EASTER SUNDAY SPECIAL INTERLUDE
"Theistic Evolution And Christ's Resurrection"
(2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

This Easter Sunday, we have met together at Nepaug Church in reaffirmation of our belief that Jesus Christ bodily arose from the dead. Like the Apostle Paul, we assert that, and I quote 2 Timothy 1:10: "Jesus Christ . . . hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Well, along with Christ's resurrection, many in Christendom, including conservative Christians, teach God used evolution to create:

(1) Pope John Paul II, in his 1996 encyclical, told the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that " . . . new knowledge leads us to recognize that the theory of evolution is more than a hypothesis." The pontiff added man's soul did not evolve, but his body came from "living material which existed before it." ("Vatican Thinking Evolves," by James Collins, Time, November 4, 1996)

(2) Lately, Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis noted that Evangelical theologian, Norman Geisler has left open the door to believe God might have used evolutionary forces in creation. He cites Geisler's view in the recently published Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics to say: "If, of course, the days of Genesis are long periods of time, then there is no conflict with modern science on the age of the earth. But even if the days of Genesis are twenty-four hours there are still ways to reconcile long periods of time with Genesis 1-2." (The Biblical Evangelist, March-April 2000, p. 15)

However, Ken Ham objects to making room for God to use evolutionary processes while also holding to the bodily resurrection of Christ. Ham writes: "But if we use science to interpret . . . Genesis, then if these leaders were consistent, they would have to reject the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ . . . " (Ibid.)



In light of this difference of opinion among even Evangelical leaders on evolution, we need to determine if Theistic Evolution is credible in light belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: Can one teach God used evolution to create the universe and also believe Christ bodily arose from the dead? WHY or Why not?!"
  1. To say evolutionary processes existed at creation, one must view PHYSICAL death as NATURAL to creation from its START.
    1. Theistic evolution asserts God used natural forces, including death by natural selection over long periods of time to create in the Genesis 1-2 account, David Lane, "Special Creation Or Evolution: No Middle Ground," Bibliotheca Sacra, January-March, 1994, p. 14.
    2. Since evolution by natural selection implies the death of the least fit organisms, adhering to theistic evolution leads one to assume physical death was a natural part of the universe from its BEGINNING!
  2. However, the Bible distinctly COUNTERS the idea that PHYSICAL DEATH was NATURAL to creation from its START!
    1. First, the Bible presents physical death as having begun with the first man, Adam in opposition to the use of evolutionary forces at creation.
      1. In the context of Christ's bodily resurrection, Paul teaches physical death came by the first man, Adam, 1 Cor. 15:16-19, 21-22.
      2. This idea contradicts the use of evolutionary processes at creation:
        1. Genesis 1:26-27 with 1:23 shows God created man on the sixth day of creation after the other five days were completed.
        2. So regardless what time period one assumes the "days" of Genesis 1 were, the Bible believer must hold that death and hence the survival of the fittest process in evolutionism did not occur on days one through five when man was not existing!
        3. Were humans to originate by evolutionary processes, since they are mammals, men would have to evolve ALONG WITH women for procreating and feeding infants so his species could survive. Yet, Genesis 2:20-25 teaches the first woman came to be from the rib of a man, so humans did not EVOLVE!
        4. Thus, the Bible's teaching that sin and death came by Adam means God created man without ANY evolutionary processes!
    2. Second, the Bible teaches death is the product of evil versus the goodness of God's created works opposite adhering to evolution:
      1. Scripture repeatedly shows death to be an unwholesome or evil entity in contrast to what a holy, good God would want or create:
        1. Death is an enemy to be destroyed by God in 1 Cor. 15:26.
        2. Death will be cast into the lake of fire along with everything else that is unwholesomely evil according to Revelation 20:14.
        3. Also, the Apostle Paul claimed Jesus abolished death in His resurrection as He would an evil in 2 Timothy 1:10.
        4. Besides, Romans 8:18-23 teaches the vanity of death's corruption afflicts the created universe as a temporal bondage!
      2. Yet, Genesis 1:31 says that all in God's original creation was good.
      3. We conclude from these observations that Scripture views death as alien to God's initial creation in contrast to evolutionary views!
  3. Rather, Scripture shows PHYSICAL death INVADED the world as an EVIL, and Christ DEFEATED it in His death and resurrection:
    1. The Bible teaches all men died in Adam when he sinned, that they inherited his nature leading to acts of sin, 1 Cor. 15:21-22; Rom. 5:12.
    2. Yet, the Bible reveals Jesus physically died for sin as man's substitute atonement for sin, 1 Cor. 15:22b; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24.
    3. Accordingly, Christ arose from physical death to demonstrate His conquest over sin and its product of physical death, 1 Cor. 15:22.
    4. Thus, all who put their trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins will one day gain bodily resurrection, 1 Cor. 15:22b-23; John 3:16.
    5. For Christ's BODILY RESURRECTION to hold MEANING, the PHYSICAL death His resurrection CONQUERS must be seen as the SOLE product of SIN: Christ's resurrection then becomes an INVALUABLE evidence that His death COVERED our SINS!
    6. So if physical death were a natural part of the universe from is start as theistic evolution says, Christ's resurrection would have no value!
Application: Instead of ACCEPTING physical death as a NATURAL part of LIFE, we must view it as an UNNATURAL product of SIN. Then, to gain eternal life and the hope of the bodily resurrection, (1) we must believe in Christ as our personal Savior from sin and its product of death, John 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:10. (2) Then, we can live a life of righteousness by God's power as we hope for the bodily resurrection from the grave, and await the time of that blessed event with great joy, Titus 2:11-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Lesson: (1) Since PHYSICAL DEATH is the SOLE PRODUCT of MAN'S SIN, and since CHRIST'S BODILY RESURRECTION signals He is the CONQUEROR of MAN'S SIN by His PHYSICAL DEATH FOR SIN, we cannot believe evolutionary processes were involved in God's PRE-sin creation. (2) Rather, we hold to pure creationism as a NECESSARY prelude to Christ's salvation Gospel itself. >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Evidence mounts from scientific investigation to argue for an Intelligent Cause in creation that defies natural evolutionary processes:

(1) According to reports that have just come out this past January, 2000, "Researchers have created a DNA computer' made of strands of synthetic DNA and used it to solve complex problems . . . as one gram of DNA can hold the information-equivalent of 1 trillion CDs, scientists are looking to use DNA's amazing designed information storage capacity . . . to overcome looming limits to microchip power. Also, as the fledgling DNA computer solved problems in far fewer steps than a conventional computer, the researchers expect biocomputers to be capable of dealing with problems of greater complexity while using less space." (Creation Ex Nihilo, March-May, 2000, p. 7)

The DNA model for computing makes what man has developed appear elementary. Such INGENUITY argues for an Infinite Intelligence Who CAUSED the DNA construction in cells.

(2) The same periodical notes a special study has occurred with young children in Japan and Britain. "Psychologists have been surprised to find that children believe in a creator God regardless of whether they are exposed to religious faith. They reported that children in Britain and Japan gave similar answers when asked who created various natural objects. The children had abstract notions of a Creator despite not having been influenced by concepts of God from organised religions.

The Oxford University psychologist leading the study reports her Japanese research assistants were surprised at the children's responses, given that We Japanese don't think about God as creator -- it's just not part of Japanese philosophy.'" (Ibid.)

How and why small children who have not yet been influenced by the philosophies of their cultures instinctively have an awareness of a CREATOR is evidence of what Paul teaches in Romans 1:18-20: all men have an awareness of the Creator God because the universe testifies of HIS POWER -- NOT of evolution!