Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20120408.htm

EASTER SUNDAY INTERLUDE
Evolution And The Christian's Biblical Resurrection Hope
(1 Corinthians 15:20-26 et al.)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    (1) This Easter Sunday, we at Nepaug Bible Church recall the Bible's 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 and Romans 5:12-21 teachings that since sin is the cause of death, Jesus' death on the cross for our sins followed by His bodily resurrection means that if we trust in Him for salvation, we will be forgiven and one day possess resurrection bodies. These beliefs give us Christians great hope in a world of sin and death.

    (2) However, evolution is largely promoted as a fact on the general public, and evolution presumes that death is part of the original universe so that life evolved by way of the "survival of the fittest". Thus, evolution leaves no room for the miracle of resurrection!

    (3) Many evangelical Christians like many in the general public now believe evolution is a fact, but, unlike Darwin, they still want to trust in Christ and His hope of the resurrection. Thus, they assert "theistic evolution", that God used evolutionary processes to create.

    (4) However, this stance is proving to be troublesome to hold:

    (a) A new book titled, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn't Say about Human Origins (Brazos Press), 2012 by theistic evolutionist Peter Enns, a retired evangelical seminary professor, argues "against the literal historical creation of Adam as described in Genesis." Enns explains Jesus' reference to Adam via the Liberal Theology accommodation theory that "He knew the belief was wrong, but didn't bother to deal with it because it would have been a distraction in His quest to save us from our sins. A related view, the limitation theory, states that Jesus was limited in His understanding to the degree that he unwittingly taught error." (Tim Chaffey, "Does It Really Matter If Moses Wrote Genesis?", Answers, April-June 2012, p. 79) Peter Enns thus counters the truthfulness of Jesus and the Bible.

    (b) Also, Dr. Jud Davis, Associate Professor of Greek at Bryan College, claims his school is not able to "find a nationally recognized Old Testament scholar" who holds to "the traditional view that the world was created in six twenty-four hour days." ("24 Hours: Plain as Day," Answers magazine, April-June 2012, p. 68-69)

    Davis found many world class Liberal Theology Hebraists who claim Genesis 1 actually teaches the pure creation view, so the Hebrew text does teach it, but many scholars reject the text's position! (Ibid.)

    Thus, we ask, "How can we respond in an edifying way to the conflict between evolution and the Bible on the resurrection?"

    Need: "This Easter, how can we respond in an edifying way to the conflict between evolution and the Bible on the resurrection?!"

