Today Pastor Choi reminds God’s people of Christ’s Second Coming and God’s judgment.  Unlike His first coming (He came for the forgiveness of sin), this time Christ will come for the judgment of the world.   Based on the water judgment during Noah’s time, the sermon points out to the cause of divine judgment—the wickedness of humankind.   Pastor Choi also exhorts the congregation to be ready for the coming, to beware of the scoffers, to love fervently, and to pray for the salvation of family members.

    Water and Fire

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Water and Fire                                                                                      Genesis 6:5-8, 2 Peter 3:1-15

Genesis 6:5-8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

2 Peter 3:1-15  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ² that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

³ Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! ¹³ But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, ¹⁵ and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation;

Introduction

One of Jesus’ promises that has yet to be fulfilled is His second coming.  “Surely I am coming soon,” said He (Revelation 22:20).  Yes, He will be back again one day, but this time, unlike His first coming, it won’t be for the forgiveness of sins, but for the judgment of the world (Hebrews 9:28—“²⁸ so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Although some of us don’t want to hear a sermon on God’s judgment or Jesus’ second coming, it is my duty as preacher to speak about it lest we forget.  After all, Jesus talked about it, so did all the apostles, and so should I.  By the way, if you think you hear too often such a sermon from me, think again.  I preach on this topic once a year.  That’s about my average: one out of about 45 sermons each year.  Wouldn’t you agree that this important topic deserves at least one sermon a year, if not more?

This morning we are going to think about God’s judgment and Jesus’ second coming.  Let me begin with the history of God’s judgment.  The first universal judgment of God recorded in the Bible fell upon humanity many years ago in the time of Noah.  We are familiar with the story of Noah and his Ark.  Some of us even watched the recent movie “Noah”—by the way, don’t believe everything the movie says about God and Noah.  Some of them are untrue:  “The film’s director Darron Aronofsky, even he’s described the movie as the least biblical film ever made…” (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/noah-controversial-biblical-film-critcized-taking-liberties-23047843.)   Rather, read the whole story in the Bible—God’s authentic script.

Who was Noah?  He was the man who built a huge boat called an ark on top of a mountain.  The ark was huge—450 feet-long, 75 feet-wide, and 45 feet-high!  It was longer than a football field (360’ x 160’) and almost three-stories high.

Let’s not forget.  The ark wasn’t just for the sake of having fun with the animals!  That’s in the children’s storybook.  The real reason for it was that God wanted to have a fresh start with a new humanity after wiping off the old sinful humanity from the earth.   Do you know what brought down the water judgment to the old humanity?  The wickedness of man, the Bible says. “⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).  God was sorry that He made humanity and was grieved in His heart (Genesis 6:6).  The wickedness of man brought down the judgment on the earth.

I need to speak a little about God’s judgment.  Some of us don’t like the idea of God’s judgment claiming that God is the God of love.  But, that’s not the entire picture of God in the Bible.   Yes, the Bible indeed says that God is love and He loves the people in the world (John 3:16).  However, that’s only one part.  The other side of God is holy and righteous in whose presence no sin, wickedness or evil can stand (like no darkness is allowed in the presence of light).   We need to have the healthy balance of the both: love and judgment, grace and holiness, mercy and truth.

You may argue that in Noah’s time there must have been some good people who did some good that the world didn’t deserve to be punished.  I understand your reasoning.  However, you must remember that it is God who makes the judgment call, not we humans.  I would rather leave it to God who is the fairest of all and who knows what He is doing.  In my opinion, He makes the fairest judgment call.  If He says that He was grieved because the world was corrupt, and if He says that He would make an end of all flesh because of the violence that filled the earth (Genesis 6:11), who am I to say “no” to God?  After all, it was His creation and He owned them.  Whatever He does, I accept His judgment call as righteous and fair.  We may not like what He does, we may disagree with His criteria, we may even pray to change His mind, yet as far as the final decision is concerned, it rests with Him.

