Statement on Creation and Origins
What the Elders of Harbor Church Believe
We Affirm that Scripture is the starting point and the lens through which we interpret and understand the nature of God, mankind, the created world, and our relationship to each.
We Affirm that the historical nature of the book of Genesis, including the first 11 chapters, is foundational and necessary to the entire redemptive thread of Scripture and necessary for a truly biblical world and life view. While the book of Genesis incorporates multiple forms and uses of language, it is primarily an historic narrative and all of the forms and uses of language portray an historic account of real events that took place in actual history. The rest of Scripture explicitly treats the book of Genesis as an historical account. (Exod. 20:8-11; Mark 10:6)
We recognize that there are exegetical differences in interpreting portions of the historical creation narrative that sincere Bible believing Christians disagree on, but we hold that an historical understanding of Genesis is necessary to the redemptive story of Scripture.
We Affirm that God spoke and that which did not exist came into existence. He created ex nihilo–out of nothing, by the power of his word. (Ps. 33:6; Heb. 11:3)
We Affirm that Adam and Eve were created by God. They were the first and only humans on the earth at the time of their creation. They were created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), distinct from the rest of creation, and had no ancestral relationship to any animal or other form of created being. The genealogy of Christ is traced back to Adam, whom Luke calls “the son of God” (Luke 3:23-28). Everyone else in the genealogy had parents. Adam had no parents. He was created by God.
There is clear textual evidence from Scripture that Adam was understood to be a real historical figure, the first human being, and the singular father of all of mankind. (Gen. 5:5; Hos. 6:7; 1 Chron. 1:1ff; Luke 3:23-28)
We Affirm the theological and redemptive necessity of Adam as the father of all humankind as laid out throughout Scripture. (1 Cor. 15:21-22; 45-49)
Just as it was through one man, Adam, that sin and death entered the world, it was through one man, Christ the second Adam, that mankind received grace and reconciliation with God. (Rom. 5:12, 15)
Adam’s sin not only impacted himself and all of his descendants, but creation itself (Gen. 3:17). Therefore the redemptive work of the second Adam, Christ, not only frees individuals from the corruption of sin, but will free all of creation from the impact of death and corruption that sin brought. (Rom. 8:19-22)
We Deny any allegorical or mythological interpretations of the book of Genesis that call into question its historicity and/or the theological implications of its historicity.
We Deny all secular and theistic evolutionary theories of creation and the created order.
We Deny any historical or theological interpretations of Scripture that fall outside of the parameters expressed in this statement.
