5. CREATION: Humans, Home And Family, Part 1

Day One Study

Read Genesis 1:26-31.

1. What information is given about man’s creation in v. 26-27? Notice the use of the plural pronouns both here and in Genesis 3:22.

2. Image and likeness are synonymous in both the OT and the NT. What might being made in the “image of God” mean? Clues are in the following verses. Try to find other verses to support your answer.

·         Genesis 1:26-31—

·         Genesis 2:15-17, 19-20—

·         Colossians 3:9-14—

Think About It: We are to be walking, talking, living, free representatives of the image of the living God.

3. How many times does God use the word “created” in Gen. 1:27? Why is this significant? What information is He trying to get across to us?

Read Genesis 2:4 (middle)-17.

Scriptural Insight: Genesis 2—Where Does It Fit? “The Lord Jesus, when answering the Pharisees’ question about marriage (Matthew 19:4, 5), quoted from both chapters (Genesis 1:27 and 2:24) in the very same sentence! He who was Himself the Creator (Colossians 1:16-17) regarded the records of both chapters as not only harmonious but also as divinely inspired Truth…The second chapter of Genesis gives information about the creation week which is supplemental, not contradictory to the outline record of Genesis 1.…Further information is given about man’s original environment, and this is of such detailed character and so different from present conditions as to suggest quite strongly that the account was originally written by an eye-witness.” (Dr. Henry Morris, The Beginning of the World, p. 35-36)

4. Describe the Garden of Eden as God prepared it for Adam. What is growing there? [Note: shrub/plant of the field are those requiring cultivation.] What is the temperature? What about the watering system?

On the previous days of creation God said, “Let there be . . .” But the creation of man is different. Genesis 2:7 says, “The Lord God formed (means to shape and mold with loving care) the man…and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (literally, lives).” The name used for God is YHWH, the personal God, and He gave Adam “the breath of life.” Animals also had the breath of life in them, but God personally gave it to Adam as mankind’s representative.

5. What does this tell you about God’s relationship to man as opposed to the animals and the rest of creation?

6. What does knowing this truth mean to you personally?

7. The phrase “breath of life (lives)” is an interesting one. Read Job 12:10 and Job 34:14-15. What further information is given to us?

8. Why do you think God both made man and provided him with paradise on earth? Read Leviticus 26:12 and Acts 17:24-28 for more information.

Day Two Study

Read Genesis 2:8-17.

9. The Tree of Life is mentioned in other passages as well. Glean information given about it in:

·         Genesis 3:22-24—

·         Revelation 2:7—

·         Revelation 22:2, 14, 19—

Think About It: So, what was God’s intention by placing the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden? Although we don’t know it’s exact composition, we do know that it represented a choice. True love involves a choice. There has to be the possibility of rejection in order for there to be true love.

10. Discuss the location of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil among the other trees in the Garden of Eden. [We will study the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil more thoroughly next lesson.]

Appreciation Application:

11. God created man and woman with intellect, emotion and a will through which mankind can choose to love and serve God. Contemplate this “endowment” from the Creator. We are not puppets nor are we programmed to do the same things year after year as the animals do.

a. In what ways are you thankful for this ability to choose?

b. How does it inspire you to pray?

c. What does it mean to you to be created in God’s image? How should knowing this truth affect how you feel about yourself? Read Psalm 8. How is God mindful of your life (v. 4)? Share with your group.

Day Three Study

Appreciation Assignment:

12. God prepared a beautiful garden for the man and woman, one in which they would both work and enjoy. Spend some time in a garden setting this week—garden, yard, or park—where you can enjoy the trees, various shades of color in leaves and flowers, fragrances, etc. A garden can be an inspiring place. Ponder the beauty of God’s creation. God made all those wonderful plants for you!!! How does a beautiful garden inspire you?

Deeper Discoveries:

·         Read “Creation Answers: The Fossils Says, No!” following this lesson.

·         Go to www.answersingenesis.org. SEARCH for “human fossils” or similar phrase. Select an article to read or video to watch. Also visit www.icr.org and search.

·         If God created man just as He said, what evidence would we expect to find? What do we find?

Creation Answers: The Fossils Say “No!”

“It’s Designed, Not Descended”

The information below is adapted from resources found on www.icr.org and www.answersingenesis.org.

Life In The Past

There are billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the earth represented by bones, shells, molds, leaves, teeth, skin imprints, footprints, dung. Scientists have been examining the fossils and the rocks in which they are found for almost 200 years now.

