We were made from dust in the image of our Creator. But in rebellion, our culture tells us that we are the creators now.
What is the connection between climate alarmism, abortion, and transgenderism? Or between feminism, critical race theory, and postmodernism? In fact, what is the connection between the whole host of anti-biblical social issues and philosophies we’re concerned about in modern America? When we consider all the ideologies and trends rising around us, it can be bewildering to work out what real problem lies behind it all.
The answer begins with an important truth about human beings, revealed in Genesis 2:7: “The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground.
” That might seem like an obscure reference because when we answer the question “what is a human being?” we usually turn our minds to Genesis 1:27. There we learn that God created humans in His own image and likeness. This truth teaches us that men and women were made to reflect God’s glory in creation.
Yet being made in God’s image and likeness is only one truth. The other truth is this: we were made from dust.
This truth tells us that we are not gods. It tells us that we are only creatures—part of the stuff that God created. This humbling, constraining truth tells us that there are limits on how we can image, or reflect, God. We could image his holiness, and therefore His love, goodness, mercy, justice, truth, and so on. However, a whole other side of God’s nature is totally inaccessible to us, such as his infinity, omnipotence, self-existence, omniscience, and so on. God will always be the great and mighty Creator. We will always be his dependent and finite creatures.
Our world hates this truth. Remember, the serpent tempted Eve by falsely promising, “You will be like God
” (Genesis 3:5). The first humans wanted something more than mere creatureliness. They wanted to be like the Creator Himself. In Genesis 3, they tried to imitate His creation power by refusing to submit to His definition and deciding for themselves what was good and evil. They started acting as if they were God, with power over right and wrong.
This account captures something that connects the sins of our day. In so many cases, the basic problem is rebellion against God as Creator. Human beings are seeking to redefine what he has already defined by His creation power.
Transgenderism
Transgenderism is fed by the belief that the fingerprint of God on our biology has no bearing on how we ought to live. We can redefine ourselves, rebelling against the definitions the Creator gave when he made the human race, male and female (Genesis 1:27).
Abortion
Abortion is an act that makes us the lord of another life. We can decide when life is life, or if a pre-born human should live. But, in reality, that decision has already been made by the Creator of life at fertilization.
Homosexuality
In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul argued that homosexuality opposed God’s creation authority. He did so because God has left a blueprint for sex in our anatomy. Biologically, it’s not hard to see how various parts of our bodies work together. But we deny this blueprint when we apply those parts in ways which they were evidently not designed to be used.
Climate Alarmism
Climate alarmism puts mankind on the Creator’s throne. It says that we are in control of the climate’s destiny and therefore the planet. While we may see real value in being environmentally conscientious, God has told us that the ultimate destiny of the earth is in his hands—it will end in his time, according to his plan (Genesis 8:22).
Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory teaches that skin shades create insurmountable divisions between people groups. As different “races,” we experience different truth paradigms which cannot be shared. White will oppress black, and black will be victimised by white forever. But we know that God the Creator made just one human race—a radically shared humanity. Though our lived experiences differ, the unifying truth paradigm of the gospel is proclaimed on equal terms no matter a person’s skin shade.
Feminism
God made the first woman, Eve, with the commissioning word “helper.” Then, she is called “mother.” Whether or not she marries and has children, a woman is created as a person-centric human, with many relevant gifts and abilities. She is extraordinarily gifted at making others their best. She is relevantly equipped to be the strength and stay of others. She has emotional perception, interpersonal concern, and nurturing desire that are generally stronger, more natural, and more developed than in men. These are key areas where femininity shines brightest. This is deliberate, in God’s design. But feminism enters the picture with one defining word—“independence.” It undermines the emphasis of her creation entirely. It totally redefines woman when God had already defined her.
Seeking the Scepter
In these examples of contemporary sociopolitical issues, the theme should be clear. We are in a struggle to pry the scepter from the Creator’s hands so that we may rule with it instead. We crave the status of Creator. We want to redefine what he has already defined. We have forgotten that we are dust.
Indeed, if we forget that we were made to bear God’s image, we will be content to live as animals, enslaved to the debasing and degrading effects of sin. If we forget that we were made from the dust of the ground, we will strive to live as gods, inflated by the prideful effects of sin. We are not merely animals—we were made for glory. We are not gods—we were made by God.
The Apostle Paul began his great defense of the gospel—the book of Romans—with a creation apologetic. He proclaimed the reality of God as Creator before demonstrating our rebellion against him and pointing to the redemption in Jesus Christ. Scripture never divorces the truth of God as Creator from the truth of God as Redeemer. When we know God is Creator, we know we must answer to him. When we know God as Redeemer, we find out how we can answer him. If we are not proclaiming the truth about creation to a God-rejecting culture, as the Apostle Paul did at Mars Hill, then we are not building the best foundation for the saving gospel. This is why Genesis apologetics matter.
Isaiah 44:24 KJV – “Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;”
Martyn Iles is executive CEO at Answers in Genesis. He served as managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby and cofounded the Human Rights Law Alliance, an Australian law firm providing legal support in freedom of religion, conscience, and speech.
