The Age Of The Earth

Introduction

Well, there’s hardly any reason for me to preach now because that song just made the point that I am planning to make tonight, but maybe a little bit more depth on that subject would be helpful. Here is the slide corrected from this morning when I meant to change when immersion is insufficient in Acts 19 under the baptism of John to when immersion is sufficient. That’s what that slide was supposed to look like. But oversight on my part. All right. Tonight, as I mentioned to you this morning, and as the slides advertised, and as the website got right in terms of tonight’s sermon, not Dave’s fault. Dave said, Did you send me an email saying that you had changed the sermon? And I said, No. I said, not worry about it.

We’ll just leave it there for next week. So, tonight, this is what has been advertised. I want to talk to you about the age of the earth. And I guess the impetus for this lesson was a recent episode of the show Bones, where they attempt to solve murders by science. Sometimes the leaps they make to get there, I’m going, Well, you lost me back there somewhere. I’m not real sure about that, but made for TV, you know how it is. And in this one episode recently about the archaeologist caught in the cocoon, as they’re going through all of the potential suspects, you know, they think they have the guy. They always lead you along. If it’s only 20 minutes into the show, it wasn’t the guy.

But they make you think this is the guy. And he was destroying the evidence that this archaeologist was bringing over. He himself was an archaeologist, but he was a creationist. And so he’s being interviewed by Sweets, the psychologist, who accuses him of destroying certain archaeological items that this fellow who is now dead had brought back from these archaeological digs. And the reason why he was supposedly destroying them is that they contradicted his creationist views. And so it was evidence against his beliefs about the Bible. And Sweets, in his interrogation of this man, says, you trust the scientist when he tells you where you ought to dig. But you don’t trust the scientist when he says the universe is 13 billion years old and the earth is 4.5 million years old.

And so basically, you only use science when it’s convenient for you, and when it’s not, you disregard it. And of course, they made this fellow, this fundamentalist who was a creationist. They made him look like a fool. As T V is wont to do.

That science is right about everything. That everything that might come under the heading of science or knowledge, what that term really means, is absolutely true and to be embraced without questioning because it comes from the field of science, really smart people who have studied many years and have a lot of initials after their name. And I don’t mean to impugn the science community, and there are some within the science community who are these brilliant minds who might even agree with what I’m about to say tonight. And books have been written by such men that agree with what I’m saying tonight. But I’m just going to say generally, science rejects. Science rejects the creation account of Genesis chapter 1. But here, young people, are some things that you should know.

1. Science Starts With Anti-God, Anti-Supernatural Assumptions

When your teachers are telling you that the universe is 13 billion years old, the numbers vary from person to person because who really knows? But science is telling you, some say 13 billion, some say more than that, some say less than that. Nobody knows for sure, do they? But it’s science. And so they’re throwing out these big numbers for you, and there’s evidence, right? There’s these rocks that have been found that are three million years old. And so the earth has to be at least that old because these earths, these rocks that we found on the earth are three million years old. Let me tell you something about science. Some involved with science are anti God, anti supernatural in their agenda. When they come up with these facts that are science in regard to the universe and the earth, understand that they’re coming from a viewpoint that is opposed to the God of this book and certainly opposed to the miraculous and to the concept of creation, God spoke, and there was a supernatural act.

They’re opposed to that in their thinking. They start with the assumption that everything came to be as a result of only and completely natural causes. Young people, every time you hear those big numbers in school, and you’re going to hear them a lot, 13 billion, 4.5 billion, ask yourself, am I being told this because they’re assuming that everything that came to be came as a result of natural only causes. Like there was a big explosion, have a real problem with that. A big explosion that ends up in such wonderful order and design. That’s not normal. That’s not typical in terms of nature. In nature, explosions tend toward destruction. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that. But that’s one of the big assumptions that there was this big explosion, and then it’s all of the same thing.

And for that to happen naturally, well, we’ve got to have, you see, all of these millions and billions of years to make that happen. The apparent age of the earth, I said the apparent age. The apparent age of the earth, from what we observe through science, cannot begin to accurately assess God’s creative work. If you’re looking at the earth through the lens of nature only, and do not cause into your consideration God as the cause, that’s where all of these big numbers come from. And, like I’ve been intimating, they do not allow for God activity or supernatural activity. And sometimes, depending on the scientists, don’t even take into account what would be the effects of a worldwide flood and many supernatural events that were associated with that worldwide global flood that we read about in Genesis chapter 6 and how that might affect what we now see in our world.

