Father, make us good soil, that your word might come into our lives, that we will listen with an honest and true heart,
and that as your word comes into our lives, we will bear much fruit in our daily lives for your glory.
Father, this is our prayer, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, you can see from the screen up there that I'm beginning a sermon series on Genesis 1-11.
And if you're not that familiar with the Bible, Genesis 1-11 has two different creation stories.
It has the story of Adam and Eve.
It has the story of Cain and Abel.
It has the story of Noah and his ark and the flood.
It has the story of the Tower of Babel.
So, there's nothing controversial at all in the 11 chapters, first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis.
There's nothing in there that would cause a biologist or a physicist or just a TV presenter to squirm.
So, it's a very, very challenging series.
It's a really, really foundational series.
A few weeks ago, I was, I think maybe it was even last week, I mentioned a movie that I saw on Netflix called Calvary.
It's a very, very thought-provoking film.
And I think I told you that if you watch the film, make sure you don't miss the first minute.
Because if you miss the first minute, then nothing in the movie is going to make sense.
And I think that we can actually say the same thing about the first 11 chapters of Genesis, especially the first four.
That if you miss it, you're not going to understand anything else in the story that's in the Bible.
Well, yet because of the controversy surrounding, well, the creation of the world.
Because of the controversies, a lot of us are very uncomfortable reading it, very uncomfortable thinking about it.
And so, we're going to look at it.
We're going to look at it this week and for quite a few weeks in the future.
But we're going to begin, well, I'm going to tell you about something.
And this will help you to understand a little bit of the controversy.
Some of you already feel it in your bones.
I think it was last May, one of the other hats that I wear, apart from being the rector of this church,
is I'm the chair of a yearly apologetics conference.
And a year ago, or in this past May, we had an opportunity to bring in Os Guinness,
who's written many popular Christian books.
And so, we, the apologetics group, we teamed up with the main atheist organization in Ottawa
to have a conversation, a dialogue around the meaning of life.
And so, they, the atheist organization, they brought up their champion.
They brought up a philosophy professor from the University of Toronto.
And we had Os Guinness, and they sat right there on the stage, and they had a conversation.
And if you go to the Dig and Delve website, you can see it if you're interested.
One of the things about it being here in the Ottawa Little Theatre is,
because I was, I'm both the rector of this church and the head of this committee,
when we approached the Ottawa Little Theatre, they gave us a better rate to be able to use this facility.
The downside for me was that I had to be one of the last people to leave.
So, it was quite late on Sunday night that I finally left this place.
But I was standing up there in the corner of the lobby,
and about 30 of the keenest atheists were all at that end of the lobby.
And they were just, they were blowing off steam and venting.
I don't think their guy did a very good, I mean, he did a very, very, very good job on one hand,
but I don't know how convincing it would have been.
But one of the things that they kept going on and on about,
because I couldn't help listening to it,
they went on and on and on and on about how evolution is scientifically proven,
and it proves atheism.
How you cannot believe in evolution and not be an atheist.
And they went on and on and on about it.
And I just, you know, I just started listening to them and letting them blow off steam.
So, I could just picture that if we had advertised that I was going to talk about this today,
starting into Genesis chapter 111,
they would just be rubbing their hands with glee that they could come here
and try to see how I'm going to bend myself in knots
to try to explain how plants were created on the third day,
but the sun was created on the fourth day.
And how am I going to twist myself into a pretzel
to try to explain how day and night begins with the first day,
but the sun isn't created until the fourth day.
And they would be sitting here with glee,
waiting for me to try to explain these things,
which makes me think about basketball.
And I'm not changing the topic.
No?
What about those raptors?
Let's talk about something safe.
No, it makes me think about basketball.
And here's how I think about it.
In 1998, I know that was a long, long, long, long, long time ago.
And as soon as I say basketball,
some of you sort of go,
okay, but just think about this for a second.
Try to keep your attention on this.
In 1998, there was the championship game.
It was the sixth game, the championship game.
The Chicago Bulls were up three to two.
They had been underdogs throughout the entire series,
but they're up three games to two.
They have a chance to win the championship in Utah,
which is where they were playing the opposition.
And on the 1998, 97-98 Chicago Bulls,
who was the main player on that team?
The great Michael Jordan,
the greatest basketball player in the history of the sport.
And I think he was only 34 years old.
He was at the pinnacle of his fitness,
his competitive edge, his ability.
Okay?
That Michael Jordan's on the team.
So when, I don't know what they said in the room,
but you can just imagine Phil Jackson,
he gets the 15 guys together who are on the Chicago Bulls.
They're all in there.
They're going to go out into the stadium.
All the Utah fans are all ready to go, boo.
And they have, you know,
and the coach brings the 15 guys around.
And here's the question.
When the coach is talking to the team,
does he have the basketball?
And he says, okay, guys,
I mean, we all have to play really hard.
We all, it's going to be a team effort to win,
but we all know who needs to step up
and whose broad shoulders needs to carry us in this game.
Who we need to give the game ball to?
Keith Booth.
