The doctrine of creation is a critical issue for theology because it sets up the foundation for all other doctrines within the Christian worldview. In the Scriptures, we discover a transcendent God who has sovereignly created all things.

The Beginning  

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

• The opening sentence of the Bible teaches three critical assertions:
  • There was a beginning
  • There is a God
  • There is a creation
• Either the universe or something outside the universe must be eternal.
• All things must have a beginning except for one thing.
• God created the world ex nihilo, which means, “out of nothing.”
• Without any preexisting matter, God created all things outside of Himself by using His words.

The Middle  

Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist (1 Corinthians 8:6).

• If you can rid humanity of its belief in a creation, you remove the necessity of a Creator.
• A meaningless, causeless universe allows for a self-defined existence and purpose.
• If you remove God from the equation, you actually replace Him.
• Mankind is meant to be God’s representatives to creation – not His replacement.

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).

• Instead of us filling Creation with God’s image, we seek to snuff it out. 
  • Science vs. Religion – Can scientific principles and religious beliefs coexist?
  • Old Earth vs. Young Earth – Do the earthly clues contradict the biblical timeline?
  • Evolution vs. Creation – Has the universe developed itself or is there an intelligent designer?

• Evidence inside us and outside ourselves points to a Creator.
  • Cosmological 
  • Teleological 
  • Moral

The Ending  

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more (Revelation 21:1).

• God’s ideal was God’s people dwelling in God’s place delighting in God’s presence.
  • Eden
  • Tabernacle
  • Canaan 
  • Temple
  • Exilic Return
  • Heaven
• Creation sets the stage for the coming re-creation.
• In the end, God will establish would it should have been from the beginning.