September 1, 2003, Vol.2, No.17.

The Creation Model

The year of creation was calculated in 1650 by Bishop Usher of Armagh as 4004 B.C. He obtained this date from calculations based on the genealogies listed in the King James Bible, and it is the one most commonly used. Whitcomb and Morris however make a strong case for a date somewhere between 8600 B.C. and 6000 B.C. Although the year 4004 B.C. is not necessarily the date of creation, the Creation Model assumes that the world is several thousand years old, not hundreds of thousands or millions of years as required by the theory of evolution.

 The word "kind" in the Bible is used to define groups of animals that are able to breed with each other. If two differing types of animals are not able to procreate they are not considered to be biblical kinds. The Creation Model does provide for variation within kinds. As an example, there may have been only two or three kinds of dog ancestors in the ark, but the years of separation after the flood, together with cross breeding would produce animals that ranged from the Fox, or the Wolf, or Great Danes, to the lowly hound. A biologist might classify several of the animals under different species, and claim the variation from one species to another is proof of evolution, but that’s not what evolution teaches. No matter how many types of dogs you may breed, you still have dogs. No horses, or cats or rabbits will ever come from the breeding of dogs. Each kind only will reproduce with another of its kind, and the offspring will always be of the same kind.

Evolution teaches that if you breed enough dogs enough times under different conditions, given a million or so years, you will get some animal that is not a dog. The Creation Model flatly denies this. Kind always begets of the same kind. Noah would not have had to carry all the animals we know today in the ark, but only a male and female of each kind. One other thing concerning variation within kinds: The Creation Model predicts that the second law of thermodynamics will apply to all such breeding. No matter how strong the offspring may be in one characteristic, such as improved sense of smell, it is weaker overall than its ancestor. Put another way, the offspring is likely to have more genetic defects than either of its parents.

 The flood came about when the fountains of the deep were opened, most likely by volcanic action. Great quantities of dust and ash were carried high into the vapor canopy and condensed into rain. Enough rain to last for forty days and forty nights. The combination of volcanos, earthquakes and flooding would completely pulverize the surface and every thing that was on it. As the flood waters increased, the stronger and more mobile creatures may have fled to higher ground, but in time all were destroyed. The churning action of the water separated the rich earth into component parts, and gathered large amounts of plant and animal life into clumps. During the year following the rain, the first of many sediment beds were laid down. Then as the mighty wind blew upon the earth for the first time, parts of land began to rise, and erosion cut away many sediment beds and redeposited them. The same churning action would bury much of the plant and animal life, producing fossils and fuel.

 Genesis 8:3 states, "and the waters returned from off the earth continually." The language indicates that this is not one drainage, but many. That is, parts of the land might rise, then decline and be flooded again, and rise again, producing the mixed sediment beds and geological faults we see today. Eventually, the ark rested in the mountains of Ararat. From this point, animals and later man began to disperse over all the globe. This movement may have taken as much as 1,000 to 3,000 years. It is assumed that during this time, much movement was still going on in the crust of the earth, and that land bridges existed to provide access to all continents of the globe. At a later time, the land bridges sank. Separated from others of their kind by language at the tower of Babel, and by geography, men were restricted to mating among a small group. The result was the rise of different nations and ancestors.

This is a broad sketch of the model. I have simplified many concepts to the point where some may think I misrepresent the information. I apologize if this is the case, for it was not my intent. My desire was to bring a new perspective to the subject, and to challenge the reader to study for himself.

 (Note: This "creation model" ably sketched by Brother Proctor is, admittedly, not proven in detail by the Scriptures. Rather, it constitutes a harmony of facts derived from the Bible with facts gleaned from natural science and demonstrates that God’s Word does indeed provide an answer to the question of origins that is in harmony with the facts of science. - K.S.)

THE PAIN OF REPENTANCE

In God’s great plan for redeeming man from sin, no single element is any more critical than repentance and none is any more difficult. Few people will deny the words of Jesus, "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3,5). But the personal application is often painful for us.

 To repent is, literally, to perceive afterward. It is to realize, after the fact, that what one has done is wrong. And in scripture, this realization always implies a determination to change toward the right. But there’s the rub. Repentance must be initiated by a clear sense of personal responsibility and guilt for having sinned. In our modern culture, such a self-realization is heresy. We’re led to believe these days that no one is personally responsible for anything; if one does evil, there must be some root source of blame outside himself. But God knows better. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" applies to humans equally. We are not mere "victims," forced into sin by others. We sin as a matter of personal choice.

 Perhaps no case of repentance expresses this sense of personal responsibility any more clearly than that of David in Psalm 51:2-4, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight...."Contrast David’s spirit with that of modern men who weakly mumble, "Well, if I've done anything wrong I repent..." Baloney. There’s no repentance without the realization and understanding of one’s guilt before God. Anything less is a meaningless waste of time. Repentance is not synonymous with "going forward" in a religious service; it’s a genuine change of heart based on one’s awareness of personal sin against God.

 Then follows the real challenge to "bring forth fruit worthy of repentance", as John the Baptist demanded of the Pharisees (Luke 3:8). Or as Jesus directed the woman taken in adultery, "Go and sin no more." (John 8:11)

 It is this determination to change for which Paul commended the Corinthians, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) Note the tense. Living in the most morally depraved city of the Roman empire, the saints in Corinth took their faith seriously and made the changes demanded by repentance and righteousness. 

This leads us to an interesting point. Modern man is possessed of the notion that surely God will not require anything too difficult of us. Perhaps this aberrant notion is an outgrowth of our permissive society in general, but many would have us believe that Jesus will just take us "as we are." In a sense, that is true, of course, but Jesus never taught that we should remain "as we are." We're to "seek first the kingdom and His righteousness", which cannot be done while deliberately continuing in sin.

 Whether one has to give up drunkenness or fornication -- or even give up a spouse to whom he has no right -- why do we think that our burdens are greater than those of our spiritual forbears?

 Was it easy for drunkards in Corinth to stay sober? Was it easy for homosexuals to give up a perverted way of life? Was it easy for covetous hearts to overcome covetousness? We humans always seem to envision our own time as the hardest or worst time, and our own burdens as the heaviest. In reality, such a view is intellectual snobbery and self-pity.

 Truth be told, we often balk at true repentance because we enjoy our sins. We would rather just tell God, "I’m sorry," and hope He’ll forget about it. Yet how can He forget about our sin when we keep flaunting it in His face?

 And herein lies the real crux of the matter. Sin is an affront against God Almighty. It is an insult to His holiness and righteousness. It is to rebel against the true Sovereign of the universe. Only when we admit the filth and degradation of our own actions, admitting our rejection of God and His word, will we be really motivated to repent and throw ourselves upon His mercy. The problem may well be that we humans fail to repent because we worship the creature rather than the Creator.

 King David had no such delusions of self-worship. "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness. O God, the God of my salvation...For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:14-17). May God help us to humbly repent.