Chapter 3 - What difference does it make?

Our secular society continually bombards us with the message that Evolution is a scientific fact. Discussion and debate on this is suppressed and anyone who questions Evolution is ridiculed. 

In this Series, I want to clarify the issues concerning Creation and Evolution, so that we are not intimidated by all these voices. 

Ultimately there can only be 2 possibilities for the ORIGIN of the UNIVERSE and LIFE: CREATION or EVOLUTION. We are either the result of INTELLIGENT purposeful DESIGN and CREATION by a supernatural God, giving our lives meaning; or we are the accidental EVOLUTIONARY product of purely naturalistic aimless processes, making our lives meaningless.

If there is no Creator, then Evolution must necessarily be true. But if Evolution can be shown to be false, then it necessarily follows that there must be a Creator-God who made us. This is why a society that has rejected God continues to insist on Evolution being true, in spite of the mounting evidence against it.

This issue goes to the very heart of who we are and the purpose of our lives, and what we believe about it will fundamentally affect what we believe about ourselves, and how we think and live.

1. PURPOSE. Believing that we are CREATED gives our life meaning, purpose and significance. We are not an accident but part of the plan of God. We must be important to Him for surely He made us for a purpose. Moreover the Bible says we are created IN HIS IMAGE as the summit of His Creation, which confers great dignity and value upon us. The Bible says that we were in His heart from eternity, and loved us and created us to have an eternal destiny of glory as His sons. To make this possible, God Himself became one of us, born as a man, to identify with us and restore us and bring us back to Himself. This reveals how important and valuable we must be to Him and the amazing love He has for us, which fills our life with meaning.

On the other hand, believing that we are merely a by-product of the aimless, random processes of evolution, means that we are just an accident of nature and that we have no ultimate meaning or destiny. We are not planned or loved and we have no ultimate purpose. There is no life beyond the grave and our whole life and our work will therefore soon enough fade away and be forgotten. 

This bleak picture is the logical consequence of an evolutionary scenario, as confirmed by these leading atheistic evolutionists: 

Bertrand Russell: ‘we are a curious accident in a backwater.”

Peter Atkins (Oxford): “just a bit of slime on the planet.”
Stephen Jay Gould (Harvard): “A fortuitous cosmic afterthought, a tiny little twig on the enormously aborescent bush of life.”

Richard Dawkins (Oxford): “We live in a universe which has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.” 

Then we wonder why there is so much depression and suicide in our generally well-off society! This is illustrated by the following imaginary conversation at a school:

“Jane, you look down after your biology lesson.”
“Well, I just learnt that I am nothing special. I am just an accident. I just came from a soup, and then evolved from monkeys.”
“What’s your next class?” 
“Self-esteem!”

2. MORALITY: Belief in Creation provides a foundation for absolute morality based on the eternal Nature and Law of God. This in turn leads to a society that is based on the rule of law, while respecting the rights, dignity, freedom and equality of all men, since they are made in the image of God. 

The philosophy of Evolution on the other hand creates a moral vacuum, for now there are no external absolute moral values or standards set by God. Everything is relative. We are all our own gods who can do what is right in our own eyes. We must find our own truth within ourselves. We have the right to do whatever feels right for us. No one can impose morality on us and no-one has the right to judge us for our choices. Instead we are free to decide what is right and wrong for ourselves. Without a Creator God who sets the rules, there is no basis for respect for authority or for morality. Instead every man just makes up his own rules to suit him based on his opinions. This leads to an increasing spirit of rebellion and lawlessness in a godless society as each man feels free and justified to do whatever he feels like doing, however immoral it is.

The multiple murderer Jeffrey Dahmer described this kind of evolutionary reasoning which allowed him to do his terrible deeds: 
“If a person does not think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what's the point of trying to modify your behaviour to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s what I thought anyway. I always believed the Theory of Evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there was nothing.” 

