Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species opened the modern era of evolutionary thinking. The very name of his book suggests that as we look back in time, we should see fewer kinds of animals. Darwin led many people to think that there should be a greater variety of plants and animals today than in the distant past. And, those plants and animals should be more sophisticated today.

But the fossil record tells just the opposite story. The most ancient rocks with identifiable fossils of multicelled creatures in them contain every major family alive today. These creatures just appear fully formed all at once. And both evolutionists and creationists admit that not all the creatures that existed in the day when these fossils were formed have been preserved in the fossil record.

When you think of some of the pictures of strange creatures from the early days of earth history, it seems obvious that, contrary to Darwin's theory, there was a much greater variety of creatures alive in the past than exists today. And generally, they were bigger and stronger than creatures are today. Ferns grew over 100 feet high, and dragonflies had wingspans of six feet. There are fewer kinds of creatures today, and what we have are often smaller and weaker than what we find in the fossil record.

These facts don't present a picture of evolutionary development and improvement at all. It is a picture of a perfect creation corrupted by sin and running down. This is the same flow of history revealed in Scripture. But thankfully, Scripture shows us how in Christ Jesus there is escape from all the effects of sin!

Genesis 1:31

"Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

Prayer: Dear Father; the entire creation groans under the consequences of man's sin. Give me a clearer understanding of the fact that the gospel of forgiveness is a needed message for us in the everyday world, and help me to communicate that to others. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Image: Lepidodendron lycopodioides, Woudloper, PD, Wikimedia Commons.