EPISODE MANUSCRIPT – Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Adventology. As you know, everything we do in this podcast is designed to help you. Be ready for Jesus. In today’s episode, we will be covering the topic of creation part one as we look at specifically at Genesis chapter one and two. And, we’re gonna be looking at some interesting topics.
Today. We’re going to be covering the concept of creation versus evolution. We’re gonna be looking at the true meaning of faith. And so much more. But before we do that, I just wanna share some positive feedback we received from episode one of this season called Why was Sin Permitted? We got a comment, a question from Gabriel.
He responded to one of my posts on Instagram with the question, and I’m paraphrasing it, but basically he was responding to the idea that every day is a gift that we receive from Christ. And while he wasn’t really arguing that point, his point was that, you know, not every day feels like a gift. Sometimes it feels like the greatest gift that God could give would be to help us get out of this world, to get off this planet that is full of sin and suffering and death.
And Gabriel, I just want to acknowledge that point because it’s an important one. Even as Christians, there are days that we struggle. There isn’t always going to be this bright and cheery morning when we wake up. And I can think of many different characters in the Bible that struggled with depression, struggled with doubt, struggled with fear, and even the prophet I Elijah, right?
He. He had a, a lot of ups and downs in his ministry. And one particular time I can remember, he had just had this mountaintop experience as he saw the people of Israel accept the message that he was sharing on Mount Carmel. And there was a great revival that broke out in the countryside. And then the next day he woke up and was told that Jezebel was seeking to kill him.
All of a sudden he just started running and running and running away as far as he could. And eventually he got to the point where he laid down and he just wanted to die. I think we’ve all been in those situations right, where we just get worn out, we get fatigued. We get overwhelmed.
And even though the sun may be shining in our hearts it’s foggy and cloudy and we can’t see ahead, and God comes alongside us as he did Elijah. You know Elijah didn’t quite understand what God was doing in that moment, but later on we see that. It was in the still small voice while he was up on the mountain that God spoke to him.
Not in the whirlwind or in the earthquake or in the fire, but in the still small voice. And so I would say to Gabriel and anyone that when you’re having a rough day, when every day doesn’t feel like a gift, just remember. God is with you. And sometimes in the more obvious places, you won’t hear his voice, but sometimes you just have to go alone.
Go for a walk, get outside, get in nature. Clear your mind, clear your schedule, and spend some time alone with him and listen to that still small voice. When you do that, I know that you will find comfort. You know, ’cause Paul himself. Acknowledged as much. When he wrote to the Corinthians in his second letter in chapter four, starting in verse 16, he said, therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing.
Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day for our light affliction, which is, but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Well, we do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. But the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
And so I just wanna encourage you today, you know, wherever you are in your walk with God, know this, that this world is not your home. Right? We have a limited amount of time here. And although there are great trials that come along the way, even though we have this hope of a better tomorrow, sometimes we have to acknowledge the fact that our outward man is perishing, that we are struggling, and that we are being afflicted and persecuted and overwhelmed.
But let me just encourage you to keep on moving. Keep on going. Don’t give up. That’s what this podcast is here for. We’re here to walk together on this journey toward heaven, that God has called us on this journey here on earth. We don’t know how long it’s gonna last, but we do know at some point the Bible says Jesus is coming again.
So let’s get into our topic for today. It’s called the creation. And you know, there’s a lot of ways we could cover the topic of creation. You know, the first two chapters of the Bible are our main emphasis, but the reality is the whole Bible refers again and again to the foundational principle that we were created.
We did not create ourselves. We are not here by accident. We’re here because we have a purpose. And we have a God who loves us and is gonna carry us through to fulfill that purpose. Even though there has been a delay even though it’s been diverted, it’s been detoured because of sin, ’cause of Satan, and even our own stubbornness.
Sometimes we choose to go off the path that God has chosen for us, but if we repent, if we’re willing to turn around and come back, God somehow is able to get us back on the path he originally planned for us and ultimately get us to where he wants us to go. So that’s why we’re here. Now, there’s an interesting text about the creation that you can find in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, also known as the faith chapter, and an overlooked verse.
But one that we’re gonna focus on right now is verse three, which says this by faith. We understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. So the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. So here we have a very clear statement about faith. The fact that everything we see when we go outside, when we look around, Was created by the Invisible was created by God.
And this is something that can only be acknowledged through faith. It’s not something that comes natural to our proud hearts. And you know, obviously that’s not the prevailing view. Of how we came into existence. You know, the standardized view that has been ingrained into all of us through our education and through all the books that we read about science is that this world evolved over billions of years and somehow by some galactic mistake earth came into existence on its own accord without a creator.
