SERIES: “ANSWERS FOR SOME OF LIFE’S DIFFICULT QUESTIONS”
TEXT: GENESIS 1:1
TITLE: “IS EVOLUTION MORE CREDIBLE THAN CREATION?”
INTRODUCTION: A. A number of years ago, Ronald Keith Williamson was convicted of the brutal
murder of Debra Sue Carter in Oklahoma. Williamson had vigorously denied
strangling Carter and even after his conviction, he continued to strongly proclaim his
innocence
The main evidence used to convict Williamson was testimony from an expert that
had analyzed four hairs that came from the victim’s body and from other places at the
crime scene. The expert testified that the hairs were a “match” with samples from
Williamson’s hair. He spent twelve years in prison – nine of them awaiting execution.
There was one big problem – Williamson was innocent. DNA analysis found at
the crime scene established that someone else had committed the murder.
So what about the evidence that had convicted Williamson? Well, the hair from
the scene hadn’t really matched Williamson’s hair. The hair was only consistent in
some of the same properties. Their color, shape, and texture were similar.
Some legal analysts have called hair analysis “pseudo-science.” Jurors hear
impressive-sounding testimony about what appears to be scientifically valid proof and
erroneously believe that it establishes the defendant’s guilt. Paired with over-zealous
prosecutors who mischaracterize or overstate the value of hair analysis, the evidence
seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of guilty.
A federal appeals judge called the hair evidence in Williamson’s case
“scientifically unreliable.” Hair evidence has been used against eighteen death row
prisoners over the last twenty-five years and all were subsequently declared innocent.
1. Even though evolution has some pretty vigorous proponents, everything is not as it
seems
2. The evidence and testimony may seem overwhelming but like the murder case just
mentioned, there are a lot of holes if you know where to look.
-- Michael Denton, molecular biologist: “[Evolutionary theory] is still, as it was in
Darwin’s time, a highly speculative hypothesis entirely without direct factual
support and very far from that self-evident axiom some of its more aggressive
advocates would have us believe.”
B. Maybe you’ve heard about the gorilla in a zoo holding a Bible in one hand and
Darwin’s Origin of Species in the other. He looked confused, so someone asked,
“What are you doing?” The gorilla answered, “Well, I’m trying to decide if I’m my
brother’s keeper or my keeper’s brother.”
1. The debate between the theory of evolution and the biblical teaching of creation can
seem quite confusing.
2. We’re bombarded daily with the philosophy that evolution is the only credible
explanation for the existence of the universe and the life forms in it.
3. Howard Hendricks: “In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians
are stuttering.”
--On this particular topic, we shouldn’t stutter. We should be crystal clear about
what we believe to the point where we can share it with others.
4. This morning, I want us to look closely into the question at hand and see if we can’t
clarify the basic issues, revive our faith in the biblical explanation, and fortify
ourselves to give a clear answer to those who doubt our stance.
I. EXAMINING EVOLUTION
A. Evolution has been, and in some circles still is, the most prominently taught explanation for the universe
as it exists.
1. Lee Strobel: “In the popular culture, the case for evolution is generally considered shut.”
2. Time magazine in a recap of the second millenium in their Dec. 31, 1999 issue under the heading
“Iconoclast of the Century: Charles Darwin (1809-1882): “Darwinism remains one of the most
successful scientific theories ever promulgated.”
3. Darwinism is taught in schools not as a theory but as fact.
--It’s reinforced in museums, zoos, and even in children’s cartoons.
4. Bob Russel: “Evolution has been repeated so often that to challenge it is the equivalent to believing in
a flat earth or a moon made of cheese.”
B. Evolution actually has two sub-divisions: micro-evolution and macro-evolution
1. “Micro-evolution” is true to many extents.
