Counseling from Genesis, Part 2

Similar to Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” we are what we think, and what we believe guides our actions.  What we believe about Genesis, and what we believe about Creation has many implications to the way we conduct ourselves – especially in the area of biblical counseling!  I’ll mention two of them:

1)  There are implications to the reliability and truthfulness of the Scriptures.  Jesus said in John 17:17 “Thy Word is truth.” Is Jesus a liar? Was He wrong? Can we really trust Him? Can we really trust His Word as truth?  If Genesis is not true, then what other parts of God’s Word are not true? To believe that Genesis is wrong has implications to one’s trust in the rest of the Scriptures.

2)  There are implications to the deity of Christ. John wrote these words in reference to Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:1-3).  Was Jesus really God and the Co-Creator? If not, then was He really qualified to be our Redeemer?  He did not reject the worship of Himself as God, so is He or is He not, truly part of the Trinity – i.e. God the Son!

The Reality of It All

“Does what we believe about this really matter?” It certainly does!  Here is the reality of it all:  Evolution is man’s best attempt to explain his existence (how did we get here); secular psychology is man’s best attempt to explain his behavior (why do we act the way we act).  Those two areas fall under the heading of theology – they are God’s domain.  To answer the questions that arise from both of those fields of study, we need to begin with the Word of God that clearly provides the answers.

Consider this: a well-known and much decorated scientist named Herbert Spencer died in 1903. In his scientific career, he was noted for one great discovery, which was a categorical contribution that he made.  He discovered that all reality, all that exists in the universe, could be contained in five categories:  1) Time, 2) Force, 3) Action, 4) Space and 5) Matter – that is a logical sequence and a very astute discovery, but it did not come until the nineteenth century.  However, Moses addressed those issues hundreds of years earlier in Genesis 1:1:

  • “In the beginning” [time]
  • “God” [force]
  • “created” [action]
  • “the heavens” [space]
  • “and the earth” [matter]

In the first verse of the Bible, God plainly said what man did not figure out until the nineteenth century.  The first verse of the Bible says everything that could be said about everything that exists!

An Illustration to Consider

This truth reminds me of a story I heard about how an evolutionist challenged God about being able to create something out of nothing.  The evolutionist told God, “Creating something out of nothing isn’t so hard, all I need is time.”  So, standing before God, the evolutionist picked up a handful of dirt to begin the process of millions and millions of years, to which God quickly replied, “No, you need to get your own dirt!”

If you believe that Genesis 1 is true, then that establishes the authority of God as Creator of everything. If God is the Creator, then He has the right and authority to tell the counselor and the counselee how to live.  God is not only the Creator, He is the Moral Law Giver, and what He says we are to do or not do, is exactly what we should do or should not.