And you go, who the heck is Keith Booth?
I had to look him up.
I had to look him up because every team
has somebody at the very, very, very, very, very end of the bench.
Like no team would say, you know, we have Michael Jordan.
We have these other six guys.
We won't bother having anybody else on the bench.
No, no.
They have a chance to have 15 guys.
They always put 15 guys.
Who's Keith Booth?
Keith Booth, that season, played in only six games.
And every time he played, he played less than three minutes.
And guess how many points he got in the entire season?
Ten points.
So here's the question.
Would the coach say, I'm going to give the ball to Keith Booth
because Keith Booth, he has to win this game for us.
No way.
He'd take the ball.
He'd say, Michael, this is your team.
Michael Jordan, this is your team.
Do what you got to do.
And those of you who know basketball,
highest watched basketball game in the history of the NBA
was that game.
And it's considered to be one of the greatest games of all time.
Michael Jordan was on fire.
And with 5.8 seconds left in the game,
he sunk a basket that won it.
It wasn't Keith Booth.
I don't even know if Keith Booth played.
So here's the question.
We have this huge controversy around science and evolution and the Bible.
And we have many, many, many, many people in our culture
who would just say that if you,
they just understand that because of evolution,
Christianity cannot possibly be true.
It's a laughable option.
So why, if this is such a big controversy,
would when it comes to trying to figure this out,
would we want to say, you know what?
Let's give the ball to Moses.
I want to give the ball to Jesus.
Like, doesn't that just make more sense?
Like, if the whole Christian faith is going to crumble and fall
on how science and how the existence of God and all of that,
how that ties in,
like, why would we want to give it to Genesis 1 or Genesis 2?
Why would we want to say,
we want your broad shoulders to carry this battle?
No!
I want to give the ball to Jesus.
I want his broad shoulders to carry this.
So we are going to look at Genesis,
we're going to look at one verse in Genesis today,
but before we do that,
we're going to listen to Jesus,
or at least one whom Jesus taught.
So it would be a great help to me if you got out your Bibles
and we're going to look at John chapter 1, verses 1 to 4.
Because you know what?
If we want to try to figure out the relationship of science
and the Christian faith,
if we want to figure out whether origin matters
and how things got created and came to be
and the Christian faith,
we want to look to Jesus.
I want to look to Jesus on this matter.
I want his broad shoulders to carry this.
I don't want to...
You know, our Jewish friends can say it's all on Moses' shoulders,
but I'm a follower of Jesus.
I want to go to Jesus.
So let's look at John chapter 1, verses 1 to 4.
And some of you might say,
well, George, the words that you're about to read here,
I know the Bible, it's not words from Jesus.
And you're right, it's not words from Jesus.
But, you know, this...
Why does anybody read John's gospel?
Because of Jesus.
Who was John?
He was the beloved disciple.
He was the one who sat closest to Jesus' heart.
Jesus had 12 disciples.
And out of 12 disciples,
he had three that were even the closest disciples.
And out of those three,
he had one who was closest of all.
And who was that who was closest of all?
It was the guy who wrote these words.
And I just suggest to you, friends,
that if you want to hear
Jesus' thinking and teaching on this subject,
that what you're hearing when you read the gospel of John
is not only when you see the red letters,
if you have a red letter Bible,
or are you hearing Jesus,
you're hearing Jesus all the way through it.
Jesus is the one who taught John.
And here's what it says.
John chapter 1, verses 1 to 4.
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him,
and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life,
and the life was the light of men and women.
Very, very simple, very, very profound.
And it's just very, very, very clearly stated.
I mean, the word here,
it's translating a Greek word,
and it's doing something which both ties in
what we call the Old Testament
and the pagan thought of the ancient world
that they all, in their own different ways,
they had this basic sense that God was a God who spoke,
that there was a type of order and a structure.
And for the pagans, it was abstract.
And for the Old Testament,
it was this idea that God's Word
would just cause things to be.
And it was just a very simple,
sort of a mystical and profound way
of John gently introducing that Jesus was God.
And so it says,
in the beginning was the Word.
And we're going to see if you keep reading
that it's Jesus that he's referring to.
In other words,
that it's not just some type of abstract principle
that brings order to the universe,
and it's not just a sort of a God
just merely speaking.
All the way through the Old Testament,
there's these hints in the Old Testament
that there's only one God,
yet God somehow is something like Trinity.
It's all the way through the Old Testament,
constant hints.
And John, after knowing Jesus,
and John, who also did not believe
that Jesus was actually going to die,
and John, who did not believe
that Jesus would rise from the dead,
but John, who was a witness
for over 40 days beyond any shadow of a doubt
that the grave was empty,
John knew that the disciples
did not steal the body.
John knew that Jesus had defeated death,
and that which caused death,
and had risen from the dead.
And John is completely and utterly transformed by this.
He comes to understand this,
and now he looks,
as he's reading the Scriptures,
he reads the Old Testament,
he sees all these plurals
referred to a singular God.
And he now makes,
in this very, very powerful way
that would speak to his pagan audience
in the beginning.