--There are undeniably variations within the specific species of animals and plants.
a. For instance: there are more than 200 breeds of dogs.
b. Dairy cattle can be bred for improved milk production.
c. Bacteria can adapt and develop immunity to antibiotics.
d. Micro-evolution consists of changes within the specific species
2. “Macro-evolution” is what Darwinists propound.
a. They claim that life began millions of years ago with simple single-cell creatures brewed in a gooey
soup and then developed through mutation and natural selection into the vast array of plant and
animal life that populate the planet.
b. Someone has facetiously referred to this process as: “From goo to you by way of the zoo”
C. Darwinists have trouble explaining several things:
1. The lack of fossil evidence for the transitions between various species of animals.
a. Even Darwin admitted that the lack of these fossils “is perhaps the most obvious and
serious objection” to his theory.
b. Since Darwin’s day, our knowledge of the fossil record has grown enormously. The number of
fossil species is huge but scientists have to admit that there are even fewer examples of
evolutionary transition than there in Darwin’s time.
c. The fossil record actually shows that there was a sudden appearance of almost all the groups within
the animal kingdom with no evidence at all of transitional forms of life.
2. Irreducible complexity rules out evolution
a. “Irreducible complexity” – certain systems cannot be broken down into smaller yet functioning
systems
--nothing functions once you reach a certain point
b. Darwin admits this very fact in Origin of the Species: “If it could be demonstrated that any
complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight
modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”
3. Evolution is not true science
a. The definition of science is the study of that which is observable and repeatable
b. No matter how hard they try, no one has been able to observe or replicate the necessary processes
for evolution
c. Where are all the transitional forms today?
--If evolution has been happening over millions of years, where are the half-apes/half-men?
4. The theory of evolution runs contradictory to a scientific law called the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
a. Basically the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics says that in any system, energy moves from order to
disorder.
b. Things tend to break down into the less-complicated rather than increase in complexity.
--Evolution says that things go from disorder to order rather than from order to disorder
D. Biological evolution can only take place after there was some sort of living matter that could replicate
itself and then grow in complexity through mutation and survival of the fittest.
1. Darwinism has no credible explanations for the origins of life.
--It only provides speculation as to how life changed and grew through a period of millions of years.
2. Lee Strobel observes that “The origin of life is the Achilles heel of evolution.”
3. Dr. Walter L. Bradley, retired professor of mechanical engineering at Texas A & M draws an analogy
to the Darwinian theory of time + chance + energy = complicated biochemical and mechanical systems
this way: “It’s sort of like a printer taking letters out of a basket and setting type the way they used to
do it by hand. If you guide it with your intelligence, it’s no problem. But if you just choose letters at
random and put them together haphazardly – including upside down and backwards – then what are the
chances you’d get words, sentences, and paragraphs that would make sense? It’s extremely unlikely.”
II. CONSIDERING CREATION
A. The Bible teaches us that our universe and our lives are not the results of random chance but of a loving
Creator
1. Gen. 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
2. Gen. 1:26-27 – “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.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them.”
3. Ps. 19:1-3 – “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day
after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or
language where their voice is not heard.”
4. Rom. 1:20 – “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and
divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”
B. The Bible shows us that the universe was formed not because of blind chance but because of Intelligent
Design
--there is strong scientific evidence for an Intelligent Designer
1. Walter Bradley, whom I mentioned just a few minutes ago, points out that the only time we see
written information – whether it be on a cave wall or in a novel – is when there’s an intelligence
behind it. That analogy should also be true of nature itself.
--“In other words, what is encoded on the DNA inside every cell of every living creature is purely and
simply written information. We use a twenty-six letter alphabet in English; in DNA, there is a
four-letter chemical alphabet, whose letters combine in various sequences to for words, sentences,
and paragraphs. These comprise all the instructions needed to guide the functioning of the cell.”
2. He also points out: “Each cell in the human body contains more information than in all thirty
volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. It’s certainly reasonable to make the inference that this
isn’t the random product of unguided nature, but its’ the unmistakable sign of an Intelligent
Designer.”
III. COMING TO A CONCLUSION
A. The most current propositions concerning the origins of life propagated by scientists over the last
twenty-five years:
1. Random Choice…warm little ponds of water eventually leading to life. This lost support because the
odds are infinitesimal (1 in 10 with sixty zeros behind it.)
