[0:00]Lift up the word and repeat after me. I believe, this is the word of God. I believe what God says because it is impossible for God to lie. Again, what we are going to study today is something that I think will reveal the magnificence and the glory and the greatness of God. Sometimes we we think of God as uh or some people think of God as just uh an elderly gentleman spirit with a white beard sitting on a throne up on a cloud some place. But God is so much more than what our earthly minds can even comprehend. And when he put all of this together, when he created the heavens and the earth, it wasn't his first creation. It was his first creation here that we are involved in, but there were many other things that happened before then. And so what I'd like to do today is I'd like to take you on a journey of what the Bible has to say, not theories, but what the Bible has to say about the world before Adam and Eve. Now, we may state this again, but I want to make sure I get it stated now. Adam was the first man. Mankind did not exist before Adam. He was the first man created. But there was a creation before Adam. And the Bible clearly tells us this. Now, I was looking up some seminary commentaries yesterday. And I discovered that almost every single major seminary in the world says that what I believe and what I teach is pure fantasy. Well, that's encouraging. But what I discovered is most of their arguments that I could find against what I'm going to teach you today was not based in the word but was based in just what they wanted to believe. And so I think it's very important that when we approach the Bible, we don't have preconceived beliefs and then we search through the scripture trying to find a scripture that we can twist and turn and make it say what we want it to say and then ignore everything else. But we need to take the sum of the scriptures and see what the word of God actually has to say about a subject. Now, let's start with second Peter chapter three, verses five and six. It says, for this they willingly forget that by the word of God, the heavens were of old, and the Earth standing out of water and in the water by which the world that then existed perished being flooded by water. Now, many people see this, uh when it talks about a world that then existed being flooded with water, that it's talking about Noah's flood, the flood of Noah. But now think about this. No, that's the world that does exist. That's the world we're living in. Noah was your ancestor. We are all we say we're descendants of Adam, but we are all descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Noah. Because when they landed, when the when the ark landed, there were only eight people. Noah, his wife, his three sons and their three wives.
[4:03]So that's where our descende comes from. But the Bible says that there was a world that then existed. It's been said that when you go to a family reunion, there's two things you should never talk about and that's politics and religion. And the reason is, is because both of them have hot buttons, and most people have their beliefs already figured out, and if you say something against what they are for, you've stepped on a landmine, you've you've stepped on a verbal landmine, and there's an explosion that takes place, and I've seen families split because of talking about religion and politics. Well, let's uh just understand this. What I'm going to talk about today, in some circles, is a a landmine. This is this is a hot button, but I want you to take everything that you think you know about the past, and put it aside and listen to what the scriptures actually have to say. See, when it comes to the past in theological circles, there are two basic beliefs. One is new Earth, new world creationist, and one is old world creationist. And the new world creationist say that everything happened just like what the Bible says. God created everything, the heavens and the earth, and everything that existed in six 24-hour periods in six days. Old world creationist say that God created everything, but and they neither group believes in evolution. But one group believes that God created everything in six 24-hour periods, and the other group believes that God created everything but it was over a long period of time. Now, I will tell you, starting right off, that I am an old world creationist. And why am I an old world creationist? Because it is the only way that the scriptures in the Bible fit seamlessly together. And the Bible talks about the world that then existed. It's just that a lot of people don't read their Bible. Thank you for your applause and agreement on that. Just been a little bit there. My Christian background is very conservative. I was raised in a Baptist home. My dad was a Southern Baptist Deacon. My mother was a Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher. I went got saved in a Southern Baptist Church, got baptized in a Southern Baptist Church, went to a Southern Baptist University, where I met a Southern Baptist girl, studying to be a Southern Baptist missionary, and I was studying to be a Southern Baptist Pastor. We got married in a Southern Baptist Church and had two Southern Baptist kids. Now, needless to say, I saw everything kind of from an angle. But one thing that happened to me early on is my pastor, J. C. Porter from Spring Valley Baptist Church and Raytown, Missouri, he he told me, he said, Son, he said, when I was just a teenager, he said, if it's in the Bible, you've got to believe what the Bible says.
[7:16]You can't believe what other people tell you if it doesn't line up with the Bible. And I began to discover that a lot of my theological training didn't line up, and I made a lot of adjustments in those early years. And I have changed my theological views many, many times over the years because as I find something in the Bible, I believe the Bible. Aren't isn't that what we're supposed to do? We believe that this is the holy inspired word of God. All right. Now, I discovered that most people in the church thought that there were there was a battle going on. It was and it was between the Bible and science, and science was that evil enemy out there that fought against the Bible. But I began to discover that true science and true Bible actually fit together seamlessly. Now, before we dig deep into the subject, we we still need to underline this. Don't get into arguments about this. This is something that will inspire you and and give you a greater awareness of the glory of God, of how great he is.
