April 21, 2009
A Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a country far, far away... That is how
many people view the Bible. They perceive it as some sort of a fairy tale, or a
collection of myths and half truths. In fact, just recently a program on
television was saying that the Bible couldn't be true, science had disproved it.
Is that a valid way of looking at the Bible? Well, I suppose it could be, but if
we're Christians and that perspective is true, then it is time for us to give up
on Christianity because we've been deceived. How do I know that? Let's look at a
couple of basic issues.
The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman. From them
came all people. Their sin caused them to be cast from the Garden of Eden and
cut off from eternal life.
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and
evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree
of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden
of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man
out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming
sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 2:22-24 NIV
If we believe that there was no literal Adam and Eve how do we explain the need
for a Savior? How do we explain the entrance of sin into the world? We can't.
The first promise of Christ comes in that same Genesis account
So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are
you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your
belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush
your head, and you will strike his heel."
Genesis 3:14-15 NIV
The serpent would strike his heel (Satan succeeded in having Christ killed) but
Christ would be resurrected, defeat death and ultimately crush the head of
Satan. If we can't trust the Old Testament accounts, we can't trust the claims
for Christ to be the Messiah. In fact we wouldn't even know we needed one.
Some will say to me, but science has proved we evolved and that the earth is
ancient. Science has disproved the Bible.
Science is a wonderful thing and we've gained great benefit from it, but let's
never forget it is always changing and today's scientific "fact" is yesterday's
discarded theory. A little more than a hundred years ago, Australian
aboriginals, and some African tribes were "proved" to be not human. Fortunately
for them and us, this was found to be false.
The thyroid and pituitary glands were once "known" to be useless glands, a
leftover from the past. Now we know they have a vital role in sustaining life.
Darwin and his followers "proved" we evolved. Now even many ardent evolutionists
are saying it couldn't be random, it took some form of "intelligent design" We
know the world isn't flat as science once "knew" for a fact. There are thousands
more examples. Science hasn't even come close to putting the Bible in doubt.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not anti-science, in fact I find it fascinating. There
is a lot we can learn about the mechanics of how things work through science,
but science can only explain, it can never prove origin. I'm simply saying we
already have the truth, and the science must be weighed against that standard
not the other way around. We needn't worry about measuring the Bible against
science, that's doing things backwards.
The Word is truth. I believe that so strongly that I'm committing my hopes for
eternity and my plans for this life on that fact.
Until next time, rejoice in the fact that God cared enough to give us His Word
and reveal the truth through it.
I leave you with these words of Jesus:
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into
the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I
sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
John 17:17-19 KJV
Be blessed,
Darrel Mason