[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] Take your Bibles, if you would, and open them to the very first verse of the very first book, the very first chapter of your Bible, Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1, if you would. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1.
[0:26] And tonight, that's all we'll read. Well, we'll read a whole lot, but that's the only verse we'll read out of our text, Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1. I would like to make a confession before we begin reading.
[0:40] I literally believe that the Bible is God's Word. Every bit of it. I therefore believe that about 6,000 years ago, God created the earth.
[0:53] I don't believe the earth was around a billion years ago. And I don't believe your great-granddaddy was a monkey. I believe you were specially made by God. I believe that when God said day in Genesis chapter 1, he meant day.
[1:06] I believe with all my heart that Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2 aren't a contradiction, but a further explanation. And so I really step forward to talk to you about something that I think Christians are having a problem believing today.
[1:22] It's shocking to me, but Christians seem to want to somehow make the creation story not be true because science says it's not true. And so they therefore want to take some way to back up.
[1:36] And if you're educated and cultured and you know anything, you don't believe Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1. So I'll go on record tonight to tell you I really believe it.
[1:46] I believe every word of it. I believe every word of the creation story. I believe that God literally created the heavens and the earth. I believe that he is God.
[1:56] I believe he was there before there was anything else. I believe he took nothing. And out of nothing, he made everything because he is God. I believe that if you don't believe that, you can't believe any other part of the Bible.
[2:10] If you can't get past Genesis 1 and 1, you might as well not read any further. And I will hope to prove that to you tonight. I hope you take a pencil, a pen, a piece of paper and follow along with me if you would. I'd like to read Genesis 1 and 1 together in a united voice.
[2:24] Everybody together. That's Spanish sounding. I don't know if that's the right way to say that. In una sola voz. We're going to read that. And so if you would read out loud with me, Genesis 1 and 1. Are you ready? The Bible says, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
[2:40] Let's do it again, would you? In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. In Peru, when I taught them about Jesus dying on a cross, I always took special time to go back and show them that he created the earth.
[2:54] I believe this is almost one of the most basic truths you have to believe and accept. So I'll ask you some questions, walk you through about five things. If we get to all of them, you might write down.
[3:07] But I ask you, do you believe that God literally created the world out of nothing? Can't this story just be a story of creation that tells us there's a God without being taken literally?
[3:17] There are famous preachers today across America who have the ear, not of 50 or 100 people like I have, but of thousands of people who would say to you that the story of evolution fits in the Bible.
[3:32] And they would say to you that it's just a story. It's just trying to show you that God is there is a God and that he did create the world somehow through evolution.
[3:43] Even your Schofield reference Bible, if you carry one, will work the evolutionary process in between Genesis 1, 1 and 1, 2. And I think he was wrong.
[3:54] I think he tried to make it fit in with a bunch of liberals, or I should say just really lost people, scientists who wanted to believe something else.
[4:05] Is the world billions of years old or is it only a young earth that's 7,000 to 10,000 years old? Was there a real Adam and Eve or are they just representatives telling us the story of how God created the world?
[4:15] If Genesis 1 through 3 doesn't tell us the truth, why should we believe anything else in the Bible? If we do not understand how we got here, how do we know about our spiritual life, our purpose, and our destiny?
[4:29] If he didn't create us, is he really our redeemer? If we don't know that he's a creator, how do we know that there's life after death? How do we know there's a heaven or a hell?
[4:39] Can't trust him on when he told me how I got here. I got to trust him on where I'm going to go when it's all over. If I can't trust him. If this verse isn't true, how do I know any verse is true? Why should we try to make the Bible fit with science instead of science fitting with the Bible?
[4:56] Why should we try to make the Bible seem good and right to lost people, God haters? I am fully convinced that I hold in my hand the word of God and I preach from the word of God and it is the Bible.
[5:13] So I want to talk you through some things that you might write down. Number one, if you're a believer, where do you start believing? If you're a believer, where do you start believing?
[5:23] I would name for you famous people. You might not know them. The mysteries probably would, but I won't. I'll just say this. I believe starting with the word in.
