Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity?

[0:00] So we're going to look at these two questions very briefly. Who? Why? Firstly, who? And we'll be looking at Genesis 1 as our text.

[0:12] Science doesn't answer who. The first thing the Bible does is it tells us its main character. Genesis, the first book, chapter 1, verse 1, page 1.

[0:28] In the beginning, God. I think we can just stop there for a minute. The Bible centrally is not about us.

[0:42] Sorry, Vancouver. The Bible centrally is not about this earth or this universe even. The Bible is written about God.

[0:55] It is his book. It is his self-revelation, unveiling or revealing himself to us.

[1:07] It is, in a sense, his autobiography. His great story of the creation and recreation of everything. And certainly we're invited into that story.

[1:18] But make no mistake, it is God's story. He is the main character. The Bible, firstly, in the first few words, answers the question of who. There is a God, first and foremost.

[1:32] And he is the creator of everything. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The more you study science, the more impossible it seems that all of this just happened.

[1:48] That doesn't happen. As a scientific theory, the Big Bang occurring on its own and creating all that we can see and not see is so unlikely that it should be thrown out as a theory unless there's a greater force at work.

[2:08] At the bottom of the page on your service sheet, page 5, there's a quote from a famous thinker that you will all know the name of. And this is what this person says about science and faith.

[2:22] Bottom of page 5. Another source of conviction in the existence of God, connected with the reason and not with the feelings, impresses me as having much more weight.

[2:34] This follows from the extreme difficulty, or rather impossibility, of conceiving this immense and wondrous universe, including man with his capacity of looking backwards and far into futurity, as a result of blind chance or necessity.

[2:49] When thus reflecting, I feel compelled to look to a first cause, a creator, having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man.

[3:00] And I deserve to be called a theist, which is the opposite of an atheist, one who believes in God. Who would have the audacity to make this statement?

[3:12] A man by the name of Charles Darwin, in his autobiography. He wrote this right before he died. So according to Charles Darwin, who we kind of see paraded as the triumphant figure to prove that Christianity is just useless and outdated.

[3:32] According to this same Darwin, after all of his study, the origin of species points to a creator. A first cause.

[3:42] It's kind of ironic, the title of his book is The Origin of Species, because he answers it in his autobiography by saying, it's a creator, The Origin of Species. The Bible speaks into this truth in a way that science cannot.

[3:58] And so, we read this book, the Bible, to learn about the author of the universe. We study creation to learn the creator. But we also read his autobiography to learn more of him than his creation could ever tell us.

[4:15] So who? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Secondly, why?

[4:27] Why did God create? Why are we here? Why is the world the way it is? In Genesis 1, we are told after each day of creation that it was good.

[4:38] Did you notice that? Good occurs seven times in Genesis 1. So, simply, God created because it was good. Why does an artist paint?

[4:51] God created because he is, in some sense, an artist. And it was his pleasure to conceive and create all that we can see and not see. But God didn't just create for himself.

[5:05] He created for us. Created to give us life. To share and enjoy in his life. We're told in Genesis 1, verses 26, 27, and 28, that the pinnacle of God's creation are human beings.

[5:20] Created in his image. We're made to reflect him. Who are to be many creators like him. These beings are meant to enjoy perfect relationship with God.

[5:31] With one another. And with creation. Listen to Genesis 1, verses 27 and 28. So, God created humanity in his own image. In the image of God, he created them.

[5:44] Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them. It's the first time that word is in this chapter. Blessed. God blesses something.

[5:54] In all of creation, he blesses humanity. God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it. And rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens.

[6:06] And over every living thing that moves on the earth. Human beings are created by God to enjoy him. To enjoy his creation. And to enter into his good life.

[6:17] As they care for creation. We, unique to all of creation, have been blessed. There's an old Sunday school teaching that every kid would have been taught about a generation ago.

[6:29] And every kid would be asked a question. And the question was, What is the chief end of man? It's not really the language we use, so I'll translate it. What's the purpose of life?

[6:40] Why did God create us? Why are we here? Who cares? And the answer that every child would have known, probably without even thinking about it, is the chief end of man is to worship God and to enjoy him forever.

[6:53] So to worship God, with our hands and our feet, with our eyes and our mouths, with our relationships, with our jobs, we're to be mini creators, creating beautiful things, and maintaining a good creation.

[7:07] We're made to worship God. We're also made to enjoy him forever. We're made to enjoy life. Isn't that wonderful? We're made to experience full life.

[7:18] We've been created in God's image, that we might do what we are created to do. Namely, worship and enjoy him. We're only scratching the surface on the Christian story.

[7:30] I'm only allowed to stay in Genesis 1. So you must read the rest of this book to see more of the who and the why. But I want to finish with this. As you read the biblical story, you discover that in Jesus Christ, you find the answer to both who and why.

[7:51] All of the questions of scripture, all of the questions you might bring to a faith, find their answer in one person. Listen to this account that Jesus' best friend on earth wrote about him.

[8:04] This is in John chapter 1. In the beginning was the word, Jesus, and the word was with God and the word was God. That's the who.

[8:16] He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. And now the why. In him was life and the life was the light of men.

[8:31] Jesus later says in John that he has come that you may have life and have it abundantly. Overflowing life. Eternal life. Meaningful.

[8:43] Not random life. Supernaturally selected life. Life as it was intended. A blessed life. That's why Jesus came. That's why God created.

[8:54] That we may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus is God. Who? And Jesus brings God to us. Why?

[9:04] Jesus is light. Who? And Jesus brings light to us. Why? Jesus is life. And he has come that we may enter into full life.

[9:18] Jesus created and has come that we may enter into his recreation. So come. Come with your questions. Come with your worries.

[9:30] Come with your anxieties and doubts and find overflowing, true, eternal life. Come to Jesus. Read his autobiography. And receive exactly what you're looking for.

[9:43] Enter into his story. Even if you're a scientist. Especially if you're a scientist. And find answers to questions that you have always been asking that science can never answer.

[9:55] Let me pray for us.