Human Evolution in God's Perspective. Writer: Emmanuel Roger Lingom Original Date: Dec 23, 2018 Updated: May 4, 2025

The theory of human evolution is often rejected by many Christians as a godless idea rooted in Darwinism. While Charles Darwin did not claim humans evolved directly from apes in The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, his broader implications have led to such interpretations. Many Christians reference Genesis 2:7, where it says that “man became a living soul,” to refute the idea of humanity emerging from lower life forms such as fish or apes.

But let us go beyond Darwin. If we take the word evolution to mean development or transformation over time, then an important question arises: Was God's plan for humanity to remain in its initial created state—naked and unashamed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:25)? Or did He intend for human beings to grow and be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, as Romans 8:29 declares?

If God's purpose from the beginning was to have “many sons brought to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), conformed to the image of the resurrected Christ, then Adam—though created in God's image (Genesis 1:27)—was not the final product, but the beginning of a process. Therefore, the transformation—or spiritual evolution—of humanity is not only plausible, but essential to God's plan.

I remember when I first spoke about this as a teenager. I was told not to teach “heresy.” I stayed silent, frustrated by a system that seemed to treat divine revelation as closed and finalized. But Daniel 12:4 prophesied that in the last days, “knowledge shall increase.” We see this happening in science and technology—homes are printed in 24 hours, holograms perform live—but in the Church, new insights are often dismissed instead of tested in the light of Scripture.

Yes, God completed the creation work in Genesis and saw that it was good (Genesis 1:31), but that does not mean He was finished. A farmer says “it is good” after sowing, not because the harvest has come, but because the seed is in place. Adam was the seed, not the harvest.

I grew up in Cameroon, where farming is part of daily life. When we sow corn, we say, “It is good,” knowing that the seed will grow into a fruitful harvest. Similarly, Jesus said in John 12:24 that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone—but if it dies, it bears much fruit. This speaks not only of His death, but of the principle of transformation from seed to maturity.

God planted the seed of humanity in Eden (Genesis 2:8), and in the fullness of time, Jesus came—not simply to fix Adam’s failure, but to fulfill God's plan for the evolution of man into the image of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Jesus is not merely a “second Adam” in terms of starting over; He is the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit—the destination of humanity’s spiritual journey.

It’s crucial to understand: Adam was made innocent, but Jesus was proven righteous. Adam lived in an environment of peace and perfection, while Jesus overcame sin, death, and temptation. Adam lost what he had; Jesus secured what we must become. Adam was the prototype of natural man; Jesus is the prototype of glorified man. This is why Paul says, “As we have borne the image of the earthly man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49).

In God’s plan, the Cross was not an afterthought—it was foreordained “before the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). This means the fall of man didn’t surprise God; rather, it was part of the process through which the seed (humanity) would grow into mature sons of God. Jesus came not only to justify sinners, but to multiply sons who share in His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

We often focus on justification and sin, but God’s vision is larger: to transform humanity into His likeness—to reproduce Christ in us. This is the true aim of “human evolution” from God’s perspective: not biological, but spiritual and eternal. The seed planted in Genesis (2:8) will be harvested in Revelation (14:14-16). Between those two gardens lies the cross, the tomb, and the resurrection—God’s revolution that leads to our evolution.

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