So, when the wickedness of man became too much for God, He decided to blot out any trace of evil and wickedness with water: by sending rain for forty days that resulted in a universal flood.  He only saved Noah and his family (all together eight) along with all the animals (two of every kind—male and female, Genesis 6:19.  Compare Genesis 7:2, 3—seven pairs of clean animals, two pairs of unclean animals, and seven pairs of birds).  The rest of the world all drowned.  None survived the flood except the ark and those in it.  Why were Noah and his family spared from the water judgment?  Because, the Bible says, he alone was righteous before God in his generation (Genesis 7:1).

I hope you begin to see the pattern of judgment—what causes it, who is spared, and who aren’t.  It began with the human sins/wickedness that covered the entire world.  It was so bad that God was sorry for His own creation.  It grieved Him very much.  God came up with a plan to fix the problem.  Only one way, He concluded, start anew.  So, that’s what He did with Noah’s family.  After the flood, God gave them a promise that He would not bring another water judgment to humanity.  As a token of His promise, He gave them the rainbow in the sky (Genesis 9:13-17).

Now, move the time table from Noah and enter the world of Jesus and His disciples, Paul and Peter.  Welcome to the first century.  Was humankind in the first century any better or morally improved than the people in the time of Noah?  Not really.  They were more or less the same, if not worse.  A wicked, adulterous, and sinful generation, Jesus called them (Matthew 12:39, Mark 8:38).  Paul the apostle picked up where Jesus left and continued in Romans 1:29-32 (NASB).   “ ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

Now, fast forward the time 2000 years into the 21^st century.  What about now—the present world we are living in?  Are we any better than those folks in the first century?  I wish I could say so in a heartbeat.  But, I cannot.  I am afraid we are worse than they.  Here’s one example.   E.g. “The Guilty Go Free—-I saw it the other day.  It was in the paper.  You probably saw it also.  It wasn’t headline news, but it might have served a good purpose if it had been.  It read something like this: ‘Sensation hungry spectators, disappointed when a 19-year-old gas station attendant abandoned a suicide attempt, taunted him into jumping to his death from a 104-foot water tower Thursday.   A fire department official said the youth, Juergen Peters, climbed an iron ladder to the top of the tower and threatened to commit suicide following a dispute at the filling station where he worked.  He changed his mind and was climbing back down when the taunts began.  ‘Jump, you coward, jump!’ someone shouted from the crowd.  As Peters moved lower the taunts became louder.  He hesitated, looked at the crowd, then began to climb back to the top.  At the top he moved out on a parapet and flung himself off.”  (Don E. Wildman, March 1996).

I believe we are already living in the end times.  Perhaps, we are in the end of the end times.  Listen to Paul who prophesied what it is going to be like in the last days: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;”  (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NASB).

Once again, hold onto your urge to argue that the world is not as bad as the Bible says that deserves a divine judgment.  Let’s leave it to God.

Let me sum up how God’s judgment works: the wickedness of people and corruption of the world grieves God, which leads Him to a judgment.  The next judgment won’t come with water, but with fire.  In fact, that’s what Peter the apostle saw coming.  He says that there will be a judgment from God through fire against the ungodly.  Listen to 2 Peter 3: 6-7 (NASB): “the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

Applications:

Knowing all about the coming judgment, I would like to recommend us to do the following.

First, be ready for His coming (Matthew 24:36-44), for we don’t know when He is coming (Matthew 25:13).  Watch and pray (Matthew 24:42).  Two thoughts God gave to me in this regard: stay alert in prayer and do not be deceived by false prophets and false christs (Matthew 24:4, 24).  There will be many of them in the last days and we are already seeing some of them.

Next, beware of the scoffers.  Peter warns that some folks will make fun of us waiting for Jesus’ coming.   2 Peter 3:3-4, 8 says, “…in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation…. ⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Thirdly, love one another fervently.  Peter exhorts us as follows:  ⁷ The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. ⁸ Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:7-8).

Listen to Peter once again.  “ ¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! ¹³ But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, ¹⁵ and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation;” (2 Peter 3:11-15).

One last thing: be sure to pray for your family members to be included in salvation.  Pray fervently for their salvation.   E.g.  I pray daily for my family for 40 years.

