Created In God's Image Or Offspring Of Apes Series

Why It Matters - Created in God’s Image or Offspring of Apes?

Sermon by: Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church - Nov. 26, 2006

John 1:1-4

*A 2005 poll by Newsweek and Beliefnet asked Americans this question: Do you believe that God created the universe? 80% of those responding said the universe was created by God. That’s good news, and pretty amazing that after all the money and effort spent on teaching evolution, 80% of people still believe that God created the world. (1)

*Carlson and Decker summed up the false teachings of evolution this way. “In kindergarten we are taught that a frog turning into a prince is a fairy tale. -When we get to college, we’re taught that a frog turning into a prince is science.” (2)

1. Created in God’s image or offspring of apes? Does it really matter? The answer is certainly yes, because if evolution is true, then God’s Word is a lie, but I want you to know that God’s Word is true!

*John 1:3 says, All things were made through [Jesus] and without Him nothing was made that was made. But that can’t be true if evolution is true. And the Bible couldn’t possibly be true in Gen 1:1, when it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” especially since it says that He did it all in six days!

*Some would say, well that’s just Genesis. It’s just a myth. Let’s throw out Genesis and we will keep the rest. But we would also have to throw out the Psalms, because there are many Scriptures like Psalm 95:1-6:

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”

*We would have to throw out many of the Psalms, and we’d even have to throw out the 10 Commandments, because the 4th Commandment says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

*And why does God want us to remember the Sabbath day? Because “in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:11)

*We would have to throw out most of the New Testament too. For example, the Gospel of Mark goes out, because in Mark 10:6, Jesus said: “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.”

*One of my favorite Books in the Bible is Luke. It tells us the story of the birth of Christ. It also has that wonderful parable of the prodigal son, and so much more. But Luke also traces the ancestors of Jesus all the way back to the beginning, and Luke 3:38 says: “The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

*If evolution is true, then Luke has to go, and we would also have to throw out the writings of the Apostle Paul, because he specifically mentions Adam as a real person in Romans 5, 1 Corin 15, and 1 Tim 2. You see, there is no halfway. You have to choose. It’s either evolution or the Word of God.

*You stand by the Word of God because it will stand forever! In Matt 24:35, Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” So stand by the Word of God!

*Now if the Bible is true, then evolution has to be a lie. Is there any evidence that evolution is not true? Carlson and Decker tell us that Sir Fred Hoyle who died in 2001 was a world famous astronomer and mathematician. Dr. Hoyle was acknowledged to have been one of the most creative scientists of the 20th century, and when speaking to the British Academy of Science, he said: “The probability of life arising by chance is the same probability as throwing a 6 on a dice 5 million consecutive times.” (2)

*Dr. Hoyle also said it would be like a tornado in a junkyard taking all the pieces of metal lying there and turning them into a Boeing 747. (1)

*Carlson and Decker point out that: "Man tends to struggle with the concept of a Creator simply speaking the universe into existence. But that’s because we aren’t God and it’s evidenced by the fact that with our spoken words we can’t even get our kids to take out the trash." (2)