Nothing Created Everything: The Scientific Impossibility of Atheistic Evolution (20 page)

However, the same God of the Bible (who in the Old Testament said to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself (see Leviticus 19:18), is rich in mercy. He provided a way for us (in the New Testament) to be saved from His just wrath. This was through the blood of the Cross. If we refuse His offer of mercy, we will have to stand before His fearful justice. The New Testament warns, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God” (see Hebrews 10:31) and further adds “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

I wonder if you know what the word
vicarious
means. It’s an adjective that means that something is “endured or done by one person substituting for another: vicarious punishment.” It’s probably meaningless to an unsaved person. Few have had someone take their punishment for them. However, it means everything to the Christian. The saved person knows that he was once a lawbreaker—a devious criminal in the eyes of a holy God. He knows that God’s standard of righteousness is so high that the crime of lying demands the death sentence and that He considers hatred of another human being to be murder. If you hate someone, as far as God is concerned you are physically putting a knife into his back. If you lust after another human being, God considers you to be an adulterer. That’s the height of His moral standard, and that will be the standard of judgment on Judgment Day.

However, this same wrath-filled God is rich in mercy to all that call upon Him. He was manifest in the flesh and suffered for us so that we could be free from the demands of eternal justice. His was a “vicarious” sacrifice. He paid the fine so that God could legally dismiss our case. Then He rose again on the third day, and all who repent and trust in Jesus receive remission of sins. They are forgiven and washed clean of their filthiness. God grants them the gift of everlasting life. How do you know if this is true? Obey the Gospel “and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (see John 8:31-32).

I sat next to an intellectual on a plane recently. He was involved in the financial side of a well-known national corporation. I knew that he was pretty intelligent when I asked him a few questions just to fill in time and he answered them correctly. The first was, “How many U.S. presidents are not buried in the United States?” At that time there were four. They were Jimmy Carter, George Bush Senior, George Bush Junior, and Bill Clinton (although time will change the answer). The second was, “What was the highest mountain on earth before Mount Everest was discovered?” He knew that it was Mount Everest. It’s always been the highest. He was one sharp cookie.

When I asked Joe what he thought happens after someone dies, he said that he wasn’t an atheist, but that he didn’t believe in an afterlife. There was no Heaven and no Hell. So was that the end of the conversation? Where can it go if someone doesn’t believe
in Heaven or Hell? There is a way. I asked Joe to imagine that there is a Heaven and asked if he thought that he was good enough to go there. Did he think that he was a good person? The conversation went like this:

“I’m a very good person.”

“Let’s go through some of the Commandments to see if you are, and if you will make it to Heaven. How many lies have you told in your life?”

It turned out that he was a liar, a thief, and a blasphemer, and that he had committed adultery in his heart many times. I explained the cross, the necessity of repentance and faith, and thanked him for listening to me.

About thirty minutes later he started up the conversation again: “I have a question for you. Why is it that Christianity says that people from all other religions are going to Hell?”

“All other religions are what are called ‘works-righteousness’ religions. They think that they have to do something to earn everlasting life. The Muslim prays five times a day, fasts, etc. The Hindu fasts, prays, lies on beds of nails, etc. The thing that changes the equation is God’s Law. It shows us that we are not simply unfortunate human beings trying to make our way through this life, but that we are wicked criminals in the sight of a holy God. So our ‘good’ works suddenly are not good works, but are actually attempts to bribe the Judge of the Universe. And the Bible warns that “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.” He will not be bribed. But in Christianity, God provided a way for all humanity—the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Jew, and the Gentile to be saved. The offer of everlasting life is come by the mercy of the Judge—as a free gift. It is universal— ‘whosoever will,’ may come.”

Joe thought for a moment, and said, “I don’t accept that. It seems unfair to me that it is exclusive.”

“You mean that Jesus said that He was the only way to God?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think that Christianity is ‘intolerant?’”

“Yes, I do.”

“So you are being intolerant of Christianity? You are doing what you are accusing Christianity of doing. Being intolerant.”

“No, no, not at all. I was just wondering…”

For the next hour or so, Joe had many questions. He listened thoughtfully and took a “What Hollywood Believes” CD and a copy of
The Way of the Master New Testament
. At the end of the flight he thanked me for the conversation and said that he had learned a lot.

When he said that he didn’t believe in Heaven and Hell it seemed like a dead end. So, if someone doesn’t believe, surmise with them for a moment. Have them imagine that there’s a Heaven (it’s easy if you try), and it will open up a door to their heart. Always remember that you are dealing with those that the Bible says are blind. You want them to know that there is another world, so speak to their God-given imagination, and that will give you the opportunity to speak to their God-given conscience.

