Monday: From Dust to Life
Read Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 3:19. From what was Adam made, and what was the result of his sin?
Image © Bill Osborne from GoodSalt.com
God created Adam from the dust, and he became a living being. As long as he maintained his relationship with God, his life would continue. When Adam sinned, he became separated from the Source of life. As a result, he died and returned to dust.
Read Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2. What will happen to those who sleep in the dust?
The promise of the resurrection provides hope for the Christian. Job expressed this hope, saying, “And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26, NKJV). For the faithful, death is only temporary. The God who formed Adam from the dust and breathed life into him has not forgotten how to create humans from dust. The resurrection will be an act of creation just as much as was the original creation of Adam.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:52-58. What is taught here that is so inextricably linked to the Genesis Creation account?
The resurrection of the righteous at the second coming of Jesus is going to happen instantaneously. As with the first creation of humankind, it will be a supernatural event in which God does everything. All this is in blatant contradiction to theistic evolution. After all, if God isn’t going to use millions of years of evolution to recreate us, but does so in an instant, then He certainly could have created us without evolution in the first round. Thus, as with everything else in the Bible, the hope of the resurrection is more biblical evidence that refutes theistic evolution.
What should it tell us about the limits of science that, regarding something as crucial and fundamental as the resurrection, science offers us little light?
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we need not to believe scientists. first point is that they were made by god, so their intelligence is limited. we have to close our ears when ever we hear people say negative things about our most high god.
That is very true, however listening to Science, is to me, dangerous as well. To believe anything from science that has any our beliefs, and solid faiths in could be an insidious draw from the Creator Himself. Slow yet constant faith in scientific explanations can lead us away from Truth. I pray daily for the discernment I need to keep the two apart and keep my eyes on Him.
I know of reverse-engineeering, I've heard of reverse- osmosis but Science cannnot even fathom the thoughts of reverse evolution.How funny it gets!
The hope of the resurrection is such an amazing truth. Its so precious and applies even at a spiritual level in our christian walk. Can God ressurrect that which has died in our spiritual lives due to a lost focus or the lack of His Spirit? Is this not what revival and reformation is all about? As we continue to pray in the 777 program daily for the latter rain, I am glad to know of the power of His resurrection which Paul speaks of in Phil 3:20,21.
"Spiritual resurrection" now - for present work of God. To walk like resurrected people. It is like going through "spiritual death" and than to be resurrected.
when Jesus called forth Lazarus, he which was dead came forth, when? forthwith, not some seconds after or hours after.
that is the power of God At work. in creation the earth was with out form, Lazarus was without form, good as dead, when our God spoke and speaks it's always awesome. a new creation.
I am thankful we do not have to rely on the knowledge and wisdom of scientists. Although they do find some interesting things in our world and in outer space, they come from their own limited viewpoint to interperet what they find. Our God is a God of wonders far beyond what we could ever fully grasp!! Yet, He is love, loves us, and is glad when we respond to Him with love in return!
The bible says God made us in 7 days, the bible says Adam lived for a time before he sinned and in the day (a day is as a thousand years for God) he sinned he would die. Is it not possible that Adam lived for a time, say 4.6 billion years or so then sinned so that the earth reached the point it is at now? Just saying, it would explain continental drift (God made one landmass which has since broken apart one could argue due to since), and a whole lot of stuff. Yes the bible says how old Adam lived but lived since when, since he was created or since he sinned?
Interesting points you have raised Jason. My humble opinion is that we can only base our faith on what has been revealed to us as per Deut 29v29. In relation to Adam's age before the fall, not much is revealed on which we can base your argument on. I would like to believe though that it was not a long time before man was tested as per Gen 3. Blessings!
When God started His creation, He knew that man would find ways to change and denigrate what He has set up. He specifically ended each day of his creation by saying "and the evening and the morning were the ........" In our time, we still follow that a day is evening and morning. We see the evidence of that no matter what man says and tries to do. God says evening and morning and man says the new day starts at midnight.
God is eternal and He is omniscient, omnipotent and so with Him there is no time and so a thousand years are like a day in his sight. Since day one of creation, we have been given time since each day was an evening and a morning. Therefore, we have record of each day of creation and so forth. As humans, God allows time so that we can look forward to his second coming as Adam and Eve looked forward to his first coming (Genesis 3:15) and so each birth was the anticipated birth of the Redeemer. But God sent His Son in the fullness of time. .
As a Christian, I do not think that the Earth is billions of years old because when God called Moses and told him to record the story of creation and the flood and everything in between, He revealed to Moses what he wanted him to record. Remember the words were not inspired, just the person's thoughts. Moses recorded what God wanted to convey to His people.
God has given enough information to be saved and enough for us to share with others so that they too can be saved. Job tells us in Job 11:7-9 "Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven - what can you do. Deeper than Sheol - what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea."
Genesis 5:1-5 is pretty clear that Adam lived to be 930 years old, not billions of years.
Jason, the record of Adam's life is the total years that he lived, which would have began with his first breath from God. He came from God's hand, but it was a "birth" nonetheless. I cannot imagine that Adam could have lived for billions of years and the bible would not say it. Also, this would mean no children for those billions of years while they were two perfectly healthy people given the command to "be fruitful and multiply".
I would assume the fall came quickly based on the evidence given.
I am so glad the He Jesus who is God is the resurrection and life , because when that day of reckoned shall come we in Christ shall be change in a moment, in an twinkling of an eye . What a glorious day that will be when my Lord shall burst the cloud.If those who do not believe just believe,because its not God's will that any man shall perished.