And their calculations also do not reflect. If you’ve ruled out God and you have an anti-supernatural agenda, their calculations also do not reflect that if God created things to look more mature than they really were, you know, things on day one, day two, day three, day four in creation, if those things all occurred naturally, of course, many more years would be involved. But if God has already made those things to appear a certain age, like I don’t think Adam looked like he was one day old when he was one day old, do you? Is that the picture you get in Genesis chapter one on day six? Adam’s first day. He was a man, he wasn’t called a baby, and he was provided a woman, a wife, Eve.

He was one day old, but he didn’t look one day old. And what about trees? Were all of them little saplings about this tall that God created? They looked a lot older. And that could go for the whole earth and universe as well. And I’ll just throw this in right now. I was going to talk about it later. And the light that they’re seeing from the stars in the heavens. And all the time I’m told by scientists that it would take for that sun so far away for its light to be able to be visible here on the earth. Well, it would take so many, so many thousands, hundreds of thousands of years. First day, Adam is here. He sees those stars. How old does it appear?

You see.

2. Gap, Day Age and Day Gap Theories

Let me explain these to you briefly. Number one.

It was found in this strata layer of rocks. And so we have to have some way to account for that time. Again, now they’re ruling out God and the flood, for example, but we have to have a way to account for that time. So maybe there’s more time involved in those creation days than it seems to be when we read that account in Genesis chapter 1. For example, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Pause break. That’s what some people believe. Pause break right there. Verses 1 and 2, who knows how much time that was.

But then they say the creation days start at verse 3. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And I and God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and then, and there was evening, and there was morning one day. Now, evening and morning. Now we account time a little differently now. We look at it this morning and evening, but they did evening morning. Evening and morning, day one. A cycle of a day. And somebody said, Well, that only relates to verses three through five, and not one through five. Some brethren even believe that. That’s called the gap theory. So we get a little time involved here in who knows how much time?

Maybe a couple million years. Here was the earth without form and void, and then God did something with it. But that would suggest some creative work earlier. Would it not? And so why isn’t that one of the days of creation? Have a little problem with that view. Also, here’s the day age theory. Well, it speaks of creation in actually six literal days, because on the seventh day God rested. But those six days, evening and morning, well, that’s just accommodative, and it really wasn’t twenty four hour days. It’s just represented in days. It actually was who knows how long. Again, maybe hundreds of thousands of years and millions of years. And I think, again, that’s a compromise with science. Here’s a new one. Actually, I can tell you the brother who preached about this and did DVDs on this, and I’ve listened to the sermons, the day gap theory.

And the day gap theory is, again, I think a compromise with science. And what it says was, yeah, there’s six literal days in which God created in Genesis 1, but between each day, there might have been many years. Like day one occurred, then a lot of time. Day two occurred, and then a lot more time. God just put in place the fundamental building blocks of that particular day, and then he sort of let it evolve after that into its completed state. And he did that in day one, he did that in day two. And so there’s daytime. And so, again, we’ve got a little compromise with science and all of that. Okay, that’s your introduction to how science works in regard to creation and the age of the earth and the universe.

3. How Old Is the Earth? I Don't Know

Now let’s get back to the original question. The age of the earth, Tony, how old the earth? I don’t know. And I know we hate that. We like to be able to say how old things we like to know things. And the bottom line I’ll tell you about the age of the earth, I don’t know how long the globe has been here. Now, that leads me to another reference in the bones episode. When he talked to the creationists who supposedly believed that the earth was 6,000 years old, that’s based on this theologian by the name of Usher. If you have a King James version of the Bible, like I do up in my office, the original Bible that I had, it was one of those zipper Bibles.

You know, I loved that as a kid. It had a zipper. And I remember opening the Genesis chapter one, and down at the bottom in the right corner, it said 4,04. Oh. So creation happened in 4,004. Usher is the one that came up with that in the 17th century. There were others like Lightfoot and others who did similarly tried to figure out the day of creation. In fact, Usher had it down to the nightfall preceding October 23rd, 4004 BC. And Usher’s date sort of stuck for a while. But he based his work, Usher did, on the genealogies of the Bible. There’s been a lot of study done about these genealogies. And there isn’t anything that would suggest that the genealogies are complete. That is, every generation represented.

