Creation Outside Genesis:The Biblical Testimony

William D. Barrick, Th.D.2013 MacDonald Lectures

Introduction• Many biblical texts speak of God’s

act of Creation.• Deuteronomy 32:8, Job 31:33, and

1 Chronicles 1:1 may all refer to Adam by name.

• Jesus refers to events in Genesis 1–7 fifteen times.

Introduction• At least 100 references to events in

Genesis 1–11 in the NT (only 9 direct quotes).

• Denial of the creation account places in question all of Scripture’s teaching.

Nothing New• “I fear that I will be laughed at by

those who have scientific knowledge of these matters and by those who recognize the facts of the case.”

— Augustine (A.D. 387–430), Literal Commentary on Genesis, 1.10 (FC 41.30)—City of God, 11.7

Forms of Spiritual Authority1. Authority of the Lord and His written

revelation.2. Authority of the church and its

“infallible pope(s).”3. Authority of human reason with its

self-styled sovereignty.

Which will you follow?

How Significant?• “How we treat the beginning is so

fundamental to our overall interpretation of the Bible that reasons for any particular translation are almost coextensive with the articulation of a comprehensive, biblically sensitive theology.”

— R. R. Reno, Genesis, Brazos Theological Commentary, 32

How Significant?• “Thus, a Christian faith that reads

Gen. 1 as outlining the substantive rather than temporal source of creation is well prepared to endorse modern science while rejecting the faux metaphysics of modern scientism.”

— R. R. Reno, Genesis, Brazos Theological Commentary, 35

Exodus 20:8–11 (NAU)

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or

Exodus 20:8–11 (NAU)

your sojourner who stays with you.

11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”

Deuteronomy 4:32 (NAU)Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man [Adam] on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anythingbeen done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?

1 Chronicles 16:26 (NAU)

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the LORD made the heavens.

Nehemiah 9:6 (NAU)

You alone are the LORD.You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all

their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down

before You.

Job 9:8 (NAU)

Who alone stretches out the heavens

And tramples down the waves of the sea;

Job 38:1–41:34

38:438:1238:32–3340:14

Psalm 8 (NAU)

5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,

And You crown him with glory and majesty!

6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

Psalm 89:11-12 (NAU)11 The heavens are Yours, the earth

also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You

have founded them.12 The north and the south, You have

created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at

Your name.

Psalm 89:47 (NAU)Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all

the sons of men [Adam]!

Psalm 104 (NAU)2 Covering Yourself with light as with

a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent

curtain.3 He lays the beams of His upper

chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the

wind;

Psalm 104 (NAU)4 He makes the winds His

messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.

5 He established the earth upon its foundations,

So that it will not totter forever and ever.

Psalm 104 (NAU)24 O LORD, how many are Your works!

In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your

possessions.

Psalm 148:4–5 (NAU)4 Praise Him, highest heavens,

And the waters that are above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,

For He commanded and they were created.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NAU)Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;

Isaiah 40:26 (NAU)Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these

stars, The One who leads forth their host

by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His

might and the strength of His power,

Not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:28 (NAU)

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD,

the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

Isaiah 42:5 (NAU)

Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and

stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its

offspring, Who gives breath to the people on

it And spirit to those who walk in it,

Isaiah 45:12 (NAU)

It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it.

I stretched out the heavens with My hands

And I ordained all their host.

Isaiah 45:18 (NAU)

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens

(He is the God who formed the earth and made it,

He established it and did not create it a waste place, butformed it to be inhabited),

“I am the LORD, and there is none else.”

Amos 4:13 (NAU)For behold, He who forms mountains

and creates the wind And declares to man what are His

thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the

earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name.

Malachi 2:10 (NAU)Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each

against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

Matthew 25:34 (NAU)

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Mark 10:6 (NAU)“But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.”

Luke 3:38 (NAU)the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

John 1 (NAU)1 In the beginning was the Word, and

the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.3 All things came into being through

Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

John 1 (NAU)4 In Him was life, and the life was the

Light of men.5 The Light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not comprehend it.

9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 1 (NAU)10 He was in the world, and the world

was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

Acts 14:15 (NAU)and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM.”

Acts 17:24 (NAU)The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

Romans 1 (NAU)20 For since the creation of the world

His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Romans 5:14 (NAU)Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

1 Corinthians 8:6 (NAU)yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

1 Corinthians 15 (NAU)22 For as in Adam all die, so also in

Christ all will be made alive.45 So also it is written, “The first MAN,

Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NAU)For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Colossians 1:13–16 (NAU)13 For He rescued us from the domain

of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Colossians 1:13–16 (NAU)16 For by Him all things were created,

both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —all things have been created through Him and for Him.

1 Timothy 2:13–14 (NAU)13 For it was Adam who was first

created, and then Eve.14 And it was not Adam who was

deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

1 Peter 1:20 (NAU)

For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

Revelation 4:11 (NAU)“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Revelation 13:8 (NAU)

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been writtenfrom the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

The Last Things Replicate the First Things

Isaiah 65:17For behold, I create new heavens

and a new earth; And the former things will not be

remembered or come to mind.

Think About It• If it really took millions or billions of

years to create the first heavens and earth, how long will we have to wait for the new heavens and earth after the old is destroyed?

• If God can create the second instantaneously, why not the first?

The Last Things Replicate the First Things

Genesis 1:1 CreationGenesis 1:3 God’s Light

Genesis 1:26 Man’s RuleGenesis 2:8–17 Old Eden

Genesis 3:17 CurseRevelation 21:4; 22:3 No Curse

Revelation 22:1–2 New EdenRevelation 20:4 Man’s Rule

Revelation 21:23; 22:5 God’s LightRevelation 21:1 New Creation

The Last Things Replicate the First Things

Genesis 1:1 CreationGenesis 3:1 Satan’s Freedom

Genesis 6–8 Worldwide JudgmentGenesis 10–11 Babel / BabylonRevelation 17–18 Babylon

Revelation 19:11–19 Worldwide JudgmentRevelation 20:2–3 Satan’s Confinement

Revelation 21:1 New Creation

The Last Things Replicate the First Things

Genesis 1:1 Creation

Revelation 21:1

New Creation

“Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Revelation 19:10

Conclusion• Testimony to creation permeates all

of Scripture.• Denial of biblical creation = denial of

the Creator.• Denial of the Creator is inexcusable.• Denial of biblical creation exchanges

God’s truth for man’s lie.

Conclusion• Denial of biblical creation results in

greater depravity and immorality due to rejection of the Creator’s authority and His inerrant revelation.

• Denial of the doctrines of the first things (protology) destroys doctrines of the last things (eschatology).

Conclusion• Without historical temporal Creation,

there is no hope for a historical, temporal Restoration.

• The alternative, secular historical science, changes—Scripture does not change.

• Modern science mocks the science by which Augustine felt threatened—what will the science be 200 years from now?

ConclusionWhen we affirm biblical creationism,• We propose the plain sense of the

rest of Scripture,• We provide foundational truths for

basic Christian doctrine, and• We preserve the salvific focus of the

Christian faith—only the Creator can ultimately save and restore.