The Lie: Evolution (8 page)

In many Christian homes, parents have certain beliefs about clothing. They say to their teenager, "You can’t wear that."

The teenagers reply, "But why not?"

"Because it is not the Christian thing," answer the parents.

"Why not?" ask the teenagers again.

"Because Christians don’t wear that," the parents insist.

"Why not?" the reply comes.

Then you often hear daughters saying, "You’re old-fashioned, Mom and Dad." They are saying that their parents have one opinion but they have another opinion. For the most part, children are going to stick with their own opinion. However, it is not a matter of the parents’ opinion or the child’s opinion. In order for the parents to "save face," they often resort to an imposed legalism. What a difference it makes when the parents use Genesis as a basis to explain to their children why they must do this or that with regard to clothing, particularly if they have already solidly trained their children that God is Creator, He sets the rules, and Genesis is foundational to all doctrine. It is infinitely better than parents saying, "This is what you
will
do," and imposing this standard on their children with no basis. However, as we read in Ephesians 6:1, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: For this is right." Children must obey their parents, and that is not a matter of their opinion, either.

There is a moral basis for wearing clothes because of what sin has done to nakedness. We must understand how men are created. Man was designed to be easily aroused sexually and to respond to one woman(his wife). This was, and is, necessary for procreation in marriage. However, sin distorts this, and it is wrong for a man to look lustfully on any woman other than his wife. Therefore, clothing should minimize to the greatest extent any stumbling block laid in a man’s way. But a man is no less guilty if he succumbs to the "second look." One should not simply accept the fashions of the day. There is a moral basis for clothing; therefore, there are standards. Knowing what men are like and knowing what sin does to nakedness, we thus have a basis for understanding what the standards should be.

WHY LAW AND MORALITY?

What do you tell your children about laws? Perhaps you tell them some things are right and some are wrong, but do you ever explain to them the origin of right and wrong? Would you say we have right and wrong because God has given us laws? If so, why is that? Why does He have a right to say what is right and what is wrong?

Why is there right and wrong (e.g., the Ten Commandments)? Remember the story in Matthew 19:16–17 when the man came to Jesus and said to Him: "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God." How do you decide if something is right or wrong or good or bad? God, the only One who is good, created us, and therefore owns us. Thus, we are obligated to Him, and we must obey Him. He has the right to set the rules. He knows everything there is to know about everything (i.e., has absolute knowledge), and therefore we must obey. That is why we have absolutes, why there are standards, and why there is right and wrong.

Now, if you are
not
a Christian and you think some things are right and some are wrong, why do you think like that? You have no basis for such a decision. How do you arrive at your standards? How do you decide what is good and bad? Most non-Christians who believe there is a right and wrong are practicing the Christian ethic.

Atheistic evolutionary philosophy says: "There is no God. All is the result of chance and randomness. Death and struggle are the order of the day, not only now, but indefinitely into the past and future." If this is true, there is no basis for right and wrong. The more people believe in evolution, the more they are going to say, "There is no God. Why should I obey authority? Why should there be rules against aberrant sexual behavior? Why should there be rules concerning abortion? After all, evolution tells us we are all animals. So, killing babies by abortion is no worse than chopping the head off a fish or a chicken."
It does matter whether you believe in evolution or creation! It affects every area of your life.

"FOR BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN" (Rom. 3:20)

This issue comes down to the simple fact explained by Paul in Romans 3:20, "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." In Romans 7:7 he continues: "I had not known sin, but by the law."

The existence of God is nowhere defended by Scripture. This fact is taken as being obvious. Who He is and what He has done is clearly explained. Neither is there any doubt as to His sovereign authority over His creation or what our attitude should be toward Him as Creator. He has the right to set the rules. We have the responsibility
to obey and rejoice in His goodness,
or disobey and suffer His judgment.

Adam, the first man, made this choice. He chose to rebel. Sin is rebellion against God and His will. Genesis tells us that this first act of human rebellion took place in the Garden of Eden.

To understand what sin is all about — that all mankind are sinners — and how to recognize sin, God gave us the Law. He had the right and the loving concern to do this. He is Creator, and His character allows for no less. All-powerful, all-loving, all-gracious, He has laid down for us the rules by which we must live if our lives are to develop in the way they should. As Paul says in Romans 7:7, "For I had not known lust, except the law had said thou shalt not covet."

The Bible clearly teaches that each human being is a sinner, in a state of rebellion against God. Initially, the Law was given, as Paul states, to explain sin. But, knowing about sin was not a solution to the problem of sin. More was needed. The Creator had not forgotten His commitment to and love of His creation, for He set the payment and paid the price —
himself
. God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, suffered the curse of death on a cross and became sin for us so that God could pour out His judgment upon sin. But, just as all die in Adam, so all who believe in Christ’s atoning death and resurrection live in Him.

Those who oppose the Creator are opposing the One who is the absolute authority — the One who sets the rules and
keeps them
.