Not that matter is in the beginning,
not that energy is in the beginning,
not that there's many gods in the beginning,
not that there's chaos in the beginning,
but in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
It means that in the beginning, God.
He was in the beginning with God.
And then it says it two ways
in one very powerful verse.
All things were made through him.
And then just to make sure we get the point,
and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life.
And the life was the light of men.
Let me tell you,
if some of you are thinking,
okay, George is just going to try to dodge this bullet,
Jesus is very clear.
The teaching of the New Testament is very clear.
If you could put up the first point, Andrew,
the uncreated God created all things,
visible and invisible, out of nothing.
That's the biblical teaching.
The uncreated God created all things,
visible and invisible, out of nothing.
You want to know something really surprising?
Two things.
When I was at the Anglican Church of Canada,
I think most pastors, not all,
but most pastors would just casually understand
that evolution is completely and utterly true,
as it's taught at the University of Ottawa
in high school textbooks,
understood by CTV news anchors and interviewers.
That's completely and utterly true,
and they think it was completely and utterly irrelevant
to the Christian faith.
In other words,
they would probably be very uncomfortable
with the atheist club,
saying that the teaching that you get in high school
and university means that atheism must be true.
Here's the surprising thing.
Jesus agrees with the atheist club.
Not that God doesn't exist,
but if you think that some other process,
just by matter and cause and effect and chance,
that that's created human life,
if you believe that, then atheism is true.
Jesus actually believes that part
of what the atheist club was saying.
Isn't that a bit surprising?
Jesus and the atheist club would team up
to make the Anglican Church of Canada pastors
very uncomfortable,
and maybe many of us.
It's a very surprising thing.
Now, some of you are going to say,
George, you've actually made things worse for me.
Like, it was all right, George,
if I could just say,
okay, I believe in Jesus,
and I believe in evolution,
and I understand, by the way,
that how it's normally talked about
that you just hold those two things together
and just trust that somehow they work together,
and I really understand that,
and I don't really want to make you uncomfortable
just for the sake of making you uncomfortable,
but I want to share with you
something I learned from watching Star Trek.
You heard me right.
Something I learned from watching Star Trek.
I don't know if Andrew was going to do this or not.
It's actually,
I learned it from watching Q.
Q.
You weren't going to put up,
oh, yeah.
This guy helped me understand the Bible better.
Q is in three of the Star Trek series,
if I remember correctly,
and I'm not going to try to tell you very much about Q
because I know there's people here
who know an awful lot,
I would maybe even say too much about Star Trek,
and I won't say very much
before you all say,
no, no, that's not how it works, you know,
and then you all get into an argument,
no, no, no, but in the Voyager,
he does that,
so we're not even going to go there, okay?
But here's the thing about Q.
I remember this is a long, long time ago.
I was watching an episode,
and afterwards,
I don't know,
you know,
I'm out on a run,
and my mind is sort of just in neutral,
and all of a sudden,
it sort of struck me
because one of the things that happens
when you watch Q
in a Star Trek episode
is that he can create things out of nothing,
and it just was part of a seamless thing in the show,
and so he could do something
like create an entire starship enterprise
or a planet out of nothing,
and so these guys,
data,
you know,
the whatever he was,
the machine that's the science guy,
you don't have,
I should have said you put up a picture of data,
but there you go.
Anyway,
he got Q,
and they would go,
and they'd try to say,
you know,
is it real?
Is it just an imagination?
Is it an hallucination?
Is it just in my mind?
But it's real,
and I don't know if the chair
is made out of leather,
or I don't know,
I don't know,
probably some animal
and some odd star
that's the skin from it,
but I mean,
they would try to do
all of their scientific tests
to see if it's real,
and it's real,
and even though Q
had just made it
a moment before,
well,
I mean,
I guess in theory,
data could have said,
well,
the leather in this chair
came from a,
it's from a cow,
it's probably from a cow
that was raised in Montana
and was cured here
and cured that,
and it has a whole backstory
and a whole history,
and yet the viewer knows
that Q just made it
out of nothing,
and I was out on a run,
and one day it hit me,
I mean,
nine months,
it was definitely not the case
that they were trying
to do anything about Q
and the Bible,
but channeling my inner Tim Keller,
I want to tell you
about the true and greater Q,
the true and greater Q,
and,
you know,
you listen to this again,
in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God,
he was in the beginning with God,
all things were made through him,
and without him
was not anything made
that was made,
in him was life,
and the life
was the light of men,
Andrew,
could you put up
the next point,
please?
God did not make creation
a stage set,
he made creation
with real height
and depth
and a vast backstory,
that's what the doctrine
of creation
teaches us,
the doctrine of creation
just by,
and by observation,
we understand
that God did not make
something like a stage set,
a couple of weeks ago
I had one of my
granddaughters here,
she's six years old,
children by the way
are not allowed
on the stage
after the service,
okay,
but I knew that she was
a bit fascinated,
it was a different set,
but she was a bit
fascinated by it,
and I said,
you want to come up
on the stage
and see,
like,
did they make
a house over there,
like,
is there a room
through those doors,
and she was curious,
I mean,
I think she knew
what was there,
so we went up the stairs,
we walked around,
and she came
and looked behind things,
and in case you
hadn't thought of it,
that isn't actually
a room,
behind it,
there's nothing,
and God could have
made a world
like that,
couldn't he have?
