Creation From A Student’s Perspective
Written in Satisfaction of WCFS’ Origins 101 Final Exam Requirements
Dear Shawnee,
I hope you and your family are doing well. I remember when we met last week, you said you were an atheist. When I mentioned to you that I was a young earth creationist, who believes in the literal six-day creation, you said you were fascinated because you didn’t know anything about it, nor had you ever met someone who believes in creationism. As you know, I have a passion for creationism and through this letter I will introduce you to biblical creationism and answer questions you may have about it.
Before I write about creationism, I think it would be better for me to talk about the Creator of the creation who created you and me. I understand that you don’t believe in God or a higher power, but I would like to respectfully challenge that belief with a couple questions. First, think about the Mona Lisa. For the Mona Lisa painting to exist, there must be a painter. For a building to exist, there must have been a builder(s). For the world and universe to exist, there must have been a Creator. Life does not come from non-life just as the Mona Lisa doesn’t exist without a painter. It’s for these reasons and many others that I believe that God, a higher power, exists. Now, on to my introduction on creationism.
First off, creationism is self-evident because its evidence is universally visible in every created thing. Genesis 1:1 states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1 describes God creating the universe and earth in literal six days. How do I know that they were literal days you may ask? Two reasons: 1) Genesis chapter 1 says that there was “morning and evening.” It would be hard to interpret that any other way that literally. 2) God told us that He literally created the universe and earth in six days in Exodus 20:11 which says, “In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” Through this passage we can have confidence that God, the Creator of the universe, reveals Himself through His creation. In Psalm 19:1 David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Through creation we are able to see and experience intelligent design, creativity, and beauty from God. The Bible says that humans can see God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, so mankind has no excuse for not knowing God. Secondly, just as God reveals Himself through His creation, He also reveals Himself through His Word, the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” This verse confirms the fact that the Bible is reliable and trustworthy
Because God reveals Himself through Scripture, the Bible can only be understood by the Revelation of the Holy Spirit, and not by natural man. You may be thinking now, Shawnee, “Why is God so mysterious? Why does He expect people to believe in something that happened a long time ago, something that couldn’t be seen or observed?” If that question comes to your mind, it’s a good question. I myself struggled with it in prior years. Two passages in Scripture have helped me answer that question with the first being Hebrews 11:1 & 3, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see…By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.” This passage states that faith is required in order to believe that God created the universe. Hebrews 11:6 states, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” I don’t have all the answers, Shawnee, but I do know that with a childlike faith, I am pleasing God, who rewards me for my faith.
At this point in my letter you may be wondering, “Why does creationism and origins matter? Why are you so passionate about it, Caden?” The biggest reason why creationism and origins matters is because it’s the foundation for the Bible, the Holy Word of God. Jesus, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and others all referenced Genesis. If Genesis isn’t true, then that means that the rest of the Bible isn’t true. If God didn’t tell the truth in the first book of the Bible, when will He start telling the truth? If Genesis is a myth or symbolic, the rest of the Bible opens the door to its understanding as a theological and metaphorical document rather than a literal one. This is very dangerous and can lead many people away from the truth.
In this day and age we live in, Shawnee, Genesis is the most attacked book of the Bible (for the very reasons why I listed in my previous paragraph.) The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:3-4, “Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’” People will twist and lie about the truth because ultimately, they don’t want to be accountable for their sin before God, “ For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water” (2 Peter 3:6).
The biggest attack scoffers have created against the Bible and its teachings is evolution, which is the biggest assault of the devil against the knowledge of God revealed in His Word. Evolution says that everything came from nothing. This thought may have just crossed your mind “Caden, didn’t you say earlier that life cannot come from non-life?” That is absolutely correct, Shawnee. Evolution is a blind faith that completely contradicts Genesis and science. Actually, there is more faith required to believe that everything came from nothing, than to believe that there is a Creator of the universe who loves you and wants a relationship with you by becoming His child. This matters and has tremendous importance because if evolution is true then your life doesn’t matter because you were a coincidence, the Bible is not credible, there are absolutes, and there is no salvation, meaning that everyone will die in their sin. Fortunately, that is not true and it’s not the end of the story! God who created the universe sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to die for our sins, so that we don’t have to go to hell when we die. This is the best news ever, Shawnee! When we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved and join God in His presence in heaven when we die.
Evolution says that there is no point in life and that there is no afterlife. That belief is very depressing. The Bible says that God created to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him, and to live forever with Him in heaven!
I hope that you consider what I wrote to you in this letter. Please let me know if you have any questions. God bless you Shawnee!
Your friend,
Caden Prieto
