Late to the Game

I have always enjoyed watching television programs that highlight the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, after becoming a Christian, these programs are not as enjoyable. The reason being is that I notice just how saturated these programs are with evolutionary beliefs. A program I was watching last night on the Discovery Channel was no exception. The program was titled, Nature's Deadliest: Australia. It featured the deadly animals that call the continent of Australia home and the havoc they wreak on the inhabitants. With animals like Saltwater crocodiles, Funnel Web and Red Back spiders, Box Jellyfish and Inland Taipan snakes, Australia seems more like Pandora's Box then the Land Down Under. But, I was frustrated when another one of Australia's deadliest animals, the Great White Shark, was compared to human beings. A scientist, apparently infatuated by the "design" of the sharks teeth, and their use in helping the shark quickly and efficiently devour their pray, made a comparison between the age of the species and that of human beings. According to the scientist, the teeth of the shark are so efficient because they have had over 400 million years to "evolve" to their present capabilities. He went on to say that human beings, who have only been on the planet for one million years, are, relatively, "late to the game" in our own evolutionary development.

"And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day... Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground..." God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day." Genesis 1: 20-23, 26, 31

Now, I don't expect a nonbeliever, on a secular network, to say anything that lines up with the Bible. But, I do have a problem when Christians see nothing wrong with describing God's creative work as a process of evolution. I was listening to Christian radio today when I heard a female caller ask the host how to deal with a fellow Christian who believed God used evolution to create the heavens, the earth and everything in it. A clear reading of the Scripture teaches that sharks, included with all the living creatures teeming in the water, were created on the fifth day of creation. Secondly, we see that man was created just a day later on the sixth day of creation. Correct me if I am wrong, but if I use the "time line" of the scientist on the Discovery Channel, this would be like me saying that the time between Thursday and Friday is 400 million years. Talk about a long work week. No wonder you have Happy Hours on Friday! I am aware that an evolutionist, Christian or otherwise, would get into arguments about the meaning, and use, of the word "day" in Genesis 1. And that is just the direction the caller thought she should go in when discussing this with her friend. Thankfully, the host pointed her in a better direction. Let us be clear that there is nothing wrong with this line of defense, because we know the scriptures will definitely hold up under the scrutiny. You can also mention how the Bible clearly says that God created the animals "according to their kinds." There are no animals evolving into other animals if they reproduce after their own kind, right? However, this misses the central point of the Bible and, its primary focus, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned ... or if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." Romans 5: 12, 17-19

What is it that is the hallmark of evolution? It is that death has been around since the beginning of time. Without death and struggle evolution doesn't have its process by which life evolves. After all, we are constantly bombarded with the argument that the strong survive to evolve and move on. In other words, it is the survival of the fittest. Therefore, things like Great White sharks are said to be "unchanged" in millions of years. Another evolutionary oxymoron, in my opinion. If you don't change, you haven't evolved, right? But, evolutionists will say that an animal at the top of the food chain, like a Great White shark, won't need to evolve. But, I digress. If you have death in the world before man, you have effectively destroyed the Gospel and the need for Jesus Christ. You see, if you don't have death as the result of the sin of Adam, you don't need a savior to redeem you from that sin. The Gospel is sin, death, forgiveness, life. Any other order will not work. And that is exactly what happens when we try and fit evolution into scripture. It is not simply a disagreement on how God created things, it is a total denial of man's need for salvation. Think about it, is that not exactly how Satan would have it? He would love nothing more than to keep people blinded from the truth of the Gospel. Christians who believe in evolution, inadvertently, have aligned themselves with a doctrine of the devil. I know they don't think they are destroying the Gospel with their views, but that is exactly what they are doing. Let me say that I am not implying that a Christian who believes in evolution is not saved, but their belief in evolution is inconsistent with the Gospel message. I would hope that they would ask themselves one question:

How can you claim to have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, when you believe in a creative process that destroys the need for Him?

Mankind may be late to the game in the eyes of an evolutionist, but believing in evolution may make you late to heaven.