Is the doctrine of creation a peripheral or secondary (or even tertiary) biblical doctrine? Some scholars opine that instantaneous, miraculous, divine creation as a doctrine should be exchanged for natural evolution. Others would soften the exchange and substitute theistic evolution–that at least keeps God in the picture, even if it removes the instantaneous and miraculous.
Let’s just try to look at the biblical testimony as objectively as possible, regardless of the position to which we might adhere. How does Scripture treat the topic of creation? Consider the following points:
- The Bible opens with creation–Genesis 1-2. That indicates significance of a high order.
- The Ten Commandments cite 6-day creation in support of the 4th commandment–Exodus 20:11.
- Many Old Testament texts refer to creation–e.g., Deuteronomy 4:32; Nehemiah 9:6; Job 9:8; 38:4; Psalms 8, 33, and 104; Isaiah 42:5; 45:12, 18; Jonah 1:9; Malachi 2:10–just to list a very few.
- The Gospel of John opens with creation–John 1:1-3. That demonstrates the importance of creation to the person of Christ.
- Many New Testament texts refer to creation–e.g., Mark 10:6; Acts 14:15; Romans 1:20, 25; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 1:13-16; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Revelation 4:11–again, just to list a very few.
Thus it would appear that the doctrine of creation is central to both Old Testament and New Testament faith. The Scripture identifies God as the Creator and believers in both testaments adopt that as a foundational theological principle. This divine identification proves that Jesus Himself is God, because He can create–note His creation of wine out of water in John 2:1-11. Jesus changed water into a complex mixture of natural molecules including acids, proteins, sugars, minerals, etc. Wine is the product of plants–mature, ripened grapes, to be precise. Jesus did what only God can do–instantaneously and miraculously create mature life forms. In the case of wine the process of creation involved the product of mature grapes that did not exist–just like God instantly created mature plants, animals, and even man without the normal biological process of insemination or pollination, conception, gestation or germination, birth or sprouting, and maturation from parent plants, animals, or humans.
The doctrine of creation stands as the significant proof of Jesus Christ’s deity as well as God’s Godhood. The doctrine is primary, significant, and indispensable. In other words, what we believe about creation or about what the Bible says regarding creation, really does matter.