[5:34] That's where I start. I'll start with in. After that, I'll believe everything else. I'll start with the word in. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
[5:45] For many, the idea that the world was created by God seems to stretch. Science proves that it is millions, if not billions of years old. They say, where do the dinosaurs fit in?
[5:55] How can it be so different than what we know to be true, they say. They see that evolution is a proven fact and they taught that in school and taught that in college and taught that everywhere they go.
[6:05] And so the Bible is archaic and doesn't work. If you doubt that the world is only a few thousand years old and God did not literally create the world in six days, then I'd like to know when you start believing.
[6:18] You see, a lot of people believe after Genesis 11. Genesis 1 through 11, those are the verses that were attacked when I was a kid in Bible college or quote unquote Bible college.
[6:29] The Southern Baptist school that I studied in, they said you can trust it from chapter 12 on, it seems to fit. But Genesis 1 through 11 doesn't seem to be very true, very real.
[6:40] Allegory, analogy, story. Can you believe that there was a literal Adam and Eve? Was there a garden of Eden?
[6:52] Was there a tree of knowledge of good and evil? Did they rebel against God? Can you believe the story of how sin entered into the world? Or can you believe why we die?
[7:03] Can you believe that a man literally didn't die but walked with God and was not? How about that one? That's Enoch's story. We'll get to that in a few days. Can you really believe there was this guy and he used to walk with God and one day he walked and he was not.
[7:17] He was with the Lord all of a sudden. Can you believe the whole world was destroyed by a flood? All the world, the whole thing under a flood. Can you believe that?
[7:27] Can you believe there was a literal Tower of Babel? Can you believe the first 11 chapters of Genesis? If God didn't create the world like he says he did, did man create God in their image?
[7:41] That's what I was taught. That's what school would have you think. That's what education would teach you. God didn't make us. We made God. If God didn't create the world, then is the belief in God just a way to keep people morally in line?
[7:57] If God didn't create the world, is there really anything that's right and wrong? Those are just the questions I want to ask you. From here on out, I'm going to run you through the Bible until you're tired of me tonight.
[8:12] The second thing, if these verses aren't true, then you can see the way of the entire Bible is built on a faulty foundation. I want you to go with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 22.
[8:25] In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That means that the earth had a beginning. Before that beginning, there was a God. He created everything out of nothing.
[8:37] There wasn't anything, and he made it. Now, before I read the verses, would you look at this? I just want to tell you some things. I don't really know how to preach this. Let's talk to you. They believe that way out, y'all, somewhere, God somehow, someway got everything started.
[8:56] And maybe with the big bang, like the evolutionists. And it took a long time, and it slowly developed. And finally, one day, it was like God stepped into history and into the period of evolution.
[9:06] And he stepped in, and that's where he started working. And he might have actually started it way back there, but it didn't happen in six days. And it couldn't have happened in six days because scientifically, we know the world has been here for millions and billions of years.
[9:21] Therefore, we know that the Bible is not quite true. You do have to remember, according to them, that the Bible was written by men. And it was written by men that weren't scientists. It was written by men that, I mean, goodnight, they're close to prehistoric men.
[9:35] And so it's got to have mistakes in it. And then they'll get, once they can get past, Genesis 11 definitely gets almost all quote-unquote Christians in. After that, they're okay.
[9:47] Some of them are even okay with the flood, but not really a whole world flood, maybe. They're even okay with there being an Adam and an Eve as a representative, but not a real man, not a real woman, not in a real place, not coming to real sin.
[10:00] Because that's just too much to believe. But I would like to show you tonight, I want to walk you through the Bible, and I want to show you this. If Genesis 1 and 2 aren't true, the whole Bible falls apart.
[10:12] If Genesis 1 and 2 aren't true, the whole Bible falls apart. It is not the Word of God, and it is not true. I believe that it is the Word of God, and I accept every verse.
[10:26] And so you can't come to me and say, well, I think Genesis 1 and 2 were kind of, you know, they're kind of an allegory. They're kind of a story about how it all got started, but it's not really true necessarily.
[10:37] The Bible in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 22. If there was no Adam that brought death, is there a Christ that brings life? I wish you'd answer that question.