And so the question is, which actually takes more faith to believe that we just randomly appeared, or that a designer put us here for a purpose. Now, I’m not really here to debate this topic, but I believe there’s a simple reason why many choose not to accept the idea that we were created.
Because to believe that we are created logically requires us to accept that there’s a higher power that has authority over us. Just like we came into existence through our parents and we give them respect and authority because they were the ones that birthed us into existence. So in a greater sense, the idea that God created us creates an issue of authority that we have to deal with because if he created us, then of course he has the right to dictate to us certain aspects, including his law.
But if we just came into the earth in existence on our own, then we’re not subject to any authority. We can live as we please with no consequences. There’s no judgment, nothing to worry about, and in essence, really no purpose. So it’s kind of a sad way to live and ultimately, not many people who accept evolution really have followed that belief to its logical conclusion, but that still doesn’t mean that we don’t have to have faith to believe it.
The author of Hebrews says, by faith we accept that God created the heavens in the earth. And you know, when you go back to the creation story in Genesis one, It’s interesting that when you think about it, Adam and Eve weren’t even there to witness the creation, right?
Because the story goes like this on day one of course, God’s creates light. On day four, God fills that light with the sun, the moon, and the stars, right? Then on day two, God separates the water and the air from one another. On day five, he fills the air and the water with birds and fish. Then on day three, God brings the dry land out of the water and creates vegetation. And then on day six, God fills the land and the vegetation with animals and creepy crawly things.
So as you can see, God forms and then God fills. Now the psalmist described it this way in chapter 33 verses six and nine. He says, by the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth for he spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast.
And so this idea, this principle that God’s word has creative power built into it is a foundational principle of faith for the Christian religion, right? This belief that God can speak and something appear out of nothing is central to understanding the gospel.
Because if you go to the gospel, if you go to John chapter one, for instance, it begins. By letting us know that in the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God. Right? And later on in verse 14, we find out who the word was. It was the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
So we find that the word is personified into a person. That person is Jesus, right? And so why is that important? Because we don’t have Jesus here with us today, obviously. But guess what we do have? We do have the word right? We have the word of God. And to believe that the word of God has creative power in the same way that that word created the heavens and the earth in the same way that when Jesus spoke, that the elements responded to his words, the, the sea and the wind and the wave ceased. That he could manipulate the elements by simply opening his mouth is a powerful reminder of what the word of God can do for us when we believe what it says.
Now this idea of the word having creative power is essential not only to understanding who Jesus was, but what he does for us. Especially when it comes to conversion, right? Because remember the psalmist in Psalm 51 cried out, create in me a clean heart. Oh God. In other words, there has to be an act of creation. It’s a miracle every time our hearts are changed, are turned toward God. We can’t do it on our own. Just like none of us can make light shine out of the darkness, just like none of us can make the wind and the waves cease or the sun rise or set.
We can’t do any of those things and neither can we change our own heart. It is something that is impossible for us to do. But the good news is that just as God’s word created the heavens and the earth in six days we know that God’s word also can recreate our hearts.
And this didn’t happen over time. This wasn’t an evolutionary process, right. God created the earth in a literal six day week, and we don’t have to wait when God’s word speaks to us either. The moment he speaks, it happens. The moment God says that our heart is made new, it happens.
Now we see many stories throughout the Bible where this is the case, but one of my favorite is the centurion in Matthew chapter eight. Where he had come to Jesus and asked that Jesus heal his servant. Now, when Jesus went away to speak to the centurion, and actually to go and visit the servant, he was gonna lay his hands to heal him. The the centurion said, no, no, no, no. I don’t need you to come. I just need you to speak the word only, and he says, look, I’m a man under authority.
When I tell someone to go, he goes. When I tell someone to come, he comes. So I know that whatever you say will be as you said it. Now, Jesus responds in amazement and says that I haven’t found so much faith, not even in Israel. Why? Because the centurion took Jesus at his word. He believed that whatever he spoke would happen because he believed his word had creative power.
We find even Jesus when he’s fighting temptation in the wilderness and the devil comes to him and says, look, turn these stones into bread to prove you are the son of God. And Jesus responds. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So we find that according to Jesus, the word brings life.
Just as bread does for our body the word brings life to our soul, and ultimately it’s the word that leads us to eternity, right? Because the word is Christ. We can’t love Christ and not love the word of God. We can’t say we’re a follower of Jesus and not follow what the word tells us to do. As you can see, this is nonsensical to separate Christ from the Bible is to do a great harm to your Christian faith and belief. The two were always meant to be one with each other. Christ and the word. He is the word made flesh.