He took the ages that men lived and started calculating, oh, this one lived this long, and then he beget this one, and this one lived this long. And so he went back from the genealogies that we have in the Bible, a few guesses here and there, and so he comes up with 4,04. There’s nothing to suggest these genealogies are complete. Even in Matthew chapter 1, you know that genealogy that’s about Jesus? And there’s what, 14 generations, 14 generations, 14. Isn’t that amazing that it comes out to exactly 42, 14, and 14, and those three sections appeared? Do you think that’s a complete genealogy? That’s not the point of the genealogy. The point is the numbers. 14, but it doesn’t necessarily represent every generation.

And think about this. Before the flood. And when people want to say, oh, if you calculate all the numbers, maybe the oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah, he may have died in the flood. And oh, you know, that just that’s just so a fancy thing to people. Methuselah may have died in the flood. And I’ve heard that I can’t tell you how many times. And, well, that’s that’s possible. It’s also not possible. I mean, it could be not true as well. The issue is, are we told every generation before the flood from Adam to Noah? We have no way of knowing that. And in some places, genealogy skip generations go from grandfather to grandson. And so, what if that happens in the book of Genesis? I’ll tell you, that’s a lot.

You could have a thousand year gap of time right there. But that still doesn’t get us into the three million year range. Maybe a few thousand years older than Usher’s date. And there’s some problems with post-flood dating. If you date Abraham at a certain time, around 2,000, a little bit earlier BC. There are written archaeological finds from the Babylon region of the world that date back to about 3,000 B.C. I remember Phil Roberts telling us this at Florida College 30 years ago. That the earliest artifacts by man that have been preserved, which interestingly enough is somewhat testimony for a flood, isn’t it? That there isn’t anything that goes back earlier than this in terms of man’s civilization. But that was found in the Babylon region of the world.

And only dates back to about 3,000 BC. So you have a little bit of extra time added there. Okay, so that all of that’s.

4. Let Me Tell You What I Do Know

I cannot know everything I would like to know about the age of the earth or the creation days of Genesis chapter 1. But let me tell you what I do know. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 3, young people. Don’t forget those assumptions I talked about in the beginning. You’re going to hear those in school. Anti-God, anti-supernatural agenda. They don’t take into account God’s creative work when they come up with all of those numbers. Don’t forget that. Now, verse 3. By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. That’s an important verse. That’s called ex nihilo, out of nothing. Everything that you see with your eyes, all that’s created.

The New Testament says it came from invisible to visible. God caused it to have its being.

So that could reflect something in terms of keeping the Sabbath day under the law because six days God worked and on the seventh day he rested. I’ve always made this point. I love this about Exodus chapter 20 and verse 11 when Moses talks about the foundation of the Sabbath day and remembering it is based in the six created days of God and the seventh day rested. What do you think Moses thought about the age of the earth, but not just the age of the earth? What do you think Moses thought about the creation days of Genesis chapter 1? Do you think he thought they were six literal days? Yeah. And if somebody thinks I’m sacrificing my intellect to believe what Moses believed, that’s okay. They can think whatever they want about me.

I’m perfectly content standing with Moses in his misconception. If that’s indeed what it was, and I don’t believe that it is. Now, young people, here’s this. I’ve tried to help you a little bit with what you’re going to hear in school, but here is an important point that I want you to take home with you tonight about science. Speculation is rampant. There are so many think-so’s in evolutionary thought and in the age of the earth discussion that takes place. Speculation is rampant. And I don’t have to answer. Every question raised by the scientist about an event that no man was present to see. They weren’t there. They don’t know anybody that was there. They can’t quote anybody that was there. Nobody was there to witness it or see it in its origin or beginning.

And Adam certainly didn’t write about it, and if he did, it wasn’t preserved. We don’t have any information from an eyewitness. So there are assumptions that have to be made about, again, how old it appeared to be. And the things that we read about in Genesis chapter 1 is the most trustworthy source that we have, and it’s trustworthy for a variety of reasons that I’ll get to in a minute. But I’ll tell you this in regard to science. Okay, Hebrews 11 says that which is visible came from the invisible. Okay, let’s say you have another explanation. Where did it come from? When there was a big bang and everything came to be.

