As Francis Schaeffer pointed out to the EPC in our first General Assembly, we forget the Creation mandate of the prophets to our own peril —especially in times such as ours. From sexual dysphoria, God calls us back again to His design and blueprint in Creation, to which the Bible offers no alternatives.

Perhaps you’re old enough to remember Francis Schaeffer. Without doubt he was a tour de force of biblical insight, and I still hear him quoted with appreciation. Recently, I watched the sermon Schaeffer delivered at the first EPC General Assembly in 1981 and was struck by his statement, “The primary message of the Old Testament prophets was the doctrine of Creation.”

Isn’t the doctrine of Creation at the heart of our conversation about Greg Johnson and ordaining “same-sex attracted” (SSA) pastors in the EPC? After all, what’s more basic to Creation than sexuality and sexual attraction? Is it time to remember that Scripture tells us that “in the beginning” we were created “male and female” and designed for the covenant relationship of marriage between one man and one woman? (Genesis 1:16, 27).

Those who support ordaining SSA pastors point to the importance of reaching the gay community for Christ and the foundational doctrine of grace. I get it. All of us struggle with temptation, so how is it fair to exclude those who are homosexually tempted yet celibate?

Still, shouldn’t a fully biblical debate include not only evangelism and redemption, but the Creation standard of “boy meets girl”?

Returning to Francis Schaeffer, I admit that I wasn’t originally convinced that Creation was the central message of the prophets. As I listened to his sermon, I immediately thought, “What about the doctrines of God’s covenant faithfulness or His holiness? Aren’t those still more central to the prophets than Creation?” My curiosity piqued, I spent a few days perusing the prophets to test Dr. Schaeffer’s claim. Gradually, I began to see his point. While I’m not prepared to say that Creation is the primary theme of the prophets, it is at least essential to their preaching. For example, when God appealed to wayward Israel through the prophet Isaiah, He reminded them:

“Lift up your eyes on high and see, who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one of them is missing.”
(Isaiah 40:25-26).

Similarly, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Nahum Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Joel, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi all meaningfully include Creation themes. Turning to the wisdom books, Job finds its climax in the final few chapters which poetically retell the story of Creation. The psalms do the same:

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said … ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.’”
(Job 38:1,4).

“The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
(Psalm 19:1).

Why this constant appeal to God as Creator, and how might that inform our current debate about sexuality and ordination in the EPC? The sad reality of ancient Israel included descent into the sexual sins of adultery, ritual prostitution, and homosexuality as legitimated by the various Canaanite religions. At the foundation of this pagan belief system was a view of the natural world created by amoral gods for whom sexual perversion was normative. The prophetic call back to Creation was God’s reminder that God had established and ordained an order for humankind in Genesis 1 and 2.

Switching to the New Testament, we find more of the same. John 1 echoes Genesis 1, reminding us that God is the Creator and revealing that Jesus is God’s logos: “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). We find references to Jesus as Creator as well as Logos in 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; and Colossians 1:16-17. Hebrews 1 advances the thought still more, explicitly connecting the doctrines of redemption and creation in Jesus Christ:

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
(Hebrews 1:1-4).

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