Genesis sets the foundation for the whole of Scripture and all the other books of the Bible rest upon it. It is essential to understanding God. Every vital Christian doctrine finds its roots in Genesis record.
Excerpts from the book “Why Genesis Matters” by Jason Lisle Ph.D., Director of Research, Institute for Creation Research.
The Decline of Christian America
The social issues that many Christians find distressing are not problems in themselves, but rather, they are symptoms of an underlying root cause – the loss of biblical authority stemming from attacks on the book of Genesis. Christian values cannot exist in isolation; they only make sense in light of the history recorded in Genesis. So, as society increasingly rejects Genesis in favor of evolution or an old-earth creation view, it is a natural consequence that we will experience the decline of Christian America.
As more people reject biblical history, the more we will see the decay of Christianity.
Every Major Christian Doctrine Is Rooted in Genesis
The Christian doctrine cannot stand up to scrutiny apart from a literal Genesis. Roughly half of Christ’s references to Scripture were quotations from Genesis. Christ understood that the moral truths of Christianity have their foundation in the historical accounts of Genesis. Christ clearly accepted a literal Genesis. If we cannot trust that Jesus was right about the history of the world, then how can we trust anything else He taught?
The Bible defines marriage, but if the history in Genesis were not true, then why would marriage have to be so defined? Without the foundational history in Genesis, marriage is simple reduced to a cultural trend – one that is subject to the shifting winds of human opinions and feelings. It’s not surprising that marriage is under attack today, since its foundation in Genesis is being undermined by evolutionary dogma.
The sanctity of human life is an ethical truth with its foundation in Genesis. From an evolutionary perspective, human beings are not fundamentally different from animals or plants. Consequently, any line of evolutionary thinking that justifies killing animals or plants can also be applied to a particular group of people based on subjective criteria such as ethnicity, age, ability, or gender.
Evolution
The idea of evolution requires the concept of “survival of the fittest.” The strong dominate the weak in a competition for resources, which eventually eliminates the weak, leading to a stronger, more adapted organism. Humans allegedly evolved from less fit organisms in this manner. But if this were true, then how could we make sense of laws? Evolution is all about the strong overcoming the weak; so why have any laws to protect the weak from the strong? Laws fundamentally prevent the stronger, the more “fit” person, from killing or otherwise abusing the weaker person. Laws run counter to the notion of survival of the fittest. Most evolutionists believe in laws, but such beliefs don’t make sense if evolution were really true.
The Seven-day Week Originates in Genesis
Exodus 20:11 explains that our work week is based on the creation week. There is no secular basis for a seven-day week. All other units of time have a foundation in astronomy. As far as we know, the only basis for our seven-day week comes from the pattern established in Genesis. And the fact that almost all cultures on earth have a seven-day week is evidence that they all had prior knowledge about Genesis and originally knew about creation.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. (Genesis 2:2)
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11)
Sin And Death Originates in Genesis
The connection between sin and death originates in Genesis. Genesis teaches us that God holds people accountable for their actions—there is a penalty associated with disobedience to God.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
The Gospel Message Is Rooted in Genesis
The integrity of God demands that both Adam and the world suffer a curse as the right penalty for Adam’s sin. Rather than leaving Adam and Eve to die eternally for their rebellion, God promised that He would provide a Savior, someone to pay the penalty of death for Adam and Eve so they could eventually be restored into perfect fellowship with God.
The Bible teaches that we may only be redeemed (freed from the slavery of sin) by a blood relative (Leviticus 25:47-49). The Bible makes it very clear that the blood of animals cannot pay for sin (Hebrews 10:4). The reason: we are not related to animals. But if evolution were true, then animals could also be our savior, since we would be related to them. If we evolved from animals then there would have been no need for Jesus to die on the cross.
And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. (Leviticus 25:47-49)
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)
Scientific Evidence and The Age of The Universe
Scientific evidence confirms that the universe is thousands of years old, not millions or billions (see the book Thousands… Not Billions by Don DeYoung, https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/thousands-not-billions-book/?sku=10-2-199). In our evolution-saturated science and education system, this evidence is not widely discussed because the data and conclusions run counter to the prevailing belief of a very old world.
Carbon 14 (C-14) is an unstable variety of carbon. It will spontaneously change (decay) into nitrogen on a timescale of about 5.700 years. This timescale is called the “half life,” because if you had a chunk of solid C-14, half of it will have decayed into nitrogen in a span of 5.700 years. C-14 certainly cannot last even one million years, because not a single atom would be left. So, it came as quite a surprise (for evolutionists) to find C-14 in just about everything in the fossil record that has carbon in it. We even found C-14 in diamonds that are supposed to be billions of years old (by secular thinking).
Radiometric dating allegedly proves that rocks are billions of years old. What you may not have heard is that such methods also “prove” that brand new rocks are also millions of years old!
Many other lines of evidence could be presented (and have been presented in other resources) that show the age of the earth to be consistent with the biblical timescale.
The Institute For Creative Research