[8:40]He's not just limited to this little solar system that we're in. He is magnificent. Let's take a look at the scriptures. Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. In the beginning, God created the heavens, plural, and the earth. Even if your Bible says heaven, and some Bibles do, some versions, it in the correct translation from the Hebrew, it's plural. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Now, there are two words here in this passage. It says that the earth was without form and void. These two words are Hebrew words and they are Tohu, Vavohu. And these words mean it became formless and void. Now, there are those who say, well, no, God just created it and it was formless and void. And then he had to come in later and straighten it all out. No, no, no, that's not true. First of all, everything that God creates, he creates perfect. And Isaiah 45:18 specifically says God did not create the Earth Tohu. He did not create it chaotic. They were not created formless and void.
[10:48]But in verse two, it says, and the earth became formless and void. Now, that Hebrew word tells us it became formless and void. So if it became formless and void, what happened between verse one and verse two? A lot happened. Now, let me say this. Most scientific groups say that the that the universe was created 13.8 billion years ago. Uh I don't necessarily like this term, Big Bang. It's the Big Bang theory, not the television show, but it's it's they they think that there was a singularity smaller than an atom. And in a nanosecond of time, for some unexplained reason, there was a great explosion and matter started moving faster than the speed of light because light did not exist. And even all the scientists agree, they agree that light didn't exist for hundreds of millions of years. Now, that's a lot to take in, you know.
[12:11]You know, when when you send your kids to college, when you send them to university, as they say in Britain, when you send them to uni, they hear all of the evidence of civilizations that existed 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 years ago. They see fossils, they see they they're taught about things that happened way back in the day. And then they come home and they hear, well, Adam was kicked out of the Garden 6,000 years ago, which, according to the Bible from right now, it's been 6,000 years since Adam was kicked out of the garden. If Adam was kicked out of the Garden 6,000 years ago, how in the world could there have been civilizations 100,000 years ago? How could this be? Well, and then see, and that's where you get into the conflict. People start thinking, well, the Bible and science don't line up, so science must be wrong, or the Bible's wrong. But the reality is, is the Bible doesn't say that there was no no creation before Adam. In fact, it says quite the opposite. Now, we're going to look at some scriptures here. But we want to establish this and some of this I've already shared with you, but we know that science tells us and we know this to be a reality because with with the Hubble telescope and the newer telescopes that they have out there, they can see far into space, and space is so vast that they have to measure the distance in light years. And one light year, one light year is 299 million, 792,458 meters per second. That's how fast light travels. Now, here's the thing. The telescopes can see this direction and this direction, and if you add that distance together, it's 94 billion light years across. And that's just what we can see. And that's what the Bible calls the expanse. We call the universe. The Bible calls it heaven. Now, how can this be? How can this exist? Well, let's see what the scripture has to say. Now, we know that in Titus 1:2 it says, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised, now look at this next phrase, promised before time began. He promised before time began. Now, if time if he did something before time began, that means that time has a beginning, and that means it was created. God created time. He created time so that mankind could live in a framework of this universe. And in this world that now exists. See, God existed in the ageless past. If it is true that there was a singularity in in the universe and 13.8 billion years ago, the universe started into existence, if that's true, you got to understand this. God was here before that. God wasn't created on that day. God was never created. God has always existed. In fact, in his name, Yahweh, is the implication of I am, which means he was, he is and he will be. He is timeless. You could never write a book about the history of God. It's impossible. Because no matter how far back you go in his history, you're no closer to the beginning because there is none. And your earthly brain cannot comprehend the reality that God has no beginning. Now, there's a beginning of what we need to know because our Bible starts out in the beginning. That's the beginning of what we need to know. But God has no beginning. His greatness is so far beyond anything we can comprehend. When when we ask him for something in prayer. Sometimes, I've heard people say, well, I don't want to bother God with that. He's got so many other things to take care