our job is not to figure it all out because we can just trust and I promise you if you do, I promise you, God will do exactly what he said he will work all things together for good for you if you trust the sprinkler Lord Jesus, thanks for talking to us tonight about science now.

We have improved Genesis 1, about which certainly given some information to indicate that at least it's possible it's plausible if their people here tonight was big hang up has always been science versus the Bible. I really pray tonight would be one small little kick the can down the road thing that we do. Just account to help them get over that were talk next week about the creation of the human race in about Darwinian evolution Lord as we talk about these things, and present a case of the Bible's claim for how it happened, is not that crazy.

I pray that you would help those of us here who already believe you have our faith strengthened and help those of us here who haven't believed in you to see and realize that things are not as airtight against the Bible. As we been told most of all, tonight, encourage our faith Lord by reminding us that you is the creator God are running this world and that even if we can't figure out exactly how your running we have the confidence that you're running it as you said, in a way that is good and has a plan for our lives.

Lord help us to trust you because of your powerful enough to make everything we see your powerful enough to run our lives in a way that's good and wholesome and rewarding. So, God help us trust you tonight and we pray these things in Jesus name, amen