Category Archives: Evolution

July 21, 2013 · 17:01

An Atheist’s Challenge

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:22)

Lately, the Lord has been sending atheists to me challenging me to prove to them the existence of God. It baffles me why, if they really do not believe that God exists, they insist on demanding proof of His existence. If they truly believe that God does not exist, why should it matter to them what Christians believe about the existence of God? One would think that they would adopt the attitude of live-and-let-live. One atheist excused his antagonism against Christians because he felt Christians always tried to shove God down his throat. Personally, I know few Christians that are that aggressive in their evangelistic zeal. Sadly, most Christians are timid about sharing their faith. So, this perceived Christian aggression most likely comes in the form of Christian radio and television programs and occasionally through secular airwaves as Christians opine as part of a news broadcast. Perhaps the occasional street preacher comes along with his message of hell fire and damnation, but all of these are easily avoided. Such methods seem to fall far short of heavy-handed evangelism, but obviously such ostensibly innocuous proclamation of the Gospel is as caustic to an atheist as water on the Wicked Witch of the West, and atheists hate it.

Last week I got into a protracted conversation with such an atheist. Rather than attempting to prove to him that God does exist, I challenged him to prove to me that He doesn’t exist. Of course he could not. So then I challenged him to explain the existence of the universe and all that we see, including our own existence. He immediately took up the Big Bang banner for which he asserted that there was more proof than for creation – a broad, sweeping generalization which he could not substantiate. From there he went right into attack mode on “people [who] created God to answer for everything they never understood … because everything they question has been answered with God’s work.” Of course he, who is open-minded and not bound by such limitations, prefers “to live a lift [sic] seeking an answer, a real one, even if it’s never answered, [he would] rather not just give up.” Interestingly, he is willing to chase any option other than God. Then his audacious arrogance clearly came through:

If one day the clouds open and there appears a figure … and he spoke to me, or if I were to die and somehow my dead brain, full of non-active brain cells became active again and I hallucinated that I arrived at the Pearly Gates and was met by your lord and saviour [sic]. He then asks why I never had faith of his existence….

This is where I will make a few points…

A) – God “planned out my life” =  So he planned for me to be an Atheist and see all the faults and flaws in religion

B) – God–is all forgiving and = Well then no matter what I do (because he mapped out all that before I was born) he’ll b’ forgiving and accepted me.

C) – I w–s [sic] made in his image, his faults are mine.

D) – God–is all loving = Why would he “crea“e [sic] me” kno”ing [sic] I would live my life not under his strict regime; resulting in me spending my afterlife in hell. That’s a ’retty [sic] [expletive] move, even if he’s “t’st“ng” [sic] me ”o [sic] prove me [sic] “love“ to ”im [sic], that’s on’ [sic] sick guy by human standards.

 But I would stare him in the eyes and go “Where was the proof?” (emphasis mine)

Besides pointing out that he had not satisfactorily answered the question of existence and instead resorted to parroted and unsubstantiated generalizations about the Big Bang for which there is absolutely no proof and which is all based on conjecture, I offered the following reply:

Let me briefly respond to the four points you made:

A) God does have a plan for your life, but you are not obligated to follow it. Some of this is answered by “C&D” below. God “is longsuffering [toward us], not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

B) God is forgiving, but He sets a limit on His forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). However, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man [sows], that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). “Or [do you despise] the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [leads] thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart [treasure] up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:4-5).

C&D) Mankind in general, not YOU in particular, was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). There are several aspects to this, but the aspect that is pertinent to this point is that of WILL. God did not create man as a robot programmed to do exactly as He commands. He gives us the ability to choose whether or not to have a relationship with Him. We can accept or reject Him through our own free will. God wants a relationship with you, but He will not impose Himself on you. He loves you, but only you can decide if you will love Him. God doesn’t send anyone to hell. Those that go to hell are there because they chose to reject God; it isn’t God’s choice (see “A” above).