We are not even durt just the stuff that is leftover after you pitch some dirt up in the air, (Dust)
The stereotyping of scientists as evil is unnecessary, and dare I say it, offensive. I am a scientist, with a BSc(Hons) from London University in Physics and Chemistry, and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Newcastle. I also have a strong Christian faith. Faith and Science need not be opposed to one another. One only has to look at the advances that science has made in the areas of health, materials science, and technology to realise that science has contributed much to our well-being and our understanding of our universe. We would not be having this conversation on the Internet if it were not for scientists and computer engineers.
Rather than characterising science and scientists as evil one should remember that the science that does concern us in this discussion is the science that wants to replace a personal creator God with mechanical physics. Rather than stereotyping scientists as evil, let us remember that it is not science that is our enemy but the philosophical position that existence itself can be given an entirely mechanistic explanation.
I am aware of many scientists who hold a range of "Christian" viewpoints about origins. Rather surprisingly I have found an increasing awareness among atheistic scientists that mechanical explanations do not answer some of the big questions. There is an increasing recognition that the "dust" of the universe is rather special.
There is room for Science and God.
I concur. True science recognises the wisdom of God in creation.
the scientist's view ,of man's origins , being brought about by evolution ,really brings about serious questioning of their intelligence and only shows how narrow minded they can be, because , their argument is: the biological systemes in "less developed"(who are you to say they are less developed when they are by design) and in primates closely resemble those in humans , "so we must have evolved from these organisms". but why didnt they say "since all these systemes are a close resemblance each other, their maker should be the same.
We need to be careful when accusing scientists of being narrow minded and lacking intelligence. Such accusations can be turned against us just as easily. Scientists have a wide diversity of views on how life began. Some of them are even Christian.
You are so right, Maurice Ashton! Whatever the scientists' limited viewpoint is, they are only human like the rest of us. However, I am very fascinated by what they do find and their many contributions to modern society!! Their helpful wisdom and work is as important as many other occupations on the planet, and their service has brought us the technology we enjoy today!! I will enjoy studying science throughout eternity, even though I am just an interested person and not in the scientific field today.
Thank you Mr. Ashton for giving due credit to scientists in light of the advancement of our world, and their individual belief system. But I was wondering if anyone would respond to Jason B's comments on Adam being over 4 billion years old before he sinned since a day equals 1,000 years.
Can someone clear up this confusion?
To Maurice Ashton, Thanks for your words of wisdom. So many times we as Christians have discussions like this and to people in the world we seem crazy or uneducated. As you stated, if it were not for science there are so many diseases that would still be rampant in the world causing death and chaos. I thank God for science. It has opened a way for us to understand Him and the power that He has in a form that our infinite human minds can tolerate. We as Christians, just need to continue to make a stand and proclaim truth where error is presented by scientists who do not believe that God created the heavens earth and us in six days. Anytime we hear the theory of billions of years to create the world or evolution, we should respectfully and firmly state what the word of God says and move on. What a lot of us do when this type of conversation comes up is...to listen silently, but then go and complain vehemently to our church brethren. Let's learn to stand up for what we know is truth in a firm respectful way.
To all, scientists and 'non-scientists' I suggest this bible verse; The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (science),...Prov 1:7. The breath of life that He infuses into the nostrils of this carefully crafted mass of atoms has been quite elusive to the understanding of man. The lack of human understanding of the many changes that occur during the first breath breath of a newborn is simple evidence that He is "science" beyond our understanding. However, we have been made according to the image of God as he shared His 'breath of life' with man. Sin broke it all, as the breath leaves in death, we are but a mass of atoms, returning to dust awaiting the eternal sinless breath of life that he promisses at the end of times. To me, this is the greatest scientific explanation. God IS science! if human understanding were able to fully define and decipher all that has not been revealed (Science), than we (men) would be above the one who sais I AM WHO I AM. Exod 3:14. God has a special blessing for those who seek a higher understanding of Him [science] with humility. We all ought to be 'scientists'. Are we not seeking to get to know him better and get closer to Him? God bless all those who study the wonders of His works and give glory to God!
I really love the comment by Louisdon Pierre. Indeed God says that the things that have not been revealed to us are not for us but for God. He is our creator hence knows that our minds are very small to understand certain things. The only problem that we have as humans is that, as we try to study that which God has created we want to challenge him and show him that we know better than our Father. That is really a bad direction that led Lucifer to sin.
While I appreciate the comments by Louisdon Pierre, I wish to disagree with the statement that God is Science. That really sounds like Pantheism. While Science helps us understand (what we have this far and what we are yet to or will never)the wonders of God, Science indeed can never be God. Please reflect.
This lesson is so good to me. God shows me what he is going to do for his people. He is making a way for us and we should change our bad ways before He comes. You can't go to heaven with your bad ways, he doesn't want any sinner there.
We sometimes use words like; science, wisdom, knowledge, information rather recklessly. That is why we often disagree with what one another is saying. For me, each of these words has a very specific meaning and I try when I am writing to use them carefully. But I am an academic and that is what I do for a living. However I recognize that others use words in a less prescriptive way. Consequently Louisdon Pierre, I agree and disagree with you. God is the source of wisdom and knowledge, and science is a method that we can use to investigate God's creation. Neither knowledge, wisdom, or science define God.
If we allow our discovery to define God we end up with a limited view of God. That does not mean we should not investigate either God or his creation. Life is a journey of discovery, not a destination.
There are two extremes we should avoid. On the one hand we should avoid elevating our knowledge to being the ultimate in truth. Nor, on the other hand, should we limit ourselves to "truth" being what was accepted as true at some time in the past. We need to understand that "all that is old is not gold; all that is new is not true."