Well, Lord, you know our hearts.
You see through this body of flesh,
and you see the imagination, the inclinations of our hearts.
And Lord, as this song says, you know how messed up we can be,
that we can leave and we can be prone to leave the God that we love
and the God who loves us and who's done everything to save us.
Lord, help us in our need.
Help us in our brokenness.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
You may be seated.
So just this week, I received a phone call to pick up a package that I had ordered.
And so I thought I had the option to just have it delivered to my place
or I can just go pick it up.
And I thought I'll just, if I go pick it up now, I'll have it sooner,
so I'll benefit from it.
I'll just go pick it up.
That's fine.
You don't need to deliver it.
So I leave.
And I live in Vanier.
So if some of you know what Vanier is like, you'll understand what I'm about to say.
So I leave my house.
About one minute after I left my house, I'm still in Vanier.
There's a lady who comes up to me.
And I'm in my car, but she comes up to me.
And she's probably mid-50s.
And so she's dressed up in a bathing suit top.
It probably cost about 10 cents to make.
It's very, very small.
And she has these jeans that goes up here.
So I'm just wondering what's going on.
And that's not everything.
She has a big gas tank or gas can in her hands.
And she comes up to me and she says, can I get a ride?
And I'm just like, I thought I saw, I thought I knew I didn't see, I've never seen everything that has to be seen.
But this is something else.
Anyway, she comes up and she's very insistent.
So I'm like, okay, just get in.
She's like, I need a ride to the gas station just down the road.
And she's already in my car.
And I'm like, well, let's just go.
It's not far, right?
So I drive her there.
And she's explaining to me how her car is out of gas.
And how I'm probably thinking that she's a hooker with a gas can in her hands.
And in my head, I'm like, well, yeah, sort of.
But no, no, it's okay.
It's fine.
I understand.
I'll drive you there.
So I drive her there.
And once we get there, she thanks me.
She's very grateful.
And she says, God bless you.
And so I say, God bless you, too.
And then she says, your good deeds will come back to you.
And I'm like, we were there.
God bless you was good enough.
You didn't have to say your good deeds are going to come back to you.
I don't believe that.
It's not true.
But anyway, I left that place.
And just thinking about what she said, your good deeds will return to you.
And so I go pick up my package.
And I get there.
And I didn't bring my number, the little code that you need to have to pick up your package.
I deleted the call that they gave me, the voicemail that they left.
I deleted it on my phone.
I didn't have it with me.
And so I'm there.
I drove out a little while.
I thought it would be a good drive.
Didn't pick up my package.
I was pretty frustrated.
And then I was like, well, you know what?
I'll just redeem my trip out of my way.
So I'll go to the store and pick up this thing that I need.
Wasn't there.
I thought I'd just go grab a slice of pizza right next door.
Well, it turned out that I would have to drive about two miles out of my way because of all the one ways to get to that restaurant, which I could see from where I was parked.
Anyway, if this was a sci-fi movie, I would have taken on my huge blasting gun thing.
And I would have just, like, destroyed something.
I was so frustrated.
So, with a story like this, it might seem a little bit odd that we're going to look at one of the commandments, the sixth commandment on you shall not murder.
But I think there's something pretty insightful when we look at the Bible.
So let's look at that.
If you have your Bibles with you, you can turn to Deuteronomy.
We'll look at the Ten Commandments.
And we'll look at the sixth one today.
You shall not murder.
Sorry, just flipping over here.
Okay, so with the opening words of the Ten Commandments.
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall not murder.
So we come in a place in the Ten Commandments.
We're doing a series in the Ten Commandments.
And we come to this place where it might seem a bit strange.
You shall not murder.
As Canadians, we think, you know, we're not murderers.
The murderers are over there.
And that we're fine.
And this might not apply to us.
And so what we need to do with this commandment is that we look at the first few commandments that teach us to love God with all of who we are, all of our being.
We love God.
And now we love our neighbor as ourselves.
And part of loving our neighbors is not murdering them.
That seems to go without saying.
And in fact, when Israel received this commandment, they weren't the only ones in the land where they believed that murder was wrong.
Their neighbors also believed that murder was wrong.
But here's the difference.
How do we define what is murder?
See, their neighbors might have had their definition of murder.
But they were commanded not to murder.
So you would think things are all right.
Correct?
I was having a conversation with a co-worker about what is right and what is wrong.
And in that conversation, when I asked them if they could define what is right and what is wrong, they started telling me what they believed.
And so they said, you know, stealing is wrong.
Murdering is wrong.
Lying is wrong.
And so I said, you're saying like the Ten Commandments, right?
Like, is that what you're trying to say?
And they're like, no, no, of course not.
But isn't that pretty obvious?
Like, isn't that what our society believes?
We hold on to some of the things of the Ten Commandments because they seem so true and so proved in time and in history.
So in looking at this commandment, how do we define murder?
How do we understand murder in the Canadian context?
Those are questions that we're going to look at today.
So first of all, it's not hard to convince people that murder is wrong.
We can build a lot of bridges with people in our culture that murder is wrong.
And even in Canada, we have laws that provide consequences for murder, despite the fact that they might be a little bit loose if we look at what the Bible says.
But anyway, in a time when we're trying to avoid referring to the Bible, it's hard to come to a good conclusion of what is right and what is wrong.
And in a time when the culture is shifting so quickly and deciding to put the Bible in a box or put it beside and not refer to it, it's difficult to come to a true understanding of right and wrong.
And so when we open the Bible and we cross-examine our Canadian laws and what the Bible says, we'll probably come into a contradiction or some tension.
And in fact, if we really look at it, we'll quickly see that in our age of moral relativism, there's a lot of conflict with what the Bible says.
