Many people would think that this question is irrelevant as ‘science’ has proven the theory of evolution to be fact and that even if it hadn't, it wouldn't matter what we believed. In reality neither of these opinions are true.
Science has not proven evolution, it remains only a theory and a theory which really isn’t very good! The basic maths behind evolution is that:
1 x 0 = something
in fact it doesn’t stop there, it states that:
1 x 0 = everything
This is because for the evolutionist there must be a point when there was nothing and therefore evolution claims that nothing gave rise to something, which clearly defies all the laws of science that we know. Of course evolutionists try to brush this issue aside but it remains a very real problem for them and one that can never be answered, as no one was there to know the truth, so that the best they can hope for is a theory that overcomes this discrepancy. The result of this is that there will always be a certain amount of faith needed to accept the theory, and therefore the ‘science’ of evolution is no science at all.
But does it really matter if we believe in creation or evolution? Even from a Christian perspective, if God is able to do anything, why couldn’t he have used evolution to create the world?
The answer to this is simple - he could have, but he didn’t! As a Christian, I am sure that he didn’t because the Bible tells me so. The first book of the Bible, Genesis, tells how God created the world, and it is not written like a story or like a poetic illustration, it is written as a historical narrative, it means what it says. God can do anything, he is that powerful and so he could have easily made the world in 6 days, in fact he could have made it in a second, so he actually took his time over it. There are also some other problems with believing that God used evolution to create the world, problems that effect the rest of the Bible and destroy the gospel message - the only way that we can have peace with God.
Genesis is an important book of the Bible. It is the foundation for the rest of the scriptures. It even explains why God decided to send his Son to die for us.
Why do Christians claim that Jesus came to earth to die to save mankind from Hell? The answer is in Genesis. There we read not just about creation but also about the first two people on earth, Adam and Eve. Despite the fact that many people see them as part of a myth, the Bible clearly teaches that the really did exist, in the same way that it teaches how God created the world instead of using evolution.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God simply by eating fruit from a tree that God said they were not allowed to eat from. Even though this may seem like a very minor offence (after all they didn’t murder anyone) the result of their disobedience was that death became an inescapable of feature of the world. Before Adam and Eve sinned (disobeyed God) there was no death in the world at all - another reason why the Bible's account of creation cannot include evolution which has death as a central theme.
The effect of this sin was also that we all develop a sinful nature and are sinners by instinct. No one needs to be taught how to disobey God, it comes naturally to us, even if we don’t believe in him. Therefore as we all sin, we fall below the minimum standard that God requires of us, which is perfection (sinless) because he is holy (perfect) himself. This is the standard to which we were intended to live as until the first sin, Adam and Eve lived perfect lives.
So the problem is that we are sinners and therefore have fallen below God’s required standard, which is why doing good deeds could never help us achieve that standard as we were always supposed to do good things, but we don’t do as many as we should because we all use some of our time to sin!
The real question is how can we have this sin removed from our lives. The answer is found in the Bible and it is that Jesus, God’s son, came to earth (the reason we celebrate Christmas) to take the punishment (death and rejection by God) that we deserve because of our sins (this is what we remember at Easter), even though he had never sinned and therefore didn’t deserve the punishment.
So when someone who didn’t deserve the punishment took that punishment on behalf of all people who deserve it, justice is seen to be done as the sin has not gone unpunished but everyone has the chance to be at peace with God as was the original intention.
The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis also shows that the way of salvation (being forgiven the sins that we all commit and therefore avoiding the punishment that they bring) is fitting as the sin and death entered the world and came to all people because of one man (Adam), and because of the death of one sinless man (Jesus) all people can be returned to their original intended state.
Evolution literally does not add up, it is not the scientific fact that many believe it to be and that many are taught that it is. The account in Genesis is important, because it helps us to understand the rest of the Bible, without the foundation that Genesis gives, the rest of the Bible doesn’t really make sense.
For more detailed information on this subject, try the Answers in Genesis and Creation Ministries International web sites. Links are available on the left side of the page.
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