160717 The God Who Came to Earth

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In order for mankind to know God it was essential that He come in physical form. Nature reveals the presence of God but does not tell us enough about Him. God’s revelation in the natural world is enough to indict people who choose not to believe in Him. But, the natural revelation is not enough to bring people to salvation. It is necessary that we have a personal knowledge of God. Sinful people misinterpret the revelation found in nature and the result is hundreds of false religions. Only the Bible tells the true story of God.

God is everywhere present and therefore He has always been on the earth. However, God did not always show Himself in a human body. Before the creation of the universe God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit agreed not just to create a universe but also to create mankind, male and female, in His own image. After putting man in the garden God allowed temptation to come to Adam. He only had one rule and he broke that. This was true even though…

God had a physical contact with Adam and Eve. Let’s look at Genesis 3:8-11. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Apparently God came into man’s presence in physical form on a daily basis. We are not given details about this statement “the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” We should never think that sin surprised God or that God was somehow caught napping.

Without a doubt God ordained sin because nothing can happen without first passing by God and being allowed. He did not cause sin because “God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). In order for Adam and Eve to be tempted sin had to be present in the angelic world with the fall of Satan and his demons. Even with a daily, physical contact with God, Eve decided to doubt what He had said. Though mankind had been warned that they would die if they ate from the tree of knowledge still Eve, followed by Adam, were willing to experiment. Having been tempted by Satan, and falling to that temptation, the first man and woman experienced shame as they died spiritually.

It is very important for us to recognize that this event actually happened. If we assume, as some do, that this is just a myth then we rule out the possibility of inherited sin. The creation of Adam and Eve is essential to man’s relationship with God. Their sin is equally essential to our understanding that we need a Savior. Throughout the Bible, whenever it is mentioned, the Genesis narrative is upheld as true. For some period of time Adam and Eve had physical contact with God. However…

Rebellion against God broke that physical contact. Let’s read on in Genesis 3:22-24. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

In order to prevent the man and woman from eating of the tree of life and as a result living forever in their sinful condition God gave them the gift of death. (1 Corinthians 3:21-23) They were ushered out of the garden of Eden and, until the great flood, an angel was stationed at the entrance to the garden to keep them from returning.

It is hard to imagine the deep grief that the man and woman experienced when they were separated from God’s physical presence. We know that God continued to relate to them but now it was different. God covered their shame by taking the life of innocent animals in order to clothe them with the skins. These were animals that Adam and Eve knew and had named.

When Adam and Eve produced children two of them, Cain and Abel, brought sacrifices to God. When Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted by God and Abel’s was accepted Cain killed Abel! At that time Cain found that God was still there and was still inquiring about His creation. The result was that Cain was driven even farther away because of his guilt. Man now had a broken relationship…

However, God continued this relationship. Let’s read on and Genesis 5:21-24. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. ²² Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Enoch is an example of the continued contact between God and man. Even though Adam and Eve no longer had that personal contact with God. With the birth of their grandson, Enosh, we are told that “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Certainly this represented prayer but also likely indicated an altar and a blood sacrifice. The generations passed until Enoch was born. Enoch was the father of Methuselah, the longest lived man that we know of. Enoch had a unique relationship to God of all those mentioned in Genesis chapter 5. He was the first man, that we know of, who did not die but instead was transformed into the presence of God. It is noted in Hebrews 11:5 that he was commended as having pleased God. Throughout history God continued contact with his creation…

Until one came that God could call His friend. Let’s look at Genesis 12:1-3. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

We do not know how much time passed from the creation to the flood or from the flood to Abraham. Many, many generations passed by. And then a man was born in the modern day country of Iraq in the city of Ur. We are not told how Abram was approached by God. Just simply that “the Lord said” and Abram heard Him and responded. We are also not told why God chose Abram. As time went by the relationship between Abram and God grew stronger. Until, when Abram was ninety-nine years old God told him that his wife, Sarai, would have a son and they would call his name “Isaac” (Genesis 17:1-17). On that day Abram’s name was changed to Abraham and Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah. We do not know all the things going on here but in the New Testament we are told “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3). One consequence growing out of Abraham’s relationship to God was that Abraham was called God’s friend. I believe the only other person given that lofty title in the Bible was Moses (Exodus 33:11).

Even though Abraham and Sarah had no children at the time of their being chosen by God they were still given the promise that they would produce a great nation. They would have generations of descendants until the fullness of time should come. When that fullness happened God produced a baby. That baby was born in a stable to an apparent peasant girl named Mary. He would be raised in the home of the carpenter in a little town called Nazareth. From such simple beginnings there came one…

In whom God could bless the whole earth. Probably the best-known verse in the entire Bible is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

I doubt that Abram understood at all what God meant in blessing the whole earth.

God didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up so that the entire earth could be blessed. What kind of blessing would this be? John the Baptizer had identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! What greater blessing could there be? That the world’s sin could be taken away. All of history pointed ahead to this simple man! This One was God in the flesh! Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be so forever.

Before the creation of the world a plan was put into motion to provide for man’s salvation. That plan involved Jesus taking on the sin of mankind and nailing it to the cross of Calvary. Thereby…

Demonstrating God’s love for mankind. Now let’s look at Romans 5:8.  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

One of the highest qualities that identify God the Father is “love”. Repeatedly in the Bible we are told that God loves us. In following Him we are to love one another. In fact Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Thus adding us to the list of people that might be called “friends of God”!

The pivotal point of all history was God sending His Son into the world to take away the sin of the world. The whole world today uses a calendar that is based on Jesus. Thousands of years before God sent His Son into the world He had given Abram the promise that in him all the world would be blessed. And…

God’s Blessing was Jesus. Let’s turn to Hebrews 2:14-18. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus, the Blessing of God, had to be fully identified with man. He took flesh and blood and was tempted in every way that we are. The plan was to defeat Satan on his own grounds. In order for that to happen He had to be like us in every way except for sin.

Jesus was tempted and had no sin therefore we can understand that temptation itself is not sin. Sin comes when we follow the temptation toward its conclusion.

So we can turn to Philippians 2:8-11. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One night, outside Bethlehem, some shepherds heard an angel saying, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) The God who came down to earth did so as a little baby in a manger rather than a conquering King on a white horse!

Clearly, Jesus came into the world as God! 700 years before Christ, Isaiah had proclaimed, “to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God…” (Isaiah 9:6). In the New Testament there are hundreds of verses that call Jesus “God” and “Lord” as well as other titles of deity. In Him all the fullness God was pleased to dwell. At his birth he was called “Immanuel” which means, “God with us”! We can put our faith and trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. Have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Today can be your day of salvation.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

160710 The God Who Is There

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

I find it very hard to comprehend how people of apparent high intelligence can rule out the existence of God. That is an entirely unprovable position. In order to rule out the existence of God one would have to know everything there is to know. No one can say that they have enough knowledge to be positive that God does not exist outside their level of knowledge. One only has to look at the created order to recognize that there is a design and where there is a design there must be a designer. Let’s look at some of the evidences that proclaim God’s existence.

Let me begin by saying that everyone, everywhere, have a deep inner sense that God exists, that they are His creation, and that He is the Creator. In the first chapter of the book of Romans we are told that even the Gentile unbelievers knew God because what could be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:19-23)

The Bible tells us that it is the “fool” who says in his heart “there is no God” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). It is the wicked person who first curses and renounces the Lord and repeatedly thinks “there is no God” (Psalm 10:3-4). Since we don’t want to be considered fools or wicked people. Let’s look at some of the things that encourage us to believe that God exists. First of all…

The created universe screams of God’s existence. Let me read Psalm 19:1-3. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. ² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. ³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.

I recently found a website that gave a lot of comprehensive material on the evidence for God. That website is www.everystudent.com and it contains several blogs. The one I looked at asks “Is there a God?”

I will be taking several things from that website and would like to give them the recognition they deserve.

Examples of God’s design probably are inexhaustible. Let’s look at the earth. The earth’s size and gravity is absolutely perfect for holding a thin layer of nitrogen and oxygen. If the earth were smaller it would be like the planet Mercury with no atmosphere. If the earth were larger its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter, and be impossible to live on. Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The earth is located the right distance from the sun so that we do not freeze or melt! The rotation speed of the earth allows its entire surface to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

Our moon is the perfect size and distance from the earth. It causes ocean tides and stimulates the circulation of ocean water so that it will not become stagnant. Most of the surface of the earth is covered with water. No living thing that we know of can live without it. In fact, about two thirds of the human body is water. Water freezes from the top down and floats so that life can exist in the winter. Our earth has a system that causes water to evaporate, leaving the minerals behind, and forms clouds that move by the wind to spread water over the land. It is a system of purification and supply that maintains life on this planet.

The human brain processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain processes more than 1 million messages a second and makes all kinds of decisions without getting your permission. Such as when to breathe and when to blink. The human brain protects the eye. The eye can distinguish 7 million colors. It has automatic focusing and simultaneously handles 1.5 million messages.