But here's the thing,
if let's say,
now,
I don't know
if you knew this,
but Orthodox Jewish people,
sometime this year,
it's the year 5777,
because our Orthodox Jewish friends
have tried to go through
a certain reading
of the Old Testament
to figure out
when God created the earth,
and they date the year
from how many years
creation's been going,
but,
you know,
whatever it is,
and so whether God,
however it is,
let's say God is like
a two and greater cue
that he creates
everything out of nothing,
and he can create it
all just like this
in the blink of an eye,
he can take a day
if he wants,
he can do it
in the blink of an eye,
but he creates all things
completely out of nothing,
and let's say,
why am I losing my mic here?
Is my battery dying?
Okay,
there we go.
Sorry about that.
So just imagine for a second
that you were able,
that God allowed it,
that we could take
the best astronomers,
the best astrophysicists,
the best geologists,
the best biologists,
and the best geologists,
I don't know if I mentioned that,
and go back in time,
and God allowed them
to stand in the Garden of Eden
five minutes after he had created
the earth,
and these people,
these men and women,
with all of their,
the best,
the stuff that they have,
the best stuff that they have
now to test things,
and they come,
and they stand there
with Adam and Eve
five minutes after God
has created everything.
So here's the first thing.
If you stood there
with Adam and Eve
five minutes after
he's created them out of nothing,
if they looked up at night,
would they see a star?
Yes, they would see a star.
But what do we know?
I think it's 4.2 light years
is the closest star.
It would really mean
that you should be waiting
4.2 years to see the first star,
but there'd be stars in the heaven.
There'd be stars in the sky,
and if they could bring
a chainsaw
and cut down a tree,
there'd be rings in the tree.
But even though the tree
is only five minutes old,
there'd be rings in the tree.
Why?
Because if there wasn't,
it wouldn't be a tree.
And the geologists
would be able to go and say,
you know,
that mountain's brand new.
That mountain's only,
you know,
whatever,
so many million years old,
and that's a really old mountain.
And they would be able
to go to another place
and say,
that's a brand new river.
And they'd look at another river,
maybe in somewhere like England,
where it goes like this,
and they'd say,
that's a really old river.
And it would only be
five minutes old.
Why?
Because the doctrine of creation,
God could have created
a universe that was like
a stage set
with nothing behind it.
It was all just surface.
But he didn't create
anything like that.
He created,
he created,
he created
a creation
with real heights
and real depths
and a vast backstory.
And that's what he created
out of nothing.
And I would actually say,
ultimately,
he created it out of nothing
in an instant.
Or at least in the book of John,
it doesn't tell you
how long it took,
but it's very clear
that why,
I mean,
why does he need time to do it?
I mean,
did he go up and say to Jesus,
whoa, gosh,
this mountain's going to take me
a week to work at.
No.
He just creates it.
And so,
if you could put up
the next thing,
the biblical doctrine
of creation
means that we cannot know
when God created.
We can only begin
to map creation's
heights and depths
and explore its backstory.
We can know
that a designer
made things
out of nothing.
We can know that.
Not only because,
as I'm going to show you
in a moment,
it's actually reasonable,
but we know it
because that's what
Jesus tells us.
And we know it
that it's the wisest
alternative
out of any other idea
to account for
all of reality
is that
a creator,
designer,
God,
made all things
out of nothing.
That he has
no rivals.
And you know what?
You know,
in a couple of weeks
we're going to get to it.
We're going to talk about
how,
you know,
in one of the stories
how human beings
are told to be fruitful,
to be multiply,
to care for the earth
and tend the earth.
And you know what?
It's because scientists
and physicists
can look at the planets
and look at light
and how it relates
to gravity
and how it relates
to this and that,
that they can come up with
that's all part
of the knowledge
that helps them
to figure out
how they can use light
to send it down a cable
to send information.
And it's because
they can look at
how biology works
and how chemistry works
and they can reverse engineer
different things
that they can figure out
new drugs
and they can figure out
better fertilizers
and they can,
they can,
they can figure out
how to care,
they can figure out
how to,
they can look at formations
and rock formations
and how the backstory works
and they can figure out
where they can find gold
or where they can find oil.
It's all part,
the backstory
and the heights
and depths of creation
which we can look at
with our minds
and try to understand
the heights
and understand the depths
and map how things work
and that helps us
to be,
well,
to make vaccines
and provide food
and medicine
and to cause things
to flourish.
So,
you see,
if we,
if we grab this story
and the beginning
was the Word
and the Word
was with God
and the Word
was God,
He was in the beginning
with God,
all things were made
through Him
and without Him
was not anything made
that was made
and Him was life
and the life
was the light of men.
