Mathematician, amateur astronomer, loved science, and in a sense held the position of Hodge to the effect of it being a progressive evolution, a theistic evolution. I'm not sure that I really embraced that, but I did set forth to study forestry, actually. I had no idea of going into the ministry. I was too shy. I didn't think I could deal with people and so forth, and the Lord just turned that around. So I went to the University of Michigan to study forestry and ended up finishing in botany there. It was in my senior year as a senior when we were studying fungi and algae and the professor said, look in the microscope and see this and we don't know which way it's going, whether it's going up or down. And I began to pose the question in my own mind. They had taught us in the first year at the Natural Science Department, evolution is a fact. Here they were admitting, we don't know. That's virtually what they were saying. And then the university, we had a man that came from Wheaton and said, try to compare the facts that you've learned in your science classes with the Bible, and it'll fit that model better than it does the evolutionary scheme. And that, I think, helped me to move in a way from accepting the evolutionary scheme and moving more and more in the other direction. Frankly, I think perhaps when I went to to Westminster and heard E.J. Young not being willing to commit himself. And as godly a man as he was, he used to stand and say, if you just knew enough, you'd never say the Bible was in error. That's the simple sort of faith that E.J. Young had. Never say the Bible was in error. And yet he would not affirm the ages of the history beyond Abraham. He would not affirm the matter of the 24 hours. I think he leaned in that direction, or sort of favored it. talked about the Fourth Commandment, perhaps the strongest evidence for it, but he wouldn't affirm it. And Davis Young, of course, at Calvin College, his son, and is one of the leaders in that other direction at this point. And frankly, it was that view that I brought on to Reform Seminary as I was involved in the founding of Reform Seminary, and I've taught generations of students era for which I repent, and I wish I could undo it. But as I've studied it more, and this particular week has been very useful preparation for this week in confirming me and seeing biblical grounds, more specifically biblical grounds for holding the 24-hour period. And so I think that we ought to all be open to being corrected by the scripture on everything. But as we study a doctrine like this, try to be open with regard to it. The topic of this address is the theological significance of the biblical doctrine of creation. We shall not limit ourselves to speak only of the six literal days of creation, but shall deal with the doctrine of creation in general. As we examine the fall of man and the effect of the fall—namely, the coming of death into creation—we shall see the fact that it is the six-literal-day view that best meets the biblical teaching on this subject. It is worthy of consideration that those churches and seminaries that have abandoned the clear teaching of the Bible on creation, as so many have done in the modern scientific age, have tended to drift in other areas as well. And I think Princeton's classic, she abandoned this position and then eventually Machen felt he had to leave and form a new seminary because Princeton was abandoning other positions he couldn't stay with. And it's classic to see that great citadel of orthodoxy. This is the first breach really in her stand. And then I've just heard news of a student that's just come back from his first year up there at Princeton. He's said he only found two teachers that he got anything useful out of at Princeton. And Sid Anderson says that his three years at Princeton were the worst three years of his life. He got absolutely nothing, he felt, from that. So that it's so sad to see a great institution like Princeton having gone down the way she has. And we need to be on guard lest we fall into that same trap. As the issue is now before the PCA and the OPC, let us pray that both of these denominations and the seminaries serving them will remain true to the word on this and on all tenets of the faith. The whole Christian system of thought and its world and life view grows out of the biblical doctrine of creation. For once creation takes place, then the process of time is set into motion. The providence of God, as his continued upholding of the created universe, grows out of the idea of creation. The Christian religion is a historical religion, that is, it has been revealed to us through the whole process of history as the unfolding of God's eternal plan to us. This history teaches us that man was created as a morally upright creature, that he was placed under probation so that he would become self-consciously a covenant keeper. and that he was tempted and fell into sin, and that God announced both curses and the good news of a coming seed of the woman to give the victory over the serpent. The whole history of redemption that is recorded in the scripture is the fulfillment of that first promise that culminates in the death and the resurrection of Christ. The possibility of this plan of redemption lay in the fact that man was created in the image of God. Finally, the consummate state is that in which the effects of sin are removed from the whole of creation. So first of all I want to deal with creation and knowledge. The biblical doctrine of creation is the foundational doctrine of Christian theology and of all Christian thought and action. It is on the basis of this doctrine alone that we can have an understanding of any facts found in the universe. Just think about it. Go out here and sit on a bench and say, who am I? What is this place that I'm in? Where did it come from? What's the purpose of it? It's only the biblical doctrine of creation that gives you an answer. Oh, we've just evolved. We just have come. Bang theory. And we're in that process of evolving. I mean, that's the natural world's view of it. And it doesn't make sense when you begin to examine it. The opening words of the Bible declare the fact that there is a two-layered view of reality. God is set forth as the self-existent, self-contained, self-sufficient being who eternally existed prior to the creation of all else that exists. And I'm following Dr. Van Til's classic diagram of the two circles. The top circle is that God who is the self-contained, ontological, triune God. And before anything else exists, the top circle is all that exists. And then by his act of creation, It creates all of the universe, which is dependent, not self-contained. Cannot say of it, I am, but I am becoming, in a process constantly of becoming. The phrase, the heavens and the earth, is an all-encompassing phrase of all that exists besides God. Everything that exists outside of God is created. It is therefore created in dependent reality, while God is uncreated, self-contained being. The biblical doctrine of creation