Then where are the missing links? How is it that we have all of these distinct species? If we came from apes, where’s the half ape, half man? He’s got to be somewhere. Or if fish and birds have some common connection in evolution, where’s the half fish, half bird? How do we have all these distinct species and everything in between just sort of died off rather conveniently? And there’s no more new evolution going on where we have these half or hybrids. Where are the hybrids? That’s my question. But even more importantly, what is man’s purpose? Evolution certainly has no answer for that. Why am I here? What happens after death? The person who’s saying the universe is 13 billion years old, the earth is 4.5 billion years old, can’t help you with that.

5. I Believe Because Jesus Rose From the Dead

Now, that’s my science part of this tonight. I want to tell you why I believe in the creation story of Genesis chapter 1. Because I believe in Jesus of Nazareth. And I believe he rose from the dead. And young people, that’s why I said you don’t have to answer everything that the scientist is going to throw in your lap and say this and this about this rock and how old everything is, and we have this about radiometric dating and carbon dating and all. I don’t have to answer all that. I simply have to affirm that I believe Jesus of Nazareth lived and that he died and that he rose again, and he’s the creator and he’s the savior of the world. You have to do something with this man, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived in history.

And the historicity, if I might use that word, of Jesus is not only plausible, it is inescapable to the honest mind. The awesome nature of the gospel narratives, the overwhelming accounts of eyewitnesses, and the subsequent impact of Jesus upon history. Those things are undeniable. And as we learn about Jesus in the New Testament, even from the Old Testament, who he was, what he did, what he claimed. We also have his validation of the Old Testament as Scripture. And that’s important. And that’s why I rest my case on the biblical account of creation, because I believe Jesus rose from the dead. And over and over again, this individual who claimed all of those things, I am the light of the world, as we’ve been studying, I am the bread of life.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. He validated those claims by miracles, and he became our Savior through the death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. And I’ll tell you what that man did over and over in his ministry. He referred to the Old Testament, including the book of Genesis. He referred to them over and over again as scripture. And that’s important. He says in John 10, and we’re going to study this soon in verse 35, the scripture cannot be broken. You search the scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life, but as they that testify to me, John 5 39. Those are just two verses in John. There are over a dozen where he talks about the scriptures and all that’s written in the law.

And the Psalms and the prophets might be fulfilled in me. He validates all of the Old Testament. And what does he do when he talks about his death and resurrection? What’s the sign? The sign of the prophet, Jonah. Three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. So shall the Son of Man be. And yet people are saying, oh, that Jonah fish story, that can’t be real. Somebody lived that long in the belly of a great fish, even if it was a whale, whatever the great fish was. That’s not even possible. Again, they’re approaching that story with the anti supernatural view of things. That can’t happen. No, naturally, it can’t happen. God is at work in all of this and preserving Jonah in the whale or the great fish, whatever it was.

But you know, Jesus never debated whether the Jonah story was true. He used it over and over again. Do you realize how many stories of the Old Testament Jesus validated specifically in his ministry and teaching? The Queen of Sheba coming to see Solomon. That’s not a one that you might look at. That’s a great big event in the Old Testament, but he referenced that. That was a real event. It was historical, it happened. Jesus said it happened. And I’ll tell you, it’s all tied together. You can’t have Jesus and reject Genesis 1. You can’t do it. And if you try, you’re rejecting Jesus. That’s how serious this is. You want to be an evolutionist? I don’t care what you say about Jesus. It’s inconsistent. Jesus called it scripture.

Jesus says, this is an account of how it happened. And oh, by the way, he’s the creator. Nothing has come into being apart from him. John chapter 1 and verse 3. It’s by him all things hold together and consist. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16. He’s the creator of all. He says this is scripture. You cannot have Jesus without Genesis chapter 1. So you need to make a determination not just about Genesis chapter 1, but about Jesus. And that’s the important point of this lesson. I’m getting a little animated here. Because that’s how important it is. And I return. I’m going to give Dean some props here for his excellent invitation on Wednesday night when he talked about the early creed of the disciples. It’s funny that he mentioned that because, and he noticed me showing Sherry that in my margin I have early creed written there.

When he’s talking about proofs of the resurrection. And he says in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 3, for I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received. That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Jesus rose from the dead. It validates everything. And that makes verses 1 and 2 powerful. The gospel that I preach to you in which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preach to you unless you believed in vain. I don’t know about the age of the earth, but I know Jesus rose from the dead and that he’s the creator of the world.