This is an invitation
to study.
It's an invitation
to love people.
No human being
you meet
is a cosmic accident
and if you have
a love for engineering
or for biology
or for chemistry
or for physics
or for geology
or for any of the scientists,
the sciences,
you can look
because you know
that behind it
there's a design
that you can understand.
There's something there
in creation
that you can understand
that God wants you
to understand
and He wants you
to articulate it
and so the doctrine
of creation
rather than undermining
science
or making us
afraid of it,
it invites us
to launch into it
if that's the way
your mind works
and your heart works,
whether you're a man
or a woman,
if that's to explore it
and not be afraid
because why?
In the beginning
was the Word
and the Word
was with God
and the Word
was God.
He was in the beginning
with God.
All things were made
through Him
and without Him
was not anything
made that was made.
In Him was life
and the life
was the light of men.
Now,
some of you might say,
George,
I don't know,
that's,
what about evolution?
What about science?
You know,
back,
I don't know when it was,
sometime in the summer
and I can't remember
what it was for,
I go for a run
along the,
either along the Ottawa River
along the canal
and sometime back
it was a warm day
and I was out there
for a run
and I got stopped
by CTV.
I wish I could tell you
I got stopped
by a cop
for running too fast
but it definitely wasn't.
it wasn't that,
you know.
You know,
I was talking to a guy
for a couple of times
on the phone
he'd never seen me
and I was telling him,
you know,
I don't know if you want
me for this
because I'm not hip
and I sort of,
because I think
his organization
is a bit of a hip organization
I said,
I'm not hip.
When people look at me
they think hip replacement
not hip.
But anyway,
so anyway,
I went for a slog,
a run
and the CTV stops me
and he said,
do you have a moment sir?
And I said,
sure.
And he said,
have you heard,
I can't remember
if it's cancer or Alzheimer's
but anyway,
there's some study
that people who run a lot
for a long time
they're less susceptible,
I can't remember
which one it was.
Have you read the study?
Or heard the study?
I said,
no,
I haven't heard that.
He said,
well,
what do you think about it?
And I,
without even thinking,
just being me,
I said,
well,
you know,
God created us
and,
you know,
he created us to run.
It's a natural thing
so it sort of makes sense
that if God created us
to do a natural thing
that it would be
naturally healthy.
Well,
I wish I'd had a cameraman
there to film
the interviewer
from CTV.
He literally went
like this
and we talked
for another three
or four minutes
because,
and I'm sure
I wasn't on TV,
he definitely didn't want
anybody to say on TV
that God created us.
He said,
well,
I guess you can look
at it evolutionary
and I guess there's
some evolution
and I think
God created us.
Well,
I think there's some,
you know,
it was like,
why,
does this guy
have three heads?
Like,
is he an alien?
Like,
did he crawl out
from a rock?
Anyway,
I mean,
that's the world
we live in,
right?
So here's where
atheist helps us again.
If you could put it up.
And there's a,
he really is
a famous atheist.
He's not one of those
atheists who gets
all the press
like hot,
you know,
like Dawkins
and all that,
but he's been
a professor
at New York University
since 1980.
He's an emeritus
professor.
He's written all sorts
of important books
and articles.
A well-known atheist.
Wouldn't agree with me
on probably just about
anything at all.
And he wrote this book
in 2012,
which got published
by the Oxford University Press,
which some of you
might know
as sort of a significant
publishing press,
highly academic
and intellectual.
The book was called
Mind and Cosmos,
Why the Materialist,
Neo-Darwinian
conception of nature
is almost certainly false.
Here's two quotes.
First one.
I don't know if you can see it,
small print.
Whatever one may think
about the possibility
of a designer,
remember,
he's a committed atheist,
complete,
in fact,
he has a very,
very famous quote
that Tim Keller
likes to quote
all the time
about how
it's not just
that I believe
intellectually
that God
does not exist.
I don't want
God to exist.
I'll do whatever
I can to come up
with an argument
to make sure
that I'm right
that God doesn't exist.
Okay?
This is the same guy.
Keller uses his quote
all the time,
but he also said
this in this book.
Whatever one may think
about the possibility
of a designer,
the prevailing doctrine,
that is what
CTV news anchors
and interviewers
and all would say,
that the appearance
of life
from dead matter
and its evolution
through accidental
mutation
and natural selection
to its present forms
has involved
nothing but the operation
of physical law.
That's what basically
you get taught
in your chemistry,
your biology books.
Here's what he says.
Cannot be regarded
as unassailable.
Here's the big thing.
It is an assumption
governing the scientific project
rather than a well-confirmed
scientific hypothesis.
This is from an emeritus
professor of philosophy
at New York University
who's had a 40-some-odd year
career as a serious scholar
and a serious atheist.
Here's another quote.
But for a long time,
I have found the materialist
account of how we
and our fellow organisms
came to exist
hard to believe,
including the standard version
of how the evolutionary process works.
Here's this really big thing
he says.
The more details we learn
about the chemical basis of life
and the intricacy
of the genetic code,
the more unbelievable
the standard historical account becomes.