T
O SEE HOW
precise Scripture is in its prediction, consider the claims made in 2 Peter 3:3-9:

1. There would be scoffers in the last days (preceding the Second Coming).

2. They would say that the signs of the Second Coming have always been around.

3. They would deny the Noahic worldwide flood (despite overwhelming scientific evidence).

4. Their specific sin would be “lust.”

5. God is waiting for them to repent, because it’s not His will that they go to Hell.

6. Their error is that they think that God is subject to the dimension of time.

Some years ago a friend flew me to Israel. After visiting Jericho, we boarded a bus and made our way back through the mountainous passes toward Jerusalem. I was sitting right up in the front of a large bus, on the right side, while the rest of the group sat more toward the back.

The road was very narrow, with a deep valley on the right-hand side. As we approached a very sharp left turn in the road, the driver slowed down, moved toward the right of the road, then swung the steering wheel around the corner. The result was that my part of the bus went right over the edge of the road as we slowly turned. It was just then that I made the mistake of looking out of the window. My part of the bus was suspended over the edge as we turned, and I looked down in horror at a three-thousand-foot drop into the deep valley below. For about two seconds I was sure that I was going to die.

Suddenly it was over, and we were merrily driving along the road. The driver and rest of the passengers were totally oblivious as to what I had just experienced. I sat there in disbelief and humbly
thanked God that I was still alive. In a matter of two seconds, I had gained a new appreciation for my precious life.

Even at this moment, I still benefit profoundly from that terrifying experience. I am forever thankful for the gift of life, and my gratitude is directed at God alone.

The Moral Law hangs us over eternity. For those of us who experience true conviction of sin, it is an overwhelming horror. The reality of our depravity demands that we be damned forever. We look around at the rest of humanity and see that they are oblivious to what is happening. Life is a joyride, and death and damnation are far from their thoughts. But for us, the Law calls for our execution. It stirs a conscience that points its finger at our guilt. We are going to be damned, and there’s no hope. None. The experience takes our breath away in horror.

But then we hear of the Cross—the glorious good news of the Cross! Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, while we were yet sinners. We hear that God has turned a corner for humanity through the Gospel. We can live—forever. Oh the relief of God’s mercy! Oh the unspeakable gratitude that suddenly comes from nowhere and explodes toward God for His kindness.

Without the terrors of the Law, the professed Christian drives along the path of life with no appreciation for what we have been given in the Gospel. That’s why so many within the church can sit passively in the pew. They have never experienced the terrors of the Law and so they don’t have gratitude enough to even consider doing the will of the God they profess to love.

This epitomizes the problem of speaking with a professing atheist. They stand on their own oxygen hose, and then wonder why they are grasping for evidence of the existence of God. However, what they maintain that they cannot find—evidence—is right in front of their nose. God created the sea. It didn’t crawl up out of a puddle billions of years ago, created by nothing. How crazy is that? So, if God made the sea, He can part it if He wants to. If He made the sea, He can also walk on it. If He created the human body, He can fix it when it breaks. He can smite what he wants, when He wants. He can create pillars of salt, pillars of fire, and pillars of goose feathers, if He wants. Virgin birth? No problem. Resurrection—piece of cake (see Acts 26:8).

The problem is, we are trying to reason with the person the Bible calls a “fool” (see Psalm 14:1) and fools tend to be very unreasonable.

Did you know that proof of evolution has been right under our noses all this time? We have finally found the missing link. The tadpole
evolves
into the frog in a matter of weeks (“Fish Gets Legs”).

Of course, a true evolutionist believes that the tadpole isn’t a true fish.

The caterpillar evolves into the butterfly (“Bug Gets Wings”). God speeds up the process from millions of years to just twenty-one days, so that you can actually see the transition.

Speaking of transitions—God has set a Day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. If you have lusted, you have committed adultery in His sight. If you have hated anyone, you are a murderer, according to the Bible. You need a Savior—someone who can save you from the wrath of the Law you have violated.
Fortunately (understatement of eternity), God has provided One to save us from Hell. Jesus suffered on the Cross, taking the punishment for our sins. We broke the Law, and Jesus paid our fine. That’s love! Then He rose from the dead and defeated death, and now God can forgive us. He can dismiss our case if we will repent and trust in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful deal. How kind God is to us rebellious sinners.

“Name one feature about humanity that can be demonstrated as unique.” Atheism. Only human beings have the ability to bow the knee and worship the God that gave them life. Only human beings have the ability to deny His evident existence. We are utterly unique among God’s creation because He has made us in His image.

God
did
make man in His image, and He made male and female so that they could reproduce after their own kind. Evolution believers erroneously believe that all of creation (millions of kinds),
by themselve
s, came into being as male and female, and then gave themselves the ability to reproduce after their own kind.