thus gives man the basis for the development of a metaphysics or a theory of reality. The opening verse of the Bible indicates that this reality is a two-layered view. The first layer is the uncreated, self-contained, independent, living, triune God. The God who sovereignly determines to create a universe that is dependent upon him, which constitutes the second layer of reality. Thus we have the creator-creature distinction. in the area of metaphysics that describes all of reality. Along with this kind of metaphysics or theory of reality, the Christian recognizes that there must be also a two-layered view of epistemology or of our theory of how do we know anything. God, who is the source of all truth, has all knowledge in and of himself. He preinterprets all the truth and all the facts that he places in the created universe, so that as man learns more and more about the universe, he is rethinking God's thoughts after him. In the area of epistemology, God thinks originally and creatively, whereas man thinks analogically, thinking God's thoughts after him. He thus does not think originally, but derivatively, and recreatively. From this two-layered view of metaphysics and of epistemology, the Christian understands the area of ethics also is two-layered, with a God as Lord and a creature as the servant who must obey his master. The creator-creature nature of reality, knowledge, and ethics gives the Christian his best tool for apologetics or the defending of the Christian faith. as one compares the Christian world and life view with any non-Christian world and life view. It is the doctrine of creation in particular that shows that Christianity alone makes sense of the world in which we live. In Van Til's thesis, and I think he's entirely right, all non-Christian systems have at their root the twofold assumption of the just theirness of the world, and the autonomous mind of man which is able to deal with the world without the aid of God. Those are the two non-Christian assumptions. It's a very interesting debate I've just taken my class through between Greg Bonson and I think it was Gordon Stein was the man's name out in California. It's a very interesting debate to listen to, and Stein keeps talking about the laws of logic, the laws of logic, and Anson says, where do you get them? And he says, I agree with you, the laws of logic are true, but they come from the God who has made the universe reflect His nature. They don't come from a chance world. And as you think about that, you see, it's that sort of an approach to the non-Christian. We need to confront him with the fact he can't understand the world in which he lives. But we as Christians do because of the doctrine of creation. All non-Christian systems have as their root the two-fold assumption. As the Christian presses the non-Christian to recognize his own presuppositions of a chance world and of human autonomy, he can point out that on the non-Christian basis, he's not able to predicate anything. Or to put it another way, the non-Christian view of facts is that they are brute facts. If that is so, then they are unrelated facts. And thus, no relationship can exist between any facts in the universe. There is no cause and effect relationship. No reason why two plus two may equal four today and may not equal something else in the next moment. David Hume with his skepticism saying if you have chance in your system, you can't have a system. He's exactly right. There can be no science on this basis. There can be no understanding of any facts of the universe on the basis of a chance universe. The non-Christian, while suppressing this knowledge, seeks to explain the universe on non-biblical grounds. He denies the biblical doctrine of creation and just assumes the existence of matter and the universe as just being there by chance. Such an assumption implies the eternal existence of matter beside God, thus denying the basic Christian teaching that prior to the creation there was nothing other than God himself. Only the biblical doctrine of creation gives us a rational way in which we can properly understand any fact. The reason that there are relations between facts of the universe is because the God of creation established that relationship. In particular, it's only the Calvinist or the Reformed Christian who can make rational sense of the world. For it is not only the idea of creation that enables us to understand the world, it is the fact that God has preinterpreted all the facts in history and of the universe that gives the facts meaning and relations to each other. Thus, as a man observes the facts and thinks God's thoughts after him, he is able to come to the truth. It is not the chance universe of the non-Christian that makes science possible. It's only the Christian view of the creation that gives us the key to the coming to truth in our study of the universe. In particular, it's the doctrine of the creation of man in the image of God that gives us the key as to how man can rethink truly God's thoughts after him and come to the truth itself. Even though he has lost the truth in the fall, the fact that he is made in the image of God is still true. And thus even the unregenerate man knows God from his inward being and from the inner external witness of creation about him, Romans 1, 18-20. The second point that I would deal with is creation and the doctrine of revelation. Some of my students will recognize some of the material that comes out of my text, the systematic theology that I've prepared, but it fits right into this lecture most suitably. Revelation in Creation and Providence. The first chapter of Genesis presents us with one of the most magnificent revelatory acts of God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. All the truth that is discoverable in this reality has come from God as a result of his creative and providential activity. The Bible teaches us that creation is revelational. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork. This illustrates the idea of the word revelation, what it conveys. It is derived from the Latin revelatio, which denotes unveiling or disclosing. The heavens unveil, they disclose the glory of God. Not only is the creating work of God revelational, but it's also his sustaining and the governing of that creation, which we call providence, is revelational. This is seen in the daily revelation of creation to us. