Friend or Foe? FOE!

Yesterday I wrote on the topic of creation and how one's view of creation is directly related to their understanding of the gospel (though there are many who are simply inconsistent in their views). Today I want to touch on the idea a little bit more.

If we understand Genesis 1-2 as being merely a literary explanation of God's use of evolution in order to create the world we are simultaneously affirming that God used the same thing to create man, namely death, that He would later seek to save man from.

In 1 Corinthians 15 we see Paul arguing for that which is at the very heart of the gospel message, resurrection. He touches on Christ's resurrection as well as the resurrection that we will one day experience. This is such an important part of the gospel that he says, "...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (15:17). In other words, if Christ has not been raised the gospel is not true.

For our purposes in this post I want to focus on the ideas expressed in 15:20-28 which begins, "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." In other words, because Christ has, in fact, been raised we know that we too will be raised because of our union with him. But this fact is contingent on the following argument that Paul makes in the next verses.

"For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead." (15:21) This clearly goes back to the garden. According to Paul's gospel life was abundant in the creation accounts of Genesis 1-2 and death entered the world in Genesis 3. If Paul is wrong in his order of events concerning death and sin the next clause must be wrong as well.

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (15:22) The previous verse shows us that the reality of death entered the world through Adam and the reality of resurrection and eternal life comes through Christ. Now on a personal level we see that all (that is all persons) who are in Adam are subject to this death. All who are in Christ are rescued from death and are now subject to life.

The final portion of the paragraph that relates to this is 15:25-26, "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Here we see in clearest terms that God sees death as an enemy that will be destroyed. That is not the way one would expect a tool for creation to be described. The reason death is an enemy is because God did not use death and evolution to bring history to this point. He created the world by His own power and for His own purpose. He created a world of life that was then corrupted by death.

Now some might charge that I am being inconsistent, considering my view on the Fall (see these posts: 1, 2, 3, 4). I am not saying that God did not decree that death would exist in order for Him to defeat it. I am saying that God did not create a world that was already subject to death and use it as a device for bringing about man. Though death is an enemy which God has planned to defeat since before creation, it is still not a friend to Him which He used to create His image bearers.

Stay strong and believe the gospel!

Grace and Peace,
Stephen