December 7, 2023 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Hello, friends. Today we continue looking at some of our core beliefs that are being challenged by some today, and how we can respond in a biblical way.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we base all our beliefs on the Bible, which is the Word of God, and one of our most foundational beliefs is that of Creation. As described in our Fundamental Belief #6, we believe:
“God has revealed in Scripture the authentic and historical account of His creative activity. He created the universe, and in a recent six-day creation the Lord made ‘the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of the work He performed and completed during six literal days that together with the Sabbath constituted the same unit of time that we call a week today. The first man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation, given dominion over the world, and charged with responsibility to care for it. When the world was finished it was “very good,” declaring the glory of God.”
As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe in God’s authoritative voice as Creator. We believe the biblical creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 was a literal event, taking place in six literal, consecutive days recently, as opposed to deep time. It was accomplished by God’s authoritative voice and happened when He spoke the world into existence.
We also remember the seventh-day Sabbath is the memorial of creation, and it gives meaning to keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath today, as it points to our Creator and Redeemer and is a powerful part of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14.
As Psalm 33:6 and 9 proclaim: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . for He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”
Friends, God’s authoritative word was powerful then and is equally powerful today. We have His written word, and we have the account of the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ, who affirmed the creative power of the Godhead to create and recreate.
This belief is important as it also impacts our belief in the salvation process of Christ’s righteousness—both justification and sanctification—that God can recreate something new in the heart of every human being. Without this intrinsic belief in the power of God, neither origins nor the future have any real meaning.
Regarding origins, the powerful, heavenly-inspired book, Patriarchs and Prophets, indicates “. . . the assumption that the events of the first week required thousands upon thousands of years, strikes directly at the foundation of the fourth commandment. It represents the Creator as commanding men to observe the week of literal days in commemoration of vast, indefinite periods. This is unlike His method of dealing with His creatures. It makes indefinite and obscure that which He has made very plain. It is infidelity in its most insidious and hence most dangerous form; its real character is so disguised that it is held and taught by many who profess to believe the Bible.”
The author continues, “The Bible recognizes no long ages in which the earth was slowly evolved from chaos. Of each successive day of creation, the sacred record declares that it consisted of the evening and the morning, like all other days that have followed” (pp. 111-112).
As we see, the Spirit of Prophecy provides tremendous counsel and light on this subject. Unfortunately, however, most who do not believe in a Biblical creation do not believe in the Spirit of Prophecy as being historically accurate. Because of this, they conclude it is unreliable for scientific or theological understanding.
But the Spirit of Prophecy points us back to the Bible, our foundation of faith and belief. Both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are absolutely reliable, inspired by the Creator Himself.
In the book Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, we read, “Human philosophy declares that an indefinite period of time was taken in creation of the world. Does God state the matter thus? No; He says, ‘It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.’
She continues, “Yet with the living oracles before them, those who claim to preach the word present the suppositions of human minds, the maxims and commandments of men. They make void the law of God by their traditions. The sophistry in regard to the world’s being created in an indefinite period of time is one of Satan’s falsehoods. God speaks to the human family in language they can comprehend. . . . When the Lord declares that He made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, He means the day of twenty-four hours, which He has marked off by the rising and setting of the sun” (pp. 135, 136).
Friends, how much plainer could it get? Seventh-day Adventists around the world believe in the creation of this world in six, literal days with the seventh day as a memorial of creation, and we proclaim it with Holy Spirit power.
In fact, Seventh-day Adventists are one of the last churches to believe in a literal creation through God’s authoritative voice. If one does not accept the recent six-day creation understanding, then that person is actually not a “SEVENTH-DAY” Adventist, since the seventh-day Sabbath would become meaningless historically and theologically, and most of our Biblically based doctrines centered in Christ and His authoritative voice would become meaningless as well.
You see, without a clear Biblical understanding of the Sabbath and God’s authority as Creator and Sovereign of the universe, it is impossible to arrange a meaningful theological understanding for a belief in a literal second coming of Christ, or in Christ’s power to create a new heaven and a new earth. But we are assured of His power in Revelation 21:5, where we read, “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’”
My dear brothers and sisters, this is not the time for half-hearted faith; it is the time to accept God’s Word as “true and faithful.” It is time to plead with the Lord for genuine revival and reformation leading to the latter rain of the Holy Spirit and a full acceptance of God’s authoritative voice—a voice recorded in Genesis 1 in the powerful words, “Let there be . . . and there was. . . .” That voice rings throughout Scripture, ending with the clarion call recorded in Revelation 22, proclaiming three times, “I come quickly!”
God’s authoritative voice is real, and He is calling us today to believe His Word—“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
I invite you to pray with me just now.
Dear Father in heaven, thank you for creating this earth. Thank you for creating us. Thank you for creating the plan of salvation to redeem us so that we might live with you throughout eternity. We thank you that the Sabbath was given as a mama of a six day creation week recently done by you. And that the seventh day is the capstone of that six day week of creation. It is a time to remember, as the fourth commandment tells us, that you are the creator, that you have the authority to not only create, but to recreate in our lives a new creature. Lord. Come into our hearts now. Help us to fully accept the Word of God and the understanding in the spirit of prophecy as to how you created this Earth in six literal days, capping it with the seventh day Sabbath. Thank you for the privilege of worshiping you. On the seventh day Sabbath in commemoration of your authoritative creative power. Now, we thank you for hearing us in this prayer. Save us when you come, because you are the wonderful creator and redeemer who will recreate in our hearts a new and wonderful person all through the power of your word. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.