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. The same thought is expressed many times in scripture. For example, the heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people have seen his glory, from Psalm 97. Paul attests the same thing to the multitudes at Lystra. And yet he left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness. He has just announced that God is the creator of all in verse 15, and it is his sustaining grace that is a witness even to the heathen of himself. Romans 1.20 asserts the same basic principle, for the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse. Note that this verse includes both creation and the continuation of the universe as being revelatory. Both creation and providence are revelatory. As one examines the details of the account in Genesis, he finds that the means of creation was through the speaking of God, and God said occurs eight times. Four times the product of his creative activity is called by name. We see here that revelation and creation is not only the act, the actual bringing it into but it also involves the word revelation. This association of God's spoken revelation with creative activities is found in other passages. Significance of this is accented by the prologue of John where the term logos is used of the second person of the Trinity. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that hath been made. Or let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he commanded, and they were created. The word is the express revelation of God to us. He was active in the creation and also in providence. Hebrews 1, 1-3 reads, God having of old times spoken unto the fathers and the prophets by diverse portions, and in diverse manners hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power." There is a providence by the word. when he had made purification of sins set down on the right hand of the majesty on high." Here we see the Son of God is not only active in creation, but also in providence. And again, it is by word that he upholds all things. May I just throw in at the point, the neo-orthodox do not like the idea of propositional truth. They do not believe you can set down the truth in a sentence. What you learn from the creative activity of God in Genesis 1 is that God spoke words and the creation came into being. Propositional. He said, let there be light. And there was light. You see, revelation is both act and word. In fact, Voss suggests it's word, act, word. You have the first word about it. then the action, and then the interpretation coming afterwards. That's the normal biblical pattern. Creation of man in the image of God is a unique act of his revelation. It is the image of God in man that makes him distinct from all the rest of creation. The idea of image is that which is a likeness. In other words, man was created expressly to be the revelation of God. By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done, he commanded, and it stood fast." This is borne out in the New Testament. Paul says, that which is known of God is manifest in them. Again, he teaches that even the Gentiles have the work of the law of God written in their hearts, from Romans, the second chapter. Verse 14 and 15, for when the Gentiles that have not law do by nature the things of the law, these not having the law are a law unto themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts. Dr. Crovendom used to say to our classes here when he was teaching here, it's not the law written on their hearts, that's part of the new covenant, but it's the work of the law. What that distinction is, we may not be able to make out clearly, but it's different than the law being written on our hearts as a permanent thing in the New Covenant. But the work of the law is written on the hearts even of the Gentiles, their consciences bearing witness therewith and their thoughts one with another, accusing or else excusing them. By the virtue of their being made in the image of God, even the heathen bear in their inmost being something of the revelation of God and his law. Though man may deny and pervert this inner revelation, it is one of the clear concepts of Scripture that should not be overlooked by the Christian. In the gospel, man is to be conformed to the image of Christ, restored to the image which has been so marred by sin in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. God's revelation comes to expression in the Christian life as he causes his glory to be seen and reflected in our lives. The ultimate revelation of God's image in man is to be seen in the second Adam, the Word of God incarnate, even our Lord Jesus Christ. To summarize what we have learned about revelation from creation and providence, we have seen one, both creation and upholding the universe are themselves revelational acts. Two, the continued existence of the created universe gives a permanent and continuing revelation. Day unto day it continues to speak to us. Third, the accompanying of the acts of creation and providence is the speaking of God, implying the rational character of the revelation. Fourth, the revelation is of the triune God. since all three persons of the Trinity were and are active in creation and providence. Five particularly revealed are the following, the glory of God, the wisdom of God, the righteousness of God, the everlasting power, and the divinity of God. Six, this revelation is addressed to and available to all men and is thus called general revelation. Seven, as suggested by the place given to creation in scripture, revelation from it is a background for the fuller unfolding of God's special purposes for man. Eight, being the revelation of God, it is authoritative revelation. God speaks with authority whenever, wherever, however he speaks. Nine, it is sufficient to display those things for which it is particularly designed. It is sufficient to serve as the background for the special revelation that is to follow. But it is not sufficient to reveal that further truth which God has in store for man. And ten, it is clear enough, the perspicuity of Scripture, it is clear enough for all men to read and to be left without excuse. Now the revelation, particularly from the Garden of Eden, before the fall, might point out this is the only normal period in the history of the world and of the universe. You know, we have come accustomed to earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, all of those sorts of things. That's abnormal. It's not part of the normal creation, all very good. In Genesis 2, 4 through 25, we find the expanded account of the creation of man and of his first condition. In chapter 3, we have the account of the temptation of the fall of man. From there onward, the Bible is a record of God's redemptive revelation. Only in chapter 2 do we find the pre-fallen condition treated. This is given for our understanding of the original state of man and his fall into sin. The most striking new feature of the revelation in this chapter is the fact that God addresses his rational creatures with verbal revelation. We have already observed that verbal or spoken revelation accompanied the creative acts of God. In Genesis 1.28-30 and 2.16-17 present the picture of God in a direct personal communion with man, speaking to him first of what he has given him and then of the probation connected with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We may assume that since this record serves only as the backdrop for the understanding of the fall, there may have been other, more direct verbal communication between God and man in Eden that is not recorded for us. The original unfallen estate of man was that of fellowship with God. This was the