Well, I've thought a great deal
about the message that I'll be bringing to you this morning
and the one tonight. I feel the Lord has given me some special power of the Holy Spirit to deal
with these two subjects. The first one this morning is
How do we account for the existence of man? Where'd man come from? Well,
there's just two explanations. Number one, God created him. So let's read about that in Genesis
chapter one. Genesis chapter one, verse 26. Genesis 1 verse 26. And God said, let us make man
in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle. and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created
man. That's the title of my message,
God created man. In his own image, in the image
of God, created he him, male and female, created he them. And God blessed them. And God
said unto them, now you be fruitful and multiply and replenish the
earth and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish
of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth. So God created man. And then he created the woman.
That's read in chapter two. of Genesis, chapter 2, beginning
with verse 18. And the Lord God said, it's not
good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmeet for
him. And out of the ground, the Lord
God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air
and brought them unto Adam. to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called there
every living creature, that was the name thereof. Talk about
brilliance. Talk about leadership of God.
He named every animal. That's a robin. That's a chickadee. That's a cardinal. That's a bar of everything that
Adam called them. That's what, that's what they
have, that's the name they have right now. And God, the Lord
God, but there was not found a helpmeet for him. Now verse
21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept. And he took one of his ribs,
closed up the flesh, instead thereof. God created the woman
out of the man that they might be one. One flesh. He created the woman out of the
man. And he took Adam's rib. He didn't
take a bone out of his head to rule over him. He took a rib
out of his side to walk with him. That's his wife. She came
from man. And she's created to walk with
man. And he took the rib near his
heart so he'd love her. Always love her. Husbands love
your wives. Love not your wife, you don't
love God. And he took that rib out of Adam's
side under his arm that he might protect her. That's the woman. All those things are so true. Walk with him, love him, love
her, protect her. And Adam, she doesn't rule over
him. They walk together, but he's
headed with the woman. And the rib thereof, in verse
22, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman
and brought her unto the man. Therefore shall a man leave his
mother and father and cleave to his wife. They shall be one
flesh. And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed. God created man and
created a woman. And he created man marvelously,
miraculously, wonderfully. God made him from the dust of
the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. He became
a living soul. Adam was not an infant. Adam
was full grown with all of his faculties. He was made in the
image of God. Adam was not a savage. I always
talk about prehistoric man, savage and so forth, cave man, but Adam
wasn't a savage. He named every one of these animals.
Adam was not a savage, he was intelligent, he was beautiful,
he was brilliant, he was made in the image of God. He was a
fit companion for God. He was a fellow of God. And Adam
was not a sinner. He was morally, materially, physically
upright. right in body and mind because
he expressed the image of God. And from this perfect estate,
Adam fell. I don't know how long Adam lived
in that perfect state. Nobody else knows. But Adam rejected
the lordship and reign of God. Adam chose his own will. Two wills cannot exist together. Can't do it. What is the essence
of sin? I will. That's the very essence
of sin, I will. Turn to Isaiah 14, and let's
read this. Isaiah chapter 14, verse, Isaiah
14. Verse 12, Isaiah 14, 12. This is the essence of sin. This
is when Satan fell. This happened before Adam and
Eve fell. This happened when Satan and
the angels fell. Isaiah 14, verse 12. How art
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou
cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations? For thou
hast said in thine heart, here was Adam and Eve's problem. This
is what happened to them. I will. I will. I will ascend
into heaven. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I'll sit upon the mount of his
congregation and the sides of the north. I'll ascend above
the clouds, heights of the clouds, and I'll be like That's how Satan tempted Eve. He said to her, said, if God
said you shall not eat of every tree in the garden, she said,
God said we may eat of every tree but one. But he said, if
you eat that one, you'll die. He said, you won't die. God knows
that if you eat it, you will be like God. I will. I will. What's the essence of
holiness? The essence of sin is I will.
The essence of holiness is thy will. Turn with me to Luke 22. Luke chapter 22 and verse 39. Luke 22 verse 39. The essence of holiness is thy
will, not my will be done. Luke 22 verse 39. And the Lord Jesus came out and
went as he was walked to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples
followed him. And when he was at the place,
he said unto them, Pray ye that ye enter not into temptation.
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled
down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, If thou be
willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thy will be done. And that's what happened to Adam.
