|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
Commentary on "In the Beginning"
Day 6: Thursday, January 12, 2012 - Creation and Re-creation
Overview
This lesson argues from a “back-to-front” direction to make the case that if the eventual re-creation of the world makes no sense as an evolutionary process, why would we think the world evolved in the first place?
Observations
Once again I am struck by the fact that an internal Bible study for a self-proclaimed Christian church (and many Adventists would argue they are “evangelical”) is consumed with attempting to show that creation is real. Christians do not question the fact of creation. They may question the length of time creation took, and they may question exactly how it “looked”, but they do not question that God created everything that exists. The fact that this week’s lessons are part of the world-wide Bible Study Guides for the Seventh-day Adventist Church reveals the underlying reality: they don’t take Scripture seriously.
If Adventists really believed that Scripture is God’s completely reliable word, they wouldn’t have to defend it. They could move on from the unchallenged assumption that it is true. The fact that they resort to speculative reasoning to defend their doctrine in a church-wide Bible study guide is a clear insight into their lack of trust in Scripture. If they believed Scripture was 100% reliable, there would be no hint of the speculation and condescension shaping this week’s lessons.
There should be no argument to defend the Scripture’s declaration that In the Beginning, God created. Foundational truths are assumed.
Our imaginings of what the original world was like and of what the new earth will be like are essentially worthless; they do not tell us “truth”. Truth is not in our heads; it is in God’s word. Until we are ready to put God’s truth into our heads and to let go of our own untruths, we will remain stuck in confusion and arrogance.
Seeing what is real and true about God’s invisible qualities: His divine nature and eternal power, puts us on our face before a Holy God whom we cannot figure out or understand. We can only respond to Him, putting ourselves under His authority.
God’s creating us reveals who we are and where we stand. His redemption of us through the cross reveals His eternal plan for us; He makes us spiritually alive when we place our faith in Him, and we pass at that moment from death to life (John 5:24).
Our new birth is a re-creation. We become new creatures with Jesus’ resurrection life making us alive (Rom. 5:10).
We can trust Scripture, and we can know that God will keep every promise that He made to us in its pages.
Summary
- Christians believe in creation.
- The fact that this lesson is in the world-wide Bible Study Guide for the quarter reveals that Adventism does not take Scripture seriously. There is no need to defend Scripture to Christians, and there is no need for the speculative arguments used to defend creation.
- Our new birth when we place our faith in the Lord Jesus is a miracle of re-creation.
- God’s Spirit brings our dead spirits to life, and we pass from death to life (Jn. 5:24)
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 10, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 2
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 2
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 2
Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings
Please Support This Project