If you could put up the point,
the choice
that we face
is not between science and faith.
The choice
is between two beliefs.
The choice
is not between
science and faith.
The choice
is between two beliefs.
You know,
why is it that an atheist,
you know,
and in fact,
one of the things that
Nagel said
in interviews around this
book,
which caused a lot of,
in fact,
he had to turn his phone off,
he turned off his answer machine,
stopped looking at email
because of all the hate mail
he got,
because people said
he was playing into
the hand of theists
and his response was
the current understanding
of how evolution works
cannot possibly be true
and the longer
we keep holding to this,
the more
that the intelligent design
and theist crowds
are going to gain followers.
So if we want to win
the world for atheism,
let's stop
flogging a dead horse
and find the right
scientific explanation.
Why does he do this?
He understands several things.
He understands
that this materialist
understanding
of how things came to be
cannot account
for how the human mind works.
It cannot account
for human freedom.
It cannot account
for creativity.
It cannot account
for human dignity.
It cannot account
for morals.
It cannot account
for love.
And as he also
makes a point here
as he shows in this book,
it can't even account
for the growing knowledge
of science
about all of the basic
intricacy
of things
that cannot possibly
be accounted for
by natural selection.
You see,
he understands
that if the choices
between these two ideas,
and if this is,
which I'm going to show you,
Andrew,
could you put it up?
If this is the choice,
if the choices
between two ideas,
then at some point in time,
as it's made clearer
and clearer to people,
people will realize
that one idea
cannot possibly be true.
And this is what
the choice is
that we face.
Matter,
pure chance,
and cause and effect
account for life
and the intricate,
fine-tuned universe.
universe.
Or,
God designed
and created life
and the intricate,
fine-tuned universe.
I'm going to read it
again in a moment.
Let me just tell you,
you know,
as science has developed
in the last 159 years
since the origin
of the species
was written
by Charles Darwin,
as science has progressed
in the last 159 years,
as you understand
increasingly,
the intricacies
of everything,
I mean,
every time they look
at something,
it becomes more
and more intricate.
When you look at DNA
and the genetic code,
to think that these things
could happen completely
and utterly by chance,
the more that science grows,
the more impossible it is
to believe that it can happen
by chance.
Because the thing is,
this first statement
that matter,
pure chance,
and cause and effect
account for life
in the intricate,
fine-tuned universe,
that's what it has to do.
You know,
it's not just a matter
that maybe,
you know,
something like natural selection
can account for,
you know,
how a bat,
you know,
or a moth
changes its colors
or certain types of changes
in terms of the size
of horses and stuff.
But this project,
this idea,
it has to account
for how big the sun is
and how fast the sun
is hurtling through space
and how fast
that the planets
around the sun
are spinning
and how far
the earth is
from the sun.
compared to the size
of it
and the angle
of the earth
and how fast
the earth spins
and how fast
the earth is moving
and the distance
of the earth
to the moon
and countless
other things.
And that all
has to be accounted
for completely
and utterly
by chance.
And that doesn't
even count on
trying to understand
how the chemical
makeup of something
like DNA
could purely
happen by chance.
Because here's
the thing,
if we were out
and let's say
we had a chance
to go somewhere,
I don't know,
off of the Atlantic
or in the Gulf Coast
or off of an island
in the Caribbean
and we had a,
just because we're
an ordinary guy,
but we haven't had,
we're an ordinary
middle class guy
who just happens
to know a billionaire
who can get flown
by a helicopter
to a private island.
Sorry,
a little bit of a jab.
And we go to this place
and then we go
to an island
that's just a little bit
of a thing
in the middle of nowhere
and we're wandering around
and we're looking
and we're marveling
at the driftwood
and we're marveling
at how,
you know,
the waves have drawn
things up
and maybe if some
of you are photographers
you're just taking
some of the pictures
of some of the beautiful
things that you can see
when just things
get thrown together
higgledy-piggledy.
You know,
many of us maybe
have pieces of driftwood
that just look really
beautiful after they've
just been banged up
but if we were walking
around the island
and we found stones
that said,
I love Joe,
nobody would say
that that came by chance.
In fact,
if you had somebody
in your party
who said,
whoa,
I love Joe,
that must have been
a rogue wave
that came up
with big stones
from the bottom
and when the wave
came back
it spelled,
I love Joe.
You'd think he was
an idiot.
And everybody
would think
he was an idiot.
Right?
Like if it was
in a movie,
who's that?
actor,
the Greek Isaac.
Yeah,
that would be
the guy
in the movie,
probably stoned
or drunk
in the movie
who would say,
whoa,
it came from a wave.
You know,
he's just being a goof.
The genetic code
of DNA
is exponentially
billions times
more complicated
and that's just
one tiny little thing
in an intricately
fine-tuned universe
than having stones
be washed up
from a wave
that said,
I love Joe.
And that's what
Thomas Nagel
understands.
That the evolutionary
project
has to
from purely
from matter,
pure chance
and cause and effect
count for not just life
but for everything.