of. Let me tell you something, you're you're not even beginning to touch a grain of sand on the seashore of California, the amount of power that God has. There is no limit to his abilities. God, all things are possible. With God, all things are possible. That sickness that has come upon you, is it possible that you can be healed? Yes. Why? All things are possible with God. Jesus said, if you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes. Is it possible that God can get you out of your debt? Oh, come on, now. God's bigger than your electric bill. The vastness, I mean, it doesn't even compare. Is it is it possible that God can heal your broken heart? Yes. My son passed away on New Year's Day. Loretta and I had broken hearts. But I'll tell you what, and we but we have the assurance of knowing that our God is so great, that what he promised, he will fulfill. And there will be a day when we can be a family again. And you say, well, that's impossible. Your brain's too small. Nothing is impossible with God, and he will fulfill every promise in his word. And what he says happened, happened. Now listen, before the earth became formless and void, let me tell you something. I I've heard this thought. If God created something perfect, well then nobody can mess it up. Oh yes, they can. Because God has this thing that you find in creation, where he gives everything everyone a choice. We have choices to make. The Bible says, Lucifer was perfect on the day he was created. That little granddaughter over there that's, how old are you now, 23? She's not sure. But at any rate, when she was just a little tight, she asked me, she said, Why did God create the devil? Well, the answer is, God didn't create the devil. He created Lucifer, and the Bible says he was perfect on the day he was created. But he chose to do wrong. Well, what happened? The the heavens and the earth were created, and they were perfect on the day they were created, but something happened. Well, we know this that there was a time before man was created. Now, think about this, though. Let let me give you something to think about. I've heard this taught so many times. Well, on day one, God created the heavens and the earth. No, he didn't. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth became formless and void, and water was on the face of the earth. We haven't even got to day one yet. We haven't got to day one yet. So, what happened there? What caused what caused everything to become formless and void? And who existed at that time? Well, let me read a scripture to you. Before the six days of creation, it says in the Living Bible, Job 38:4, it says, where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth? And then it goes down to verse seven, and it ends up with saying, and all the angels shouted for joy.
[20:55]Now, that just sounds like a nice little line, but let me let me give you something in there. The angels existed at the creation of the Earth. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. Right there. And if that's if that's not true, you got to scratch that passage out. So, if the angels were created, who was Lucifer? He was a cherub. That is a category that that's that's a group of angels. He was a cherub. And the word of God says, you were the anointed, this is in Ezekiel 28:14-16, it says, you were the anointed cherub. He was even anointed who covers, I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance, now follow me on this, from by the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence from within. And you sinned, therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, oh covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Now, isn't that interesting that it says, part of the problem that Lucifer had was in the abundance of his trading. Trading? Who was he trading with? Hmm. Well, let's see what the scripture has to say. Isaiah 14:12, how you have fallen from heaven, oh Lucifer, son of the morning, how you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. So, in other words, when he was cast down, he was cast down before the creation that we know that we have. He was cast down before the Garden of Eden. He was cast down back in the day. And when he was cast down, it says here, he weakened the nations. Oh my goodness. Nations? Well, I thought I thought there weren't any men before Adam and Eve. There weren't. There were not. Mankind was not here before Adam and Eve. But there was a civilization of some type of beings that evidently Lucifer had commerce with. Wow. Hmm. Well, you know, Jesus said in John 10:10, the thief, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
[23:59]Wow. Amazing, isn't it? Amazing what you find in the Bible when you read it.
[26:53]Yeah, by the way, first Corinthians 15:45 tells us that Adam was the first man.
[27:03]Hmm. Ezekiel 28:12 says, you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the Garden of God. Now, see the the Paradise in the Garden of God was in heaven at this time. Every precious stone was your covering, and it goes through all the stones. It says, the workmanship of your timbers and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. Angels were created, but they were created eons of time before man.