Evolution, focusing on mutation and change cannot fully explain the source of the eye or the brain. Especially when you have to start with nonliving matter that then produces living organisms. Another evidence for the existence of God is…

The created universe had a beginning.

For a long time the universe was considered eternal. In recent years, scientists have come to the conclusion that our universe began with a Big Bang. At some time in the past, billions of years ago, the scientific conclusion is that “something” came into being from “nothing”. First of all, let me say, “something” never comes from “nothing”. At least not without a Creator! When asked, scientists usually admit that there is no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and the resulting production of matter. The Bible keeps it simple, look at Genesis 1:3. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. “God said” and “there was light”!

Again and again, in the first verses of the Bible we find the phrase, “And God said”! When God spoke, the next thing in creation appeared and it was good.

Not only did the universe have a beginning it also had a “Beginner”! Another evidence of the existence of a Creator. Is the fact that…

The created universe follows certain laws of order. Let’s look at the Bible again in Genesis 8:22. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.

God ordained that there would be a certainty in life. Day after day gravity remains consistent, the earth rotates at the same speed all the time. The speed of light never changes whether on earth or in the galaxies far from us. Why is the universe orderly and reliable?

"The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence.” Dinesh D'Souza, What's So Great about Christianity: Regnery Publishing, Inc, 2007, chapter 11

No one can explain why nature follows consistent mathematical patterns. These rules that remain always the same are in themselves a kind of miracle. Also…

DNA is a program that calls for a programmer. In every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code that tells the cell how to act. A computer program is made up of 1’s and zeros. The DNA code is made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. There are 3 billion of these letters in every human cell!

DNA tells the cell what to do in the same way that your programming tells your computer what to do or tells your telephone how to ring. Each cell in your body has an instruction manual that is passed on from generation to generation. This is so amazing because these are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that give instruction. Chemicals that provide a detailed code showing exactly how the person’s body should develop.

There is no natural or biological explanation for how this happened apart from a Creator. In order for DNA to exist there had to be someone who intentionally constructed it. Now let’s look at the fact that…

God constantly reaches out to His people. Listen while I read Psalm 53:2. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

The Bible everywhere assumes that God exists. From the first verse of the Bible, “in the beginning, God” to the end of the book of Revelation, “Surely I am coming soon.” The existence of God is everywhere proclaimed in His Word.

The world around us gives an abundant evidence of God’s existence. In Romans 1:19-20 we find, “ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

“Nevertheless, it is man himself, created in the image of God, who most abundantly bears witness to the existence of God: whenever we meet another human being, we should (if our minds are thinking correctly) realize that such an incredibly intricate, skillful, communicative living creature could only have been created by an infinite, all-wise Creator…

“in one sense everything that exists gives evidence of God’s existence. For those who have eyes to see and evaluate the evidence, every leaf on every tree, every blade of grass, every star in the sky, and every other part of creation all cry out continuously, “God made me! God made me! God made me!” Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology p. 142. God has surrounded us with the evidence of His existence. And, He is constantly reaching out to touch us and bring us to Himself.

On the sixth day of creation God created man in His own image. God created male and female and after that God looked at all of His creation and said that it was very good. We don’t know how long Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the garden. We do know that some time passed. Days, weeks, years! We just don’t know how long! What we do know is that God spent time with these amazing creations of His. But one day, when He came into the Garden, Adam and Eve were not eager to see Him because they had violated the one rule that God had given them. All their unborn children died when they ate that fruit in the garden. God had every right at that point to simply wipe them out and start over again. However, God already had a plan that included how He would rescue His people. And…

Jesus is the highest evidence of God’s existence. Listen while I read John 1:1-4. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

When I began this message I wondered which passage of Scripture I should use to talk about Jesus. Finally, I settled on John 1:1-4. The entire Bible talks about Jesus. We know this because, when He was walking along the road to Emmaus “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27) All the Scriptures speak of Jesus.

Jesus is different from all the other religious leaders the world has produced. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Without hesitation Jesus did so identify Himself!

He said God exists and you’re looking at Him! When Jesus spoke to His Father in heaven He was not sending some long-distance message He was speaking from a position of very close unity. He claimed attributes belonging only to God. He forgave people of their sins, which only God can do. He freed people from the habits connected to their sin, which only God can do. Jesus did not say follow my teaching and you’ll be okay. He said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of His existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the hunger in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ. All of these things tell us that God exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? The greatest proof that God exists is the love of God in Christ Jesus.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.