Twin Cities Creation Science Association Organized
1973
|
|
TCCSA has moved |
|
Creation and Evolution - a Side Issue? (Originally published in Creation Matters, Vol. 3, No. 3, May/June 1998. Copyright ©1998 Creation Research Society. Reproduction by permission of CRS and author.) In academia, on the internet, and in churches there are tremendous battles being waged regarding the creation-evolution controversy. How important are they? Can't people be won to Christ without reference to Genesis 1-11? Isn't bringing people to Christ what we are supposed to concern ourselves with?People do think and ask about the world in which we live, and the stars we see above. And they do have questions about it all. So, do we approach Christ via creation, or just not worry about creation? Is it just a minor point in the scheme of God's Word? The best thing to do is to go to the Word to find out. In Revelation 4, we find the first two of a series of praise hymns. The first one, in verse 8b, praises God for who He is:
It is interesting that, before the beautiful praises in the next chapter concerning Christ's sacrifice and His redemption of mankind, there is this hymn, at the end of chapter 4 (verse 11):
This hymn attributes glory, honor, and power to the Lord because of creation. Reading through Isaiah chapters 40-45, we also find the following:
It is evident that God has a very strong identification with creation itself. He uses creation as a witness to Himself as well as saying, in effect: "See this? All this? I made it. It is mine." I think we should do no less when talking to others about our Lord. At some point, it needs to be stated, "See all this? See the heavens and the earth and all, down to the tiniest subatomic particle? God made it. He did it, and it is HIS." When we talk science to non-believers, we may not be using Bible words, but we are following the example of God Himself as He spoke through the prophet Isaiah. We are praising Him for creation in the same way the 24 elders do in Revelation. Of course the Bible itself is totally sufficient for those who already know it is God's Word. But for those to whom it has been presented only as a myth or legend, God has also given us His creation to use in showing, as the hymnist has written:
Looking to creation, then, as evidence for God and His power and provision makes the creation-evolution dispute important in our Christian witness. It is not a side issue.
Our thanks to Helen Fryman for letting us share this article. Helen is the mother of six children, ages 13-24. She works in the education system at the county level -- teaching children who are either falling through the cracks of the system for one reason or another, or those who for various reasons are not in the public classrooms. Scripture quotations are from the NIV Study Bible, ©1985, Zondervan. "How Great Thou Art" is ©1955, Manna Music. |
|
|