And as science grows
it becomes more and more
completely and utterly
impossible
to believe
that matter
and chance
and cause and effect
could cause that.
That's the direction
of knowledge.
The more science grows
the more it shows
that in the beginning
was the Word
and the Word
was with God
and the Word
was God.
He was in the beginning
with God.
All things were made
through Him
and without Him
nothing was made
that was made.
And now is a good time
to turn to Genesis
chapter 1.
And if you look
at Genesis chapter 1
verse 1
you'll see that
this isn't just something
that the New Testament
teaches.
You look at the very
very very first verse
and you see that
God opens
the book
and the story
by nailing it
to the mast.
In the beginning
God created
the heavens
and the earth.
In the beginning
one word
it means
there's nothing
before
God created
the heavens
and the earth.
You want to know
something which is
really cool?
In Hebrew
the word for God
is plural
and the word
that they choose
is the sort of
in a sense
what we would
just say God.
It's not like
our Heavenly Father
or the Lord Jesus Christ
it's just the word
for God
the way our culture
just generically
wants to refer to God
but in the Hebrew
it's plural
and there's a singular
verb
which is why
it's translated
not as God's created
but God created
because the verb
is singular.
Isn't that cool?
In the beginning
was the word
and the word
was with God
and the word
was God
he was in the beginning
with God
all things were made
through him
and without him
nothing was made
that was made.
In him was life
and the life
was the light of men.
And Genesis 1
1 says
in the beginning
God created
the heavens
and the earth
which is called
in grammar
a merism
it means
how you describe
a totality
by using
its two extremes
I had to look that up
I didn't know
what it was before
it was in one
of the commentaries
I had to look it up
in the dictionary
what on earth
is a merism
I don't even know
I'm pronouncing it correctly
I never heard the word
spoken in speech before
but it means
in the beginning
God created
without him
nothing was made
all things were made
through him
and without him
nothing was made
that was made.
Okay we have just
a few more minutes
I have a couple of things
you know there's a
you know the story
of the emperor
in his new clothes
it's a really cool story
eh
and you know
in the original version
of the story
well the original story
was written by
Hans Christian Andersen
I think 18
first part of the 1800s
and if you remember
the story
a couple of tailors
wanted to rip off
the emperor
and so they said
oh emperor
we found this
new type of fabric
and they went like this
new type of fabric
and you know what's
so unique about this
you need this fabric
emperor
because only people
who are unfit
for their position
or unbelievably stupid
can't see it
the emperor
doesn't want to admit
that he's unfit
for his position
or that he's
unbelievably stupid
so he says
whoa
I would love you
to make something
for me out of that
they said
oh yeah
you know
you can walk
around with this
and you'll find out
who's unfit
for their position
or unbelievably stupid
so they pretend
to sew
clothes
on the emperor
and he goes out
for a walk
in his new clothes
and nobody wants
to say to the emperor
you don't have
anything on
because it's
an invisible fabric
and to not see it
shows that you are
what unbelievably stupid
or unfit
for your position
and so people
don't want to say
in our culture
that maybe
that if you go
and you see
I love Joe
and you know
that it wasn't
by a rock
but somehow
or another
the genetic code
and DNA
could happen
by chance
maybe the emperor
has no clothes
just a couple
of things
in closing
this is how
the whole story
begins
and what I'm
going to show
over the next
couple of weeks
is this is
what carries
we've given
the ball
to Jesus
it's on his
broad shoulders
and now
we understand
that in the
very very first
words
in the beginning
God created
the heaven
and earth
that's how
God is introduced
it's how
the story
begins
and what's
going to be
described
in the two
next things
of chaos
and days
and garden
of Eden
they're all
going to be
true
we're going
to talk
about that
and I'm
not going
to deny
that there's
problems
with understanding
it
but
the seven
days of
creation
don't have
to carry
the big
weight
we can
understand
that God
has made
his big
point
in his
first
verse
and he's
going to
communicate
other types
of true
truths
in Genesis
1 and
Genesis
2
and we'll
talk about
that in
the weeks
to come
it's how
the story
begins
so what I
want to
say is
if you're
in science
stay in
science
if you're
in physics
stay in
physics
if you're
in biology
stay in
biology
like study
there is
truth
to be
found
things
can be
reverse
engineered
they were
designed
like study
them
and don't
be afraid
it's not
in conflict
with science
God made
the created
order with a
back story
and with
heights and
depths
you're just
discovering
in the
beginning
God created
the heavens
and the
earth
and for
all of
us
all the
way
through
life
you know
here's
this very
fundamental
thing
you know
Christians
have a
very
different
direction
than
secular
people
I don't
mean to
offend
you if
you're
here as
a secular
person
but secular
people
don't want
to keep
going back
to this
fundamental
idea that
everything
exists as
a result
of chance
and only
matter
because once
you start
to do
that
let me
tell you
if you
start to
try to
do that
not just
me but
atheist
philosophers
like Thomas