[10:48] If there's no Adam that brought death, is there a Christ that brought life? If you would look at 1 Corinthians 15, 22, you ought to write this down, think this stuff through. Question and answer time will be up here in January soon.
[11:00] We can talk. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, 22, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, makes a very strong statement that he believed there was an Adam.
[11:18] If you'll notice in your Bible, it says for as in Adam. As in Adam. Just like in Adam. You know what happened to Adam. In Adam man sinned.
[11:30] In Adam man failed. In Adam man died. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. You take Adam out of that verse.
[11:42] It doesn't work. We sinned because our great, great, great, great, great grandfather Adam sinned. We sinned because his sin nature was passed down to us.
[11:54] If it wasn't Adam's sin and rebellion and disobedience that brought death, was there a second Adam Christ who obeyed and brought life? If you deny Adam, how do you bring in Christ?
[12:04] And those who would think that maybe Adam's not a literal person and the first part of the Bible's not literally true. How do you believe there's a literal Christ? Of course, that's where the world would like to take us anyway. Romans chapter 5 verses 18 and 19, if you would.
[12:17] I know you might not can keep up, but they'll keep up in the back. And if you can write it down and check me out later. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 18, the Bible says, Therefore, as by the offense of one, and in your Bible, make a note that one is Adam, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
[12:35] Even so, by the righteousness of one, Jesus, the free gift came upon all men unto justification. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
[12:49] I don't plan on rushing, and so if you get bored of me on this, you'll just get bored. But we're going to go to Bible college just a little bit. I want you to leave knowing this book is true. I want you to leave knowing Genesis chapter 1 is true.
[13:03] I want you to leave knowing Genesis 1 is true. Go back to 5.18 real quick. As by the offense of one, who is the offending party?
[13:13] I'm going to show you more than one verse. I'm going to show you so many verses, you're tired of it. But Adam's the offending party, and Jesus is the redeeming party. Adam's the guy that brought death to all of us. He's the head of our race, and Jesus is the head of our new race.
[13:28] In Christ, we are new creatures. By the offense of one, judgment came to all men to condemnation, but the righteousness of one. In verse 19, one man's disobedience, Adam, and one man's obedience, Jesus.
[13:41] You say, well, I'm not sure that's who they're talking about. Well, good thing is the Holy Spirit puts everything in the Bible more than one time, so you don't have to worry about it. How about 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 45? In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 45, the Bible says, And so it is written, the first man, could you call his name 1 Corinthians 15, 45?
[14:00] And so it is written, the first man, what? Adam was made a living soul. And the last, the last, the last what? Adam was made a quickening spirit.
[14:14] The first Adam's name was Adam. Guess what the second Adam's name is if we had time to study 1 Corinthians 15, which we have done here in our church. Who is the second Adam? Can anybody tell me?
[14:25] Jesus Christ. The first Adam brought death. The second Adam brought new life. If there's no first Adam, is there a second Adam? 1 Corinthians 15, 45. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 13.
[14:38] 1 Timothy 2, 13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the women being deceived was in the transgression.
[14:52] Here's an interesting thing. They say Genesis 1 and 2 probably aren't literally true. You can't really be sure about that. It's maybe just a story to tell about how God got everything started.
[15:04] But the apostle Paul seemed to think there was a real Adam. And if I don't think Moses knew what he said when he wrote it down from the Holy Spirit, and Paul didn't know what he said when he wrote it down from the Holy Spirit, I'm throwing away an awful lot of Bible.
[15:17] I'll be throwing away the first five books. That's what Moses wrote. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Then I'm going to throw away everything from Romans to Hebrews. And if he didn't write Hebrews, I'd get to Philemon. If he wrote Hebrews, I'd get Hebrews.
[15:29] In Jude chapter 14, Jude verse 14. Jude 14. The Bible says that Enoch also, the seventh from Adam. You don't count from a guy that doesn't exist.
[15:40] You don't count from a fictional character. You don't say he's the seventh person from Superman. Because there wasn't one.
[15:52] But they counted from the seventh out from the he was the seventh from Adam. And he said things. If Genesis 1, 1 isn't true.
[16:04] And there is no Adam that brought death. Is there a Christ that brings life? If it wasn't Adam's sin and rebellion and disobedience that brought death. Is there a second Adam Christ who obeys and brings life?