Conclusion:

As far as the exact time and date go, no one knows except God and it is not for us to know (Acts 1:7).  But, I know it is getting closer.   We don’t have to panic about the coming judgment.  He is coming for us.  All we need to do is to prepare.  Like Noah was.  God promises to save the righteous like He did Noah.  You and I are righteous before God because of Jesus.  Mind you that the righteousness here is not our own, but that of Jesus.  Our righteousness is through the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, not self-righteousness or a good moral life-style.  Never forget that.

John Wesley once was asked what he would do today if tomorrow would be the last day of the earth.  He said, “I will live as exactly as I did yesterday.”  He was ready.  Are you ready?

Amen.  

Today Pastor Choi talks about the nature of temptation.  Taking the story of Adam and Eve, he reminds the congregation that the devil always promotes his own agenda not our interests, that he is a liar and father of lies (John 8:44), and that his strategy is deception.  He urges the believers to submit themselves to God and resist the devil (James 4:7) not giving him any footing to tempt them.

Understanding Temptation

The following is a summary of the sermon:

Understanding Temptation       Genesis 3:1-24

Introduction

There are temptations galore.  As long as we live in our physical bodies, we will live with a variety of temptations: physical, emotional, and spiritual.   We all wish that we were mighty strong when it comes down to resisting temptations.  Like Jesus was.  Like Joseph or Daniel.  Yet, we often find ourselves overcome by the temptations instead of overcoming them.  Even our forefather Adam and his wife Eve succumbed to their first temptation.

Contents

One question arises: Why did Eve yield to the temptation so easily?  Where was her fight to resist the temptation?  Where was Adam when she needed him the most?  He could’ve assisted her not to listen to the tempter.   After all, why did he not stop her from eating the forbidden fruit?

By the way, I was always curious to know where Adam was when Eve was tempted.  My research reveals that at the time of Eve’s temptation, Adam was beside her.  The Bible doesn’t say how close he was to her, but it says he was with her: “She took the fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate (v. 6).”  In other words, I can safely say that Eve wasn’t alone when she was approached by the serpent.  In my opinion, it is highly likely that Adam was at her side and condoned his wife’s action and participated in the act of disobedience to God.

Another point to consider: the temptation was coming.  In other words, it was not out-of-the-blue.  It was rather a deliberate attempt carefully made by the serpent after a prolonged observation on Adam and Eve’s behavioral patterns.  Let me elaborate what I mean by that.  The tempter, in the shape of serpent, was cunning, the most cunning creature among all God’s creation (v. 1).  So cunning that he carefully studied and contemplated the best way to carry out his scheme.  He observed what Adam and Eve did in the past, made a chart, analyzed, and came to the conclusion that they were curious about this tree and very interested in the fruit.  Therefore, the best way to lure them into the snare was the same “forbidden” fruit—the tree of knowledge.

In fact, hovering around the tree was what Adam and Eve must have done before the day of temptation.  Here’s why I believe so.  In Genesis 2:16-17 God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If he did, God said, he would surely die.  Now, most of us understand what it’s like to be told not to do something.  At first, we pay attention to the warning.  We are careful not to do as we are told.  Then, as time goes by, our self-control wears out, our curiosity grows, we get itchy to try it against the warning.  E.g.  A child is warned not to eat candy before dinner.  Her craving for the candy grows stronger.  E.g. 2.  When I was a child, I was warned not to play with the fire.  Then, I wanted to play with it more!  E.g. 3.  Remember Pandora’s box?  She was warned not to open it but her curiosity overcame her self-control and she eventually opened it.

The same idea must have worked here.  Adam and Eve knew which tree God forbade them eating from.  However, like us, they must have been very curious and itchy to try it!  So, imagine this.  When they walked by the tree, at first they just glanced at it.  Next time, they went a little closer to the tree and took a closer look, and so on.  As long as they didn’t eat it, they thought, it was alright.  They might have repeated this behavior scores of times before the temptation.

Enter now the deceiver, the serpent, in the picture.  The cunning creature watched and observed the behavioral pattern of Adam and Eve.  In fact, he’d been looking for a way to mess up the purpose and the order in God’s creation.  What was God’s purpose?  It was to have a loving relationship with Adam and Eve.  What was God’s creation order?  He remains the Creator and Adam and Eve remain the created.  The boundaries between the Creator and the creatures were set by His command to them: you can eat all things in the garden but this one (Genesis 2:17).  The serpent wanted to change that.  He wanted to destroy the covenantal relationship between God and the first couple.  He wanted to undermine the creation order by challenging God’s command.  And, he finally figured it out!   The tree!  The forbidden fruit!  Let it be the bait!

