Many evolutionists avoid the possibility of God’s existence. Though Charles Darwin did not necessarily deny God’s existence, his theory of evolution has affected many peoples’ view of God. Pastor Lutzer suggests two negative implications if we deny the Creator. If life came from a single organism, what reason do we have for morality?
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Transcript: Welcome to “5 Minutes with Pastor Lutzer.” I’m so glad that you joined us in this very important series, entitled, “The Eclipse of God.” The burden of my heart is this: that unless this nation turns to God, we will continue to go down that slippery slope. Politics is very important but it cannot rescue us from the direction that we are going. Today I want to discuss the doctrine of creation.
You know, the Bible says that the heavens declare the glory of God but Darwin came along and, in effect, said we don’t need God for origins, though he didn’t deny the existence of God others did. And today we have put ourselves in the place of God. Richard Dawkins is perhaps America’s best known atheist. He says, regarding creation and, of course, I have to summarize only a couple of sentences, “We are the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen.” And then he says, “Even if there were no actual evidence in favour of Darwinism, we would still be justified in preferring it over other rivals.” Why? We do not want a God to rule over us. So it is that evolution is taught in our schools. It is generally believed and the implications are huge. Let me give you two of them.
First of all, evolution devalues men and women. It devalues the human race. Why? Because we are not created in the image of God. There is no creator. We came up through the animal world. You know that Charles Darwin said in a letter to a friend, he recognized that we as humans have an evil side and he said that evil is part of the evolutionary process and he said the devil came to us in the form of a baboon who is our grandfather. Of course, if life came from a single organism, the baboon would be our grandfather. What are some of the implications? First of all, as I’ve mentioned, the devaluation of human life. Why shouldn’t we kill pre-born babies? Infanticide—I think of Peter Singer. You know about him, how he teaches that if a baby is born with deformities the parents should have the rights to put the baby to sleep, which is to say in infantacide. Why not? We do that with animals. What about euthanasia? Why should people not be put to death when they are old and infirm because they have no special significance. We certainly do that with animals. So you have the devaluation of human life. By the way, I never thought of this until 2 days ago, when I was preparing this, but just think of this: On the one hand, Darwinism devalues human beings; on the other hand, we want to exalt ourselves and put ourselves in the place of God.
Let me give you a second consequence and that is the destruction of the created order. If there is no creator, why shouldn’t we be able to say that men can have babies too? Or that a woman can be a father? And children will discover that their gender has fluidity. After all, the book of Genesis says that God created them male and female, but if there’s no creator, we create ourselves and make whatever kind of configuration we want, including the destruction of the family. Huge implications if we deny the doctrine of creation.
[Turn to] Romans 1. We’re going to be looking at that passazge of scripture. It says they did not regard God with thankfulness and “they worshiped and served the creature, not the Creator.” And we, of course, are reaping the consequences. Back off for just a moment and let us think of the Bible and especially verse one of the Bible. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Just ten words. Henry Morris points out that in those ten words we have the entire basis for science. “In the beginning,” introduces us to time; “God” introduces us to personality; “created” introduces us to force; “the heavens” introduces us to space; “and the earth” introduces us to matter. Unless we get back to God as Creator we’ll continue to devalue the human race, the created order will be put in shambles and all that we can expect is devastation.
Now, you might ask, “Pastor Lutzer, does God still create?” The answer is yes. He creates within us what the Bible calls a new heart. “If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.” If you’re a believer, there is something within you that God created that wasn’t there before. Aren’t you glad that God is the Creator? And aren’t you glad that God is the Savior of the human heart?
Thanks so much for joining us. Be sure to subscribe and follow and as for today you just go with God.