Is creation and the age of the earth a salvation issue?

A message we hear all the time is that six creation days and a six thousand year old universe is nonsensical.  Many believe it is true, in the place of God’s truthful account.  Many claim that six days and six thousand years is a side issue and have nothing to do with salvation.  We beg to differ.  The six days creation represents God’s power to fulfil the final goal of salvation – a new heaven and earth.  The six thousand years tells us we will not wait millions of years for that to happen.

#  Salvation through Jesus Christ has two stages.

1. To be saved from the kingdom of darkness.
2. To live in the Kingdom of Light on the new heaven and earth.

• Jesus’ death on the Cross saved from the kingdom of darkness.  God promised, ‘He [Jesus, the seed of the woman] will crush your [Satan, the serpent’s] head.’ ¹  Note that it fulfils the first aspect – salvation of our souls.
• The final stage is revealed in the last book of the Bible, “Then I saw in the right hand of Him [God] who sat on the throne a scroll….  And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”’ ²  They found no one, so John, who witnessed it, ‘…wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.’ ³  Revelation 5:12 tells us that the Lamb was worthy to open the Scroll. 
• John cried his heart out because he realised if there was no one to open the Scroll, the saints would never receive their promised inheritance, ‘…a country of their own.’ ⁴  Scripture teaches, ‘…in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and earth, the home of righteousness.’ ⁵

Please note:

• ‘The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.’ ⁶  If the devil and his kingdom were destroyed by Jesus on the Cross, we would be living in peace and happiness.  We don’t.  Besides, it would be grossly unfair to those who lived before the Cross.  They had to live under the tyranny of the devil.  The fact is that even after the Cross, ‘the whole world is [still] under the control of the evil one.’ ⁷
• To accomplish the second phase of Jesus’ mission to earth, the devil and his kingdom of darkness must be completely destroyed.   That is what the opening of the Scroll is about.

#  The Cross and the Scroll means complete salvation.

• The six days tells us God has the power to fulfil His promises.
• The six thousand years tells us God will not let us wait billions of years for our new dwelling. ⁸ 
• The Cross leads to salvation and enables us to become part of God’s Family.
• The opening of the Scroll promises God’s Family a dwelling place on the new earth.  It will happen soon, not in billions or millions of years, ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place.’ ⁹ ’Soon’ as well as ‘the time is near’¹⁰ in the Bible does not refer to billions of years.   Who is willing to wait billions of years for the glorious new place to live?

#  What does six days and six thousand years have to do with us?  

• Jesus said to the centurion and the two blind men before He healed them, ‘According to your faith it will be.’ ¹¹   That means our faith determines our future.  We know, ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’ ¹²
• So if a Christian believes in evolution and long ages, will he or she have to wait billions upon billions of years for the new heavens and earth to evolve?  That means such a person’s salvation cannot be completed.  What will happen if the new heavens and new earth cannot evolve?  One cannot deny God’s power in Genesis 1, and then insist He has the power to create a new heaven and earth.
• Will God automatically save those who believe He did not tell the truth in Genesis 1?  In our next blog we will discuss what happens when one deletes part of God’s Book, the Holy Scripture.

Conclusion

A six day creation and a six thousand year old earth is part of God’s plan for man.   Without it we will never have an eternal new heaven and a new earth.  If we believe the universe evolved 13,7 billion, and our planet 4,5 billion years ago, we will have to wait many, many billions of years for the new heaven and earth to evolve (if it can).

Six day creation plus a six thousand year old earth is our guarantee that we will live eternally with the Trinity on the new earth.

References

1. Genesis 3:15
2. Revelation 5:1-2
3. Revelation 5:4
4. Hebrews 11:14
5. 2 Peter 3:13
6. 1 John 3:8
7. 1 John 5:19
8. Revelation 11:15
9. Revelation 1:1
10. Revelation 1:3
11. Matthew 8:13; 9:29
12. Hebrews 11:6

Six day creation makes Biblical sense

There is a division in the Church between people who believe God created the heavens and earth in six days, and those who believe the earth is billions of years old. Both groups claim they believe the Scriptures. Does it matter what one believes? We believe it does.

In Genesis 1 (the beginning of the Bible) God teaches that He created the natural universe in six 24 hour days by His mighty power. In Revelation 21:1 (the end of the Bible) we read, ‘Then I saw a new heaven and earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away….’  The first creation was natural, the second will be supernatural:

• ‘The city (the New Jerusalem) does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.’ ¹ 
• On the new earth, the tree of life, next to the river of life, will yield its fruit every month.² Ordinary fruit trees in the natural world usually bear only once a year.
• Here all people die, but there the followers of Jesus will know no pain or death.³

Who will create this strange new world? In Isaiah 65:17 we read, ‘Behold, I [God] will create new heavens and a new earth.’  God will do it. However, only if God created the first, can we infer that He has the power to create the second.  If God could not create the natural universe, He can’t create the second. That is obvious. This is the problem that the believer in evolution faces: where will our final eternal dwelling come from, if the natural universe evolved by chance?

To summarise

1. If someone believes in an old earth or universe, it automatically excludes God as the all-powerful Creator. Evolution is then the creator. Can evolution ‘create’ the supernatural universe? And if so, how many billions or trillions of years will it take? If the first allegedly took 17,6 billion years, it means the second might take 100, 500 or 1,000 billion years. Where will believers have to wait for that to happen and what if it does not happen?
2. What about the fire with which God is going to destroy the present universe? ‘But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.’ ⁴ It needs a massive fire to destroy the present universe and burn up the elements. There is no natural explanation for it.
3. If six days creation was not done by God, this universe is not His ‘property.’ Then He has no authority to plan anything like an eternal Kingdom.
4. If God is not all powerful, why should we obey Him?
5. If Genesis 1 is not true, why is the rest of the Bible true?

Conclusion

Either God is the supernatural Creator of both Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 21:1, or He is not. If you deny the one you might as well stop hoping for the eternal Kingdom of peace and happiness, because it cannot evolve.

References

1. Revelation 21:23
2. Revelation 22:2
3. Revelation 21:4
4. 2 Peter 3:10