So, one day, the tempter in the form of serpent approached Eve first who might have shown the stronger interest and desire than Adam.  Or, more likely, the serpent chose her the more vulnerable target because she didn’t receive God’s warning directly.  She received it second-handedly from Adam not from God.  Adam was the one who received a direct warning from God.  The serpent began seducing Eve with a question, “Did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”

I think it is appropriate here to talk about the tempter, the devil.

First, the devil always promotes his own interest never yours.  In the story, his true motive was not the benefit of Eve or Adam.  When he threw the question at Eve, he was not promoting the happiness of the couple.  No, that was the last thing in his mind.  In fact, he was the least interested in their gaining the knowledge of good and evil.  Rather, he was promoting his own agenda.  What was his agenda, then?  To disrupt the harmony and order in God’s kingdom and His creation.  He wanted Adam and Eve to do what he wanted to do.  That was, to disobey God.

Next, by nature Satan is a liar and deceiver.  In the garden, he brazenly contradicted what God said.  God said to Adam that he would surely die when he disobeyed God’s command.   Satan contradicted saying, no, you shall surely not die (v. 4)!  That’s a blatant attempt to make God a liar!  Who’s the liar, here?  The tempter, the serpent, Satan.  Jesus says Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).  Everything Satan says is a lie, therefore, it always contradicts everything God says which is the truth.

Thirdly, beware of Satan’s strategy: deception.  When confronted by God, Eve said, it is the serpent who beguiled me (v. 13).  Basically, she was saying, the serpent talked me into it and I ate!   I looked up the definition of Hebrew word “beguile,” it means to deceive someone or make somebody believe what is not true in order to get what you want.  Eve and Adam fell for the deception believing that the tempter was helping them when actually he was hurting them big time.  Remember: whenever you are tempted, you are dealing with the deception.  It may look great at first, it may even seem promising.  Beware of the outcome.  It’s always bitter and empty.

Applications

What lessons can we learn from today’s story?

First, beware of the tempter.  Behind every temptation, there’s the tempter.  He is the most cunning creature of all.  He is a liar and father of all lies.  Never believe that he promotes your good.  It is always the other way around.  He never helps you, but always hurts you in the end.

Next, don’t allow your enemy to gain a foothold in your life.   Adam and Eve should’ve never hovered around the tree.  Ravi Zacharias said, “It is better to shun the bait than to struggle in the snare.”  Don’t go near the hook, or Satan will observe your pattern and deceive you with an irresistible temptation.

E.g. If you have a habit of watching TV, especially Saturday night, then the devil can prompt a thought in your heart at midnight to watch a late night movie.  After watching it, around 2 a.m., you go to bed, and can’t get up early the next morning for church.  The devil achieved his goal to keep you from worshiping the Lord.

E.g. 2. The sermon just started and Satan prompted a thought in your heart.  Soon, a train of thoughts led you astray for the next five minutes and by the time you came back to the sermon, you lost the track and didn’t get much out of it and wished the pastor to end it soon.  Satan achieved his goal of snatching God’s Word from being planted in your heart.  When this happens again next time, shake it off right away.  Don’t allow it to lead you astray, or Satan will keep using that strategy on you.

E.g. 3.  Same with the way you handle your anger.  When it comes down to handle your frustrations, if you often go to violence instead of obeying God’s command, Satan observes the pattern and prompts the angry thoughts which will drive you into violence.

There are many other examples.  The bottom-line is: don’t give any chance to your enemy to tempt you.

We must remember why Adam and Eve couldn’t resist the temptation even after God in no uncertain terms warned them not to eat the forbidden fruit.  Their fall started with their curiosity.  They first allowed then contemplated the thought of trying the forbidden fruit and later their behavioral pattern gave away their interest to the enemy.   That invited in the tempter.  Likewise, when we are saturated with desires to do something that God forbids, God’s warning becomes powerless and we become an easy target of the tempter.

