Evolutionary Hopelessness

Richard Hollerman

Evolutionary hopelessness! As I thought of an appropriate title for these few thoughts, two words came to mind. Since I wanted to comment briefly about evolution, this word needed to be in the title. And since I wanted to convey the utter hopelessness of evolutionary convictions, I wanted that word to be in the title as well.

We know that millions of people in America and around the world believe in the bankrupt theory of evolution.  We’ve read that over 30 percent of Americans believe in this unfounded idea. However, we are also assured that in places like Europe, Russia, China, and Japan, it is nearly unanimous that evolutionary processes are responsible for all material things.

We can understand this. If there is no God, as major portions of the population of Europe, Russia, China, and Japan assert, what is left? They can’t close their eyes to the fact that something must account for all living things as well as all natural phenomena.  Therefore, they must conclude that this “something” that is responsible for all things must be evolutionary processes.

But consider this: When someone believes that there is no God and that evolution is all there is, what is left? The best one can hope for is to live a few more years on earth, hope that he has reasonably good health, and then die a “peaceful” death, and then cease to exist! What kind of hope is this? We can understand how Paul could write of the unbelieving Gentiles as being “separate from Christ” and “having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Without God, there is no hope. It is a hopeless existence!

But someone may reply, “I do believe in God and I think that He used the Big Bang and evolution to produce all that we see today. Those portions of the Bible that speak of salvation and heaven are true, thus I will accept them while clinging to the ‘assured scientific results of evolution.’ Thus, I will accept both naturalistic assumptions as well as divine revelation!”

The Bible hasn’t given us this option. If the Bible is true—and it is—then we are assured that God created all things in the beginning! Scripture affirms: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We also read, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made” (Psalm 33:6a). “He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (v. 9).

God worked through Jesus Christ (in His preincarnate state) to create all things: “He [Christ] was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:2-3). Paul is plain in His statements: “By Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). This is the consistent position of all Scripture (e.g., 1 Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 1:2; Revelation 3:14; etc.).

The position that holds that one may be a Christian and an evolutionist at the same time is called theistic evolution. This means that one wants to believe in God (or a god) and evolutionary processes at the same time. But God doesn’t give this as an option. It is clear that God is the one who created. This is called fiat creation. The Creator didn’t set in motion a process of evolution that allow this to bring non-living matter into the infinite variety of life forms we see today. Note particularly Malachi 2:10; 1 Corinthians 11:9; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 3:10; 1 Timothy 4:3; Revelation 4:11.

Furthermore, God says that He created all things in six literal days (He should know since He was there and we weren’t!). Genesis 1 is built on this fact. Some 2,600 years later, Moses wrote, “In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11). Even the Lord Jesus said, “From the beginning of creation, God made them make and female” (Mark 10:6). He didn’t make the world 13.7 billion years B.C. and then finally made humanity only one to three million years ago (after bringing the earth into existence 4.6 billion years ago). No, man has been here since “the beginning of creation” and this was not long ago.

When an atheistic evolutionist dies, he assumes that he ceases to exist. In other words, he thinks that he will be like a dog, a cat, or an insect—just going to a place of extinction or nothingness. God says that this in no way is his end. He will go to a place of torment (Luke 16:23) and agony (vv. 24, 25). But if such a person has any impression of the life beyond, he will not have the settled, assured, and sweet knowledge of an eternity of absolute bliss that awaits the believer.

Paul contrasts the believer in Christ who doesn’t need to “grieve as do the rest who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). In other words, the unbeliever or unsaved person has “no hope” beyond the grave. This life is the best he will ever have, whereas the believer’s experience in this life is the worst that he will ever have! After death, the conditions of the believer and the unbeliever will be the very opposite (Luke 16:19-31).

How can an unbeliever, a devotee of a world religion, or an inconsistent evolutionist approach death with the kind of settled confidence and joyful anticipation that the believer in Jesus has (John 11:25-26)? It can’t be done—unless the evolutionist has deceived himself so as to combine evolutionism with faith in God. But this rests on deception—self-deception. In reality, the evolutionist is lost and will never experience the blessing of eternity with God, with Christ, with the angels, and with the redeemed of all ages.

One day, the glorified believer will hear the blessed words, offered in praise to God in heaven:

Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. (Revelation 4:11).

Do you believe that God “created all things”? Do you believe that they existed and were created—by His will and power and wisdom? Be willing to bow the knees to God the Creator today! Be willing to renounce the unfounded, false, Scripture-denying, and God-denying theory of evolution! Leave your life of hopelessness and come to “Christ Jesus, who is our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1; cf. Colossians 1:27)! Turn to Him as your Creator and Maker today!

(Time references were taken from “The Young Earth in Scripture” by John D. Morris, and “The Age of the Cosmos–What You Have not been Told,” by Jason Lisle, in the volume, Creation Basics & Beyond (Dallas: Institute for Creation Research, 2013.)