Police Devotion 7-21-16

“Thy word is true from the beginning:” (Psalm 119:160)

In February, 2014, Ken Ham debated Bill Nye, “the Science Guy,” about the earth’s origin. Ham is a Bible-believer and creationist; Nye, an evolutionist [info taken from youngearth.org]. Both men presented evidences. However, neither position can be scientifically proven because the earth’s origin cannot be re-created. Facts can be interpreted differently. For example, some believe that the Grand Canyon was formed by many years of evolution. Others believe it was formed by a worldwide flood.

Believing the Bible, though, is not unscientific or ignorant. God’s Word never condemns any search for knowledge, which is what science is about. Luke, the gospel author, was a doctor—“Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.” (Colossians 4:14)—so he must have studied medicine and the sciences associated with it, like biology and chemistry. Jesus Himself spoke of doctors: “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). The prophet Daniel was educated in science, too. When King Nebuchadnezzar picked certain Jews to train in the ways of Babylon, he wanted people who were “skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science” (Daniel 1:4). The apostle Paul also warned Timothy to avoid “oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20). “Science falsely so called” is something that’s called science but isn’t. Evolution is not science; biology, physics, and chemistry are because they can be proven. Evolution can’t be proven.

Still, many people may believe in evolution because it’s the only “scientific” explanation for earth’s origin that they’ve heard. Moreover, if they go to church at all, they may go to a place where the Bible is not respected as God’s Word, so they’ve learned to think that evolution is science and Bible stories are just religious fairy tales. It’s also probably fair to say that most people don’t have an advanced scientific education like Ham or Nye, so they can’t argue science on a sophisticated level.

Well, God provided an answer to this problem in His Word. Jesus Himself said that we were created:   “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,” (Matthew 19:4), He also said that the flood—and the fiery overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah—really happened:  “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-29). Jesus also said that the time before His Second Coming would be like the days of Noah and Lot, marked by violence, religious deception, and rampant sin: “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:10-12). Cops, more than most people, see the violence and sin up close.

Now if Jesus said these things happened and they hadn’t, then He was just a phony and a liar, His death on the cross meant nothing, and He wouldn’t have risen again. Yet over five hundred people saw Him after He’d risen: “he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once;” (1 Corinthians 15:6). By His resurrection, He demonstrated that He’s God the Son, worthy of worship, and the Saviour of all who will believe on Him and that His words are true, including His words about creation.

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Brian Miller 7/21/2016

Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822