Family Devotion Time: Did I Evolve?

on September 1, 2019

Does it really matter what we believe? Yes!

At its core, evolution is a story about how humans came to be, without the need for a Creator. According to that story, we got here through many deaths over millions of years. We came by small, accidental changes in the bodies of apelike creatures, and not through God. And if we weren’t created, we don’t have to worry about what God says is right and wrong. We can do whatever we want.

Here’s the Deal

What we believe about where we came from is the starting point for all our beliefs.

But the Bible begins with “in the beginning, God . . .” for a reason. We are here because God created us. Since he’s our Creator, he decides what is right and wrong. And he has told us in the Bible. One day, we will all have to answer to him (Acts 17:31; Romans 14:11).

And even more importantly, the Bible teaches that he made everything “very good” at the very beginning (Genesis 1:31). Death and sin came into the world after Adam disobeyed God. That’s why we do wrong and need Jesus Christ. He came to earth and died in our place on the cross so that we could be free from God’s punishment against our disobedience (Galatians 3:13; Revelation 22:3). But if death happened before people sinned (like evolution says), then Jesus’ suffering would have been meaningless. And God’s original creation—with all that death and suffering—certainly wouldn’t have been “very good” like Genesis 1 says.

That’s why we can’t think of Genesis 1–11 as “fables” or “myths” about the past. Those chapters have a direct impact on everything else in the Bible—and our beliefs about God’s plan of salvation. In other words, our starting point—what we believe about the past—changes everything about our purpose and how we live. We can trust what God says about the past because he was there and he tells us in Genesis how he did it.

Talk It Over

Read Colossians 1:15–23 together as a family. What does this passage teach us about Jesus? How does Paul tie together creation and the cross?
This week as a family, take note of every time you hear or read something about “evolution as a fact.” How many did you notice? Spend time praying for people you know who believe that idea.