As a way of reconstructing evolution’s past history, scientists have set up a “Geologic Time Scale” where the rocks with the “most Primitive” fossils are assigned the oldest ages and the rocks with the “most Advanced” fossils are considered the youngest with various stages in between.

The “Geologic Time Scale” actually exists in only one place—textbooks. There is no place on earth where all the rock layers, with the kinds of fossils listed in the geologic time scale, are found in the sequence listed. The geologic time scale is a nice graphic, a way of explaining the past.

What Evidence From Life In The Past Would We Expect To Find If Evolution Is True?

·         Fossils that show a progressive change from one organism to another—the Transitional Forms.

·         Lines of descent from a few simple forms to the many complex forms of life that we see today.

What Evidence From Life In The Past Would We Expect To Find If Creation Is True?

·         Each basic kind would appear in the fossil record complete, with no incomplete ancestors.

·         Fossils similar to living forms, separate kinds possessing some variations.

What Do We Find In The Fossil Record?

1. Complex And Diverse Life Appears Abruptly In The Fossil Record.

So many kinds of organisms suddenly appear at the lowest level that it’s called the “Cambrian Explosion.” Thousands of very complex organisms suddenly appear in these rocks such as fish, sea urchins, and trilobites that have a segmented body and complex vision. No ancestral forms can be found for any of these. They appear in the fossil record fully formed and distinct.

No evolutionist can explain how this happened. They have dug deeper into “older” layers to hopefully find the “earlier stages of developing forms,” and it doesn’t get any better— for the evolutionist. Complex jellyfish and segmented worms were discovered. So, the evidence says, “It’s designed, not descended.”

2. Each Basic Body Style Has Been Present Right From The Start Including Vertebrates (With Backbones).

·         No new body plans have appeared from the start. Shells look like shells; eyes look like eyes. Makes no sense if evolution did occur.

·         For instance, clams are found in the bottom layer, the top layer, and every layer in between. There are many different varieties of clams, but clams are in every layer and are still alive today. There’s no evolution, just clams!! Designed, not descended.

·         Living Fossils—The existence of many ‘living fossils’ also challenges the supposed hundreds of millions of years of ‘earth history.’ A living fossil is one that is the same in fossil and living form. And, some of these fossils are missing from intervening strata that supposedly represent many millions of years of evolutionary time, again indicating that there were no time gaps. For example: “530 million year old” starfish, jellyfish, and snails look like those living today. A German creation scientist, Dr Joachim Scheven, has a museum with over 500 examples of such ‘living fossils.’

3. Transitional Forms Are Absent.

Darwin predicted that the fossil record would show numerous transitional fossils, yet millions of fossils later; all we have are a few disputed ones.

Dr. Colin Patterson of the British Museum of Natural History, an evolutionist, said, “there is not one…for which you could make a water-tight argument.” (Answers to the 4 Big Questions, page 10, note 4)

It would be hugely inconvenient for the creature anyway.

But, evolutionists are desperate for transitional forms and so are those who support them—such as National Geographic which frequently publishes articles claiming the latest transitional form has been found, having a nice artistic drawing on the front only to have to retract their statements in a short sentence tucked away in the back somewhere a few months later. Beware of what you read in magazines such as National Geographic. Always separate the facts from the assumptions. For example:

·         Horse evolution—Horses have always been horses. Evolutionists once believed that 3-toed horses evolved into 1-toed; small size evolved to big sizes today. Explain punctuated equilibrium. A NG photo inadvertently showed 1-toed and 3-toed horses had lived together in the past. Still have 1 and 3–toed horses today. Small and big horses in the past; small and big horses today. No transitions. No evolution. Just horses.

·         Dinosaurs to birds—Are you tired of the dinosaurs to birds propaganda? Artists have a design in mind for a transitional bird and don’t mind using it, regardless of the facts. Scales on reptiles are folds in skin; feathers are complex structures that originate in a totally different way, from follicles inside the skin in a manner like hair. There has been no report yet of a fossil showing scales turning into feathers or a leg turning into a wing. Every suspected dinobird fossil turns out to be just a dinosaur or just a bird. We’ll talk more about dinosaurs in a later “Creation Answers” page.

·         Fossil man—What about fossil man? Evolutionists are so anxious to discover the missing link that many hoaxes and misinterpretations have been publicized in the past 100 years. Some in the past few years as in “Lucy’s baby.” It’s an extinct ape. And, of the few bones actually found, most are used to build a hypothetical skeleton and model portrayed with bias as “primitive” to fit evolution’s expectations. I’ve given you some examples in your workbook. Man has always been man! Designed, not descended.