[16:16] If this verse isn't true. Then do we have a God-breathed, authoritative scripture? I think you ought to answer that question. If Genesis 1, 1 isn't true.
[16:29] Do you have a copy of the word of God? The Bible says in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16. All scripture except Genesis 1 through 11.
[16:41] Is given by inspiration of God. And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. All scripture. That includes Genesis 1, 1. Can you say amen right there?
[16:52] The Bible is the word of God. Do you really believe how we got the Bible? How many of you understand? Did you notice what it said in 2 Timothy 3, 16 right there in front of you?
[17:04] Maybe you'll write this down somewhere. All scripture is given by what? I need you to, I'm real, I'm real, man, my heart is breaking because I really want you to know this.
[17:16] All scripture is given by what? Inspiration. Inspiration of who? God. So I have God's word. He might have used a man to write it down, but it was inspired by God.
[17:29] And it's all good. He clarified that just a little more, helped us see it more, just brought it to light more, just showed it to us more. In 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21.
[17:40] In 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21 he said, For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Please get your Bible open there and mark this down.
[17:52] In the old days when the prophecies were being given, when Genesis all the way to Malachi was being written, they were holy men, but they weren't writing what they wanted and they didn't make a decision to write it down and they didn't make a decision to give us a book.
[18:06] But God spoke and he moved in them by his Holy Ghost. Look what it says. But holy men of God spake as they were what?
[18:17] Talk to me. As they were moved. Moved by who? Moved by the... Do you understand? This is a God-breathed book. This is an inspired book.
[18:28] That means Genesis 1.1. By the way, if it's not, Jesus was mistaken also. And if he was mistaken about this being the book, I wonder if he's mistaken about salvation.
[18:41] He was not mistaken about the book. You young people go to school, they tell you the world is a gazillion years old, you can just look and smile. You don't have to be disrespectful, but you can just realize they say that because they don't believe God.
[18:54] The Bible says in John chapter 17 and verse 17, Jesus is talking to God. He's praying. And John writes down what he said. He says, Jesus said to the Father, Father, sanctify them through thy truth.
[19:09] And then he said this. Thy word is truth. Where do you have his word? You have it in your hand.
[19:20] Thy word is truth. You can't get away with saying that these words were figurative. Because the other Bible writers thought God meant exactly what he said.
[19:31] They thought that we were created in the very image of God. God. In Genesis 1 and 2, it wasn't a pig that was created in the image of God. It wasn't a donkey. It wasn't a horse.
[19:41] It wasn't your dog. And it wasn't your cat. God created man in the image. You say, brother, come on. They didn't say that in the New Testament. Oh, James chapter 3 and verse 9, if you would.
[19:54] James chapter 3 and verse 9. Therewith, bless we God, even the Father. Talking about the tongue. And therewith, curse we men, which are made after thee.
[20:06] Would you help me? Made after the similitude of God. Would you read that out loud with me? That we curse men, which are made after the similitude or similar to, like God.
[20:20] Created in his image. That's what he said in Genesis 1. But, and old James thought that was true. He thought it was true. He quotes it like he really thought it was real.
[20:32] In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 8. By the way, it's all through your Bible. You see, if you take away Genesis 1 and 1, you lose the book. If you remove Genesis 1 and 2.
[20:43] If you remove Genesis chapters 1 and 2. That are probably the most doubted parts of the Bible. Of course, if you don't believe Genesis 1 and 2. You probably don't believe a whale swallowed Jonah either. If you don't believe Genesis 1 and 2.
[20:55] You probably don't believe that Jesus made water into wine. And you probably don't believe that God flooded the entire world. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 8.
[21:05] The Bible says, For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man. Here's the big word. Neither was the man what? Created.
[21:15] Neither was the man created for the woman. Neither was the man what? Created. All the way back to Genesis chapter 1. Created for the woman. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for all of sin.
[21:34] For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from... Would you write it down? Would you underline it? When did death start reigning?
[21:45] It reigned from Adam to Moses. Got to throw this one away. We got Adam in there. Even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of... Whose transgression?