And so I don’t know what difficulties you’re facing in your life right now, but I can guarantee you God’s word has a solution for you.
The promises of God. They’re not platitudes. They’re not just wisdom or good advice. The promises of God have power to change your life right now. There’s no evolution. You don’t have to wait days, months, years, decades, for those promises to begin working in your life the moment you believe is the moment they begin to work.
The scripture is clear. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Second Corinthians chapter five, verse 17.
And of course, we know that not all of God’s promises have immediate fulfillment. Some of them are conditional, some of them are prophecies, but the one thing we can be sure of is the promises of God that have to do with forgiveness of sin and changing our heart are immediate. They’re the work of a moment.
The moment you cry out in faith, the moment you lay hold of the promise of forgiveness, it’s yours.
You see, just as when Christ said, let. There be light and light shone out of the darkness on day one of creation. The same is true for you today, my friend. You may feel like your heart is full of darkness. Do not despair. Just trust the word to do what it says. God will shine the light, not just on you, but through you. Your heart will become a reflection of the light and love of Jesus when you lay hold of what he has promised to do for you.
While discipleship is the work of a lifetime, salvation is the work of a moment. That’s why Ephesians chapter two, verses eight and nine, it says, for by grace you have been saved by faith, not of works, it is the gift of God. I love that text because it shows you how easy it is to be saved. You simply have to believe
And finally after pronouncing the evening and morning of each day good. Having set everything into place, then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creepy thing that creeps in the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Genesis one verses 26 and 27.
And as you can see because we were created in the image of God. That means we aren’t here by accident. We were created with a purpose and with a destiny. But that destiny can only be discovered when we, by faith, lay hold of the truth, that God is our creator and our redeemer, and he loves us with an everlasting love.
He wants more than anything else for you to reach out to him, for you to discover who he is and in turn through discovering who he is, you will also discover who you are. Because we were made in his image. By beholding we become changed. By focusing on the thing that we want to become. It automatically becomes a part of us, but when we’re focusing on things that aren’t true, then we’re becoming a lie.
But when we focus on the truth, when we focus on the reality of who we are in Christ, when we focus on the reality that we are created in his image, then the possibilities are endless. There’s really no limit to what we can become when we believe that we were created in his image. He’s here with you today and soon he will be with us face to face.
The scripture says, starting in John chapter 14, verse one. Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me, in my father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would’ve told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am there you may be also.
Can you imagine what it’s gonna be like to see him face to face and his glory to truly see who we were meant to be? Because when we see him and his glory, we’re gonna see ourselves as well. And after he takes us to heaven, he’s gonna one day again, bring us back to Earth recreating it again. Except this time we’re gonna be able to watch him do it.
We’re gonna be able to watch him speak life into a dead planet, A planet that was destroyed by sin, but is recreated because of the love and the grace and the power of Jesus. That’s the promise for those who believe and trust that Jesus is both our creator and savior.
You know, maybe you have a question about something we covered today. I wanna encourage you to reach out to me, travis@adventology.com. I want to walk with you. There are many misleading and confusing things out there about our creator and our creation. So I’m not a scientist, but I do believe that the word of God gives us the answers that we need so that we can overcome the deceptions that are coming our way.
And I wanna encourage you as well to pick up the book Patriarchs and Prophets in the show notes. I have a link to it. You can get it for free. It’s a great supplementary guide for everything we’ll be covering this season on our podcast. And if you were blessed by this episode, let me encourage you to follow, rate and review us.
Especially if you’re on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, writing a one sentence review really helps others discover this podcast. And if you’ve been blessed, don’t you wanna share the love with someone else?
Thank you for doing that.
So what does this have to do with being ready for Jesus?
Well, number one, God is worthy of our worship. Why? Because he’s our creator. This is the reason why we worship him, and worship becomes a major issue when we get down to the end, when we start looking at the Book of Revelation, we’re gonna see that the world has to choose between worshiping the creator and worshiping the beast.
So we need to know who our creator is, and we need to know the foundation upon which our faith is built. And that foundation, of course, as we’ve learned today, is the word of God. In the end, the world will reject the plain teachings of the word, but by doing so, they’re also rejecting the giver of the word, the word made flesh, that is Jesus. They may claim they’re following him, but by rejecting his word, they’re showing that they’re not really following Jesus. They’re following the antichrist.
And finally, by trusting the word to do what it says, we can know and believe that we will be sustained by it when everything is taken away from us here on the earth.
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Adventology.
Be ready for Jesus.
Speak life, live love.
Until next time,
Maranatha.