Conclusion

Whatever temptations you face now, don’t let Satan tempt you.  Submit yourself to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).  Don’t give him any footing to tempt you.  Stop visiting the area where you are tempted.  Stop hovering over it.   Stay away from it.  Take your vulnerable areas to God and ask for His help.  He will help you out (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Amen.

Today Pastor Choi informs the audience what the Word of God, the Bible, says about creation: Who created the universe and everything in it?  Based on his study of the Bible, he presents the following: 1. God makes an exclusive claim that it is He, no one else, who created the entire universe and all creatures in it.  2. A cloud of witnesses testify to the truth that God created the universe and everything in it.  3. The same God expects and commands God’s children to declare the same in worship and in faith.  At the end, Pastor Choi urges the audience to make up their minds in believing God’s creation.

   In the Beginning

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Genesis 1:1          New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Introduction

I was born and raised in South Korea.   I wasn’t a Christian until I was 17.  I was educated in the public school system.  I still remember the first time I was ever exposed to the evolution theory—in high school biology class.  The textbook presented Darwin’s hypothesis on how all living things might have been evolved from one single living organism.

In the same textbook, no other theory besides Darwin’s was introduced.  Just the evolution theory.  Its argument was convincing.  Showing a few pictures of embryos of different species such as fish, frog, bird, ape, human and so forth, especially in the very early stage, let’s say, a week or two weeks old ones, it pointed out that they look very much alike.  Then, it deduced a theory that all these species share the common origin (otherwise, they wouldn’t look alike)—they come from the same parent—very likely from one single simple life form—amoeba!  Over the next millions of years through natural selection, it argued, that simple life form evolved into more complicated life forms and branched out into many different life forms that make up the present world of plants, animals, and humans.

I must say, it was an interesting theory, and I was impressed.  Then, I became a believer in Christ and started reading the Bible.  Of course, right in the first page, Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  I never doubted that God has created all the creatures in every kind.  Not that my faith was strong, but I just believed what the Bible says about creation.

Contents

Over the years, I always had a puzzling question in my mind regarding creation: Why is it so hard for some believers in the Church to believe as I do?  That God has created the entire universe (heavens, earth) and everything in it including humans.

There can be several answers to the question, but the following three come to my mind:

1.  Some folks don’t believe that God has created all things, because they follow the crowd: they blindly follow the crowd in the world without a critical thinking.  Since many believe in evolution, they reason, let’s go with the crowd.
2. Some other folks, claiming that they are “scientifically minded,” don’t believe in God’s creation.   They rather believe in evolution.  They follow the arguments based on scientific discoveries establishing their own convictions on tangible, concrete, and visible evidence such as fossils, bones, skeletons, and even DNA.
3.  Other folks doubt that God has created them all, because they are ignorant of the Word of God (the Bible).  They don’t read the Bible.  Neither they study or research this topic looking into the Bible.  They doubt God’s power.  Based on a few negative comments they heard on creationism (such as how can God create everything in six days?  It is impossible! Or, the age of the earth is billions of years according to science, yet, why some scholars say a few thousand years—unbelievable!), they reject God’s claims on creation in the Bible.

My intention this morning is not to prove how wrong the evolution theory is but to educate and inform God’s people of what the Bible says about creation: Who created the universe and everything in it?  I pray that the Lord would open your heart and mind to listen to the Word of God the Bible on this subject.

What does the Bible say about creation?

The following three things:

1. It is God, no one else, who created everything in the world for His glory and by His will.  God makes an exclusive claim on that.  For instance, in Isaiah 45:8, God declares, “I have created it.”  In Job 38:4, He declares to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?”  The Bible repeatedly says that God created all the creatures for His pleasure and for His glory (Isaiah 43:7, Colossians 1:16).

In fact, there are scores of references on God’s creation: from the very first page of the Bible (Genesis 1) to the last page (Revelation 22).  He created light and darkness (Isaiah 45:7), heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1), waters (Genesis 1:9-10), vegetation/plants/trees (Genesis 1:11-12), sun/moon/stars (Genesis 1:15-18), sea creatures (Genesis 1:21-22), animals and humans (Genesis 1:23-30) and so forth.