2. Chemical Affinity…there is an inherent attraction that would cause amino acids to spontaneously
link up in the right sequence to create living cells. This lost support because a computer model
couldn’t make it work with all living cells.
3. Self-ordering Tendencies…under certain circumstances systems will actually rearrange themselves to
a more complicated form. This lost support because the complexity to rearrange and improve could
never make the leap from non-living to living cells.
4. Seeding From Space…the building blocks of life came from somewhere else in space. Lost support
because it still doesn’t prove where life actually came from.
5. Vents in the Ocean…vents in the ocean actually provide a safe, continuos source of life particles.
Lost support because the theory doesn’t explain how things came together, nor does it answer why
life wouldn’t be destroyed by the same thing that created it.
6. Life From Clay…life arose on clays whose structure had enough complexity to somehow encourage
chemicals to assemble together. Lost support because a crystal is far short of the complex that living
matter needs.
B. Comparing intelligent design theories with evolutionary theories show intelligent design to be the most
provable of the two systems
1. Why do evolutionists propagate ideas that seem ridiculous and have no scientific data to back them
up?
2. Michael Behe, biochemist at Lehigh University, Darwin’s Black Box: “The conclusion of intelligent
design flows naturally from the data itself – not from sacred books or sectarian beliefs… The
reluctance of science to embrace the conclusion of intelligent design … has no justifiable foundation
… many people, including many important and well-respected scientist, just don’t want there to be
anything beyond nature.”
3. In actuality, evolution is more of a philosophy or a faith issue than it is a scientific issue
a. There are those who just will not come to terms with God
b. They refuse to acknowledge His existence and therefore His Lordship over their lives
1). Richard Dawkins, one of the most influential evolutionists of our day, begins his book The
Blind Watchmaker by stating, “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the
appearance of having been designed for a purpose.”
2). Nobel prize winner Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, writes in his book In
What Mad Pursuit, “Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not
designed, but rather evolved.”
4. Evolution is ultimately idolatry – it attributes the creative power of God to the forces of nature.
a. Rom. 1:18-25 – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about
God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world
God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew
God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and
their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and
animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual
impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a
lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.
Amen.”
b. 2 Thess. 2:10b-12 – “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this
reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be
condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
C. Creation answers three basic questions:
1. What is the origin of life?
2. What is the meaning of life?
3. What is the value of life?
CONCLUSION: A. Creation answers three basic questions:
1. What is the origin of life?
--In the beginning, God…
2. What is the meaning of life?
-- You’re not here by accident; you’re here by God’s design. God made you for the
purpose of having fellowship with Him, glorifying Him, and living eternally with
Him.
3. What is the value of life?
--God loves us and therefore life is sacred
B. One thing that evolution can never explain is how faith in Jesus Christ brings people to a
point of transformation that no amount of time, chance, and energy can produce.
-- An anthropologist went to South America to study a primitive tribe that had been
reached by a Christian missionary some years earlier. After living with this people
group for several weeks, the anthropologist met with the tribal chief. He said, “ “You
have a wonderful culture, but it’s a shame that the missionary came and infected your
tribe with his religion.”
The chief replied, “See that rock? That’s where we would break the skulls of our
enemies. See that tree? That’s where we would sacrifice them to our god. And if we had
not learned Christ as our Lord, you would be our dinner tonight.”
B. Consider this comparison of evolution and creation:
1. Evolution says Life is Chance. Creation says God created with intelligence and design
2. Evolution says you’re just an overgrown ape. Creation says you were made in the
image of God.
3. Evolution can’t place any value on love. Creation says God loves beauty, and love is
meaningful.
4. Evolution is survival of the fittest. Creation and scripture reveal that God looks out for
the weak and the hurting.
5. Evolution says Jesus is a fraud. The Bible says He created us and wants to recreate us.
a. Jn. 1:1-3 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
b. 2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come!”
c. London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he
was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals
had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the
interior.
As he showed a prospective buyer the property, Clegg took pains to say that he
would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural
damage, and clean out the garbage. The buyer said, ‘”Forget about the repairs.
When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t
want the building; I want the site.”