[21:56] Adam's. Who is the figure of him that was to come? Who was to come? Talk to me. Who was to come? Jesus. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For through the offense of one, many be dead.
[22:09] Much more the grace of God, the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift of the judgment by one to condemnation.
[22:22] But the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more than they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one.
[22:35] Jesus Christ. I'm going to stop reading. I can keep reading that chapter to you, but for the sake of time, I won't. Jesus thought it really happened. He thought...
[22:46] The story... He thought God made man and woman. Jesus thought that God made man and woman. In Mark chapter 10 and verse 6, Jesus is talking and he says, But from the beginning of the...
[23:00] What? Get that up for me. Mark 10, 6. But from the beginning of what? From the beginning of the creation. God what? God what?
[23:12] From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. By the way, you can come up with homosexuality if you don't believe Genesis 1, 1.
[23:23] If you don't believe Mark 10, 6, you can say God did that, but he never said he did that. That's the whole point. You're going to take away everything. In John chapter 1 and verse 3, he made all things.
[23:37] The Bible says all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. The early believers in the New Testament church in the book of Acts, they believed with all their heart that God created the heaven and the earth.
[24:03] They believed that God created man. Acts chapter 4, verse 24. Acts chapter 4, verse 24. By the way, if you want a copy of the whole outline, you send me an email, I'll send it to you.
[24:15] And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. And they're talking to God in prayer and said, Lord, thou art God which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.
[24:31] The New Testament church believed that God was a creator God. I believe God is a creator God. In Acts chapter 14 and verse 15, the Bible says, And sirs, why do you do these things?
[24:44] We also are men of like passions with you and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities, from these empty idols that you serve unto the living God. But look what the living God did.
[24:55] Unto the living God which, help me, the living God which made heaven and earth and the sea and all the things that are therein. I just want you to say, if you take away Genesis 1-1, you realize how much scripture we've already destroyed tonight?
[25:12] You realize how much your Bible is full of holes? It's either all the word of God or it's not the word of God. You can't pick and choose. You can't pick and choose. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16, the Bible says, For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, the same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, when he created the earth and he commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts.
[25:36] That same God, if he hadn't got enough to make light shine out of darkness, has he got enough to give you light to be saved? Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 and 17.
[25:49] For by him were all things created. Would you read that part with me? Would you, out loud, would you read that with me? For by him, for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible.
[26:07] You know, scientists didn't know there were invisible things, did they? And we got a telescope and found things, and they wrote a book long before there was ever a microscope and said it was invisible things.
[26:22] It's the book. It's the word of God right here. Visible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things. Would you read that part with me? Verse 16, the last part. All things were created by him and for him.
[26:37] He is before all things and by him all things consist. He made all things through his son. If his creation is figurative, is salvation figurative?
[26:50] Hebrews 1, 2 says, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.
[27:01] He made the worlds. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 10, And the Bible says, And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
[27:15] Almost through these verses. I may be boring you, but I just want to prove something to you. Just one little bitty verse right here. Just one little bitty verse right here. You take that out, and the whole Bible starts falling apart.
[27:28] It's like pulling that one little thread in that knitted sweater you got. When you pull it, it's gone. You either believe this one, or you can throw the whole book away. 2 Corinthians, where am I?
[27:40] Revelation. Revelation chapter 4, verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. Would you read out loud with me now? For thou hast all things for thy pleasure.
[27:55] They are and were created. Maybe I've been too redundant.
[28:07] In Revelation 10, 6, it says he created heaven. Revelation 14, 7, it says he made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the fountains of the waters. In Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 17, he's going to create a new heaven and a new earth.
[28:23] Y'all like to believe that, don't you? But if you don't believe he created the first, then how y'all figure he's going to create the second one? If he didn't know what he was doing on the first go-around, how's he going to know about the second go-around? Revelation chapter 21 and verse 5, it's all over.
[28:36] The world is, the history as we know it is over. Time will be over. And here's what he says. I make all things new. Well, he can't make all things new if he didn't make it in the first place.
[28:49] He is a creator God. I'll just say this. I will get into some more about the creation. I don't know how long I'll stay there. But in Hebrews 11, 3, and you need this verse.