Nagel
they'll
tie you
up in
knots
you can't
account for
how minds
work
one of the
things which
was so
interesting if
you go back
and watch
that dialogue
between
Osginis and
the atheist
philosopher
he had a
hard time
affirming that
human beings
could know
things or
had freedom
in fact he
actually says
he's not sure
if human beings
have any
freedom at
all
and I just
want to have
you you know
hear that so
the whole force
of secularism is
to have us not
think about these
fundamental ideas
but what is it
that we do
every week here
at Church of
the Messiah
most churches
do think on
these things
be gripped by
them remember
the gospel
remember that
God exists
remember that
in the real
world God
exists and
that's why in
the real world
you pray
that's not a
flight from
reality it's
entering the
real world
it's living in
the real world
so read
Genesis
begin the
story
remember that
you're not a
result of chance
that God
created you
think about
these things
study science
think about
the fundamentals
and here's the
other thing
you know it's
also really
matters to the
gospel
Andrew if you
could put it
up
here's why it
matters to the
gospel
if this story
is true and I
believe it is
and if it's
going to show
that God
created all
things
some people
wonder how
is it that
one man
could die
upon the
cross
and that
that one
man dying
upon the
cross
that somehow
or another
his death
could be in
my place
in your
place
in your
place
in your
place
in your
place
and the
people we're
still going
to meet
and how
could that
possibly be
that one
person's
death
could stand
somehow
for all
but what
if
the creator
and sustainer
of all
things
could
could he
be a
substitute
for each
I
couldn't
nothing
personal
but you
couldn't
but if
this is
true
and if
as we
see
that human
beings are
made in
his image
and that
couldn't the
creator come
and rescue
his creation
couldn't he
in some
way stand
for every
person
and here's
another thing
if you could
put it up
in the
gospel
salvation
is also
a restoration
a being
brought back
to our
true home
it's going to
be a couple
weeks
it's going to
be six
weeks
in fact
before we
get to
the fall
we're going
to spend
five weeks
four more
weeks
on creation
before we
get to
the fall
and why
it is
that the
world
is the
way
it is
and why
we need
a savior
but what
we can
see right
here from
the beginning
is that
when Jesus
dies for us
on the cross
and when God
through the cross
and the message
of the cross
a power
comes to us
that we only
receive
that makes
us right
with him
and when we
put our
faith and
trust
we are
being reunited
we are
being restored
to the creator
who has made
our created
order
it's not
just
salvation
he
brings
me
to my
true
home
to live
in the
words of
the old
hymn
this is
my father's
world
this is
my father's
world
and this
message of
the cross
is for
everyone
who is
here
come back
to your
creator
only the
creator
can stand
for you
and save
you as a
substitute
come home
by putting
your faith
and trust
God
the son
of God
in the
beginning
was the
word
and the
word
was with
God
and the
word
was God
he was in
the beginning
with God
all things
were made
through him
and without
him was not
anything made
who were made
he came to
his own
people
and his
own
people
did not
receive
him
but to
all
who did
receive
him
who believed
in his
name
he gave
the right
to become
children
of God
who were
born
not of
blood
nor of
the will
of the
flesh
nor of the
will of man
but of God
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
come to
Jesus
remember
that in the
beginning
God
created
heaven
and the
earth
come home
please
stand
if there's
any here
and you
feel a
bit of a
pressure
within you
to come
to Jesus
all I can
tell you
is just
don't fight
it but
just say
Jesus
you're
knocking at
the door
of my
heart
Jesus
please
come into
my life
and be
my savior
and my
lord
and thank
you that
you bring
me home
just open
the door
to your
heart
and let
Jesus
come in
there's no
better time
than today
for those
of us
who have
been far
from him
who are
struggling
with issues
Jesus is
already in
the door
of your
heart
if you've
let him
in before
even if
you've
been sort
of ignoring
him
but just
there's no
better time
than right
now just
to turn
to Jesus
and say
Jesus
forgive me
from
pretending
that you're
not there
that you
don't matter
forgive me
for running
from you
even though
you're right
beside me
Jesus
I want
to be
yours
I want
you to
have me
as
I want
you to
be the
savior
lord
there's
no
better
time
than today
just to
do that
business
with
Jesus
this is
bow our heads
in prayer
father
thank you
that you
created all
things in
heaven and
earth
thank you
that there
is nothing
made that
you did
not make
thank you
father
that you
made a
world
with this
unbelievable
heights
that our
minds
haven't begun
to even
hit the
top of
and unbelievable
depths that
have not
begun to
reach the
bottom of
and that you
have made a
created order
with an
unbelievably
thick and
marvelous and
powerful
backstory
and father
help us
to search
these things
out
help us
father
to trust
that you
are the
creator
and to
know that
we are
in your
world
that you
have made
us to
live in
this as
your world
as your
people
to care
for this
world
to care
for the
people of
this world
to bring
you glory
to bear
witness to
Jesus
father
make us
such a
people
gripped by
the gospel
living for
your glory
confident
that you
are the
creator
and sustainer
of all
things
and are
still
sovereign
in this
we pray
in Jesus
name
amen