Indeed the only absolute ethic intrinsic to Evolution is the Survival of the Fittest, with the strong dominating and killing the weak. Instead of all men being equal in the sight of God, the logic of Evolution says that the weak are inferior, and so the highest good for mankind is served by weeding them out of the population, so that their genes are removed from the race, thus producing superior men in the future. This philosophy justified Hitler’s program of eugenics and mass-murder of those he considered inferior, including the Jews, the old and the gypsies. A consistent philosophy of Evolution must necessarily hold the Survival of the Fittest to be the highest good, since there is nothing greater or more important than Evolution which requires the Survival of the Fittest.

We teach our youth that rather than being created in the image of God, they are descended from beasts, and then we are surprised when they act accordingly! We teach them that we owe our very existence, being and abilities to Evolution, based on the Survival of the Fittest where the strong must dominate the weak, thus exalting this principle. Then we condemn them when they are simply putting our teaching into practice by being bullies and thugs!

If we are created, God sets the rules and gives us our purpose. If it is God that gives life, then we do not have the right to take a man’s life, even if it is taking our own life by suicide, because our life belongs to God. But under Evolution, abortion and euthanasia are justified. In fact they are a direct application of the guiding principle of Evolution - the Survival of the Fittest, where the weak are killed by the strong for the higher good, either because they are genetically inferior or because they are an inconvenient burden.

3. SPIRITUAL WARFARE - THE TRUTH verses the LIE. 
It is so vital that we understand the issues and the spiritual warfare between Creation and Evolution, because so much depends on it. The philosophy of Evolution is directly opposed to Creation and it is one satan’s main deceptions to lead man away from faith in God.

As leading Evolutionist Sir Julian Huxley said: 
“In the evolutionary pattern of thought there is no longer need or room for the supernatural. The earth was not created, it evolved. So did all the animals and plants that inhabit it, including our human selves, mind and soul, as well as brain and body. So did religion.” 

Belief in Creation leads man towards God and ultimately towards salvation through faith in Christ, whereas Evolution confirms man in His independence from God and rejection of God as being irrelevant or even non-existent. Creation and Evolution are the two basic competing spiritual philosophies of life, that the Bible calls the TRUTH and the LIE, and ultimately we must all choose which philosophy we will believe and live by. 

Romans 1:18-25 talks about how man knows the TRUTH of Creation but exchanges it for the LIE, in order to justify his sin:“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress THE TRUTH in unrighteousness,

v19 because what may be known OF GOD is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 

v20 For since the CREATION of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, v21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

v22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, v23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and 4-footed animals and creeping things. v24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts to dishonour their bodies among themselves, v25 who exchanged THE TRUTH of GOD for THE LIE, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

The Truth of God is that there is a God who made us and Who will judge us. It is He, not us who determines what is right and wrong. The Lie is that there is no God, and that therefore ultimate reality lies in this evolving Universe, and especially within man himself, who is his own god with the right to decide within himself what is right and wrong, and not accountable to any higher being.

So the Truth is that we are created by God, and the Lie denies this, saying that we owe our existence instead to Evolution. Romans 1:18-25 tells us that believing the LIE leads man on a path to certain moral and spiritual corruption and ultimate destruction.

Romans 1:25 says sinful men: “exchanged THE TRUTH of GOD for THE LIE (of satan), and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Rather than worshipping the God of Creation, menchoose to believe the Lie that Evolution is the sufficient cause to explain all things and so see this evolving universe and man as the ultimate reality, and so they worship things and themselves instead of God, thus dishonouring their Creator. Since the TRUTH is that God is the infinite Creator, the Lie must be a denial of the Truth that God is the eternal Creator of all things. This implies that He, along with all other things, is the product of Evolution, being merely part of this evolving universe. 

*The TRUTH has to mean the foundational Truth of the Bible, that is the TRUTH of God as the uncreated Creator (Genesis 1:1), to whom we owe everything, including our glory, worship and submission. This Truth is the basis for God’s Kingdom. 

