All About Attitude

 All About Attitude Patrick Mabilog begins his January 28, 2016, article in Christian Today, "How to overcome doubt and trust God more" with: "It's often common amongst people to believe that doubt is healthy and a good way to protect the self. However, the Bible teaches us differently. It directs us to have faith that brings life and not doubt that inhibits growth." Some who call themselves Christians may be among the most dangerous to our spiritual health. While they profess to honor the Creator God, they seem to spend their time and efforts disproving His veracity and thereby causing themselves—and others—to doubt His Word. In a recent conversation, a question arose about whether Adam and Eve were really the first humans. A subsequent Internet search discovered several sites that promote the idea that there were earlier humans. The authors' attitudes on these websitesleft a great deal to be desired. An online group, Thinkers Bible Studies, gives as its stated purpose, "Help[ing] Christians engage in intelligent conversations with doubters and unbelievers." It conjures the image of a Christian getting together at a coffee shop with his worldlyfriends and debating so as not to be embarrassed for believing something so naïve as Adam and Eve being the first created humans. The Thinkers' study on this topic begins with this assumption: "To say that there were no people on earth before Adam (approximately BC 4000) is an indefensible position in light of modern knowledge, and most people think it is ignorance or mindless religious indoctrination to hear Christians say it." Their proof? "If Adam was the first person on earth, the Bible is then in complete contradiction to science, which has conclusive evidence that there was human activity on earth long before that time." A trip to the Thinkers' site is to takea trip down the proverbial rabbit hole; visiting one link leads to many other links that present more questions and inspire more doubt. There is nothing wrong with proving what we believe is true, but when God tells us to prove Him, it is a positive statement. He is not saying to disprove Him, but in effect, "See if I am right." The Thinkers' site takes the opposite tack. First, the author scoffs at those who believe God created the earth in a literal seven-day week. He confidentially states, "A ‘day' (Hebrew yō·wm) as used in the Genesis 1 context is longer than 24 hours." While it is true that yom—as it is usually transliterated—can refer to a period of time, the context says repeated that an evening (a period of darkness) and a morning (a period of light) comprise each day (Genesis1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). The Creator Himself, Jesus Christ, later confirms this in John 11:9, "Are there not twelve hours in a day?" Of course, He implies that the twelve nighttime hours make up the remainder of the 24-hour day. Second, the author posits a two-stories theory that accounts for a lengthy period after the creation of humans: "Most people just assume from tradition that it is a single continuous story, never realizing that it's probably two stories: Creation (Genesis1:1 thru 2:3) and Eden (Genesis2:8 thru 3:24), with a summary transition statement (Genesis2:4-7) and a very long period of time in-between." He argues that this structure would eliminate the conflict between the Bible and science and recover some of the Bible's lost credibility. The truth is that the story of Creation is two stories, but the separation point occurs, not at Genesis 2:3, but just after the first verse, Genesis 1:1! It reads, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Verse 2 suggests a length of time passed: "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep." The word "was," Hebrew haya, is the same word translated as "became" in Genesis 19:26, where Lot's wife "became a pillar of salt." The beginning in verse 1 may have been many millions or billions of years ago. At that time in the distant past, God created the heavens and the earth. At some point, the earth became "without form and void," which are the Hebrew words tohu, "to lie waste," and bohu, "void, empty space; ruin." In Isaiah 45:18, the prophet states that God did not create the earth in tohu: "For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who hasestablished it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other'" (emphasis ours). Job38:4-7 relates that the angels were so impressed when the earth was created they shouted for joy as they reveled in its beauty! But it did not remain that way. When the archangel who became Satan rebelled and attacked God, he was cast down to the earth (Isaiah14:12-15). Jesus adds His eyewitness account in Luke 10:18: He saw "Satan fall like lightning from heaven"! When this happened, the earth became in a state of "waste" and "ruin." This catastrophic situation is why God had to re-form or renew the earth (Psalm104:30), which He did in seven 24-hour days. God Himself says in Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day." From the Bible's internal evidence, the skeptical ideathat a day (yom) in the context of Genesis 1:2-31 refers to a much longer period fails repeatedly. Indeed, a person can correctly understand the Bible only if God gives him understanding through the Holy Spirit (see I Corinthians 2:6-16). However, even we who have received the anointing of the Spirit should take a positive approach when readingthe Bible. God's Word provides an example in the Bereans, who were "more fair-minded" and "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts17:11). It is all about our attitude. As Jesus taught, we must also ask, seek, and knock to have the door of our understanding opened (Matthew7:7-8). It takes diligent, rigorous work to find the nuggets of truth here and there that provide further insight and substantiation to our beliefs. Most of all, we must trust that our Father truly loves us and wants us to be in His Kingdom, and so Hehas given us the truth in His Word to ensure we complete the process of sanctification. Because God's promises, faithfulness, and limitless power back up Scripture, we never need to doubt the inspired Word of God. - John Reiss