God’s exclusive claim on creation also shows in His title: God has many titles such as God (El), LORD (Yahweh–YHWH), Yahweh Jireh (the LORD who provides), Yahweh Rapha (the LORD who heals), God the Almighty (El-Shaddai), God the LORD, God Most High (El-Elyon), LORD of hosts (Yahweh Zebaot), and so forth.  Here’s one more title that He never intends to share with any other gods: Creator (הקֹנֵ֖) of Heaven and Earth (Genesis 14:19, 22).

One more note: There are three Hebrew verbs that are used in the context of God’s creation: אבָּרָ֣ (create), השֶׂ֥עֲ (make) and הקֹנֵ֖ (possess, buy, acquire—God originated and created heaven and earth, therefore, He owns them.  E.g. Like an inventor who has 100% right to his inventions).  These three words leave no room for any speculation that we are a product of random chance/accident.  Indeed, we are created by God for God’s glory.  We are connected to the Creator and we owe our life and existence to Him.

2. There’s a cloud of witnesses who would testify to the same truth that God created them all.  In the Old Testament, we have Melchizedek the King of Salem and Abram (not Abraham yet) who called God Most High Creator of Heaven and Earth—Genesis 14:19,22.  Prophet Isaiah declared, “God created them all, brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name” (Isaiah 40:26).  Another prophet Malachi said, “Did not one God create us?” (Malachi 2:10)  King Solomon even once said, “Remember your creator” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus said, “In the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6).   Apostle John said in Revelation 10:6, “God created heaven, the earth, and the sea, and what’s in them.”  Paul the apostle said, “God created all things” (Ephesians 3:9).  I didn’t even mention angels and countless believers.  Every single one of these witnesses would testify even to the point of death that it is indeed God who created everything in the universe.   For thousands of years, all God’s people consistently and faithfully shared the same conviction.

This time, let’s consider witnesses for evolution: Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley (a.k.a. Darwin’s Bulldog), communists, atheists, many scientists, naturalists (nothing beyond what you see), and people in academia.  These witnesses are not comparable to the witnesses for God’s creation for the following reasons: They can change their theories and convictions any time whenever new evidence comes out.  Next, the evolution theory has been around only 150 years.  Who knows how long it will last?  Finally, I am not sure how many of the followers would risk their own lives for their beliefs.

3. God expects/commands us His followers to declare in worship and in faith that He is indeed the Creator of all.  In Revelation 4:11, we witness the heavenly worship where four living creatures (angels with six wings) and twenty-four elders fall before God, cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things….”

Based on these three discoveries in the Word of God, I am more convinced than ever before that it is God who created everything in the world.  We are God’s creation with purpose: He wants us to enjoy Him and to bring glory to Him through our lives.

Make up Your Mind

It is time that we made up our minds.  It is time that we stopped being double-minded in following God’s truth on creation.  It is time that we stopped kidding ourselves.  It is time that we stopped standing on both fences.  It is about time that we paid a serious attention to God’s claims on creation.

I made up my mind this way: I do believe that God has created all things with purpose and by His will.  I do believe so, not because of all the evidence but because of the integrity of all the witnesses and because of the authority of God’s Word.  I believe in God’s creation because I believe in God who never lies.  I believe in God’s creation because of the Word of God, the never-changing truth.

As much as I believe in Jesus’ redemption, I do believe in God’s creation.  As much as I believe in Jesus’ resurrection, I do believe in God’s creation.  As much as I believe in God’s love, I also believe in His creation.  As much as I believe in eternal life, I do believe in God’s creation.  As much as I believe in Heaven, I do believe in God’s creation.

Conclusion             

Ask yourself: Does God ever lie?  (That’s one thing God cannot do).

Is the Bible the Word of God to you?  If so, believe His claims on creation.  Believe that He created the universe and everything in it especially you for His glory and honor.  He has a purpose for you.  You are not an accident or a by-product of evolution.  You are God’s child.  You are wonderfully and fearfully created by God.  He originated you, created you, and therefore, He declares to you, “You are Mine!”  He knows you and calls you by name.  You’re God’s creation.  Give Him the glory.

Let us pray.