[29:03] You need this verse. Hebrews 11, 3. Through faith, we understand. Now look this way, would you a second? Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
[29:22] Through faith, we understand. Could I just stop and remind you that there was nobody there when the Big Bang took place to write that down? Just for all the scientists, I believe by faith I understand that God made the world.
[29:40] I do. I want you to know I just believe it by faith. See, I wasn't there. I can only believe somebody who was there. And I will try to show you this briefly here just a second.
[29:51] But if you take away verse 1 of Genesis chapter 1, everything's gone. I wasn't going to say this, but here comes the meanness. Here comes my meanness.
[30:02] Do you want to know why there was a shooting and 20 kids got killed? Because when you take out Genesis 1, 1, you take out everything. When you teach that we are but a product of evolution and an animal, you teach it's okay to kill each other.
[30:17] You can abort babies. You can kill old people. You can be a racist. You can have slaves.
[30:28] You can be a pedophile when you take out this. In the beginning, God. The third thing I'd like to show you real quickly. If you can deny God, you can deny all that he said and all that he stands for.
[30:46] If you can deny God, and what's the real purpose of evolution? It's to remove Genesis 1 and 2. It's to remove God.
[30:57] There will be no morality. There will be no right and wrong. Man won't have to worry about being judged if he wasn't created. If there's no all-powerful, unlimited, infinite God, then there will be no judgment.
[31:20] I know this is Romans chapter 1, and I know I'm fixing to take too much of your time with this maybe, but I got seven minutes, and I might take more. Y'all can give it to me as a Christmas gift. But read with me Romans chapter 1, verse 20.
[31:35] Romans 1, 20. Would you go there with me? Really, in your Bible. Open your Bible there. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world, from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in God, and so they are without excuse.
[31:55] Chapter 1, verse 20, has the creation of the world. Maybe you ought to underline that. And then we start basically a history of mankind. It's a history of mankind.
[32:07] And it says this in verse 21, because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. They knew him. They knew he was real. Adam knew God.
[32:18] Noah knew God. People in the Old Testament knew God. And people in the past have known God. And we know God, but they don't want to glorify him as God. Neither were they thankful.
[32:30] But they became vain in their imaginations. They got lifted up and puffed up and proud. And they began to think they did something. A dear lady brought in some cookies into our class this morning and was giving them out.
[32:45] And as stupid as it would be for those cookies to think they made the cookie maker, that's about how stupid it is for you to think you're that big. For you to think you know about God.
[32:59] They got vain and puffed up in their imagination and their foolish heart was darkened so they can't see God. Verse 22, they bragged about being wise.
[33:11] They professed themselves to be wise and they became, what's the Bible say? By the way, that word's used in the Bible. A fool has said in his heart that there is no God.
[33:21] And they changed the glory of the uncorruptible. Oh God. Into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.
[33:32] So they made idols. Even became animal worshipers. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
[33:53] Homosexuality came in. There's no God. If God didn't make a man and God didn't make a woman and God didn't make the family that way, then they can do what they want and they can dishonor their own bodies. Verse 25, they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever.
[34:14] Amen. And that's why God gave them up in verse 26 to vile affections. Their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And men left the natural use of the woman and burned in their lust one toward another.
[34:27] A man with a man doing that which is wrong. Doesn't even look right or seem right or feel right. And receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat. Verse 28, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
[34:41] They didn't want to have God in their mind. They didn't want to think about God. So God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. They were filled with all unrighteousness and fornication and wickedness and covetousness and maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, they don't just do them, but they even have pleasure and other guys that do the same thing.
[35:21] Well, that's a description of our world. You see, when you cut loose from God, there's nothing left. We are animals. You won't like this verse, and I'm closing.
[35:36] I'm ready. I'm going to close, but you won't like this verse, but hang on to it. 1 Timothy 6, verse 20, Paul says to Timothy, be careful about people that talk science to you. He said, Oh, Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.
[35:54] Hang on to the word of God. Hang on to the truth they've given you. Avoid profane or in vain badminton. Empty, worthless, godless junk that idiots talk about in opposition of falsely science, falsely so-called science.
[36:10] Not science, but science, falsely so-called. Avoid it. To deny this verse is to deny God and everything that he says.
