Crosstalk: September 13, 2016

Mike Snavely is the founder and president of Mission Imperative! It's an organization that exists to give God his rightful glory in creation. The prime focus of their ministry revolves around 'creation seminar safaris'. Mike is the author of 'Creation or Evolution: A Home-Study Curriculum'.

Does it really matter how we got here? Mike believes you can't disconnect the Genesis account of origins from the cross. Jesus went to the cross to pay for something that literally happened back in Genesis. Genesis is the source of the curse, of creation and the punishment via the flood. Evolution proponents sweep Genesis away as though it's just a myth. If that was true, then so is original sin. Under that idea, what did Jesus go to the cross for? So for Mike this issue is one of perspective; where we've come from, why we're here and how Christ has redeemed it all.

As this program moves along, Mike uses the Bible to debunk numerous arguments that evolutionists propose to support their ideas. For example:

--An evolutionist might say that since there are so many species, even if Adam had handed out names every several seconds, after months he still could not have named them all. The point to note here is that the Bible doesn't say Adam was naming all the 'species'. Only the original 'kinds' existed and those are the animals he was naming.

--A skeptic might say the Bible narrative lists too many things for God to have done on day number 2. Genesis 2 is not a different account of creation but instead is an expansion of day 6. In Psalm 33 it notes that God spoke and it stood firm. It doesn't say that he spoke and it eventually came to be. When Christ walked on earth, miracles characterized his ministry. Those miracles were instantaneous and perfect. So why would we say that his creative acts in Genesis were any different?

--Then there's the issue of the lifespan of Adam. Someone might allege that each day of creation was one million years or more. The Bible, however, lists Adam's life as having lasted 930 literal years. One problem with this is that it means Adam would have died on day 6 of creation which means sin entered the world on the 6th day. That can't be because after the 6th day the Bible says that everything was still very good.

--Do we have to deny science to accept biblical creation? Mike said 'no'. Science has no opinion. He noted how science is simply a process that people go through to try and solve problems. It's humans who use the process and add opinions to what's observed. So while someone might add their assumption that the earth is billions of years old and that we came about by random chance, the Christian will lean on what God's word has to say. A good example is Romans 1:20 which talks about the evidence of design. In essence, God is telling people to look around them. If you can't see the evidence for design, there is no excuse for you.

Mike brings greater detail to each of these points and presents much more as you'll hear when you review this fascinating Crosstalk broadcast.