[27:42]Lucifer, uh I know that this is an oxymoron, but he's he was he's a good liar. You know what I mean? He's He's proficient at it. So proficient was he that he convinced one third of the heavenly host to follow him. You know, in this day and age, we must be watchful that we don't get deceived because the deceiver is really oxymoron. He's really a good deceiver. He's had a lot of practice at it. And the weird thing is, is people who are deceived don't think they are. That's why they call it deception. It's it's really very difficult to minister to somebody who is deceived. Because no matter what you say, they think they're right. Why? Because they're deceived. Oh, well, praise the Lord. So sometimes you just got to cast the devil out. So, what was it that um the devil did? Well, this is kind of difficult to explain in some ways, but follow me on this. When God creates things, he creates them to if they're a something that reproduces, he they're to reproduce after their own kind. In other words, if he creates you for a purpose, you're to stay in that purpose. Lucifer and the angels were created, the Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews, they were created. God had a plan. And they were created before man for two purposes. One, the Bible says they were created to worship God, and they were created to minister for those who will inherit salvation. That's us. So, they had a purpose. Now, God created us to be like him. He created us to be in his image and his likeness. And Ephesians 5:1 tells us that as the church, for us, we are to be imitators of God. In other words, what God does, we're supposed to do. If God calls those things that be not as though they are, we're supposed to call those things that be not as though they are. He gave us authority. Whose authority? He gave us his authority over all the power of the enemy. Why? Because we were created in his likeness and his image to be like him for all eternity. That's what he wanted. Lucifer was a cherub. He was an angel. He was not created to be like God. He was created to worship God and in a distant space that hadn't happened yet. He was created to minister for those who will inherit salvation, minister for the church. We have angels. We have angels today ministering for us. That's what they were created for. But Lucifer got out of his lane, and he didn't he didn't say, I'm going to overthrow God. He didn't say, I'm going to be God. He said, I'm going to be like God. I'm going to exalt my throne on the sides of the north. I will ascend into the sides of the north, and I will be just like him. He got out of his lane. And that didn't work out too well for him. In fact, in Isaiah 14, 14, he said, I will be like the God most high. Well, you know, it's it's kind of interesting to note that at the end of the millennium, the church, the ones who were who were created to be like him, the Bible says we're going to judge the angels who got out of their lane and wanted to be like him. I think it's kind of ironic in a way. You know, it's uh it's interesting that, uh on day one, God said, we know the phrase, let there be light. But actually in the Hebrew, it's more light be. Light is, light is. And I think it's interesting that, uh on day one, I don't believe that God created anything on day one. He just showed up. Because the Bible says, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. And we find in the temple, uh after the millennium's over, that there's in in the New Jerusalem, there is no temple because the sun, S U the son, S O N, is the sun, S U N. He is the light. God is light. So, the earth became formless and void. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Ba'ar Shei Ba'ra Elohim et Hashamayim H'a'aretz. God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth became formless and void. And then God showed up and said, I'm light. Here I am. It's it's almost like he he came in and he said, I'm going to reformat this thing. I don't know how many of you are familiar with computers, but back in the day, you had to reformat your hard drives. That took all the corruption. If her hard drive got corrupted, you reformat it, that took all the corruption off, and you had you had something new to start with. God shows up and says, here I am, light is, I'm here. Wow. You know, and you think, well, no, wait, that doesn't line up with my Sunday school story that I was taught. Well, don't don't get all bent out of shape. It's okay. It's not salvation critical. This is just good information for you to know, right? Now, on day two, he said, let the firmament in the midst of the waters, let there be a firmament, let there be a a air, a space, a heaven in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Okay, let me ask you something. On day two, did he create the waters? No. Why not? They were already there. Before day one, the waters covered the face of the earth. All he did on day two was divide what was already there. So what did he create on day two? Nothing. Oh. I'm sure glad they kept those tomatoes in the kitchen, but see what did he create on day two? You know, we've always heard he did this on day one, he did this on day two. No. He showed up on day one and on day two, he divided what was already there. Oh my. Now, we could go through all the days, but let me let me just share something else with you. Later God said, let the earth bring forth grass and herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind. Who seed is in itself on the Earth? Did he create the seed for all the plants? No, it was already here. Now, all the plant life was destroyed in the previous flood, the flood of Lucifer. Which we can talk about that in a moment if we have time. But everything was destroyed, but the water covered the earth, and the seed was in the earth, and so the seed that was already here, he said, let that seed come forth. Let let the seed grow according to his kind that's already here on the earth. Wow. Isn't that exciting? Yeah, kind of gives you brain cramps a little bit, but um, well, you say seed can't last that long. You know, there's a group of Israelis and I love I love the people of Israel. I mean, I just when when I meet an Israeli, they can be a bad person, and I just for some reason, I like them. I just I just love Israelis. And uh, but you know, there's a group of Israelis that were down in Egypt, and they found a canister that had seed in it that was back from the time of the pyramids. It was over 4,000 years old, and it had wheat seed in this canister. And they took it back to Israel, of course everything grows in Israel, but they took it back to Israel, and they have a field in Israel now of wheat from seed that they found that's over 4,000 years old. Now, let me tell you something, seed can last a while. And so, you know, somebody says, well, seed can't last that long if the earth was destroyed. No, Scripture tells us in one version of the Bible says, and that seed was already in the ground, but it couldn't come forth until God called it forth. Isn't that amazing? All right. Wow.