normal condition of man. All that follows the fall must be called abnormal. It should be observed that verbal revelation was not necessitated by sin. It was part of the normal situation for the creature made in the image of God to have direct personal communion with God. This communion includes verbal communication. One more feature of revelation is found in this chapter, namely the use of the symbolic. This is seen in several parts of the account. First, the garden itself. This is a place particularly prepared by God, a place where God himself came and walked, a place for the communion of God with man. Ezekiel describes Eden as the garden of God. In this we have the picture of the essence of the biblical religion. Namely, fellowship between God and man. The God-centered character of this religion is thus revealed in Eden. The second symbol to be noted is the tree of life. Revelation 2.7 reads, He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear that the Spirit saith unto the churches, To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Here are the references to the tree of life in the paradise of God. The last chapter of the scripture portrays the final glory about the throne of the Lamb with the river of life flowing from the throne and the tree of life beside it. It's interesting. From the creation garden, the final garden, the tree of life is carried right on over. He showed me the pure water of life, clear as crystals proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street of it. And on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yieldeth her fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation." On the basis of these references to the tree of life, we may assume that this tree would have been the sacramental means of conveying eternal life to man had he passed the test. In fact, he is barred from taking it after the fall. What has been said of the tree of life being a sacramental means of revelation and conveying the blessing can also be said of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree was to be the means for man to come to the knowledge of good and evil, no matter how he used it. Without our going further into the content of the probation and the fall, let it suffice to say that we find God revealing his purpose and blessings in the Garden of Eden through the use of the symbolic and sacramental signs of the two trees. As we summarize what we learned here, the nature of God's revelation, we shall call this revelation in the Garden of Eden as addressed to man, pre-redemptive special revelation. That's Voss's term for it, and I think a good term. It is special in that it is addressed to man as a special communication that could not be derived from nature. Its particular design was that of promoting personal relationship between God and man. In other words, this revelation was specifically religious in character. In anticipation of what will be found in further study of the Bible, the modes of God's revelation already suggested will be seen later. First, we have seen in the creation the act of God as revelation. So you begin to talk about the modes of revelation. The creation itself is an act of God. Secondly, we have seen him speaking to man, his word revelation. So the speaking or the word revelation. Third, it is at least suggested that God came and appeared in some theophany to man as the voice of the Lord God came in the garden during the cool of the day. Thus we see the three direct modes of revelation, namely miracle or action, prophecy, and theophany. These modes of revelation were not necessitated by sin, but were part of the normal condition of God's revealing himself to the unfallen man, so also with the use of the sacramental. Here God graciously accommodates his revelation to the needs of his creatures, and this was a part of the original normal situation. The third division is the creation and the doctrine of God. The writer to the Hebrews introduces his chapter on faith with a general definition of faith, and then follows with a declaration regarding our faith in the doctrine of creation. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. For therein the elders had witnessed born to them By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear. This passage speaks of the principium internum of theology, namely faith. Due to the noetic effects of sin, man is unable to come to faith without the work of the Holy Spirit. Even the acceptance of the Bible as the Word of God comes only through the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. So with the doctrine of creation, though the sinner is able to see the handiwork and the glory of God and the work of creation, so that deep within himself he knows God, he will suppress that knowledge and become a fool and worship the creature instead of the Creator. As Paul says in Romans 1, he is without excuse for such behavior. The very act of creation is revelation of God. All creation bears upon it the stamp of its maker. The heavens declare his glory, the firmament showeth his handiwork. All men know God because they are themselves the image of God, and because the whole of the universe is a self-attesting revelation of the living and true God. Thus for man to refuse to recognize this revelation in themselves and in creation is nothing less than sinful rebellion. And as Paul says, without excuse. In creation God reveals himself as God. He acts in a way entirely different from the creature. And here I'm quoting Herman Hoeksema, with us the things exist before we can ever call them. And our calling brings nothing into existence. But the Lord calls things before they exist. And through his almighty calling is the things which he in his counsel he conceived and willed received existence. Paul in Romans 1 says, For the invisible things in him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity. This passage asserts that the fact of creation we can know God and something about him. Paul makes the assertion that all men know God. We know his everlasting power and divinity. That is, we know that he is God. The creation itself bears witness to his everlasting power. The psalmist adds that the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork, day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night showeth knowledge." Both David and Paul are saying that creation is a self-attesting witness to the existence of God. As a result, all men know God. And this is a starting point for apologetics, really. All men know God, and you can speak to them as creatures of the living God, and you know God. They may deny it, but the fact is they do know God. Because of their sinfulness, they suppressed the knowledge and became vain in their reasonings and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Man cannot be self-conscious without being God-conscious. John Murray asserts, The thought that does not begin with God and move toward him is essentially godless, and therefore ungodly. A striking thing to think about. If we are self-conscious, then