He resisted God's will, and he chose his own will. And we see
the results. If you want to see the results
of Adam's fall, you see the result of our fall, you turn to Ephesians
2, and we'll read it together. Ephesians chapter 2. We see the
results of Adam's call in our minds and in our bodies right
here in Ephesians 2 verse 1. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins which in times past you walked
according to the course of this world according to the prince
of the power there. We had two confederates here. One is the course of this world,
and the other is the prince of the power there. That's our biggest
problem, the course of this world and Satan. Read on. Spirit that
worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh. fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as others." Now that's what happened in the
garden. That's the fall of Satan and
the fall of man. But God created them and permitted
them to fall. But now here's the second explanation
why. Where did man come from? Well,
here's the second explanation. The second explanation for the
existence of man is a total rejection of God Almighty and His Word.
It's called evolution. And it's not a fact, it's a theory. It's a supposition. It's a guess. The evolutionist seeks to explain
the existence of man by leaving God out. We explain, our definition
of the explanation for the presence of man is God created him. But the evolutionist leaves God
out and says that man is a product of an impersonal, godless universe. Here's what one man wrote about
the existence of man. This is what he wrote. Listen
to it. Somewhere, sometime, a bolt of lightning passed through the
gaseous vapors and created a speck of protoplasm so small it couldn't
be seen by the naked eye. And this protoplasm fell into
the ocean and it began to grow. And out of nothing, something
came. And after a few million years, out of something, an amoeba
came. And then out of the amoeba, a
fish came. And out of the fish, an amphibian
came. And out of the amphibian, a reptile
came. And out of the reptile, an ape
came. And out of the ape, that's how we got man. And you know
people complain about the difficulty they have in believing the Genesis
account of creation. But I'll tell you, when I read
this, I gasped in amazement. And I think, how in the world
can anyone accept such foolishness? Well, James said this, James,
the writer, book of James. He said, if any man lack wisdom,
let him ask of God. That's the direction to look.
That's the one to whom we should address. If we want wisdom, let's
ask of God. Now, wisdom is more than just
information. Wisdom is more than just knowledge. Wisdom is more than just getting
a college degree. A person can have scores of degrees,
a lot of information, and a whole lot of knowledge and still be
a fool. Darcy and I were eating at the Peaks of Otter a few weeks
ago, having a nice meal. And Darsh looked over and said,
I want you to read that fella's T-shirt. Everybody makes a statement
about something on their T-shirt, either back or front. Well, he
had a T-shirt. He looked like a very intelligent
man, had glasses on, sitting with a nice lady, and he just
real, real sharp, but he had a T-shirt on. And on that T-shirt
were these words, I am dangerously overeducated. I believe it. I believe he believes
in evolution. I'm dangerously over-educated. Let me tell you what wisdom is.
James says, if you want wisdom, ask God. But wisdom, here's what
wisdom is. This is not for me. that had
a good grasp of things like this. Wisdom is the proper combination
of truth and spirit. You can't have just knowledge
of truth, you've got to have truth and spirit. Wisdom is the
proper combination of faith and obedience to believe God. Abraham believed God. Everything
these great men in the scripture accomplished, they accomplished
it by believing God. And wisdom is a proper combination
of heart and mind. And wisdom is a proper combination
of knowing God's word and yielding to it. Knowing God's word and
yielding to it in the face of opposition from within or without. It's knowing God's Word and yielding
to it in the face of opposition, regardless of the frowns you
meet with or the flattery. So I'm going to give you this
morning five reasons why I believe God created man. I was going to say I was going
to give you five reasons for not believing in evolution, but
I don't want to give a reason for what I don't believe. I want
to give a reason for what I do believe. I believe God created
man. Now here's reason number one.
In every way, a man is different from a beast. In every way. Turn to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 38. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 38. But God giveth it a body as it
has pleased him, and to every seed his own body. And all flesh
is not the same flesh. Man doesn't have the same flesh
that an animal has. There is one kind of flesh of
men, and another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another
of birds. Man differs from an animal in
blood. These physicians here this morning,
they know this is true. Man is different from an animal
in blood, in flesh, in cells, in mind, in soul, in spirit. Totally different. Totally different. Not only is man different from
a beast, but man walks erect. There is no animal who stands
up and walks erect. A man's countenance is totally
different from a beast. The light of intelligence, intelligence
is in his eyes and his faith. God said this, let me quote it
for you. For God commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. God has shined
in our hearts to give the light of knowledge, wisdom of the glory
of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another reason a man can invent,
a man can reason, an animal cannot invent, cannot reason. An animal
can be taught to obey, especially if you repeat it often enough.
Repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. He can respond and obey by
repetition. But would you try to teach geology
to an ape? He runs through the forest, but
he doesn't know, you know, he knows where to get something
to eat. That's about all he knows about that geology, about that,
his surroundings. Can you teach astronomy to an
eagle? He flies through the sky. His
home is in the skies, but he couldn't give you any kind of
reason at all for those skies being there. Can't teach arithmetic
to a dog, but listen, the most primitive man If he's taught,
he can learn, he can reason, he can understand these things. You can take the simplest type
of person and teach him, and he'll learn to reason, he'll
understand, and even to invent. And let me tell you this. Man
has a hand. Man has a hand. Well, miraculous,
wonderful, gift of God, a hand. No animal has a hand. A fish
has a fin, the lion has a paw, the horse has a hook, the birds
have a claws, but only a man has a hand. And that marvelous
gift of God enables him to handle a tool. Some of you men here
are real artists with a tool. The hand enables him to operate
delicate machinery. Show it to him. They even invented
it and understand it. The hand enables him to play
a musical instrument. When Tara plays that guitar,
it sounds so good. And she writes the words which
she understands and which we understand, and that music which
we love. And the hand, I think about you
men here, you're physicians. A man's hand enables him to perform
delicate, delicate operations on the brain and on the body
of their fellow man. No animal. could ever have any
part in anything like that. I read about in the Herald Leader
about this young man had that ATM accident and his brain was
messed up and the doctors took the front part of his skull off
and worked on it. Only a man that God has created
can do anything like that. My second reason why I believe
God created man. Evolution cannot account for
the presence of life. Now listen to this. The world
teems with life. Life is everywhere. Life is in
every speck of dust. Life is in every drop of moisture. Life in the air. There's life
in the sea. There's life in the ice. And
life in the desert. There's life everywhere. But
the evolutionist says this. Evolutionist says life came to
our planet from a meteor. How did the life get on the meteor?
Well, listen to this. Here's the explanation. Somewhere,
sometimes, that bolt of lightning passed through the gaseous vapors
and created life. which fell into the ocean and
began to grow until finally a man walked out. But what did they
say? Somewhere. Where did the where
come from? Some time. Where did the time
come from? A bolt of lightning. Who made
the lightning? Passed through the vapors. Gaseous
vapors, who made them? Where'd they come from? Fell
into the ocean. Now, there's a question. Where'd
the ocean come from? And I want to know if it was
fresh water or salt water. Every one of these things, somewhere,
sometimes, a bolt of lightning, gaseous vapors fell into an ocean.
Every time one of these things is mentioned, you run into a
blank wall. about existing material and life. It wasn't there until God said,
let there be light. Let there be light. The third
reason why I believe that God created man, evolution. Evolution has no explanation
for the mind and the soul of men and women. It has no explanation for the,
listen, the non-material qualities of men and women. Non-material
qualities. We're not just beasts. We're
people. How did man get his love for
music? How did man get his love for
the art? How did man get his love for
beauty? How did man get his love for children? Your children, how you love your
children. You'd lay down your life in a
minute without question for one or all of them. Where did man
get his conscience? Where did man get his loyalty?
Loyal to his friends. Where did man get his grief?
Where did man get his tears? Where did man get his sorrow?
Where did man get his laughter? These all came from God, in the
image of God. I got to tell you something amusing
that I discovered years ago. You're like this. Just forgive
me if I throw something in here that makes you laugh. Three monkeys
sat in a coconut tree, and they were discussing things that are
said to be. One said, now listen, you two.
