The Creation Gap Theory

I used to believe in the creation gap theory, which is the belief that there is a gap of some indefinite period of time that elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 or between 1:2 and 1:3. Now the Lord has helped me to see that this is not true and does great injustice to the Scriptures. Let me show you what I mean. There are many good articles out there that treat the subject exhaustively, but I don't intend to do that. I simply want to show you some of the most compelling reasons I found.

First of all, let's look at the passage in question. It states:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,” and there was light.'" (Gen 1:1-3, NIV)

If you are like me, you may have thought that God created the heavens and the earth before the creation week, and then they were in place as raw materials for Him to work with when He made everything else. You may have believed that the earth either became formless and void at some point after God created it, or that it remained in that state until the first day of creation when He created light. However, this is not what the text says, if we read the meaning directly out of it.

No Verse Divisions or Break in the Text
In the original Hebrew Scriptures there were no verse numbers to provide any break in this text. Moreover, there is nothing in the Hebrew grammar to indicate that there was any break in the narrative. As Dr. Jonathan Sarfati  of Creation Ministries points out in his article, How Genesis 13 Undermines the Gap Theory, in Genesis 1 "there are grammatical terms, called the waw consecutive and waw disjunctive." Essentially what we learn from these is that in 1:1 the narrative begins, then in 1:2 there is a disjunctive clause, which we can identify by the structure of the verbs. A disjunctive clause is a side-step or parenthetical remark that comments on what was just stated. The Scripture states, "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Then in 1:3 there is a consecutive clause indicating that the narrative which began in the first sentence in 1:1 is now continuing. It's like saying in English, "And then..." The Scripture states, "And [then] God said, 'Let there be light,” and there was light.'" If you will consider that, it is a very good reason why there could not be a long gap between any of those verses.

No Death Before Adam's Sin
One reason why some people adopt the gap theory is to try to synchronize the Bible with the claims of modern science. Since scientists claim that the geological column (or layers of fossils) proves that the earth is millions of years old, they see the need to add a gap before the first day of creation to allow for a long period of time when another race of beings lived and died upon the earth. They feel this best explains how there could be fossils that are believed to be so old, dating to a time long before the period of Adam and Eve.

However, according to the apostle Paul, death came into the world as a result of Adam's sin. He states, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Rom 5:12). This means there could be no death before the sin of Adam, hence no fossils.

Nothing Visible before the Six Days of Creation
However, for me the most compelling reason was that the Lord created everything in the natural, visible realm in six literal days, and his act of creating the heavens and the earth occurred during those six days.

We know the days of creation are literal, because at the end of each day of creation is says, "And there was evening and there was morning," then it says the number of the day, such as day one, the second day the third day, etc.  We know that when an evening and morning pass by, we are talking about a 24-hour period or literal day.

Secondly, Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." If we say that God created the heavens and the earth before He began the six day creative week, we contradict the Scriptures. For they say that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth. Here are the passages where this is explicitly stated:

"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven." (Gen 2:1-4)

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (Exo 20:11)

"It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed." (Exo 31:17).

According to the apostle, all that we see in the visible realm was made out of that which is invisible. "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." (Heb 11:3). God did not make the heavens and the earth out of visible matter that He had previously created. It says He prepared the worlds by His Word and made that which is visible out of that which is invisible.

While the gap theory was taught in the early nineteenth century by a notable Scottish theologian named Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), it was Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, whose Reference Bible (Oxford University Press, 1909) helped to popularized it. However, more recently another man named Jack C. Scofield has written an article disproving the gap theory. He sums it up better than I can in his article called The Gap Theory of Genesis Chapter One, in which he states:

"The gap theorists would have us believe that a long break occurs between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 and then in verse three the 're-creation' week begins. This reasoning would separate the 'creation of heaven and earth' from the rest of the week by some indefinite time period, and certainly then, by their own reasoning, the ‘heaven and earth' creation cannot be considered to be a part of the re-creative week which follows. There are some Scriptures which disagree with this logic, namely Genesis 2:1 to 4 and Exodus 20:11 and 31:17. These verses clearly include the creation or making of the “heaven and earth” within the six creative days. To insist on a creation of the “heaven and earth” separate from the six stated days does great injustice to these texts. It must be pointed out that the Genesis 1:1 statement is the only creative statement in the entire first chapter with reference to “heaven.” If we are to understand the words of the Exodus verses in the sense of their clear, plain meaning and common usage, then we must conclude that day one began with Genesis 1:1, and therefore no gap."