Therefore I trust the biblical account of creation. I don’t have to explain everything about Genesis chapter 1 because God didn’t give me a lot of information. I can believe the information that he’s given me, but I can’t speculate beyond that with any kind of certainty. I don’t have to know everything about creation. I only need to know what God has told me about it and about who did it. Just like I don’t have to be able to explain how God became human flesh and how God was in the historical person, Jesus of Nazareth. That whole concept of God, man, deity in human flesh, the word became flesh and was among us. That blows my mind the more I think about it. I can’t explain it. How that God in human flesh could be a baby.

What it means that he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. What all that means is he grew up as a young boy, and at the age of 12, he ought to be about his father’s business. I have all these questions about how God, man, how that worked. I don’t have to be able to explain it. I trust God that it happened. The same is true of Jonah and the great fish. All the biblical stories. It doesn’t matter how old the rocks appear to be. From purely naturalistic views. Doesn’t matter how old they appear. I don’t care if they appear 30 billion years old. It doesn’t change Genesis chapter 1. It doesn’t matter how long it takes light to travel across the universe.

If God wanted Adam to see the light from the remotest star in the universe, and he wanted to see it on day six of creation, he would have made it possible for him to see it. He would make sure the light was there and that he could actually see those stars. Why is that so hard for people? We’re dealing with a God whose understanding is infinite. Try to put your mind around that. I can’t explain that either. Psalm 147 and verse 4. I can’t begin to fathom that. And we go to a place like Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Oh, that happened. That had to have happened three million years ago. How do they know that? Three million years ago. I like it’s called Garden of the Gods, but it should be Garden of God.

It’s God’s playground, is what it is. This is what God can do. I don’t know when it happened or what it looked like when it did happen. But I don’t have to be able to explain all of that. I don’t have to make carbon and radiometric dating, work with the biblical account of creation. Listen, even science has a ton of assumptions. And I tell you, I don’t want their faith. They can have it. And what are they going to tell us about the purpose of man? As we sang this morning, my hope is built in nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. And God will hold me accountable to embrace his power and awesome handiwork in creation.

6. We Bear the Fingerprints of Our Creator

I’ll tell you, furthermore, I know we bear the fingerprints of our creator’s work. Do not cease marveling at what God created. The beauty of a sunset, the marvelous functioning of the human body, the simple dexterity of our fingers, the marvelous nature of our eyesight, the ability of our minds to think and weigh and reason and to communicate concepts. I can think something, however shallow it might be in my mind, I can think something, and I can articulate it in words, and you can hear it with your ears, and then your mind can grasp the same concept, and we can do amazing things. As a result of that ability to communicate. That has God’s fingerprints written all over it. The conscience. How are the evolutionists going to account for that?

This mechanism inside each one of us that praises us when we do right and convicts us when we do wrong, by whatever standard it’s been educated, it still works. I was taught that this is wrong, so when I do it, I feel bad. That’s my conscience. The Bible talks about that. How does evolution account for my conscience? It’s the handiwork of God is what it is. He made us that way. And as Stephen read from Romans chapter 1, you look at our world, we’re left without excuse. All of this design demands a designer. And I remember old Jack Holt, as he used to preach about these things, and he used to talk about the big bang. He goes, All I know is that there was a big bang, there had to be a big banger.

Conclusion

And I think he’s right about that. And what about the use of our tongues for praise and confession and singing. You know, we appreciate singing, not just spiritual hymns, but we appreciate people who sing well. That’s why those singing shows are on television. We have this ability to appreciate that. That’s God’s handiwork that people can open their mouths and sound so beautiful. As they sing. Some sound terrible, depending on which episode of American Idol you’re watching. But some sound terrible, but the fact that it can be so beautiful and be appreciated. Again, we bear fingerprints of our great designer. I want to conclude in an interesting place tonight in Psalm 29. Creation’s voice. This is a psalm that David wrote in the storm. But it has a lot to do with God and his creative work.

I just want to look at a few verses here. Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name. Worship the Lord in holy array.

The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. And go on down in verse 9. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calf and strips the forest bare. And in his temple everything says glory. And then this the Lord sat as the king at the flood. Yes, the Lord sits as king forever. The Lord will give strength to his people. The Lord will bless his people with peace. And so we should understand as a result of God being our creator and our trust and confidence in the creation story and in Jesus, our Savior, that the Lord is deserving of the glory.

And that the Lord sits as king forever, just as he set as king at the flood, and that the Lord will bless his people with peace. And we need his peace.

Peace with God and peace in your soul. The peace that surpasses all comprehension. If we can help you to obtain that tonight, won’t you come as we stand and sing together?