First, let me say that I am a committed creationist. I believe that an intelligent being created everthing………everything. I live in Kentucky, just a few miles from the Creation Museum. I will add that I am grateful for Ken Hamm and his staff for standing up for their convictions. The creation museum teaches creation in 7 twenty four hour “earth days”. That causes me to pause. I am not sure that they are right. I certainly am not sure that they are wrong either. There is no question about the existence of an intelligent creator. But, I think that there is some room for doubt about the equivalence of 7 biblical creation days and 7 modern “earth days”.

I see my calling as a marketer for Christianity. My job is to draw people to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. My job is to depopulate hell and improve believers.

There are two ideas that are my biggest obstacles:

Darwinian evolution and creation in 7 “earth days”. Darwinian evolution is an idea created by man. Darwinian evolution is the most dangerous idea that man has ever conceived. It is deadly because it eliminates the need for God. It gives man an excuse for assuming sovereignty. I will attack it without a qualm. Creation was an act of God. But, the tension between creation in seven 24 hour days and modern science is widely used by secular humanists to ridicule the concept of creation……the concept of intelligent design. Even worse, that tension is used to ridicule the creator……..God. I cannot reject the idea of creation in 7 modern earth days…….but I think that there is room to explore it. If a biblical creation day is a metaphor describing an era, possibly lasting billions of years, then the gap between the Bible and scientific observation narrows dramatically. This eliminates one of the most powerful weapons of the secular humanists.

It all comes down to this:

What is the definition of a biblical creation day?

The secular humanists and the scientists tell us that the evolution of the universe took billions of modern earth years.

But, what does the Bible say?

Day one

He separated light and dark

Day two

He separated the water below the air from the water above

Day three

He separated earth from water and created plants

Day four

He separated the light into stars and the moon and planets

Day five

He created and separated fish and birds

Day six

He created land animals, man, and work. He separated man and woman

Day seven

He separated work from rest

So far so good.

But, notice that the stars, including our sun, did not exist until biblical day four. Our modern earth day is defined by the relationship between the earth and the sun. This relationship did not exist until Biblical day four. The day described on creation days one to three could be defined differently from a modern earth day. I think that it is entirely possible that a biblical creation day is a metaphor representing an era, possibly billions of modern earth days.

And I will leave the seven days of creation at that.

But what about the 8th day?

To be clear, day 8 is my invention. It could very well be a metaphor for an era also.

The Bible teaches that the heavens and the earth were completed in 6 days. On the 7th day God rested. But the story goes on. God was clearly not finished with his work. The rest of the Bible deals with the triumphs and failures of man. It introduces us to our rescue by Jesus. Then, it culminates with the destruction of the physical world and the creation of the New Jerusalem”. This is an eternal spiritual world. This is God’s final act of creation. Could this be day 8 of creation? Could day 8 be the end of the temporal/physical world and its conversion into God’s eternal/spiritual world?

Back to the acts of separation:

The Bible clearly teaches that there will be a final act of separation. This final separation will be catastrophic for many of us. God will separate the people, the souls, that he has created into two groups. He will take the people who have chosen to have a relationship with him, based on his sovereignty, and draw them to him for eternity. This is the “New Jerusalem”………Heaven. Those people who have rejected the sovereignty of God…….. those who have embraced the sovereignty of secular humanism…..will be sent elsewhere. We can quibble about the details…….but hell will not be nice.

Like it or not, Christians will spend eternity with God. Secular Humanists will spend eternity elsewhere. The horror of this is that there are a lot of good people, kind people, nice people who will be on the wrong side of this final sorting. As Christians, we are required to reach out to them.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”Jesus, describing the final judgement, Matthew 13: 24-30, ESV

I just watched a movie……Greenland. It was pretty good entertainment……..lots of action, talented actors, and a fast moving plot. The condensed version is that a comet slams into earth and kills almost everything. This is referred to as “a planetary extinction event”. Science tells us that this has happened before……..at least 5 times, maybe more, depending on how you define the term.