I hope that this has helped to explain why the gap theory cannot be true, according to the Word of God.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The "Deception" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm all rights reserved by the artist. Please view it on his official website, Inspired Art.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading Understanding the Gaps in Scripture, Pope Validates Evolution and Big Bang Theory, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, The Origin of Sin, Satan, and Secular Music, The Rise and Fall of Lucifer the Musician. You can access the Home page of this blog for more articles on Truth and heresy, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

Heresies of C.S. Lewis

C.S Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, is one of the most popular authors within Christian circles, and perhaps one of the most loved heretics of our time. However, he accepted the following false beliefs:

Christ did not atone for our sins.

The Bible is not inspired or inerrant.

Pagan religions have truth.

Evolution is true.

The Bible is not literal.

Catholic sacraments spread the life of Christ to us.

Purgatory is a real place.

Hell may be simply a figment of the mind.

Praying for the dead.

White magic is good.

Scripture Refutes these heresies
God's Word teaches us that these beliefs are false, so we must reject them and anyone that teaches them.

Christ atoned for our sin.
The apostle John wrote, "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 Jn 2:2, NIV).

All Scripture is inspired.
The apostle Paul wrote, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." (2 Tim 3:16). Also see The Bible is the Word of God.

Jesus is the Truth and the only Way.
Jesus said that He is the Truth and the only way to the Father. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (Jn 14:6). We can not get to the Father in heaven through pagan religions.

The apostle Paul wrote, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Rom 10:9).

The apostle Peter said, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Ac 4:12). You cannot be saved by following Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, or any other man. There is no other name but the name of Jesus by which we must be saved. Those other men's bones are still in their graves, but Jesus' tomb is empty, because He has risen from the dead and sits at the right hand of God.

God created the heavens and the earth in six days. 
Moses taught this in his writings, which Jesus said we must believe (John 5:45-47). "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done." (Gen 1:1;2:1-2). "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy." (Ex 20:11). Also see Oral Account of Creation from Adam to Abraham.

God created man both male and female from the beginning.
They did not evolve from a lower form of life. "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Gen 1:27). Jesus Himself taught this. "But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female." (Mk 10:6).

We are saved by grace through faith, not sacraments.
There is no Scripture that requires us to take sacraments to be saved. Paul wrote, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9). There are two ordinances that Jesus left for the Church, which are communion and water baptism. He taught us to celebrate communion in remembrance of His death (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25), and to baptize new believers in water (Mt 3:13-17; Mt 28:19). He said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (Mt 28:19). He said, "And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." (Mk 16:15-16). Water baptism is for those who have repented and believed in Jesus, not a sacrament that can save those who have not yet believed. See By Faith Alone - Part I and By Grace Alone.

The Bible teaches heaven and hell as the two possible eternal destinations of man.
There is no Scripture in the Bible that teaches purgatory. "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." (Heb 9:27). Jesus said, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned." (Jn 5:28-29, NIV).

Hell is a literal place.
Jesus taught a literal hell. He said that when He judges all mankind, He will send the wicked to the eternal fire.
 
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." (Mt 25:41).

He said, "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into [ac]hell, into the unquenchable fire, and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." (Mk 9:43-44)

Those who worship the beast and receive his mark will be tormented forever by fire and brimstone, undoubtedly in hell, the lake of fire. “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’” (Rev 14:9-11)

The beast and false prophet both end up in that same place, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Rev 20:10).

Many others will be in the lake of fire. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev 21:). Also see Where will you go when you die?, Revelation of Hell to Seven Colombian Youths, Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, and Eudoxia Varga Testimony of Heaven and Hell.

There is no Scriptural basis for praying for the dead.
Mercy is only available while you are on earth. Once you die, then comes the judgment. "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." (Heb 9:27). The only reason someone would pray for the dead is if they either believed that one may be in purgatory and somehow released, or if they believed that hell is temporary. But the Bible teaches that hell is eternal.

All forms of magic are condemned.
Magic is considered witchcraft. Throughout Scripture, all forms of witchcraft are considered wicked and are condemned. (Deuteronomy 18:10–16; Leviticus 19:26, 31; 20:27; Acts 13:8–10). There is no distinction made between black magic and white magic, good magic or bad magic. It is all evil. The apostle Paul referred to Elymas the sorcerer as a “child of the devil” full of  “all kinds of deceit and trickery”, "perverting the right ways of the Lord” (Acts 13:10). The apostle Peter condemned Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:20–23. When the Ephesians came to Christ, they repented of practicing magic arts and burned the books, which probably contained the magic spells, incantations, and other magic instruction. "And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Ac 19:19).