God, by definition, is perfect in every aspect. When God created man, man was as perfect as a created being could be and he was placed in a perfect, sinless environment. But in order to have a perfect relationship, man had to make a choice whether to obey or disobey God. The choice was simple. There was only one rule to break or keep: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Man chose to disobey. “And when the woman saw that the tree [of the knowledge of good and evil] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). At that point man lost the perfection with which he was created, and the relationship between man and his Creator was broken, because perfect God cannot abide imperfection.

At this point the God of the Bible deviates from all other man-made gods, because from this point on, it is God that puts forth the effort to restore that relationship. He loved man so much, even in his fallen state, that He took it upon Himself to pay the penalty for man’s disobedience by taking the form of man, coming to earth to live as man, then die a painful and humiliating death on a cross, only to conquer death and rise again on the third day. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

No other man-made god, no other religion has a God like the God of the Bible. And you have the option to reject Him, if you want, but THAT is YOUR choice. And when you wake up in hell, you won’t be able to blame God for YOUR choice. “He that [believes] on him is not condemned: but he that [does not believe] is condemned already, because he [has] not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:18-19).

When you meet Him, (and you will meet him), the words “Where was the proof?” will stick in your throat so that you will choke on them! Here is the proof: “that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God [has shown] it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20). The proof is in your hand! Can’t you see the wonderful design – how well it operates to let you turn a wrench, play a violin or paint a masterpiece? What about the marvel of your eyes? You are no product of randomness! But whether you believe or not, the choice is yours and just like any other independent agent, you are responsible for your own choices as well as for the consequences of your choices.

I left him with one final word from Scripture: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

I have not heard back from him. I pray that some of this sank in.

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July 7, 2013 · 19:59

Infanticide

a-premature-baby

And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life … (Exodus 21:23)

The verse above reflects the value that God assigns to the unborn. In context, a scenario is set where two men are fighting. Somehow, whether due to an attempt to intervene or by mere happenstance, a pregnant woman is injured severely enough that she miscarries (v. 22). If the child survives, the man responsible for her injury is assessed a fine according to the demands of the woman’s husband and as agreed upon by the court. However, if the baby, or the mother, or both die, then the guilty party must pay with his life. This same idea is reflected in many of our current laws; I know that it is true in Texas. If someone kills a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that person is tried either for murder or manslaughter of not one, but two individuals.

Yet, it is ironic that the same consideration is not given for an unborn child that is purposefully murdered at the hands of an abortionist. God considers it murder to take the life of an unborn child, and He assigns the death penalty to the one guilty of taking that life. God is the One who gives life. The life that He gives belongs to Him alone, and no one has the right to take that life – with the exception of capital punishment for murder.

The first murder recorded in the Bible was when Cain murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4). At that time, there was no codified law against murder (or anything else for that matter), and God chose to spare Cain’s life. But even then, Cain feared that he would be killed by others for his offense (Genesis 4:14). More than a millennium later, after the flood waters had abated from the face of the earth, God gave responsibility to man for executing capital punishment in the case of murder (Genesis 9:5-6). Note that this law applied equally to animals that killed a man. Then, almost another millennium later, God gave His law: “Thou shalt not [murder]” (Exodus 20:13).  This was quickly amplified to include the killing of an unborn child (Exodus 21:22-23). The taking of a human life – any human life – is a capital offense punishable by death. Human life is precious to God – far above the rest of His creation.

The question (which should not even be raised) is: “When is human life human?” I have written on this topic before. If interested, you can read my articles “Chosen From the Womb” and “Known of God;” but the short answer to that question is: “from conception.” In fact, if you really want to know God’s perspective, the individual is known of God even before conception (Jeremiah 1:5). The reason for the distorted view of the preborn that pervades our modern culture is due to decades of evolutionary indoctrination that has reduced the value of human life to that of any other animal. If we are nothing more than highly evolved pond scum, then human life is worthless, and more worthless is the life the preborn.

