Bone of Contention

Romans 1:18-20 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Our small group that meets every Wednesday night at our church is going through a video series by the Institute of Creation Research, titled Unlocking the Mystery of Genesis, which takes a scientific examination of the evidence made known and clearly seen in nature. This last week we found that there is a way of digging up the evidence and finding the truth because fossils found in the rock layers around the world are like snapshots of the past that give us a glimpse of the abundant life that once populated the earth. Fossils are the only hard evidence that can help us understand what life existed in the distant past. What secrets do they reveal, and what can science really tell us?

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Evolutionary models for the fossil record predict: (1) change in organisms through time, (2) primitive organisms giving rise to complex organisms, and (3) gradual development of new organisms, producing transitional forms. The fossil record is composed of dead plants and animals that lie buried in rock formations in the sedimentary layers, or strata, of the earth. When we look at which fossils are buried in which layer, we supposedly get a picture of how life evolved slowly and gradually, from the simplest organisms buried in the deepest layers to more complex and supposedly more recent organisms, with transitional forms in between.

Nehemiah 9:6 “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”

But what is found in the fossil record is:

(1) Abrupt appearances – they appear suddenly in the fossil record (primarily in the Cambrian Period), and the highly complex systems that enable their complicated and intricate abilities have no ancestors in the fossil record. Fossils universally provide evidence of rapid burial with extraordinary conditions and even agonizing death. Think about what happens to a fish when it dies. It either floats to the surface or sinks to the bottom, where it decays and /or is eaten by scavengers. But fish fossils are so carefully preserved that even their scales and organs are undamaged – there was no time for decay and bacterial actions.

(2) Complexity of organisms at all layers – the earth is covered with layers of sedimentary rock that were formed from the sediment deposited by enormous water and mudflows. Those water-deposited layers contain countless fossils that appear suddenly and fully developed and formed.

(3) stasis – no change in organisms’ defining characteristics - there is complexity, diversity and stability in the fossil record with no transitional forms. Clams are in every layer of the fossil record and resemble the clams still alive today. What the fossil record doesn’t show is equally as important as what it does show. The missing link is still missing.  

Genesis 7:19-21 “And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.”

The evidence matches the written history of the Genesis Flood. There is a “bone of contention” in the fossil for evolution and that’s something to think about.

.In Christ, Brian