J. C. Whitcomb, Creation According to God’s Word, Grace Theological Seminary.) What Does the Millennium Teach Us About the Original Perfection of the World? The Scriptures clearly indicate that during the Millennial Kingdom which Christ shall establish on earth, the “bondage of corruption” to which the whole creation was made subject through the fall of Adam will be ended (Rom. 8:21). Among other supernatural transformations, carnivorous animals will become plant-eaters again (Isa. 11:6-9), just as they were in Genesis 1:30 before God cursed the earth for man’s sake. However, if the Genesis account of creation is not taken exactly for what it says, then we not only lose the concept of a perfect and harmonious earth before the sin of Adam, but also the con cept of restored Edenic conditions after the Second Coming! Obviously, a perfect world cannot be re stored if it never existed. Those who would stretch the days of creation into vast ages must also re-define the “very good” which God pronounced upon the world at the time of Adam’s creation (Gen. 1:31), and allow for carnivorous characteristics, violence, and death in the animal kingdom for hundreds of millions of years before man’s appearance. Thus, the fall of man would not have brought ruin to the world at all, in spite of the fact tha t Paul states that “by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin” (Rom. 5:12) and “the whole creation groan- eth and travaileth in pain together until now” (8:22) as a result. If, on the other hand, we do take Genesis 1 for what it says, we find that the pre-Fail world is indeed analogous to that future world which Peter describes as “the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy proph ets that have been from of old” (Acts 3:21). Just as God will have the power to control population growth and to maintain a balance of nature in the future kingdom age apart from a “reign of tooth and claw” (Isa. 11:9), so also before the Edenic Curse, a world free from violent death in the ani mal kingdom could have been maintained indef initely by the power of God. Thus, an understand ing of God’s revealed program for the future in terms of a “restoration” makes it quite impossible to accept a “progressive creation” or “day-age” concept of Genesis 1, with its vast ages of violence and death in the animal kingdom. In conclusion, an acceptance of the miraculous works of Christ, of valid principles of interpreting Scripture, and of premillennial eschatology, enables us to approach the first chapter of Genesis with confidence that it really does mean what it says!
He became a human being, “we beheld his glory” (1:14). Thus, the full glory of the incarnate Creator would have remained veiled if He had not super- naturally and suddenly created wine from water, ten thousand fishes from only two, clean men out of hopeless lepers, seeing eyes out of sightless ones, and living men out of rotting corpses! Spectacular miracles loere the characteristic signs of the in carnate Creator during His brief earthly ministry. Since this same Christ was the Creator of “the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exodus 20:11; cf. Col. 1:16), we may safely assume that He did not employ lengthy, providen tially-directed processes in bringing the world and living things into existence, especially in view of the clear statement of Genesis 2:1-3 that creative acts ceased with the creation of man. Thus, the Gospel records supplement Hebrews 11:3 and Genesis 2:7, 20 in eliminating theistic evolution as a valid approach to the first chapter of Genesis. How Long Were the Days of Creation? A literal (grammatical — historical) approach to the early chapters of Genesis honors the claim of Christ that the Bible is God’s inerrant Word on every subject it deals with (Matt. 22:29). Some Christians feel that it is essential to stretch the days of creation into conformity with the time table of evolutionary geology. But such an approach actually dishonors God’s Word, for it is obvious that the sequence of events in Genesis 1 (earth before the sun; fruit trees before marine life ; birds before reptiles) not only contradicts the evolu tionary scheme, but does so purposely! For ex ample, the story of evolution must begin with life less chemicals floating together by chance to form the first single-celled speck of life. But the God of supernatural creation did not need to employ such methods and therefore was not forced to begin life in the ocean or in the form of a sub- microscopic speck! To attempt a harmony of these two concepts is to ignore completely the infinite difference between an omnipotent God and the helpless god of chance. In addition to the fact that stretching the days does not help in harmonizing the order of events with the popular geologic time-table, it must be recognized that Scripture does limit these days of creation to approximately 24 hours each: (1) the use of a numerical adjective in connection with “day” ; (2) the qualifying phrase “evening and morning” in the light of Daniel 8:14, 26 ASV; (3) the clear analogy of Exodus 20:11; (4) the contrast of “days” and “years” in Genesis 1:14; and (5) the improbability tha t God would curse the earth during the day which He sanctified (Gen. 2:3), with the corresponding probabi'ity that Adam and Eve lived from the sixth day through the seventh day and into the following week. (See
John C. Whitcomb, Jr., Th.D., is Prof, of Old Testament at Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana.
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