On July 8, 2013, delegations of prolife supporters will gather at the steps of the State Capitol of Texas in Austin. Imported from all over the nation will be groups bought and paid for by Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion organizations. These groups really have no say in Texas governmental affairs, yet there they will be to promote their anti-life agenda. They will try to sway public opinion by recounting sad stories of poor women forced to carry unwanted children to term without the means to support them. The will tell of the poor unfortunate women that are impregnated by a rapist or through incest, or perhaps as a result of indiscriminate sex that they now regret but must suffer the unwanted consequences. They will self-righteously champion the right of a woman to do with her body as she will, while completely ignoring the rights of the unborn woman in the womb. Who speaks for her rights?

I will be there supporting the prolife side. The battle is a spiritual one. The prolife side will uplift the dignity of all human life as given by God and champion the right to life of the unborn. Our weapon is prayer invoking the name of God. The other side will spew vitriol amid shouts of “Hail Satan!” but the battle is the Lord’s. However, the Lord is waiting to hear from His people. If God’s people remain silent, then we shall receive that for which we did not ask. In the words quoted in this morning’s sermon, “You have what you tolerate.” It is time to stop tolerating infanticide!

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June 23, 2013 · 20:09

Confronting Historical Adam

creating_adam

And the LORD God formed [ʼâdâm] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and [ʼâdâm] became a living soul.  (Genesis 2:7)

The question of whether Adam was a true historical person is not a new one. Liberal theologians have debated the question since at least the middle of the nineteenth century. They eventually concluded that Adam was a mythical figure recorded in Scripture for the purpose of attributing to God a superintending role in the process of creation, which was mostly guided by evolution. This rejection of the literal reading of the text quickly degenerated into relegating the rest of Scripture to the stuff of myths, and ultimately to the rejection of the deity of Christ. The Bible thus became a good book to live by, but not necessarily to be taken seriously.

This is nothing new. However, the negation of the historical Adam, and the rest of the Genesis creation account, is now cropping up in Evangelical circles. Evangelicals who have traditionally stood for the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture are now beginning to question the historicity of a real Adam and Eve as the very first, uniquely created, human pair from which the rest of humanity sprang. Granted, this is NOT a salvation issue. Our salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith in Christ alone, and by no other means. However, what one believes about the historical Adam has huge theological implications for several reasons.

First of all, the Bible is the “God-breathed” Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16), therefore it cannot be found in error because God does not lie (Numbers 23:19). Nor can God’s Word fail (Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18; Luke 21:33; 1 Peter 1:25). Some may try to discredit the Bible by claiming that it was written by men and therefore is full of errors. That is to charge that God is incapable of preserving His Word. Scripture makes clear that God’s Word is not to be tampered with (Deuteronomy 4:2), and that it is not the product of the will of man but of God Who inspired and guided men to pen the text (2 Peter 1:20-21). Since the writing of the original autographs, textual criticism had confirmed the integrity of the text that we now have over and over again. So, to question the historicity of Adam is to question the integrity of God and His Word. Personally, I would rather steer clear of that.

Secondly, Jesus confirmed the authenticity of the historical Adam (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6), as well as other “questionable” miracles contained in Scripture: Noah and the Flood (Matthew 24:37-38; Luke 17:26-27), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 10:15; 11:23-24; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:12; 17:29), and Jonah swallowed by the “great fish” (Matthew 12:39-40; 16:4; Luke 11:29). Since Jesus is the Creator (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16) and the ultimate Author of Scripture, one would surmise that He had first-hand knowledge of the events. So, to deny the historicity of Adam is to find fault with Jesus’ testimony. Ultimately it is to deny His deity, for how can God commit such errors! To deny the historical Adam is to charge that either Jesus purposefully lied, which God cannot do, or that He was uninformed, which God, through omniscience, is incapable of doing.

Thirdly, other New Testament writers affirm the historical Adam. Luke, the physician (Colossians 4:14), who had “taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us” (Luke 1:1), set down in his Gospel the genealogy of Jesus tracing it back all the way to “Adam, which was the son of God” (Luke 3:38). The significance of this is in that Luke, being a physician and scientist, was meticulous about the details he recorded as can be seen throughout his Gospel. Paul also, highly educated under the tutelage of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), refers back to Adam especially with regard to original sin (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45; 1 Timothy 2:13-14). Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, counts the generations of Enoch beginning with Adam (Jude 14).

