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Faith and Culture

The Importance of 6-Day Creation

1/1/2026

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I'll summarizes some of the main points of the video here.  This is largely a question of if the authority of Scriptures, the reliability of the translation of  Scripture, the infallibility of Scripture (as communicated by God the Holy Spirit to the original authors) and the clarity with which God communicated His message to His intended audience.  I typically follow the Historical-Grammatical approach to Biblical Interpretation (see How to Interpret the Bible which speaks of the various approaches to biblical hermeneutics).  With that in mind, a key verse here would be Exodus 20:11 (the justification for the fourth commandment), "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."  This leaves no room for Progressive Evolution, The Gap Theory, or any other Theistic Evolution model that tries to insert millions, billions, or even trillions of years into the Bible (what some people call "deep time").

Without the creation account of Genesis 1, the story of Adam and Eve which gives the foundation of law, government, family, and the good work that God calls us to to "keep" (protect and cultivate) His creation don't make sense.  We then also can't explain the existence of sin and death which are explained by Genesis 3, and then the whole gospel falls apart because if there is no First Adam, there is no need for a Second Adam. 

Also, the end of Revelation doesn't make much sense without a literal interpretation of Genesis as the end is a better version of the beginning.  We see the Tree of Life as bookends of the story--Adam and Eve are kept from the Garden so that they might not eat of the Tree of Life after they sinned, but the Tree of Life is available for all to eat freely in the New Heavens and New Earth.  The video makes other good points, but these were a few that I wanted to highlight.
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Are We Being Judged for Adam's Sin or Our Own?

6/30/2023

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I had a conversation with a student this week that I feel was worthy to turn into a Faith and Culture blog about the issue of sin...specifically about why it is fair that the world is being judged today for Adam's sin.  I had to explain first that each of us as humans that have free will have now sinned freely and we cannot blame that on Adam.  However, what Adam's sin did was that it changed our nature.  Where Adam and Eve were made to be in perfect communion with God and loved being in His presence, when sin entered the world, they desired instead to rebel against God and do what they felt was right--trying to decide good and evil for themselves.

Every generation since them has now been born with that same tendency to rebel against God and do what is contrary to His Law and divine nature.  They neither desire to know Him nor worship Him, and they definitely don't desire to obey Him.  I asked the student if a child had to be taught to lie or taught to tell the truth?  The student said that lying comes naturally.  I then asked if lying was rebellion against God's Law (sin)?  The student agreed it was.  We talked about several other examples, but I then made the point that the very first time that any of us (even a child) willfully sinned in any way that they knew was wrong, they now have their own sin that needs to be atoned for and we cannot blame that sin on Adam--it was our own choice at that point and it is our own sins which each of us will be judged by when the books are opened one day (unless Jesus has taken our sin debt upon Himself and paid our debt in full).

There is something to be said for God visiting the sins of the fathers on the third and fourth generation because the consequences of sin are long-lasting and multi-generational.  There is no such thing as a "personal choice" to sin that doesn't affect everyone else around you in some way.  That's why I personally can't buy into the Libertarian philosophy that liberty should mean anarchy where there are no rules and everyone does whatever they want.  God's rules are what is best for us personally, for our families and for our society and culture.  It is because He loves us that He gives us good rules to follow.  It is because we do not love Him that we break His rules and act as if we want to be our gods with a little 'g.'

So then what about the fact that Nature and all Creation was corrupted by sin?  How is it fair that things that had no capacity to sin before are now broken and not like they were to start off?  Are the plants and animals and ground all being judged because of Adam's original sin or our own?  The answer is "Yes" to both.  Everything in creation "fell" when Adam did because Adam was the federal head of creation.  Romans 5 talks about this but everything that was "in Adam" (all of mankind and all of creation) fell when Adam sinned, but "in Christ" all of us can be made new.  One day there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth that is no longer corrupted by sin.  We will be restored to what it was like in the Garden of Eden only better.  This time there will be not just one man and one woman, but men and women from every tribe, tongue, and nation of the earth.  All people groups will be represented.  We will no longer need to be sexual creatures because the need for reproduction won't exist--there will be no more death and no more aging.  In fact, there won't even be any more time.  We will no longer even have the sun or the moon to tell us whether it is day or night.  We will just always be in the light of His presence forever and ever and it will always be eternal day.  There will be no more need to sleep, but we will have good work to do just like Adam and Eve did when the LORD told them they were cultivate and protect the Garden that He entrusted to them.

So then the question the student asked about do we strive so much because of sin and one day all that will be erased and we will have strived and fought for nothing, the answer is "No."  Those of us who are in Christ will be rewarded for how we live our lives in this life.  Whenever we live in a way that brings glory to God and we don't take the glory for ourselves, we will have another reward ("crown") that we can lay at the feet of Jesus.  When Christ is presented with His Bride, the Church, He will cause all of them to remember this old life no more--there will be no more crying for the decisions that we should have made or the decisions that others made that we are sad they are not with us.  All of that will be wiped away and we will simply be with the Lord forever.  At that point, we will be fully known by Him and fully know Him and everything we need to know, we will know.  We will almost certainly recognize each other as the disciples were able to recognize Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, but we will also be made to look like Jesus.  Our struggles in this life are not for naught because it brings great glory to Jesus that we love Him and those who love Him will suffer as He has suffered.  We cannot say we love Him if we are not willing to suffer like Him.  We then will have many rewards with which to give him when we get to "heaven," and whether or not we understand the meaning of the rewards at that point we will definitely understand that all the rewards we have received need to be cast down at the feet of Jesus for He is the one worthy of all glory and honor and praise.  Then all heaven and earth will join together in worship of Him, just like they were meant to do from the beginning--but sin ruined that.  I look forward to that day!
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    These articles will cover topics about the Christian worldview.  They will largely address the questions of Origins, Meaning, Morality, Destiny and Identity, but they may also have more practical applications to our orthodoxy (what we should believe) and our orthopraxy (how we should live out our faith).  Nothing is off the table here as if we are Christians we should be Christians in everything we say, do and think.

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  • Home
  • What We Believe
    • Statement of Faith
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    • The New City Catechism Videos
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    • What Is the Gospel?
    • The Romans Road
    • The Three Circles Method
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  • Bible Studies
    • Gospel Foundations >
      • VOL 1: The God Who Creates
      • VOL 2: A WANDERING PEOPLE
      • VOL 3: LONGING FOR A KING
      • VOL 4: THE COMING RESCUE
      • VOL 5: GOD WITH US
      • VOL 6: THE KINGDOM ON EARTH
    • The Gospel Project >
      • Fall 2024 - Summer 2026 >
        • VOL 01: CREATION AND COVENANT
        • VOL 02: LAW AND LIFE
        • VOL 03: LAND AND LOSS
        • VOL 04: FOOLISHNESS AND WISDOM
        • VOL 05: DIVISION AND DEFIANCE
        • VOL 06: PROPHETS AND PROVISION
        • VOL 07: THE SON HAS COME
    • TGC Old Testament Courses
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    • Lifeway Reader
    • Bible Overview
    • The History of Salvation
    • How to Interpret the Bible
  • Daily Devotions
    • Daily Devotion Journal Articles
  • Updates
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    • 99-1 Discipleship Discord
    • ChatAboutJesus.com
    • 9 Marks Church Search
    • My YouTube Channel
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