we are God-conscious beings, and our thoughts must think about God and move toward him. as creatures who are not self-existent and self-sufficient but are dependent beings, it is only as we recognize our creatureliness that we begin to have a proper concept of ourselves. In other words, we cannot think of ourselves without at the same time thinking of the God who has made us. And when we think about God, we cannot think of him aright without thinking of our relation to him. Murray says, even if the thought of our relation to him is not in the forefront of consciousness, at the particular time and must always be in the immediate background, conditioning our whole attitude and thinking of him. To be quite specific, any thought of God by us must be conditioned by a profound apprehension of the transcendent majesty and glory in a word that he is God and that there is none else beside him. Our thought must be determined by the fear of God. Reverence is the very soul of true thought, and worship is its invariable result. But why reverence and worship? Simply because he is God, and we are his creatures. So far, then, as we are concerned, we can never think of God without thinking of God as God and of ourselves as his creatures. In other words, the thought of creation, the thought of dependence upon God, is implicated in any true thought we entertain with respect to God. Without the concept of creation, then, we cannot think even one right thought of God. Hence the significance of creation for our conception of God, and therefore for the Christian position. That's the end of the Murray quote. Creation can be explained only by reference to the mighty will of God. as seen in Isaiah, for example, who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counselor, hath taught him?" Again, God challenged Job regarding his creative work. Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me, where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare it, if thou hast understanding. Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretches the line upon it? Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sung together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, Job's response was one of humbly bowing before God in repentance and worship. We've been talking about creation this week. Do you think of creation as leading you to worship God? Not only do we learn of God in the creation, we learn that there is a plurality of the persons in the Godhead. This is seen in the opening verses, where the Spirit of God is introduced as brooding over the formless matter which God had called into being in the first and most basic act of creation. There is also the concept of plurality found in Genesis 126, where there is a divine consultation within the Godhead concerning the creation of man. In the New Testament, we have the specific reference to the second person of the Trinity as being involved in the creation, as seen in the prologue of John and in Colossians 1 and elsewhere. The vision of heaven that John had in the book of Revelation shows the angelic hosts worshipping and adoring God simply because he is God, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is, and who is to come. Again, in the light of his having created the world, the four and twenty elders fall down and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power. For thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were. Surely our consideration of creation should bring us to repentance with Job and to adoration and worship with the elders in heaven. The next point is creation in man. The creative activity of God culminated in the creation of man as the crown of the rest of the creation. Our knowledge of the origin of man is dependent primarily on the first two chapters of Genesis. It's obvious from these first two chapters of the Bible that the universe has not existed eternally, but has been created. The creation took place through the series of progressive steps. There was not a single command that set everything in motion. Rather, we see that at each stage of the progression, God speaks and gives new commands, and God said is a repeated phrase throughout the creation account. A particular interest is the difference that takes place in Genesis 126 when God said, Let us make man. Mary says these terms have no parallel elsewhere. The uniqueness does not reside in the fact that God spoke, but in what he said. Let us make. The language suggests the idea of a divine consultation within himself. According to the Bible's account, man is not of any aspect of his origin on a parity with other creatures. The distinctiveness appears in the counsel of which his origin is the effect. The distinctiveness of man is expressed in the fact that he's made in the image of God. The animals were made after their kind, while man is made in the image and after the likeness of God himself. The phrase, after its kind, is found some five times, and then in verse 26 there is an abrupt change in our image and after our likeness. The pattern for the animals is that which God willed it to be. With man it's more than just the will of God. God willed that man's identity should consist in God's own image and likeness, but the exemplar itself was not something willed to be. It is that which belonged to God himself intrinsically. Not only is man made in the image of God, but he is also, because of this difference in nature, he has dominion over the rest of creation. He is God's vice-regent because he is like The demarcation between man and the other animate creatures that stands in the closest relation to him is hereby exemplified in unmistakable terms, and it becomes impossible to conceive of man in any respect on a parity with the other animate beings, nor to speak of the inanimate, or not to speak of the inanimate. In Genesis 2-7 we find a more detailed description of the creation of man. In Jehovah, God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. As we examine this account, it is clear that God did not call man into existence from nothing, but rather he took the dust of the earth and formed him from this element. The fact that man is of the earth is so clear that God, in pronouncing the curse of death upon him after the fall, says, Dust thou art. One of the clear lessons to be learned from this is the fact that man has a close affinity with his non-animate environment, with the dust of the ground on which he walks and from which he draws his sustenance. This affinity was part of the good creation by God. A comparison of Genesis 2.7 and 2.19 shows that there is also affinity with the animate creatures of the earth, and Jehovah God formed from the ground every beast of the field and every fowl of the heavens. Despite this affinity, it should be remembered that in 1.26 man is to be distinguished from the animals, having been created in the image of God. Further, Genesis 2.7 speaks of an additional step of the creation of man, namely the divine in-breathing. Murray says, quote, we may not know the precise