With all the internal evidence for the historical Adam, especially that which comes from the lips of our Lord Himself, one has only two options: accept the historicity of Adam recorded in the foundational book of Genesis, or reject the Bible altogether as unreliable. That brings us full circle to the issue of salvation. If the Bible is unreliable with regard to historical Adam, how can it be trusted in regard to salvation? One cannot ride the fence on this issue, and it is time for Evangelicals to nail this down once and for all. Adam and Eve were real, historical figures and the progenitors of the human race.

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June 16, 2013 · 17:01

Aliens?

Aliens

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)

I received an email this week from someone who thought we were limiting God’s creative power by suggesting that there is no other life anywhere in the universe outside of what is found here on earth. I assume she was referring to other human-like life.

It is understandable how someone could arrive at the conclusion that other “races” (to differentiate between human and human-like life) could exist elsewhere in the universe. After all, the universe is immense, and we are told that at it is arrogant for us to presume that we are the only ones. Then we have evolutionary/atheistic scientists that incessantly probe the night skies “listening” for “intelligent” communications from other worlds in the tax-funded Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). If that is not enough, our “science” channels are filled with programs about UFOs or Ancient Aliens. That these programs are featured in the “science” channels lends an air of credibility to them, so that many – even the “elect” – are swayed by them. But all of these have a common thread – evolution. For decades now, the propaganda of evolution has been forced down the throats of otherwise intelligent people – starting in kindergarten – so that our society has been thoroughly indoctrinated in this unsubstantiated “theory.” As the saying goes, “Tell a lie long enough, and people will believe it.” Evolution teaches that life sprang from non-life on earth 3.5 to 4 billion years ago – by mere accident – and if it can happen here, surely it could happen elsewhere in the universe. That might be true, if evolution is true, but evolution has consistently failed the test of scientific scrutiny; even avid evolutionists will admit to this. (I could offer quotes, but that would make this article too long.)

So, back to the question of other “races” of “people” elsewhere in the universe. We are in agreement that God is certainly capable of having created life elsewhere in His universe, if He chose to do so. We cannot say with certainty that He did not. However, if He did create life elsewhere, that would raise some serious theological issues for us here on planet Earth.

God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). Man sinned (Genesis 3), and brought the curse upon ALL of creation (Romans 8:21-22). God came and put on the “image” of man (Philippians 2:5-7) in order to pay the penalty (Romans 6:23) for our sin thereby redeeming us (Galatians 4:5; Titus 2:14) and all of His creation (Revelation 5:13).

Now, if there are other human-like creatures (Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, etc.), somewhere else in the universe, it is very likely that they all sinned as well – remember, Adam was only given one rule to obey, and he chose to disobey. So what is to say those other races fared any better? That being the case, it would mean that Jesus would have to die separately for each one of those races of “people,” but that is in conflict with Scripture. The Bible tells us that Jesus died once for all (Romans 5:17-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 10:10). So, according to Scripture, Jesus came to die for and redeem man-kind, not aliens.

Yes, God is certainly capable of creating other races of people, but we cannot substantiate that from Scripture. To insist that other races “might” exist “out there” is speculative and arbitrary. We need to stay with what Scripture clearly reveals to us, and it says nothing about aliens from “a galaxy far, far away.” Even though God could have created them (His omnipotence is unlimited), we need not worry about E.T.