The best known of these was the Yucatan asteroid. This caused the death of about 80% of the living things on earth……..including the dinosaurs. It doesn’t take a lot of foresight to accept that anything that has happened 5 times already can happen again. It is not so much a question of IF there will be a planetary extinction event. It is more a question of when. Every few years, scientists detect a giant space rock that passes close to earth. They assure us that it will miss……..that we will literally dodge the bullet one more time. There are likely plans to try to blow up or deflect such an asteroid should it threaten us.

Curiously, mass extinction is an area where science and the Bible agree. The flood of Noah’s time, described in Genesis, was just such an event. Revelation is a detailed, though likely metaphorical account of a future mass extinction event. In the Bible, as with science, the only question………is when.

Science and the Bible agree.

We are headed for a mass extinction event. It’s just a matter of time.

What to do?

If the secular humanists are right, the only defense is to die from something else before the comet hits. As “best possible case scenarios” go…….this is daunting.

The Bible offers something else……..a spiritual dimension…….a cosmic “escape pod”. We go to another dimension that is safe. Even better……it is eternal. Pretty cool.

But there is a catch.

In the movie, there is a sanctuary. In order to get into the sanctuary, you have to have a bar code on your phone and a little blue plastic band on your wrist.

The Bible is different. The Bible teaches that there is an eternal spiritual dimension……..that both the physical world and the spiritual world were created by an intelligent being…….and that this intelligent being, God, has expectations……….conditions. Instead of a blue wrist band and a bar code. God requires you to accept his existence. This means that you accept his rules…….love him and love those around you. Do that, and you will survive the final mass extinction event.

The burning question is this:

Who is right? The secular humanists or the Christians. Which explanation of the final mass extinction event is true.

It is not an academic or philosophical question. It is literally a choice between life and death.

Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Jesus describing the escape pod, John 14: 1-3, ESV

There is a war going on. This war is far bigger and more important than the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. It is the war between secular humanism and Creationism…….Christianity. This war is a spiritual war. It is not fought on a battlefield. It is fought on terrain that is both physical and spiritual. It is fought in a realm that is both temporal and spiritual. It is fought in the hearts of mankind. More importantly, it is a war for the hearts of mankind. It is a war for my heart…… and for yours.

Let me begin by identifying the combatants. They are not physical armies. Rather, they are ideologies. Both of these ideologies are religions, though secular humanism camoflages itself with science. A religion is a belief system that explains who we are, how we came to be, why we are here, and where we are going. Science tries to do the same thing. The difference is subtle but critical. In its pure form……which is rare, science confines itself to measurable observations…….facts. The problem arises when science encounters a gap in its observations that cannot be bridged with current knowledge acting on measurable data. Some examples: the first 400 million years after the ” big bang”, the universe before and at the instant of the big bang, dark matter, and dark energy, the phenomenon we call “Hubble tension”. These are phenomena that scientists simply cannot explain based on the laws of science. Science fills in these gaps with theories. A theory is a possible explanation that cannot be proven based on current understanding. When you get down to it, a theory isn’t very much different from a myth. Greek mythology is a collection of theories. The big bang itself is a theory. There are multiple theories that try to deal with dark energy and dark matter. Science is completely befuddled by Hubble tension. Christianity, on the other hand, cannot explain the mechanics of creation, the virgin birth, or the resurrection. Both science and Christianity require us to accept, on faith, explanations that cannot be proved by current knowledge.

Both secular humanism and Christianity answer the really big questions with a combination of fact and faith. As such, both are religions. But, that is where the similarity ends. Christianity, creationism, posits a creator…..an active, intelligent force that operates both outside and inside our physical/temporal world. Christianity posits an eternal spiritual world governed by a sovereign creator, a creator who has expectations. The creator has a plan and he is working his way through that plan. Secular humanism accepts no such creator. Secular humanism rejects the idea that an outside being has expectations of us. Secular humanism rejects the existence of an eternal spiritual realm.

The reason that these two great religions are important, the reason why they are at war, is very basic. Secular humanism and Christianity are mutually exclusive. One is right…….and one is wrong. We must choose. But, the table is tilted. Secular humanism is the default. To not actively choose Christianity is to choose secular humanism by default.

So……how do we choose? I would like to tell you that we study the situation and reach an ordered, logical conclusion. For better or worse, that is just not the case. Both Christians and humanists choose based on a simple diagnostic.