Psalm 100:1-3 says, “Shout our praises to the LORD, all the earth! Worship the LORD with joy! Enter his presence with joyful singing! Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

We’re going to cover true human skeletons when we get to the Ice Age in a few weeks. Sounds a lot cooler, doesn’t it? Remember one thing. All we find is bones. Sometimes skin. Not the flesh. Beware of what you see in Natural History Museums. Don’t assume the skeletons are real fossils. Many times complete skeletons are reconstructed from 1-2 bones. Then, flesh is put on that skeleton based upon the artist’s evolutionary bias.

4. Extinctions Have Taken Place But Not Because Of Evolution. We’ll Talk Some More About This In A Few Weeks.

Someone said, “Evolution is the substance of fossils hoped for, the evidence of links not seen. The fossils themselves are evidence of rapid burial not slow deposition.

What Else Would It Take To Discredit Evolution Based Upon The Fossil Record?

“Out of Place” fossils would falsify the Geologic Time Scale and, thus, the sequence of evolutionary development. There are over 2000 such examples!!! Here are some substantiated anomalies in the fossil record:

·         An iron pot found in coal dated at 286 millions years old.

·         Pine pollen is found in the Grand Canyon in the lowest strata (Precambrian). Such plants did not supposedly evolve until the Permian. Pollen and spores are found throughout the fossil record in the oldest rocks although plants producing such did not “evolve” for millions of years later.

·         Fossil wood, dated by C-14 method to be 4000 years old, was found embedded in Precambrian rock in northern Canada. Likewise, fossilized palm wood, Tertiary “age,” was found in Jurassic rock in Utah.

·         Cambrian and Mississippian layers are found to alternate back and forth twice in the Grand Canyon. Since time cannot alternate back & forth, the portion of the geologic time table bounded by those two time periods is invalidated by this discovery.

·         Many examples also exist of entire formations of rock layers being out of place in the standard geological timetable. Precambrian rock is lying smoothly on top of Cretaceous rock on Chief Mountain at Glacier National Park in Montana, meaning that the alleged time span between the Precambrian and Cretaceous never existed. This is explained away by saying that the 300 square miles of rock was moved from one location to be placed on top of the younger rock by thrusting of the rock along a fault. Yet, the layers grade into one another smoothly.

·         Out in Franklin Mountains, El Paso, fossils from supposedly 500 million years ago are resting right on top of fossils only 125 million years old. Over thrust explanation is given, but no actual physical evidence has been discovered to prove it. No fault line, no crushed rock.

Fossilized footprints are even better than bones to falsify evolution because they cannot have been redeposited. Consider the following finds:

·         Prints that look identical to horse hoof prints are found in Devonian rock in the British Isles, 300 million years older than the horse’s supposed evolutionary appearance.

·         Mammal tracks are found in Permian/Pennsylvanian rock. Mammals didn’t evolve until 100 million years later.

·         A giant cat print found in the Cretaceous dinosaur layer at Glen Rose. It is not supposed to be there.

·         A human footprint found in limestone “dated” Permian, 250 MYO, near Socorro, New Mexico in 1929. In April 1992, the footprint was verified as human by a scientific team. It is called the Zapata I/Shockey footprint.

·         A human shoe print 10.5 inches long was found in shale of Cambrian age at Antelope Springs, Utah with trilobites imbedded in the heel and instep.

Evolutionist Albert C. Ingalls said, “If man, or even his ape ancestor’s early mammalian ancestor, existed as far back as in the Carboniferous Period in any shape, then the whole science of geology is so completely wrong that all the geologists will resign their jobs and take up truck driving! Hence for the present at least, science rejects the attractive explanation that man made these mysterious prints in the mud of the Carboniferous Period with his feet.”

Conclusion

It’s all about information and the evidence screams out “designed, not descended!”

Sources For Further Study:

1. Living fossils Q & A: www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/living_fossils.asp

2. Creation kinds Q & A: www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/kinds.asp

3. Videos: Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution, Vol. 1 and 2, by Dr. Jobe Martin; Living Fossils by Dr Joachim Scheven.

4. Refuting Evolution, Vol. 1 and 2 by Jonathan Sarfati. One particular chapter examines fossils used to prove evolution at www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/re2/chapter8.asp

5. Creation: Facts of Life, Gary Parker. Book is completely online at http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/cfol/index.asp.