nature of the action denoted by the breath breathed into his nostrils, but the terms must represent communication from without and cannot be interpreted as evolution of potencies residing or resident in the dust from the ground. nor even in the terms of potencies belonging to the resultant of the formative action to which the dust from the ground had been subjected. Inbreathing stands for the interposition on God's part by special action for the communication of the formation of man, measuring up to the character and status of Genesis 1.26 that is contemplated. not of some animate progenitor of man, not of a savage man, but of man whose denotation and connotation are determined for us by the preceding context. He concludes, Murray concludes his consideration of this whole subject with the following summary paragraph. It was the divine in-breathing that constituted man, animate creature. It was that living soul, animate creature. It was this same in-breathing that constituted man specifically man. So that what constituted man animate creature was also that which constituted him specifically man, and that which constituted him specifically man is that which also constituted him animate creature. Man did not appear in two stages of animate development. We may not think of man as possessing an animate life common to him and other beings, and then, in addition, an animate life distinct from other beings. The animation that is his is the animation that belongs to his distinguishing identity." What is quite clear from Mary's exegesis of this passage is the fact that there is no room in the biblical account for an evolutionary development of man's body to which God adds a soul. Such an interpretation simply does not meet the terms of the texts of Genesis 1 and 2. Murray emphasizes that this is in the clearest terms as he concludes the chapter on the origin of man. The crux of the question as it is posed for us by the history of evolution is can the portrayal given us in the Bible, and particularly Genesis 1 and 2, be interpreted as compatible with a theory that man as we know him, and for that matter, man as represented in Genesis, came to be by process of evolution from lower forms of life. several considerations that demand a negative answer. He then cites the teaching that man's identity consists in the image and likeness of God. Secondly, he indicates Genesis 2.7 cannot be reconciled with any evolutionary hypothesis. And finally, he indicates we do not need evolution to account for the affinity that man has with the animate creatures, since they have both been formed from the earth by the same maker. Doctrine of creation thus teaches us that man is a unique creature made in the image and likeness of God. As such, he is to serve and adore his Maker. He is to serve and worship him in the ways which God prescribes and not according to his own desires or imaginations. Thus creation speaks to us not only of the nature of man but also of the duty of man. Inherent in the Creator-Creature distinction is the concept of the law of the Creator, which is to guide us in the whole duty of man to God. It is of interest to see the Westminster divines saw this and indicated that Adam, as created, had the law of God written upon his heart. Creation and the fall, the entrance of death. One of the major theological problems raised by the attempts of modern science is to account for the origin of man through the form of evolution is the question of the unity of the human race. It's often asserted by scientists that man arose by the process of evolution in different places on the earth. Some suggest China, others Africa, others Europe. As far as anthropologists are concerned, he may well have risen in several different places on the earth. How such products of evolution, rising totally independently of each other, could eventually produce the modern Homo sapiens, which is a homogeneous human race able to procreate across all ethnic and racial lines, is one of those mysteries for which science has no satisfactory answer. If there is one thing that appears clear from the biblical account, it is the unity of the human race. The whole race is represented as descended from one pair of human parents. Our Lord set his seal upon this teaching in Matthew 19.4, where he is endorsing the marriage relationship as given by Genesis. And again, Paul, in Acts 17.26, God has made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and having determined their appointed seasons and bounds of their habitations. This unity is seen in the teaching regarding sin, that all have sinned. One of the implications of this unity is that the gospel is applicable to every kindred, tribe, and nation. The creation account indicates that when God had completed his work of creation, it was all very good. Today the world around us is rough and red and tooth and claw. which is hardly a picture of a good world. The threat to Adam, if he sinned, was a threat of death. This he experienced on the day of his sinning and in that he immediately lost communion with God. His body was also changed as God announced to him that unto dust he must return. Thus from the announcement of the curse, if not from the very moment of his sinning, man also began to die physically. It's obvious that the threat of death was to a man as the crown of the creation, and it is obvious that man died spiritually immediately upon his sinning and eventually died physically. The question may well be asked as to whether Adam's sin is the ground for the death that is found throughout the animal kingdom. Those who hold to a long history of the earth and assume that death was a part of the nature of things even prior to the fall, one wonders how they interpret the idea of the whole of creation as described as all very good, if death stalked throughout the animal kingdom from the beginning. It should be observed that the creation account itself indicates that the plants were given both to man and to animals for food. No hint of animals eating one another before the fall of man, the crown of the creation. And this is from Genesis 129. And following, God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seeds, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which the fruit of the tree yielding seeds, to you it shall be given for food, and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life. I have given every green herb for food, and it was so. It should be possible to maintain that the animals were all herbaceous before the fall, but for those who hold the long view, that since they were around for a long time before Adam was created, they would simply have died natural deaths without necessarily killing each other. Those holding this view would see the threat of death was only a threat of human death. Certainly possible to read the text in that way. As one reads the effects of sin on nature, then it seems that all of nature is upset, including the death of animal life, as a part of the effect of sin. Genesis 3.17 says, Cursed is the ground for thy sake, which speaks of the cosmic implications of the fall. Not only were Adam and Eve affected by sin, but even the ground, the earth from which they were taken, is said to be cursed. Paul affirms that the whole creation was affected by sinners, awaiting for the revealing of the sons of God. This is from Romans 8, 19 through 22. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered in this language, from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole of creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now. John Murray, after indicating that the phrase the whole creation is not referring to angels, Satan, believers, or other men, says, quote, the bondage of corruption is the bondage which consists in corruption. And since it is not ethical in character, must be taken in the sense of the decay and death apparent even in non-rational creation." Now, I indicated yesterday that Murray did not talk about the short period of the earth and the six literal days in his comments, but I think this implies he held to it, that the death that came upon the animal kingdom came as a result of the sin of man. This is an insightful comment which clearly indicates that the bondage of corruption to which the Apostle is speaking must be of the death in the animal world. Thus we may conclude that the Bible does not teach that the death of the animal world or the bondage of corruption must may conclude that it was a result of the sin of Adam. If this is correct, then one is driven to the conclusion that the animals had not existed over long periods of time prior to the creation of Adam. Taking the total teaching of the scripture on the subject, it appears that the historic, simple understanding of Genesis 1 is the best interpretation. For if creation only took a literal week, then the idea that there was not any death even in the animal world until the sin of Adam fits. The day-age view has to assume that death was a part of the nature of creation, that the animals had been living and dying over the ages. This careful study of the whole scripture on the subject points quite clearly to a short history of the earth with death coming only after the fall of Adam. The first mention of animal death is that which is implied by the fact that God took the skins of animals and clothed Adam and Eve before the driving of them out of the garden. To obtain the animal skins, the death of the animals is presupposed. Many commentators hold it to be the nature of a sacrifice for the sin of Adam and Eve, beginning the long line of sacrifices that culminated in the cross of Christ. Thus, on the very day of their sinning, death entered into the animal world. as the animals were slain in behalf of Adam and Eve, thus speaking of the judicial penalty under which they had come by their sin. The revelation concerning the coming final consummate state includes the statement, and death shall be no more. Surely the depiction of the new earth is that of the world of nature without death in it. Isaiah seems to have such a world in view when he says of the Messianic age, and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. I have a longer quote than that, but that's sufficient to remind you of that passage. Now the next subject is creation and Christology. The promise of the seed of the woman to come and conquer Satan carries with it a hint of the orthodox doctrine of Christology. On the one hand, he is to be a human child as the child of the woman. On the other hand, there is the suggestion that he will not be one who comes by ordinary generation. He is not described as the seed of the man, but of the woman. Of course, we find the meaning of this in the fact that the Messiah was born of a virgin, thus preserving him from inheriting, through ordinary generation, a sinful nature. Further, we have the revelation that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that hath been made. Again, Paul says in Colossians regarding the Son of his love. in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and unto him, and he is before all things, and in him all things consist." We see in these and other references that the second person of the Trinity was involved in this creative work. In John 1.1 we have him designated with the term Logos, which indicates that he is the particular person of the Godhead who reveals God's word to us. Most Orthodox theologians identify the theophanies of the Old Testament as pre-incarnate appearances of the second person of the Trinity. It is promised that the Messiah is to be born of a virgin, Isaiah 7.14, that he is to be called Wonderful Counselor of the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. All these terms speak of the deity of the person who is to be born of the virgin. Thus we see that he is both God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever. We call this the doctrine of the Incarnation. The possibility of the Incarnation lies in the fact that man as created was created in the image of God. Though the incarnation involved an infinite step of condescension and humiliation of the second person of the Trinity, it was not degradation. For our nature was created in the image of God. Thus it is the doctrine of the creation as it culminated in the creation of man in the image of God that provided the possibility of the plan of redemption. as worked out by our Savior. So I move then to creation and redemption. The provision of the Redeemer comes only because of the mercy of God who has graciously provided him for his elect. The promise of this came immediately after the fall of our first parents. One of the things to be seen is the fact that Adam and Eve did not seek God. but rather tried to conceal themselves from him. God is portrayed as seeking them. They had died spiritually, had lost communion with God, but God graciously seeks them and calls them to account for their situation. Sad to say, we do not hear the tone of repentance in the part of Adam in that encounter with God. Rather, there is an accusatory note that the woman whom God gave him has led him into sin. God graciously overlooks this for the time and announces the curse upon the serpent, but along with it there is the declaration of the coming of the seed of the woman who shall gain the victory over the serpent. Note that Adam and Eve were not called upon to do anything regarding this. It's all of sovereign grace. They heard the announcement and all they were expected to do was to believe it. That they believe appears in the naming of their children. This seed of the woman's promise is ultimately fulfilled in the seed of Abraham, namely the Christ. Now to Abraham where the promise is spoken, and to his seed. He says, not into seeds as of many, but as of one, to thy seed which is Christ. We see then that Christ is spoken of as the seed of Abraham, whom we may identify with the seed of the woman, the first promise in Eden. Adam is, as the first man and the father of the human race is compared to Christ, the second man, the father of the redeemed. So also it is