Henri and I were young lawyers standing in a crowded suburban city-bound train heading for the same law office when he said: ‘Life is not a dress rehearsal’. As quickly as that notion had casually arisen it disappeared off my radar for years to come, having no impact on me then.
Was Henri right?
If the ideology of atheism and its junior offshoot the mindset of evolution are correct then Henri’s statement was correct.
The foundation of his statement remains hugely relevant today strongly influencing our personal thinking and attitudes and those in society and politics, and even court sentencing policy. But sadly that foundation remains largely unnoticed today.
The sacredness of human life (of the murder victim) and the unique value of the individual (in the abortion debate, the developing baby not being part of the mother’s body) are seriously at stake.
Evolution and the creation account are mutually exclusive world views.
Most people: have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of His hands. (Isaiah chapter 5 verse 12).
If on the other hand Henri made a fundamentally flawed statement (philosophical only and factually incorrect), then the creation account recorded in Scripture is true unless it is seriously suggested that earth was initially inhabited by visitors from outer space.
No he wasn’t right
Now decades later I know that Henri’s then world view is incorrect. Nor is it the view of Him who should know, God having performed the staggeringly intricate and amazingly powerful act of creating.
The first five words of the Bible say it all: In the beginning God created. They tell us the when, Who and what about life on earth.
If you were Satan…
having his massive power to deceive and hating God who, because of your rebellion exercised His vastly superior power to unceremoniously throw you out of heaven, historically where would you target your war against the Creator?
Although there was never a time when Jesus was not and knowing He was there at the beginning of world history participating in creation, you’d have to start before He took on human flesh at Bethlehem. You’d have to start at the beginning.
To only attack the historicity of Jesus would not inflict maximum damage. Such warfare would ‘merely’ undermine the later Biblical teaching about salvation through Him alone including regarding our soul, heaven, hell, the cross and His/the believer’s resurrection.
To attack creationism is exactly how the “Great Deceiver” (Jesus’ description of Satan) has blighted mankind from the beginning.
The Old Testament (OT) is not complete without the New Testament (NT) and the NT does not make sense without the OT. Satan knows that.
Most effective starting point
The way to inflict ultimate damage is to undermine God’s teaching about the beginning, simultaneously (without more) undermining His revelation about salvation through Jesus alone, thereby avoiding the horror of endless hell. But before earthly Jesus there was nevertheless always available a pathway to heaven.
In the physical world the most effective way to destroy a building is to attack its foundation. Likewise with God, creation, the Bible, Jesus and salvation.
Good news
But most comforting good news is that whilst Satan inflicts massive widespread damage in the hearts and minds of billions of people (both the spiritual battleground and desired outcome) he can never fully succeed in his destructive scheme.
He desires to hurt God by securing complete victory in his spiritual attack, but Jesus has already won the battle and Satan knows it. Whilst judgement has already been entered it has simply not yet been fully executed by the Judgement Creditor.
Every believer is already fully embraced within the (currently) only partially experienced divine victory. Full execution of judgement is solely within the domain of God the Father.
Satan knows he has already lost the fight between good-v-evil and he is: filled with fury because he knows that his time is short. (Revelation chapter 12 verse 12). He knows that unavoidably hovering over him is execution of that divine judgement.
In the meantime he is on God’s short leash somewhere between Genesis and Revelation busily causing mayhem by encouraging uncaring individual, domestic, societal and international greed, selfishness and irresponsibility, prompting alcohol and drug abuse, degraded television/internet footage, and at the base of it all: godless evolutionary thinking.
Half-baked nonsense
Amazingly, some weak ignorant Christians actually espouse evolution.
But it is not meaningful, sensible or knowledgeable to claim:-
- to believe that the Creator God made man in His own image (Genesis chapter 1 verse 26);
- that our new self is being renewed ‘in knowledge’ in the image of its Creator (Colossians chapter 3 verse 10); and
- know that every Christian should commit himself to their faithful Creator (1 Peter chapter 4 verse 19), and yet
- believe in and promote the meaningless concept of ‘atheistic theism or theistic atheism’, better known as theistic evolution.
Does the candle of life simply burn out of wick?
Is it correct then that life is not a dress rehearsal? The answer lies: in the beginning.
Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities…have been clearly ‘seen’, being understood from what has been ‘made’ so that men are without excuse. (Romans chapter 1 verse 20).
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they poor forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. (Psalm 19 verses 1&2).
Atheism and its toxic offspring: evolutionary thinking did not bring that about and cannot explain it. The very existence of the endless heavens easily seen on a clear starry night and the smooth functioning of planet earth compellingly point to the Superpower that atheism stubbornly and scoffingly denies, whom we know to be God the creator.
Gavin Lawrie is a retired Barrister and Solicitor from Tweed Heads NSW Australia and author of the book: 'THE EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION: Uncovering The Faulty Science Of Dawkins' Attack On Creationism'. He is married to Jan with two adult children and they are grandparents.
Gavin Lawrie's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/gavin-lawrie.html