*Likewise the LIE must refer to the ORIGINAL LIE of satan which was believed by satan, and thus it became the basis for His rejection of Elohim as God and subsequent rebellion against Him. Thus the Lie became the foundation of satan’s kingdom, and it was used to deceive the human race (starting with Adam and Eve) into turning away from God and following satan instead, by receiving his philosophy, submitting to his spirit, and walking in his ways. There are many lies, but only one original foundational LIE. 

This original LIE of satan which he used to deceive man is recorded for us in Genesis 3:5: “God knows that in the day you eat of it (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God (‘Elohim’) knowing good and evil.” God had put THE TRUTH in man’s heart that he was a created being, entirely unlike God, Who is the independent, uncreated eternal Creator. As such, man was made to be dependant upon God and under His authority. By all rights, man’s Creator must also be His Lord. However, satan was now questioning this basic TRUTH, by feeding man the LIE - the only alternative explanation for our existence apart from Creation. 

Satan claimed that the powerful being they knew as Elohim was keeping them in the dark, in order to keep them under His thumb, by telling them that they were creatures dependant on Him, their Creator. Satan went on to say that if they listened to him instead, their eyes would be opened to the reality that they were essentially like Elohim. They were not created beings, but independent uncreated gods who had the knowledge of good and evil in themselves and so did not have to be told what to do by Elohim. 

In other words, he was teaching them to cast off Elohim’s authority, by denying the TRUTH that He was their Creator and Lord. He was saying that all beings in the universe were evolving together, including Elohim, who just happened to be the most powerful, and that if we reject His claims over us as our Creator, we will break His shackles and so be able to fulfil our evolutionary potential. Thus man was deceived by this LIE that promised them the freedom to be their own gods, and do whatever they pleased rather than be under obedience and accountability to Elohim. 

The TRUTH was that they were CREATED beings, but the LIE of satan which encouraged them to reject God’s authority over them, was that they were the product of natural evolutionary forces, and that therefore they could be independent, self-determining, evolving gods just like Elohim. In other words: THE LIE is EVOLUTION!
Satan was trying to indoctrinate man about our evolutionary origins.

The language used by satan in saying that: ‘we can be like Elohim’ (the powerful one), only makes sense if he was actually rejecting the idea that Elohim was the UNIQUE original Creator and that we, as His creatures, are of an entirely different order. He replaced this idea by the belief that instead of being created by a supreme God, we are all naturally evolving together, as part of an evolving universe, and since there is no Creator God over us, we are free to be our own god, and decide what is right or wrong for us to do.

This interpretation is confirmed when we look at the words of satan when he originally rebelled against God. They reveal very clearly that he had deceived himself into believing this original lie that he was an evolved being rather than a created being. It was this foolish belief which then led him to reject and rebel against God’s authority: 

Isaiah 14:12: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 
v13 For you have said in your heart:(the 5 I WILLS of satan, 
as he tried to assert himself against God’s authority): 
(1) “I will ascend into heaven,
(2) I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
(3) I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, 
on the farthest sides of the north;
v14 (4) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
(5) I will be like the Most High.” 

But God has the last word: v15: “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hell), to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

Notice the last phase which reveals most clearly what is in His heart: “I will be like the Most High.” He had been created by God as a covering cherub with much glory (Ezekiel 28:11-19). He was given the truth in his heart that he was a created being and for a time worshipped and glorified His Creator. But he did not LOVE the TRUTH. He did not want to believe he was created by God to worship Him, that his glory originated from God and belonged to God. He did not want to be dependant on God and under His authority. He did not want to worship God, but rather he wanted the glory for himself. He wanted to be a god himself. He wanted to be like Elohim, to be exalted as his own god, with lesser beings worshipping him.

So he came under a deception and believed the LIE that he was his own god with the right to run his his own life independently from God. This is when PRIDE entered his heart. This deception was the basis for him trying exalting himself to equality with God. Thus because he did not love the TRUTH that he was a creation of God, the LIE of EVOLUTION became increasingly attractive to him, for it gave him a basis to reject God’s authority and go his own way independently from God. 