I've heard some things that can't be true, that man descended from
our noble race. That's shocking. That's a terrible
disgrace. They call it evolution, and they
make a big fuss. They say man descended from us. Well, man descended to ornery
cuss, but he didn't descend from us. Evolution believes that if you
take a little two-cylinder gas minibike and put it in a room
and leave it there two million years, that that little minibike
will fly out of there as a rocket going to the moon. Just give
it time. It'll be a rusty minibike. That's
all. Reason number four. If man was
formed from an animal, gradually or however you may say, and became
a person, an animal to a person, When and where did the process
stop? We've got recorded history now
for about 6,000 years, counting the scriptures, Moses and Abraham
and all. Where did the process stop? Turn to Genesis 1. Let's listen
to this. Genesis chapter 1, verse 24 and
25. Genesis 1. Verse 24. Now here's the thing
you run up against having a man come from an ape. Listen to this. Genesis 1 verse 24. And God said,
let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind. cattle and creeping things and
beast of the earth after his kind and it was so and God made
the beast of the earth after his kind and cattle after his
kind and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind
and God said it was good. Now we have horses And we have
Shetland ponies and Tennessee walkers and quarter horses and
Thurber racers, but no horse ever produced a cow after his
kind. We have dogs, poodle dogs and
German shepherds and bulldogs and St. Bernard, but no dog ever
produced a cat. Man can only come from a woman. with the man after his kind. This destroys totally completely
the theory of evolution. Darcy and I were watering the
flowers yesterday. And you've seen these praying
mantises? Well, they're pretty good size. This is a baby praying mantis. And his antenna looked like a
thread, just tiny, wee little thing. Yet it lives, it's life,
and it'll grow. And God got that praying mantis
from another one. Another one. Oh, here's my closing
remark. Reason number five. Reason number
five, why I believe that God created man. Let's turn to Hebrews
chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. And I want
to read you starting with verse 5. Hebrews 10 verse 5. And this is our Lord Jesus Christ. This scripture occurs several
times in other scriptures. In Hebrews 10 verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, our Lord and Savior, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come, I come, the Savior came, and the volume
of the book is written of me, to do thy will, O God. And when
he saith, Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt offerings, and offerings
for sin, thy will is not, neither hath pleasure therein which are
offered by the law. Then he said, I come, I come
to do thy will, O God. He takes away the first. that
he may establish a second. The first is not spiritual, but
it's physical in that degree. And what he's talking about here,
the first Adam died, sinned and died and perished. Second man
is the Lord from heaven. The first covenant God made with
Adam, and with Noah, and with Abraham, did away with those
covenants. And he made a covenant with his
son, everlasting covenant. And the first tabernacle was
in the wilderness, and it's gone now. And there's a second tabernacle,
his body, he tabernacle among us. And the first priesthood,
all of those priests, there were many of them, he's one. He's
a priest forever after all of Melchizedek. First mercy seat.
God said, I'll meet you at the mercy seat. There I'll have communion
with you. He took away that one and gave
us a mercy seat. Christ is our propitiation, our
mercy seat. He'd taken away the first nature.
I was born of a man and a woman,
John C. Mahan and Athalene Mahan. in 1926 in Fairfield, Alabama,
flesh and blood. The Lord Jesus, 1954, gave me
a new nature, a new nature, the nature of Christ, the life of
Christ, Holy Spirit, and He's going to take away this old nature.
Now, not too long, too. He's going to take it away and
put it in the ground, but I have a new nature. He takes away the
first, that He may establish the second. That first Adam gone. Second Adam live. And he taketh
away. Here's something else. He's got
to take away the old heaven and the old earth. He's going to
burn it to a crisp. He's going to burn it till it
doesn't exist before. And we're going to have a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. So, my
friend, just don't pay any attention to people who don't know what
they're talking about. Pay attention to the Scriptures
and look unto Christ. Look unto me and be your Savior
at all the ends of the earth, for I'm God and there's none
else. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Look to Christ
and not to your feelings, not to your prayers, not to your
professions. Look to Christ. Faith is looking
to Christ, not to the name I wear, or the knowledge of doctrine
that I have is looking to Christ. Faith is looking to Christ, not
to the law, not to His mother, not to His disciples, but to
Him. Faith is looking to Christ, not
to my brethren, not to the best of them or the worst of them.
Look to Christ. Faith is looking to Christ yesterday,
today, and forever. It's looking to Him at all times
and never stops. I came to Jesus as I was, weary
and worn and sad, and I found in Him a resting place, and He
has made me glad. I looked to Jesus, and I found
in Him my stars, my sun, and in His light, the light of life,
I will walk till my traveling days are done. created man. And he said, when he finished
all his creation, he said, it's good. It's good. And in Christ,
he takes away all these first things and gives us everything.
Behold, I make all things new. I'm looking forward to that.
I think we'll go sing in closing. This is my father's world. I
rest me in the thought. Dwayne will lead us.