Yesterday we learned that many people believe the garden of Eden was in the Middle East because the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are mentioned as flowing from Eden. But today’s Tigris and Euphrates don’t match the description of the rivers of Eden. So why do they have the same names?

Well, Noah’s flood completely reworked the surface of the earth leaving Noah and his family with a totally different world after the flood. But they probably reused names from the old world as they named things in the new world—just like people did when they left England and came to America.

So, ultimately, where was the Garden of Eden? Well, we just do not know!

Have you ever wondered where the Garden of Eden was? Many people assume the Middle East because Genesis mentions the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and those rivers flow in the Middle East. But this is a wrong assumption.

You see, the Bible describes four rivers coming from one head and flowing through Eden. This isn’t true of today’s Tigris and Euphrates rivers so they can’t be the ones described in Genesis. And, besides, under those rivers are thousands of feet of the fossil record which was formed during Noah’s flood.

So what’s the point? We don’t know where the Garden of Eden was, and any remnant was destroyed during the global flood of Noah’s day.

All this week we’ve been looking at the order in the fossil record and how to interpret it. It’s a good reminder that the battle isn’t over the evidence. You see, creationists and evolutionists both study the same fossils, the same rocks, the same world but come to very different interpretations because of our worldviews.

Evolutionists view the evidence through the lens of millions of years of slow and gradual processes. Creationists view the same evidence through the lens of biblical history, starting in Genesis. I often explain it like a pair of glasses—well, your lens determines how you view and interpret the evidence.

Evolutionists observe certain types of fossils in specific rock layers and assume when that creature disappears from the record, it went extinct. But they’ve been surprised by “living fossils”!

Take the coelacanth, a fish believed to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs. Then a scientist visiting a fish market recognized a dead fish from the fossils—not only was it not extinct, but it hadn’t evolved in sixty-five million years!

In fact, many fossil creatures are indistinguishable from their modern counterparts. Why? Because fossils aren’t a record of evolution—they’re a reminder of the global flood a few thousand years ago.

Most scientists view fossils as a record of life’s history. They observe certain types of fossils in specific layers and assume when that creature disappears from the fossil record, that means it went extinct. Because of this, they assume many mass extinctions throughout evolutionary history.

But creationists like me look at the same fossils and we see evidence of ecosystems that were buried as the floodwaters rose. That’s why bottom-dwelling sea creatures are found in the lowest layers, but creatures that live far inland are found at the top.

The fossil record is not a record of mass extinction but rising waves of burial!

This week we’re looking at two different interpretations of the order in the fossil record—the evolutionary and the biblical interpretation. But why can’t Christians just accept the evolutionary interpretation?

Well, because of what the Bible teaches. You see, according to Genesis God’s original creation was “very good.” Death didn’t come into creation until after sin. But if the fossil record is millions of years old then there was millions of years of death, suffering, and disease before sin—in God’s “very good” creation!

No, the fossil record isn’t millions of years old! It was laid down by the global flood of Noah’s day.

The fossil record is often held up as “Exhibit A” for evolution. It’s assumed the lower layers represent the earliest stages of evolution, with life becoming more complex the higher up you go. But this is just an interpretation of the evidence through the lens of evolution.

When we start with a biblical worldview we have a very different interpretation. We understand that the fossils were buried during Noah’s flood and the order in the fossil record represents the order of creatures being buried. So the fossil record doesn’t represent millions of years of evolution—the fossil record represents the order of ecosystems being buried!

All this week we’ve been asking “is Jesus God?” and we’ve seen that, from Scripture, yes, Jesus is God. That’s why Jesus is called “Emmanuel,” God with us.

It’s because Jesus is God that he was able to live the perfect life that we can’t live. And it’s because Jesus became man that he was able to die in our place, taking our penalty of death for us, and then rise from the dead. In order to save us, Jesus needed to be the God-man—truly God and truly man.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, do so today! He is Lord and God, he made you, he loves you, and today he offers you the free gift of salvation.

Who alone is worthy of our praise? Well, Scripture is clear: only God deserves worship. Because of this, some people refuse to worship Jesus, saying he isn’t God. But does this hold up to the light of Scripture?

Well, consider that when “Doubting Thomas” saw Jesus risen from the dead, he cried out “my Lord and my God.” Soon after his resurrection Jesus was worshipped by all eleven of his disciples. He was also worshipped by a leper, a blind man—even the angels worshipped Jesus! And Jesus never rebuked anyone for their acts of worship!

The only reason Jesus is worthy to receive worship from them is because he is God.

Christians believe that Jesus is God. But that belief’s been attacked, well, since the beginning of the church! For example, many people claim Jesus was a wise prophet. But did Jesus speak like a prophet?

Well, in the Old Testament when prophets spoke, they said “thus saith the Lord” to give God’s authority to their message. When Jesus spoke he said, “I say unto you.” He spoke with his own authority.

He also said “heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.” Here he was giving his words eternal significance.

Jesus didn’t speak as if he was just a prophet. He spoke as one with divine authority—as God!