Thus in his desire to throw off God’s authority, satan chose to reject the truth and instead believe and embrace the only alternative theory for his origins (apart from a supernatural Creation) and that is the naturalistic process of Evolution. That is, he rejected the thought that Elohim was the supreme God who created all things, and instead chose to believe that Elohim was part of an evolving universe, and that all beings were products of Evolution. Just because Elohim was already there when he first became conscious only meant that Elohim had evolved before he did. However since they were both evolving beings, satan believed he had the ability to challenge Elohim’s absolute authority over him. 

In his pride, he believed he could raise himself up and establish himself at least as Elohim’s equal in power and authority, that is: he would become like the Most High. It would be absurd for a finite being such as satan to think he could make himself equal to Elohim, if he believed Elohim was the eternal infinite Creator who made him along with the other angels. Satan was more intelligent than that. This attempt to attain equality with Elohim only makes sense if he deceived himself into believing in Evolution - that he along with Elohim was the product of a process of Evolution. He was deceived but not stupid. Only by believing the LIE that God was not really the infinite Creator could this highly intelligent being think he could be equal to god and challenge God and succeed.

Thus satan believed THE LIE of Evolution, because he wanted to be his own god, rather than believing the Truth which required him to submit to his Creator as God. Having persuaded a third of the angels to follow him in this LIE, satan then endeavoured and continues to endeavour to bring mankind under the power of this same prideful deception, so that they follow him in sin and rebellion to God unto their own eternal destruction. Those who do not love the truth have pleasure in the lie that promises godhood, and wanting to believe it, suppress the truth and believe the lie and fall into the deception of pride. Those who do not want God to rule over them will find reasons to reject Him and make themselves their own god and so ultimately bring destruction upon themselves. They believe in Evolution because it gives them a basis for believing they weren’t created and so are not responsible to any God and are therefore free to sin and do whatever they like.

We see this very process of deception leading to destruction in 2Thessalonians 2:10-12 which describes many: “who will PERISH because they did not receive the LOVE of THE TRUTH (that we are created by God), that they might be SAVED (believing the Truth is an essential step towards receiving salvation) And for this reason God will send them strong DELUSION, that they should believe THE LIE (of atheistic Evolution), that they all may be CONDEMNED who did not believe THE TRUTH (Creation), but had PLEASURE in unrighteousness.” 

Here we see the process starts by a man knowing the truth of Creation within himself, but not receiving: ‘the love of the truth’, because he wants to be his own god, to sin as he pleases. Thus in contrast to loving the truth, he has: ‘pleasure in unrighteousness.’ This in turn causes him to choose to reject the unwanted Truth and instead embrace the Lie. He may claim that it is the evidence that led him to this decision, but actually it is because in his heart he rejected the Truth, for he did not want to have God over his life. He believed the Lie because he did not love the truth, but rather he had pleasure in unrigheousness and so wanted to be free to sin, and so chose to embrace the philosophy that allowed him to do that. 

Once this becomes his settled decision, God respects his choice and gives them over to this strong delusion of satan, which ultimately results in their eternal ‘condemnation’ and destruction (they ‘perish’). Thus this passage also reveals the next step of this downhill process which happens when a man chooses to believe the Lie instead of the Truth. It describes the result of believing and receiving the Lie. Whereas receiving the Truth of Creation makes it possible for someone to receive Salvation (‘that they might be SAVED’), believing the Lie instead of the Truth will inevitably lead to their eternal Condemnation, for those who ‘believe THE LIE’ will ‘all be CONDEMNED’, for they ‘did not believe THE TRUTH.’ 

This is not because God wants them to be lost, but believing the Lie automatically blinds a man to his need for Salvation. The Lie teaches that man is basically good, and that there is no such thing as sin against a righteous God who will judge him against His absolute standards of right and wrong, and so man does not need Salvation. Thus the process that begins with a man not loving the Truth of Creation, so that he rejects the Truth and embraces the Lie, will ultimately end up with his condemnation and destruction, since his attachment to the Lie means that he is not even aware of his need for Salvation, and so will not seek it or be able to receive it. 

