Of all the words in the Bible, the first five may be the most important: “In the beginning God created.” Since the beginning of time, hell has unleashed a savage attack on the concept of divine creation. Today the attack rages at a fever pitch regarding the issues of gender identification and sexual orientation.
Those who are confused about their gender and sexual orientation often make the claim “God made me this way.” They either blame God for their behavior or they try to justify it in His name. Even many well meaning but unfortunately misguided Jesus followers have taken this bait and swallowed it hook, line, and sinker.
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Let’s take a moment and consider some very important truth about God’s creation and man’s rebellion.
Some Biblical Facts About Creation and the Fall
A Perfect World
God created a perfect world. After each day of creation, God looked at what He had created and pronounced it good. The original creation existed unmarred my sin, disease, death, or deterioration. God created a mature earth with mature elements, plants, animals, and sinless man and woman. We cannot justify sinful behavior by the creative artistry of God.
An Intentional Distinction
God created Adam and Eve, male and female, distinct in their genders, and complimentary in their roles. Jesus affirmed the importance of gender distinction and the design of God for those opposite genders to complement one another.
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’” – Mark 10:6
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A Willing Choice
God created Adam and Eve with the capacity to choose between obedience and disobedience. God gave Adam and Eve the freedom of many choices in the Garden of Eden. He created a variety of trees and gave them liberty to each abundantly from any tree. Any tree, that is, except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Genesis 2:16-17)
Adam and Eve willingly and knowingly chose to disobey the wishes and warnings of God. They chose to believe and obey the devil, disguised as a serpent, rather than God. In justice God expelled them from the Garden. Through mercy, he allowed them to live, although their sin eventually brought death as He said it would. In grace, God had a plan to restore His creation and redeem His people from sin’s curse.
A Universal Consequence
As a result of Adam’s sin, everyone from that time until now comes into this world with a sinful nature. (Romans 5:12) All of us enter this world preloaded with sin, equipped to rebel. For some, that sin exhibits itself as sexual deviation, for others as anger. Some reveal their sin in a lack of control of physical impulses, others by killing or harming others. Sin causes some to overeat, others to drink to excess. Sins are many and all are equally offensive to God, whether committed by a heterosexual or homosexual. We all sin and fall short of God’s glory. Yes, we are ALL “born this way;” whatever our particular “this” is.
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The Importance of Biblical Creationism
So why is the Biblical teaching of Creation so important that the devil would seek to destroy it?
1. First, and most simply, it is Biblical truth. If we deny the very first truth we encounter in Holy Scripture, then why should we believe any of what follows? To discredit any part of the Bible is to cast dispersion on all of it.
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2. The truth of Biblical Creation causes us to face our real problem – our sin. We cannot rightly excuse our sinful behavior nor blame any outside person or circumstance. A doctor does not withhold a cancer diagnosis in fear of offending or hurting the feelings of the patient. Such a course of action would result in the certain death of the patient, even if a cure were available. So also, to withhold our true spiritual diagnosis amounts to spiritual malpractice.
3. The truth of the Biblical creation account causes us to own the fact that we are all sinners, and sinners of equal guilt. Whether gluttony, substance abuse, lying, cheating, adultery, or homosexuality. My sin is no less egregious than your sin; they all lead to the same conclusion – spiritual death.
4. The truth of Divine Creation points us to the only real solution to our dilemma, the sacrificial death of Jesus. The good doctor mentioned above can only begin restorative treatment after making a truthful and accurate diagnosis. Conversely, we can only find healing when we own our sin and avail ourselves to the remedy of the Cross.
The devil wants to destroy the Biblical teaching of Creation because doing so keeps man’s soul in bondage to him. True Biblical Creation points to man’s incurable sin and God’s gracious redemption through His Son Jesus.
What Are We to Do?
All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God saved me by His GRACE not my goodness. I pray I never become afraid to identify sin for what it is. Moreover, I pray I never treat others with less than the grace God has shown me.
The Biblical teaching of Divine Creation demands no less.