Appetites

We choose between these two great religions based on what we want. We choose based on what they promise us. And what is that?
Secular humanism promises us control. Mankind is in charge of everything. The environment, the rules of social behaviour, our recreation, sex, drugs, even our sexual identity. We butt heads, we even have wars, when we disagree among ourselves as to which appetite to pursue. Christianity is much simpler. Christianity promises us a relationship with the sovereign creator. That relationship is founded on love. It ultimately requires obedience. We are no longer in control. Just as the two religions are mutually exclusive, so are the two appetites.

And there it is.

Mankind divides itself between the two great religions based on appetites.

Either

We take control of the universe in order to satisfy our appetites.

Or

We seek out a relationship with our creator.

It comes down to this:

Which is more important to us.

Control of everything…….or……..relationship with God.

So…….choose.

“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus struggling with the choice between control and relationship, Matthew, 26: 38-39, ESV

There is a war going on. This war is far bigger and more important than the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. It is the war between secular humanism and Creationism…….Christianity. This war is a spiritual war. It is not fought on a battlefield. It is fought on terrain that is both physical and spiritual. It is fought in a realm that is both temporal and spiritual. It is fought in the hearts of mankind. More importantly, it is a war for the hearts of mankind. It is a war for my heart…… and for yours.

Let me begin by identifying the combatants. They are not physical armies. Rather, they are ideologies. Both of these ideologies are religions, though secular humanism camoflages itself with science. A religion is a belief system that explains who we are, how we came to be, why we are here, and where we are going. Science tries to do the same thing. The difference is subtle but critical. In its pure form……which is rare, science confines itself to measurable observations…….facts. The problem arises when science encounters a gap in its observations that cannot be bridged with current knowledge acting on measurable data. For example: the first 400 million years after the ” big bang”, the universe before and at the instant of the big bang, dark matter, and dark energy, the phenomenon we call “Hubble tension”. These are phenomena that scientists simply cannot explain based on the laws of science. Science fills in these gaps with theories. A theory is a possible explanation that cannot be proven based on current understanding. The big bang itself is a theory. There are multiple theories that try to deal with dark energy and dark matter. Science is completely befuddled by Hubble tension. Christianity, on the other hand, cannot explain the mechanics of creation, the virgin birth, or the resurrection. Both science and Christianity ask us to accept, on faith, the explanations that they offer that cannot be proved by current knowledge.

Both secular humanism and Christianity answer the really big questions with a combination of fact and faith. As such, both are religions. But, that is where the similarity ends. Christianity, creationism, posits a creator…..an active, intelligent force that operates both outside and inside our physical/temporal world. Christianity posits a spiritual world governed by a sovereign creator, a creator who has expectations. The creator has a plan and he is working his way through that plan. Secular humanism accepts no such creator. Secular humanism rejects the idea that an outside being has expectations of us.

The reason that these two great religions are important…..the reason why they are at war is very basic. Secular humanism and Christianity are mutually exclusive. One is right…….and one is wrong. We must choose. Secular humanism is the default. To not actively choose Christianity is to choose secular humanism.

So……how do we choose? I would like to tell you that we study the situation and reach an ordered, logical conclusion. For better or worse, that is just not the case. Both Christians and humanists choose their religion based on a simple diagnostic.

Appetites

We choose between these two great religions based on what we want. We choose based on what they promise us. And what is that?
Secular humanism promises us control. Mankind is in charge of everything. The environment, the rules of social behaviour, our recreation, sex, drugs, even our sexual identity. We butt heads, we even have wars, when we disagree among ourselves as to which appetite to pursue. Christianity is much simpler. Christianity promises us a relationship with a sovereign creator. That relationship ultimately requires obedience. We are no longer in control. Just as the two religions are mutually exclusive, so are the two appetites.

And there it is.

Mankind divides itself between the two great religions based on appetites.

Either

We take control of the universe in order to satisfy our appetites.

Or

We seek out a relationship with our creator.

It comes down to this:

Which is more important to us.

Control of everything…….or……..relationship with God.

So…….choose.

“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus struggling with the choice between control and relationship, Matthew, 26: 38-39, ESV