Call me naive, if you will. One can definitely call me frustrated in the light of the latest trend in contemporary Christian academic circles. In one of the latest issues of Christianity Today magazine, the cover story highlighted the latest controversial debate to arise in our midst: the question over the historicity of Adam and Eve. Did they really exist? Or were they merely representations of the human race at large, especially in view of the theory of evolution?
You see the debate which started in the esteemed halls of academia now has arrived in the pews and pulpits of the church. This is due largely to the expanse of influence that the theory of evolution has made in the minds and hearts of God’s people who have accepted it as truth since they have been taught it now for at least two generations at the behest of the government school system. This theory (I emphasize “theory” because it is not a proven factual scientific modus operandi, mode of operation) which has been accepted on faith by the “secular” world is now the basis of all that is taught in every realm outside the church as well as endeavoring to undermine the relevance and receptivity of Scriptural truth. The sad fact is that most who claim to follow Christ are practical theistic evolutionists, believing that God used evolution to bring about creation, trying to harmonize two irreconcilable, contradictory theories to settle the issue. Sadly, it will not work because of the dynamic that they fail to consider, the discipline that stands in the way...theology...sound doctrine, as the Apostle Paul would put it.
As I stated at the outset, some may say that I am naive to believe this way, but, hey, Paul likewise said that he would gladly be a fool for Jesus Christ (rf. I Corinthians 4:10a; II Corinthians 12:10-11). I do not mind joining him, being tagged in like manner. You see, my starting point in this discussion is the Person and character of Almighty God, not the science or the supposed facts that have been discovered. Having studied the Scriptures now for better than thirty-seven years (with hopefully many more years to do so), I have realized that God is Who He says He is. He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (everywhere at once), omniscient (all-knowing), holy, just, all-loving, compassionate, all-righteous...His qualities and perfections go on and on. Indeed, words actually fail when trying to accurately describe Him. He is unlimited in power and scope, but limits Himself when it comes to His character by clearly stating that in His holiness and righteousness, He cannot sin nor perform any evil Himself. It is against His very nature. Wickedness cannot endure in His Presence. To allow anything unclean before Him, that thing must be made pure by His action. We have seen that truth operational in the lives of Isaiah (rf. Isaiah 6:5-7) and Joshua the High Priest (rf. Zechariah 3:1-7).
Referring back to God’s qualities, especially His omnipotence, it is amazing to me how quickly we as present-day professors of faith in Him relinquish this aspect of God in the face of a supposed scientific “evidence”. The one thing the theory of evolution must have, it’s required support mechanism, is time. Millions and billions of years are necessary for the theory to hold water. So, because we feel it necessary to reconcile our belief in God with this apparent truth of evolution, we conclude that God must have taken these needed millions and billions of years to create the heavens and the earth without regard to His omnipotence.
Yet, the Scriptures plainly teach “with God all things are possible” (rf. Matthew 19:26b) and “nothing will be impossible with God” (rf. Luke 1:37). Is it really too far fetched to take God at His Word, realizing how powerful He really is and simply believe He has the wherewithal to just speak the entirety of creation into existence at a whim? Is it beyond the scope of God’s power for Him to establish the 24-hour cycle of the day by taking each of six of the seven days as shown in Genesis 1-2 and systematically create the heavens and the earth with precision and beauty? Is that too much to grasp?
Or have we become too smart for God? Is that the real problem here? In our arrogance, have we reached the point of thinking that belief in a superior Being is intellectual inferiority because we have “evolved” beyond such juvenile behavior? Or is that He just doesn’t do the heart-stopping miracles and wonders that He used to do in the Old and New Testament times in order to “wow” us anymore, in order to give us reason to believe in Him anymore? I think these questions may be key to leading us to the “bottom-line” issue of it all.
The folks during the time of the building of the Tower of Babel (rf. Genesis 11:1-9) had the same attitudinal problem. They had grown prideful and arrogant. They believed that they didn’t need a relationship with God on a personal level. In fact, it was their understanding that they had the technology and intelligence to match God and so, to show that reality, they proposed to build this tower into the heavens so they could meet Him face-to-face on their terms. God knew their hearts, visited them in the midst of their efforts, and did to them what only God could do, something that they could not undo. He confused their language. The tower was left to ruin. The people dispersed, were dismayed and broken into various nations and new “tongues”. God once more showed man that He alone is God.
I am afraid, fellow believer, that this generation, specifically, this generation of His Church, is the Babel generation. God will not allow our pridefulness and arrogance to go unanswered. His silence is not to be construed as cowardice or compassion. Rather, He is giving us time to repent of our sin, to return back to the place of believing in Him in all His fullness, in all His qualities, in all His glory. He wants us to have full faith in His Word. We might not ever in this life understand all that is in His Word or how He accomplished all that He did in creation, redemption or even what He plans for the consummation. As He states, “His ways are higher than our ways..."(rf. Isaiah 55:9). This path that we walk, both in believing and in understanding, is still a matter of faith and trust. The science and facts will ultimately catch up with Him. It may take getting to heaven and having access to the mind of Christ before these paths actually converge.
