When it comes to the spiritual leader named Jesus, everybody has an opinion. Jesus has a polarizing effect on people. You can talk about God and spiritual things all day long, but people don’t always like it when you talk about Jesus.
Who is Jesus? Is He a man? Was He a man? Is He a myth? Or is He God? The answers to this question are as varied as the people who supply them. People have been asking this question for the past two millennia. In fact, Jesus Himself was the first to ask this question. Who did Jesus claim to be?
There have been many so-called “Scholars” who have set out to disprove the existence of the historical God/man named Jesus. But as renowned Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Miami said, “We have more and better historical documentation for Jesus than for any other religious founder (e.g. Zoroaster, Buddha or Muhammad).” Edwin Yamauchi
Hell is the absence of God and every good thing that His presence brings to this world. If hell is the absence of God, then it is also the absence of everything good—joy, pleasure, laughter, music, art, food, water, etc. Can you imagine? God patiently offers us the free gift of eternal life with Him, but when man exercises his free will and chooses not to follow God’s plan, then his choice has determined his fate. John 3:17-18 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
There is an absolute right and wrong that transcends our cultural values and our human experiences. Skeptics push against this idea. This is where the popular saying–“it may be true for you but it’s not true for me”–came from. People are saying that Christians have no right to impose their belief systems about right and wrong on others and that we must maintain a relativistic understanding of morality. Paul addresses this issue and God’s moral law that is written on our hearts in Romans 2.
Society looks at religious beliefs about the origin of the universe as ridiculous and nonsensical. We are often dismissed as ignorant and irrational; and society says that we must keep our secular and sacred lives completely separated! Today, we are going to look at the scientific basis for the claim that there is no God. We will consider several fields of study including: 1) Anthropology, 2) Cosmology, 3) Biology and 4) Astronomy.
Philosophy professor, Ronald Nash, states, “Every philosopher believes that the most serious challenge to theism was, and is, and will continue to be the problem of evil.” This is the issue that we hope to address this morning—“If God is good, why is there so much pain, and suffering, and evil in the world?” Another philosopher, David Hume, poses the problem of evil and sufferance in this way. He says, “Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able to but not willing? Then his is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Why then is there evil?”
The world is divided. The world is confused. The world is antagonistic toward God and His Holy Word. We are not! We believe that the words of Scripture were breathed out by God and “is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT). So let’s take a moment and read God’s Word!
Science and the Bible–can the two coexist? Modern society considers science and faith to be dichotomous (opposed to one another or entirely different). When speaking of science, people talk about “thinking, evidence and rational justification of facts.” On the other hand, people consider faith to be all about “evading evidence and clinging to non-rationality.” Is it possible that the secularists are wrong and that a Christian worldview isn’t less rational but actually more rational?
Lecture 4 – Confirmation of God’s Choice (Genesis 38:1-30)