written that the first man, Adam, became a living soul, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Mary writes of this verse, the scripture to which appeal is made is Genesis 2.7. For Paul, Adam, was the first man. Most significant is the instance of appeal to Genesis 2.7 is the way in which all that follows in the ensuing argument is built upon the truths derived from this text. What belongs to the essence of Paul's soteriology rests upon the parallel and contrast between Adam the first man, the living soul, and Christ the second man, the last Adam, who made a life-giving spirit. One of the points that Murray makes from this text is that Paul saw Adam as the first man. There were no human predecessors to him. This is confirmed by the genealogy in Luke which sees Adam as the son of God. In Romans 5, 12 through 21, Paul relates the sin of Adam and the fact that it came by him to the whole human race with the result of condemnation and death to all of the race. and contrast this with the fact that the righteousness and consequence justification came through Christ to his new race. Verse 18 states the contrast, so then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation, even so through the act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. From this passage we learn specifically the solidarity of the whole human race with Adam the first man, and also the similar solidarity of the elect with Christ. The relation is not of a natural headship, which Adam sustained, but Christ did not. Rather, it has been spoken of as a federal or covenantal headship. Adam, not only as the natural head, but particularly as the federal head of the race, acted for the whole human race when he sinned. The guilt of his sin is imputed to the race so that all die, even children who have not voluntarily sinned. Christ stands as the federal head of his people. His righteousness is imputed to his own as they receive him by saving faith. The righteousness of Christ that stood over against the sin of Adam was twofold in character. First, it involved the keeping of the whole law of God perfectly. He described his own ministry in terms, think not that I came to destroy the law of the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill. This he did throughout his whole life so that he could be described as holy, guileless, and undefiled. Not only did he obey God actively through his life, thus accomplishing what the first adamant failed to do, he also laid down his life in behalf of sinners. Him who knew no sin, he made to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God through him. Having our sins imputed to him, he became the object of God's wrath. And the penalty of death which Adam had incurred was required of him. This he did voluntarily. He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. This is the threatened penalty of death, the death of the Garden of Eden, which was satisfied by the Lord Jesus as the second Adam. And it is the second Adam who conquered death, the grave, and hell for us. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead. the firstfruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Surely it is with the full results of the redemptive work of Christ that we endue that the angelic hosts, together with the twenty-four elders, And thousands upon thousands worship the Lamb in heaven, saying, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in the heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that are in them heard I saying unto him that sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped." The final part is creation and eschatology. One might wonder at this title. Creation has to do with the beginning, whereas eschatology has to do with the last things. How can there be a relation between the two? Sad to say the creation account tells us not only the glorious beginning of the human race, with creation both of man and woman, and the beautiful garden in which they dwell, it also tells of their rebellion against their Maker. The rebellion affected the whole of creation. Death and corruption not only came to man, but also to the universe. Ever since the fall of man, nature has been upset, as can be seen in the death and destruction brought about by natural disasters. None of this would have taken place had Adam not sinned. As we have already noted, the Apostle Paul speaks of the whole creation groaning and awaiting the day of redemption. The Bible teaches that the redemptive work of God is not just for the salvation of the elect. It also involves the putting in order of all things in creation. The Apostle speaks of this in Colossians 1, 19 and 20. For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell. And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him I say, whether upon the earth or things in the heavens." The opening verses of Genesis had declared that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now Paul is saying that all things in heaven and on earth are to be reconciled to God through the blood of Christ. The work of Christ has cosmic implications. The Apostle Peter sees the cosmic implication of the Day of Judgment as involving the cleansing of the whole of creation that has been affected by sin and the establishment of a new heavens and a new earth, from 2 Peter 3. But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved, and with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? But according to the promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, Here we have the declaration concerning the cleansing of the whole creation from all the sinful effects brought on by the sin of man. Not only is there a cleansing, but there is also a new creation. This does not mean that there will be a de novo creation ex nihilo as found in Genesis 1.1, but a renewing of the fallen and stained universe so that there will be a new heavens and a new earth. John in Revelation sees the new heaven and the new earth and gives something of a description of them. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away, and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. He shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples. And God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and the death shall be no more. Neither shall they be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things are passed away. He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." It appears that the new earth is prepared for the coming of the new Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, to dwell on it. There is a clear allusion to the Abrahamic covenant which promised that God would be a God to him and to his seed. Here God is to be a God to those on the new earth. In the next chapter the description goes on with a specific reference to the tree of life from which Adam and Eve had been barred after their sin. And thus the new earth is the idea of the original paradise regained. He that testifieth of these things say, Yea, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.