In the Book of Judges it is stated: "In those days there was no king in Israel; but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 17:6). People today are little different. They want evolution taught as fact and the belief in creation banished because they, too, want to be a law unto themselves. They want to maintain the rebellious nature they have inherited from Adam, and they will
not
accept the authority of the One who, as Creator and law-giver, has the right to tell them exactly what to do. This really is what the creation/evolution conflict is all about. Does God the Creator have the right to tell a person what he must do with his life? Or, can man decide for himself what he wants to do without suffering the consequences? These are not rhetorical questions. Their very nature demands an answer from every individual. Thus, it comes down to whether or not man is autonomous, and therefore can decide everything for himself, or whether he is owned by God. Most want to be autonomous and believe they can act according to their own desires and understanding. But, man is not autonomous, and there the battle rages.

The Bible tells us that those who trust in the Lord, and are indwelt by His Holy Spirit, will show the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22–23). Those who are not indwelt by the Spirit of God, and who reject the God of creation, will reflect the fruit of this rejection: "adultery fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like" (Gal. 5:19–21). The Bible states clearly that corrupt roots bring forth evil fruit. Pornography, abortion, homosexuality, lawlessness, euthanasia, infanticide, loose morals, unfaithfulness in marriage, and other such things — practices which are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society — are certainly fruit of corrupt roots. They are the corrupt roots of evolution firmly entrenched in the compost of humanistic thinking.

Evolution is an anti-God religion held by many people today as justification for their continued pursuit of self-gratification and their rejection of God as Creator.

Many today will not accept that they are sinners. They do not want to accept that they must bow their knees before the God of creation. They do not want to accept that anyone has authority over them with the right to tell them what to do.

Even many in our churches do not understand what is meant when man is described as "sinful." Many preachers (even many who consider themselves evangelical) think that the definition of sin can be limited to such things as adultery, alcoholism, heroin addiction, nudity, x-rated movies, and bad language. However, sin does not stop here. We must understand that sin affects every area of our lives. Sin has an influence on every aspect of our culture. We must understand that sin pervades the whole of our thinking, and will, therefore, affect the whole of our actions. Jesus said, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matt. 15:19).

We must understand that God is the Creator and law-giver, and every human must kneel in submission to Him. That there will come a time when all will do this is clearly recorded by Paul in Philippians 2:10–11: "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

God’s Word (the infallible Word of the perfect Creator) has to be the basis of our thinking. God, the Creator, is the One who provides the blueprint for happy and stable human relationships. If His Word is heeded, He supplies the basis for a true Christian philosophy for every area of human existence — agriculture, economics, medicine, politics, law enforcement, arts, music, sciences, family relationships —
every aspect of life
. In other words, there is a whole Christian way of thinking. There are foundational biblical principles that govern every area of life. The Creator has not left His creatures without an instruction manual.

"THY WORD IS TRUE FROM THE BEGINNING" (Ps. 119:160)

Man’s rejection of God as Creator (not starting with His Word as a basis for thinking in every area and not being submissive to Him) has resulted in the problems we have in society. This was painfully highlighted in a letter to the editor of an Australian newspaper. Apparently, a country newspaper was approached for placement of an advertisement requesting a married couple for farm work. They were told there would be no printing of an advertisement that contained the words, "Married couple." The problem was apparently one of "discrimination." The term "married couple" had to be replaced with "two persons." It didn’t matter which two persons applied for the job! The question: "On whose authority can’t this be printed?" The answer: "The Human Rights Commission." The writer of the letter was justifiably horrified. However, this incident is the fruit of evolutionist thinking, and we can only expect similar instances to increase.

"OH LORD — OPEN OUR EYES THAT WE MAY SEE" (Ps. 119:18)

Concerned and convinced Christians must pray that the Lord will make clear to everyone the frightening direction in which man’s rebellion is heading. Christians need to establish firmly the fact that God is Creator and that He has given us His law. We need to recognize what sin is and what the results of sinful existence are. We need to proclaim deliverance from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Apart from this, there will be no rectifying the situation.
An all-out attack on evolutionist thinking is possibly the only real hope our nations have of rescuing themselves from an inevitable social and moral catastrophe.

It is not easy for any human being to acknowledge that if there is a Creator we must be in submission to Him. However, there is no alternative. Man must recognize that he is in rebellion against the One who created him. Only then will man understand the law, understand what sin is, and understand the steps necessary to bring about the change in individual lives that can ultimately effect changes in society.

The more our society rejects the creation basis and God’s laws, the more it will degenerate spiritually and morally. This has happened many times throughout history and should stand as a warning. Let us consider a modern day example.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING GOD AND HIS ABSOLUTES

Missionaries were sent to New Guinea because there were many so-called pagan and primitive people there. The story is told of one cannibal tribe, which has since ceased to be cannibalistic. Previously, men would race into a village, grab a man by the hair, pull him back, tense his abdominal muscles, use a bamboo knife to slit open his abdomen, pull out his intestines, cut up his fingers, and while he was still alive, eat him until he died. People hear that and say, "Oh, what primitive savages!" They are not "primitive" savages; their ancestor was a man called Noah. The Indians’ ancestor was a man called Noah; the Eskimos’ ancestor was a man called Noah; and our ancestor was a man called Noah. Noah had the knowledge of God and could build ships. His ancestors could make musical instruments and they practiced agriculture. What happened to those New Guinea natives is that, somewhere in history (as Rom. 1 tells us), they rejected the knowledge of God and His laws. And God turned them over to foolish, perverse, and degenerate things.
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