The Doctrine of Creation

By Joey Carroll

The doctrines and teachings of Scripture are so profoundly important. I am convinced that the crippled church that we live in today is due to the puny pulpit of days past that forsook the proclamation of God’s Holy Word. The preachers of yesterday as well as today have replaced truth for “felt needs” and an emotional or entertaining experience, depending on what generation you are from.  In doing so, they have left the church ignorant of the doctrines of Scripture. 

Today, the church is rarely, if ever, instructed on the doctrines that were once so important to the faith.  For instance, today the biblical doctrines of Christ matter very little as long as someone simply believes in Christ.  They say what you believe about Christ does not matter as long as you believe in Christ. That is why so many people see false religions and cults as legitimate branches of the Christian faith.

The Bible is full of teachings or doctrines about many things. For instance, there is the doctrine of God, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of Sin, the doctrine of Salvation, and many others.  They are all important to study, understand, believe, and live in light of.

The Doctrine of Creation

Since we have been in Psalm 19 lately, the doctrine of Creation has been on my mind, and this doctrine is of tremendous importance.

Understanding the doctrine of Creation begins with these words: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NASB).  This passage teaches us the very first thing God wants us to know about Him, who He is, and what He has done. Someone has said well, “Out of the doctrine of Creation all other doctrines flow.”

According to Psalm 19, Creation speaks to all peoples everywhere of the glory of God: “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (NASB). God has chosen to reveal Himself to all men through the beauty, wonder, majesty, and creativity of Creation. And in so doing, He has made all of mankind morally accountable to Him.  Not one single man ever born is free from accountability to God.  Paul writes in Romans 1:20 (NASB), “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (emphasis added). Yes, all men everywhere are without excuse because God has made Himself known to them through creation.

God distinguishes Himself as God from other gods based on the doctrine of Creation.  The prophet Jeremiah (10:11ff) was commanded by God to speak to His people who had become involved in idolatry and say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens” (NASB). Jeremiah continued, “It is He [God] who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens” (NASB). If He did not create the heavens and the earth, He is nothing more than a god, and not the one true God. If He simply found things as they were and stepped in somewhere along the line of evolution, He is no more worthy of the worship of men than any other false god among the nations.  The fact that He did create all things establishes Him as worthy of all praise from all men. John describes a majestic moment of worship in the book of Revelation as he writes, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God; to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (4:11, NASB). So we can clearly understand that the worship of God is based on the doctrine of Creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth; therefore, He is worthy of all of our worship for all of eternity.

God’s right to rule is based on the doctrine of Creation.  The first command given to man by God, found in Genesis 2:16, was the command not to eat from the tree of knowledge. The command was clear, but clearer still was the basis for God’s right to command mankind. That basis is found in Genesis 2:4, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created” (NASB). The flow in these passages need to be understood.  In verse 4, He created the heavens and the earth. In verse 7, He creates man. In verse 16, He commands man. The flow is simple but profound; God created, therefore God commanded.  If God did not create all things, then He has no right to command anything. The psalmist writes in Psalm 33:6-9, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (NASB, emphasis added). The Psalmist implores all men everywhere to live in the holy fear of God. Why? Because by His word the heavens were made. 

There are many other things we do that are based on the doctrine of Creation,  even the preaching of the gospel (see Acts 14:8ff, Acts 17:22ff). But in our day, the doctrine of Creation has become little more than a fairy tale.  So many have either abandoned the doctrine for the claims of  a “faith-based” form of science or have adopted a “syncretic faith” that attempts to blend evolution and creation.  Many have taken God’s very first truth, the truth on which He bases all other truths, and have accepted a grave error. In so doing, they have abandoned their faith because ultimately they have abandoned their Lord.  They have forgotten the words of Paul in Colossians 1:16: “For by Him [Jesus Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him [Jesus Christ] and for Him [Jesus Christ]” (NASB). To reject Creation is to reject the claims of our Savior. John writes, “All things came into being through Him, and apart form Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3, NASB).  Scripture could not be more clear: the doctrine of Creation is tied undeniably to the Christ.

For some reason, there are those who have greatly influenced the church to waver on this crucial doctrine.  For some reason, many in the church decided it was not “a hill to die on” or crucial for one’s faith.  But God has revealed His glory, established His authority, and proved Himself worthy of worship based on the doctrine of Creation. So we have much ground to recover, a hill to build, in order that we might die upon it because, as it turns out, our beginning as human beings, as well as our eternity, lies well in the hands of our Creator.