  1. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, the Apostle Paul taught the OPPOSITE of evolutionary theory on the ORIGIN of DEATH (as follows):
    1. Paul taught that as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He became the "firstfruits" of them that "slept," a euphemism for the physical death of believers in Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
    2. This "firstfruits" implies Jesus' fulfilled the "Feast of Firstfruits" in His resurrection, for He arose the third day after Passover, the day the Hebrews celebrated this feast according to Lev iticus 23:4-14 with Harold Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 143.
    3. This feast was God's earnest or pledge of a full harvest yet to be gathered (Ibid.), and, applied to 1 Corinthians 15:20, it supplies God's promise to give those who believe in Christ resurrection bodies!
    4. Indeed, Paul added in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 that since by the first man, Adam, came death upon the human race, so by Christ will come the resurrection from the dead for all [believers, 1 Corinthians 15:23].
    5. This teaching sharply contrasts with evolutionary theory (as follows):
      1. In evolution, death is always an essential part of the universe:
        1. Evolutionists hold life evolved from lower life forms to higher ones by many mutations over time (Bolton Davidheiser, Evol. and the Christ. Faith, 1976, p. 15-16), a necessary mechanism in this process being the "survival of the fittest" where the weak DIE out while the strong survive long enough to procreate, Luther Sunderland, Darwin's Enigma, 1984, p. 19.
        2. Thus, death in evolution exists prior to man's existence.
      2. Conversely, the Bible teaches death is a tragic, temporary invader:
        1. Paul alluded to Genesis 1-3 to claim that death came after man was created as a tragic invader of God's initially good natural order due to Adam's SIN, 1 Corinthians 15:21a, 22a.
        2. However, by Christ's death for sin, faith in Him leads a believer to forgiveness from sin and eventual victory over death in his own resurrection body, 1 Corinthians 15:21b, 22b with 15:1-4.
        3. Indeed, Paul predicted death would be the "last enemy" to be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:24-26) as explained in Revelation 20:14!
  2. Trying to harmonize this conflict between evolution and the Bible, Peter Enns suggests we not take Paul and Jesus literally in their references to Adam in Genesis, but such an "accommodation" theory is ITSELF CONTRADICTED by the BIBLE (as follows):
    1. Not only did Paul refer to the "Adam" of Genesis 1-3, Jesus Christ Himself also referred to Adam and Eve in Matthew 19:3-6 as follows:
      1. Jesus there faced the Pharisees' question on whether He condoned divorce, and He replied, "Have you not read . . . ?" and cited part of Genesis 1:27 on God's creation of humans as male and female, and then He cited Genesis 2:24 in full that teaches a man and a woman become one flesh like Adam and Eve. (Genesis 2:20-25)
      2. Jesus thus alluded to Adam and Eve as actual historical persons.
    2. However, Jesus revealed in John 14:2 that He did not "accommodate" his hearers by such teachings, that He did not do what Peter Enns and some Liberal Theology proponents have asserted, Ibid., Chaffey:
      1. After claiming that there where many dwelling places in His Father's house, a reference to heaven, Jesus said, " . . . if it were not so, I would have told you." (John 14:1, 2 KJV, NIV)
      2. Jesus thus claimed that if there had not been room in heaven for His disciples, as painful a fact as that would be to explain, He still would have told it to his disciples since it would have been true! (Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, 1974, p. 350)
      3. Thus, Jesus did not accommodate His hearers -- He told the pure truth, even if would have been dreadfully painful for His disciples!
    3. Then, countering the related view to this accommodation theory, the "limitation theory" that suggests "Jesus was limited in His understanding to the degree that He unwittingly taught error" (Ibid., Chaffey), Jesus in John 8:28 claimed He taught only what God the Father wanted Him to teach. So, Jesus' unaccommodating reference to Adam was actually directed by God the Father Himself, and since the Father is omniscient God, the "limitation theory" utterly fails!
    4. In summary, Jesus and Paul did not accommodate their hearers or readers by alluding figuratively to the Genesis 1-3 Adam, but literally asserted that he was an historical man. Paul thus affirmed death was an invader of the universe in direct contrast to the theory of evolution, and this teaching comes to us by Paul and Jesus from God the Father!
Application: May we (1) believe Christ died for our sins, was buried and bodily rose to have eternal life, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May we then (a) reject all evolutionary theory and hold to pure creation, (b) hoping in Christ's resurrection, and through Him, in our own!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 In a sermon like this, it is edifying to give scientific evidence that is often greatly needed in discussing evolution, evidence in support of the Bible's view of origins. We have new evidence that richly supports the Bible's claim opposite evolution, evidence on "cavemen."

Dr. Georgia Purdom, who received her doctorate in molecular genetics from Ohio State University, wrote the article, "How Are Cavemen Different?" in the April-June 2012 Answers magazine, p. 58-59. There she stated: "New DNA technology has allowed scientists to peer into the past by mapping the DNA of so-called cavemen . . .

"To date, approximately eighty genes have been shown to differ between Neanderthals and modern humans . . . Denisovan DNA [Denisovan is another ancient group] is also similar to DNA in modern humans . . . Both Neanderthals and Denisovans do have small-scale differences with modern humans. Before the first draft of Neanderthal DNA, they were sometimes considered to be different human species or subspecies. But this is an arbitrary, manmade designation since two modern chimps of the same species will have more DNA variation than Neanderthals or Denisovans have to modern humans. In light of the genetic evidence, Neanderthals and Denisovans are fully human and should be classified as Homo sapiens." (Ibid., p. 58)

Dr. Purdom observed that "approximately 1-4 % of DNA specific to Neanderthals can also be found in modern Eurasians" and that "(a)pproximately 4-6 % of DNA that is specific to Denisovans can also be found in modern Melanesians (those who live in the islands northeast of Australia)." (Ibid.) Neanderthals and Denisovans were thus early fully human groups who intermarried with other fully human groups, but who died out for reasons not explained by evolution.

This information by no means answers all the questions on "cavemen" that are raised by the public's long, extensive exposure to evolutionary indoctrination. However, groups like Answers In Genesis with its magazine, Answers are dedicated to addressing as many such questions as they can, and it is encouraging to know that there are answers!



May we thus trust in Christ as Savior from sin, and hope in the very REAL hope of the bodily resurrection this Easter Sunday!