Believing the TRUTH of God as our CREATOR is linked to our SALVATION, because if God originally created man as very good, it means that we must have fallen in sin, just as the Bible declares. It means there are moral absolutes and standards set by our perfect righteous Creator, which we manifestly fail to keep. Truly, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. This means we are under God’s Judgement and in great need of Salvation through God’s Messiah. Thus believing the Truth of Divine Creation is a necessary first step that should cause us to seek and receive God’s Salvation. But if we believe the Lie that we are not created, but part of an evolving universe, then there is no sin, no judgement and therefore no need to receive Salvation through Christ. Therefore we will be blinded to our need to repent and believe upon Christ for our Salvation. The purpose of John’s Gospel is that we should believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our Saviour and so receive eternal life through believing (John 21???). But the Gospel starts by presenting Him as the Creator in line with the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-3), because knowing God as Creator is an essential first step towards knowing Him as our Saviour.

Thus your eternal salvation and destiny depends on this issue of whether you will love, believe and obey the TRUTH or the LIE. The spiritual warfare over your life is centred on this issue. The TRUTH originates with God and His Kingdom is built upon it. The LIE originates with satan and his kingdom is built upon it. The foundational TRUTH of God is Creation. The LIE is Evolution. If you love the Truth that you are created by God and He is your Lord and you humble yourself before Him, then you will be exalted. But if you love the Lie that you are an independent evolved being (not created) and thus exalt yourself to be a god,  you will be humbled to share the same judgement and fate as your spiritual lord, satan, in whose path you have chosen to follow, and to whose philosophy and spirit you have chosen to submit. 

Now what I have been saying applies directly to pure (atheistic Evolution) which denies God, but what about Theistic Evolution, which says God created the world but used Evolution to bring forth and develop life in all its forms? 

1. Would God use an evolutionary method of creating life that is consistent with (and thereby seem to confirm) the Lie of satan, that we came about by purely natural processes, rather than from a special act of Creation? Evolution looks just like the Lie of satan and tends to confirm in people’s minds that we are just the product of the natural processes of evolution. As Evolution has become more popular in society its effects and fruit are undeniable. It leads many to think we don’t need God to explain our existence and so they reject Him as unnecessary. It has undermined man’s faith in the Bible more than any other one thing. That is why I believe it is spiritually toxic, and not to be touched by Christians! I find it impossible to believe God would have used this faith-destroying method of Evolution, knowing that it would tend to support satan’s Lie in people’s minds! 

2. Moreover if God used the natural process of Evolution, why does His account of Creation in Genesis seem to declare the opposite so clearly - namely that life in all its forms is the result of a special act of Creation at one time? Later in this Series, we will prove that not only is His Word silent concerning Evolution but it actually contradicts it. If God used Evolution why does His Word seem to tell us the opposite if His Word is the truth? Does God mislead and deceive us?

3. God would have created this world and life in such a way to reveal His Glory. Evolution does not display His glory, rather it reveals a wasteful and cruel God, who invented suffering, pain and death and called it good. Did a good God chose a terrible and immoral process of billions of innocent deaths, with the strong killing the weak over millions of years, to bring about human life, when He could have done it immediately by a single creative act? By using Evolution, God certainly does not glorify Himself! But if, as the Bible records, God brought all kinds of living creatures into being, just by speaking His Word, then that is glorious! 

Thus the God of Creation shows Himself to be powerful as well as loving, for He planned it, He spoke it and it was so! 

But the (hypothetical) God of Evolution shows Himself to be weak as well as cruel, for He had to use this slow inefficient method over aeons of time to get the desired results.

The glorious God of the Bible is surely the God of Creation, 
not Evolution, this is the true God that we worship!