[36:24] He puts man on the same level as animals because man is simply an animal that evolved more. By the way, if you want to know that, that leads to more racism.
[36:36] That's why Hitler could kill Jews because they were just rats and animals. And that's why today the scientists and historians want to deny the Holocaust because, you know, they got to, I mean, really, they weren't people, were they?
[36:52] PETA, my favorite organization in the world, thinks that animals have equal rights to humans. In 1988, PETA released a statement quoting John Bryant in his book, Fettered Kingdoms, saying that companion animals, pets, companion animals, are like slaves, even if they are well-kept slaves.
[37:16] Ingrid Newkirk, PETA founder, says there is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. She said, a rat is a pig, is a dog, is a boy.
[37:30] That's why they would run to save a seal while murdering babies. Because once you cut God out of the picture, evolutionists arrive at the belief that humans are mere animals with no purpose, no destiny, and no likeness to the creator.
[37:49] We are no more like the creator than an amoeba. We have no mandate from God to subdue the rest of creation. Since we are animals, then any moral restraint is just what's best for society.
[38:03] We can all coexist. That's their favorite bumper sticker, isn't it? Because there is no true God and no true religion. All is a matter of chance and coincidence.
[38:18] In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Those words form the basis for everything else you'll find in your Bible. You must choose to believe that God did create the heavens and the earth or you must believe that he did not.
[38:31] If he did not, then he does not exist at all. And nothing has purpose or makes sense.
[38:45] Every other word in the Bible hinges on these words. Every truth stands or falls based on these first verses. Creation proves his authority.
[39:01] In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Let me review with you and I will close. We don't need to be here worshiping.
[39:17] This is just a way to get your money. Maybe we'll try to help you raise your family a little better. Maybe we'll try to be nice to each other. It's just a club if there's no God. And if there's no God, there's no heaven.
[39:31] If there's no God, there's no hell. If there's no God, there's no eternal life. If there's no God, there's no sin. If there's no God, you're just an evolved dog or pig or whatever.
[39:48] You must choose. You go to school. You young people, you go to school. And you hear all the time. You can't turn on the Discovery Channel without discovering a lie. You can't listen to the History Channel without hearing history that was made up and didn't really happen.
[40:06] You can't go to the zoo without finding out that an elephant was born with a short nose like a human. But over millions of years, when he needed to get a drink, he didn't want to bend down. He just slowly grew a longer nose.
[40:17] I heard Loren Green say that. He's a guy on Bonanza when I was a kid. He made more sense on Bonanza. Wearing a gun and pretending to be a cowboy than he did being a scientist. And it all comes down to this.
[40:30] Every one of us. And you say, why in the world do you feel like this is so important? And I'll tell you why I feel like it's so important. Because is there sin? Is my job a joke?
[40:42] Is my life a joke? Is the time I've spent telling people about Jesus a joke? Let me tell you something. If this isn't true, none of it's true. I really think I went overboard showing you verses.
[40:55] But you see, Jesus thought there was a creation. The apostles thought there was a creation. The prophets thought there was a creation.
[41:06] The New Testament is full of there being a creation. They really believe that God exists. And that's why people hate this book. because if I can do away with in the beginning God, I can do away with all of it.
[41:26] With all my heart, I hope you believe this. I hope you learn this. I hope you study it. You are not the product of evolution. You are not some haphazard thrown together.
[41:41] Some explosion didn't take place two gazillion years ago that formed all this. That's not what happened about six or seven thousand years ago.
[41:52] I'll say ten just to cover it by basis. God stepped out on nothing and said, I'm making a heaven and I'm making an earth. And he did.
[42:03] And in Genesis one and two he's going to tell us what he did. I'm not going to explain to you how he did it because this cookie can't explain the cookie maker. I'm simply going to tell you what the cookie maker said that he did.
[42:16] You say, well how do you know it's true? Because I ain't nothing but a cookie. And when the cookie maker says it, I'll just believe it. Father in heaven, help your people believe you.
[42:32] Believe your word. Trust you. And look to you. And magnify you. And I'll give you all praise and all honor and all glory for all that you do. I love you.