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March 17, 2013 · 23:38

The Bible Stands

Bible

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.   (Isaiah 40:8)

Recently a well-known pastor was interviewed by a well-known news commentator concerning the History Channel’s mini-series entitled the The Bible.  The commentator, who claims to be a Christian, began his interview with the presupposition that the Bible is all allegorical. His first question betrayed his bias: “Adam and Eve: Did they literally live in the Garden of Eden and usurp the evolutionary process?” The exchange continued on a pretty even keel from then on with the pastor responding to the commentator’s every incredulous questions. Finally the commentator challenged the compatibility of the Bible with science. The pastor responded with, “I think you’re wrong on this one. The Bible does not contradict true science. It may contradict passing fads of scientific theory that are always evolving.” The pastor could have been more straightforward with the commentator and plainly said, “No, you are wrong on this one,” and gone on to make his case. The truth that pastor made clear was that the opinions of science are always changing with every new discovery, but God and His Word never changes, so, it is either always fully reliable, or it us wholly unreliable. It is either all true or not true at all.

So the pastor continued to make his point: “For example, it used to be thought that the cosmos always existed. But then we had Sir Fred Hoyle, who named the named the Big Bang Theory, that said, ‘Guess what, the universe had a beginning 13.7 billion years ago.’” At this point the pastor had not yet fully capitulated. He was simply pointing out that scientific theories are fickle, but what he unwittingly did was give credence to the unproved “scientific” Big Bang Theory. This was reflected in the commentator’s subsequent question: “Do you believe that the universe started 13.7 billion years ago?” Now the pastor was in a tight spot. He had already opened the door to the possibility of the Big Bang, so now he had to wiggle out of it the best way he could. He responded, “I think it very well could have. One of the things fundamentalist Christians mess up on is they try to say the earth is 6000 years old. The Bible never makes that claim anywhere.” So now, before a national audience, he made the theories of man superior to the Bible, he threw fundamentalist Christians “under the bus,” and he made a false (or at least uniformed) claim about the Bible.

Of course the Bible makes no claim about the age of the earth! However, when one makes a careful study of the genealogies in the book of Genesis, one can easily determine that the time from Adam to Noah was about 1600 years. Some who doubt the veracity of Scripture will attempt to interject “gaps” in the genealogies so that the time span could be much greater, but this is unfounded when one takes Scripture for what is plainly stated. Others attempt to introduce long ages, billions of years even, between the first two verses of Genesis, but this, again, is unfounded. Or else they will attempt to make the “days” of creation be long ages, and this too has no basis in truth especially when a “day” (Hebrew: yom) is clearly defined as “evening and morning” – clearly a 24-hour day. So with a little bit of study and the use of some very simple mathematics, we can conclude, according to Scripture, that the earth is approximately 6000 years old. By yielding on this point, the pastor lost credibility for himself and for the Bible, and ultimately he lost the debate. The commentator reaffirmed his assertion that the Bible was all allegory and given that the pastor had basically conceded on the Genesis record there was really nothing more the pastor could say to convince him otherwise.

Anyone who truly believes that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) and that “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but [God’s] words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35) cannot afford to compromise on Scripture even in the tiniest point. Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). If this is so, then all of Scripture is true and accurate, and according to the biblical record, the earth is about 6000 years old. The atheists/evolutionists do not yield in the least on their contrived Big Bang Theory, so why should Christians compromise on the truth of Scripture?

The pastor preached a solid sermon on Sunday. He preached on:

      • The reliability of the Bible
      • The exclusivity of the Gospel
      • The sovereignty of God

All points meant to encourage Christians to trust God and His Word. So why compromise? Either God’s Word is true or it is not. It really is that simple. The words of the old hymn probably express best the attitude we ought to have toward the Word of God …

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
’Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal, (emphasis added)
And they glow with a light sublime.
 
Refrain:
The Bible stands though the hills may tumble,
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble;
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands.
 
The Bible stands like a mountain tow’ring
Far above the works of men; (emphasis added)
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can.
 
The Bible stands and it will forever,
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given,
All its precepts I will obey.
 
The Bible stands every test we give it, (emphasis added)
For its Author is divine;
By grace alone I expect to live it,
And to prove and to make it mine.
(“The Bible Stands” by Haldor Lillenas, 1917)

 

As Bible-believing Christians, there should never be room for compromise on Scripture.

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