The Scriptures teach us that the eternal destiny of those who practice magic arts is in the lake of burning sulfur. "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev 21:8, NIV; cf. Rev 22:15)

Putting it All Together
As we can see from Scripture, these beliefs of C.S. Lewis are completely false. Therefore, I caution you not to read his books, since this man was an agent of the father of lies, which is the devil. And for that matter, I do not advise anyone to watch movies that are based on his books, such as Narnia. These open doors for demons to enter your life.

As followers of Christ, we must not cling to falsehood or anything that is of the devil. We must repent from our involvement in it and cry out for forgiveness. We must live holy and godly lives for the Lord Jesus. We must not touch any unclean thing. For the sake of your own soul, please do not dabble with darkness. Come out from among them and be separate. Walk in the Light as Jesus is in the Light.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend the following articles for further proof of what I have explained here: Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, Former Pope in Hell Declared a Saint, Pope Validates Evolution and Big Bang Theory, Pagan Symbols of the Popes, The Bible is the Word of God, Where will you go when you die?, Revelation of Hell to Seven Colombian Youths, Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, Eudoxia Varga Testimony of Heaven and Hell, Nigerian Pastor Raised from the Dead, Harry Potter is the Devil's Snare, Visitation of Jesus to Samuel Oghenetega, and The Bible is the Word of God. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Pope Validates Evolution and Big Bang Theory

On October 28, 2014, Pope Francis declared at a gathering at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that evolution is real and the Big Bang happened.  He said, “When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician with a magic wand, able to do everything. But that is not so,” He added: “He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfilment."

The Pope obviously does not interpret the Bible literally.  He is saying that God is not able to do everything!  He literally said it would be wrong to think that God is "able to do everything," including the entire work of creation.

This is nothing new for the Roman Catholic Church.  According to Bible Light, "Pope John Paul II, on the 23rd of October, 1996, while speaking to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences plenary session at the Vatican, declared the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin to be fact, tacitly acknowledging that man evolved from the apes, and reducing the biblical account of Genesis to that of mere fable!"  The Bible Light goes on to say, "Apparently most Roman Catholic schools have taught evolution pretty much as fact since Pope Pius XII's encyclical HUMANI GENERIS in 1950."

The Biblical Record
The Scripture clearly says God created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. "He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-- he remains faithful forever." (Ps 146:6)

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen 1:1). You need to have faith in God to understand that He commanded and the universe was formed.  "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." (Heb 11:3).  He did not make it from that which is visible. He made everything we see out of nothing. And then from the dust of the earth, He formed man.

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.' " (Gen 1:26-27)

When God finished His work of creation on the sixth day, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." (Gen 1:31a).  He did not need to improve on it, and it did not need to evolve over the eons in order for it to be what He created it to be.  In fact, immediately after creating Adam, God was having fellowship with Him in the garden.  It would make no sense for God to have fellowship with an amoeba.  And Adam was able to name all the animals (Gen 2:19-20).  A single-cell organism would not be capable of naming all the animals, and if they had to first evolve, then they would not have been developed enough yet for him to distinguish them from one another and name them.

Jesus Himself validated the creation account. He said, “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’"  He would not have said this about single-cell organisms or primates.  He spoke these words in the context of marriage, which does not apply to cells or animals.

The Bible says that all things are possible with God. "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'” (Mt 19:26)

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jer 32:17)

Yet the Pope will not put up with sound doctrine like this, since he is a false prophet, and is speaking for the Babylonian religion that prefers to gather around itself a great many teachers who say what they want to hear.

"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2Tim 4:3,4)

While there is certainly such a thing as micro-evolution in which organisms can mutate within their own species, that does not mean man evolved from apes or from a pool of organic material.  Microevolution is genetic change in a population over generations that does not result in new species. Macroevolution is something entirely different, and the Bible does not teach that anything of that sort.  There is no observable evidence for macroevolution, therefore it is not a fact, but a theory that contradicts the Bible.

Putting it All Together
It is no surprise to me that the Pope is saying such unbiblical things as these, since there are numerous other Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, and Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality.

If you are a part of this religion, I urge you to listen to and heed this warning.  It is an occult religion.

"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "'Come out of her, my people,' so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;" (Rev 18:4).

Don't delay.  Time is fast running out!

Attribution notice:  Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted. The photo of Francis giving his first address as pope at St. Peter's Basilica, 13 March 2013, is used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The photo of Pope Francis on 20 March 2013, one week after his inauguration, is also courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading my articles Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, Angelica Zambrano Hell and Heaven, Angelica Zambrano's Second Visit to Hell, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, Dare to Believe, The End Has Come, and New Age-New World Order. I also recommend The Next Pope. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.