Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
There never was a more beautiful, but disliked, verse than this one. People don’t like the reality that you can’t get to heaven without Jesus, no matter how nice and well meaning you are (it is heartbreaking to know how many won’t make it). Many more are sure they are quite alive on their own, thank you very much, and don’t recognize how “dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:1) we all are without Him.
Then, those of us who have found Jesus to be right about these things sometimes have trouble believing He is completely accurate. When we each stand before Jesus to give an account for our lives, it wouldn’t be surprising if all of us have explained away some uncomfortable statement Jesus wanted us to understand. The trick is to submit our mind to God and be willing to see His truth when the Holy Spirit tries to show us.
And [the serpent] said unto the woman, Indeed, has God said, Genesis 3:1
It is a sad fact that millions of people who have enough faith to trust Jesus when He says He’s the Savior of the world don’t believe when He says He’s the Creator of the world. Or, rather, they believe He created, but not the way He described. They believe the popular science of our day has “proved” evolution and/or millions of years are real, so God must have used them.
The problem is, Jesus was clear about what HE believed about creation.
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. Mark 10:6
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel… Luke 11:50-51a
For had you believed Moses [who recorded Genesis], you would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? John 5:46-47
So, how do people who want to have Jesus be right about sin, but wrong about creation keep from exploding? They explain Jesus’ words away.
Some will tell you Jesus was “just going along” with the popular ideas of His day. The people wanted to believe God created not too long ago in a week, He gave it to them.
Does this sound like the Jesus we know?
Matthew 5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, …. But I say unto you,…. And dozens of other times He got people mad enough to kill Him for rejecting their beliefs.
Jesus knew what the people wanted to hear, but that’s not what He gave them.
Others go even further. They tell us, without blinking, that Jesus had shrunk so small to become a human being, He really believed what He said. But He was wrong. God had hidden from the human Jesus the truth of evolution and/or millions of years, so Jesus wouldn’t shock His listeners. They even take what Jesus said in John 5:46-47 about Moses being trustworthy as mistaken.
Because, of course, modern scientists are way smarter than the people 2,000 years ago (including Jesus) were.
It is possible, even likely, many of the teachers telling us these things will make it to heaven. You don’t have to get every idea right to belong to Jesus, just trust Him to rescue you from your sins by His death.
But can you imagine standing before Jesus and telling Him this to His face? And, what about the people they witness to? Why should they believe one area of the Bible so strongly they are willing to turn their lives over to their Savior if other areas are clearly “proven” wrong?
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve through his false wisdom, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. II Corinthians 11:3
We aren’t surprised when people (and the spiritual powers behind them) try to knock down the authority of God and His Word. It’s been happening since the beginning.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the tricks of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11
God has given us powerful protection and weapons. Our job is to learn how to wear and use them. Learning more about science and about the Bible are big parts of our training.
I’ve heard these claims in several places, but the best, super-long discussion about it is:
Jesus, Scripture and Error: An Implicatation of Theistic Evolution by Simon Turpin
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