So, first, let's define what is murder.
If I can have the first slide, please.
So, murder, according to the Bible, is the act of killing a human being for personal and illegitimate reasons.
The fruit of withholding forgiveness and harboring anger.
Can we say that together?
Let's just read that together.
Murder is the act of killing a human being for personal and illegitimate reasons.
The fruit of withholding forgiveness and harboring anger.
Just last week, I was in Toronto and I was reading the news and there was a man in Peterborough, as you probably heard the story,
who got into some road rage with a cyclist and got out of his truck and took a bat and started beating the man.
And the other man was full of blood on his head.
He was so angry that they both couldn't come to a right understanding of how they should divide the road and how they should drive and share the road together.
And his anger led to that.
And so, when we take revenge into our own hands and we continue that flow of anger that starts in our heart,
the conclusion, the logical conclusion of that is death, is taking death away or taking life away from the person.
However, the opposite, withholding revenge, invites God into our circumstance.
How tangible is the presence and power of God in our lives when our perpetrator expects retaliation, yet there is nothing, there is no retaliation but forgiveness.
How powerful would God seem when we withhold revenge and show forgiveness?
See, taking revenge in our hands is easy, but it does never repair the damage or the hurt that's already created.
And so, we see here that the Bible defines murder as killing a person for personal and illegitimate reasons.
And you might be wondering, well, what about things like war or capital punishment?
Well, we can't really go too deep into that today.
There are other things we're going to look more in depth.
But just very basically, the Bible says that capital punishment is a thing that can be done.
It's talked about in Genesis chapter 9.
And I was having a conversation with someone saying,
you can't be pro-life because you Christians believe in capital punishment.
I said, I never said that I believe in capital punishment.
Like, I don't know if I would want to apply that in our land these days.
But, so anyway, we got to talk about that.
And the person was saying that's inconsistent, being pro-life and pro-capital punishment.
But here's the thing.
If we don't value the life of an innocent person to the point where we would take away the life of the one who took it away,
doesn't that devalue the first life that was taken away?
Shouldn't there be a price that is paid?
And if there's no price, then the value of that life is reduced.
And so, what about war?
What about when two nations go to war?
Doesn't the Bible say, do not murder?
But then two pages later, it gives prescriptions on how to have war.
Isn't there a contradiction there?
Well, the Bible gives permission for nations to have the sword for justice.
So, when other nations try to destroy innocent people or try to abuse and oppress those who are vulnerable,
then another nation has the authority from God to come and establish his justice as long as they are following his path and following his rules.
So, trying to understand all these nuances, I'm just giving a little bit so that when you look at the Bible,
you'll be able to navigate through those pages in Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy.
When we try to look as Christians, and even for non-Christians,
how does the Old Testament provisions for these things apply to Christians now?
How do we understand that?
Is there a link there?
Is there no link?
A lot of Christians seem to say that there's no link.
How does that work?
Well, we have a commandment that says, you shall not murder.
And I'll give you this example.
When I was young, I loved to play with Legos.
And I loved it so much that I always tried to extend the amount of time I would play with Legos.
So, I'd always try to go later and later and try to push the boundary.
But my parents would say, put your Legos away at 7 o'clock because you need to sleep.
Okay.
So, I'd do that.
Now, what if they would have told me,
Jonathan, you have to put your Legos away before 7 o'clock when I was 15 years old?
It wouldn't have worked.
I didn't play with Legos then.
So, they would say, Jonathan, turn off the computer.
Turn off the video games at 10 o'clock or something like that, right?
But the principle underneath all of these laws that my parents would try to, you know,
maybe not that.
It wasn't that bad.
But that they would try to give me was to protect that sleeping time that I needed.
I needed rest.
I needed to protect that so that I wouldn't be so tired the next day.
So, the principle of Jonathan needs rest was translated at one age, put your Legos away at 7 o'clock,
and then translated to another age.
When I was older, turn off your computer.
Turn off this.
So that the principle is weaved in through this.
So, it applies throughout.
But it looks different.
So, I think this is similar to how we're going to look at you shall not murder,
which is the clear commandment, the clear principle, and is given specific applications.
And so, here we have specific applications in the Old Testament.
How does that look like in the New Testament times?
How does it look like for the church?
Well, so we're going to look at that.
But right before, I want to talk about the opening story
so that this will help us understand what comes after when we're looking at murder in our day and age.
So, thinking about the opening story, I was so frustrated.
I was so angry at the circumstance, the things that happened.
What produced my anger in the opening story?
What produced my frustration?
See, I imagined to myself that I would be a winner picking up my package.
I idealized a picture-perfect scenario without conflicts or errors.
See, I imagined, although it was going to cost me in gas and maybe a bit of time,
that, you know, I would go out for a drive and it would do me good.
You know, I can use a bit of a change of scenery from the downtown.
I could go out for a course and, you know, I would get my package sooner.
I would waste minimal time because I'm going to be efficient, right?
And I would do two or three things at the same time in the same trip.
And I imagined myself to be a winner at the end.
But here's the problem.
When things don't work my way, I feel like I was cheated.
I feel like something was robbed from me.
As though the universe now owes me something.
Or dare I say that God owes me something because I was a good boy this week.
See, I was good.
I was a good Christian.
I obeyed God.
I said no to some of the sins that I was able to see.
And, you know, doesn't God owe me?
And oftentimes in life, we'll look at the big picture of life and we'll say, you know, this is what life ought to look like.
You know, we'll do well in high school.
We'll go get ourselves a university degree.
Get a good job.
We'll have a good pension plan and good health care benefits.
And then we'll, you know, get a nice house.
We'll marry and have two kids.
And there shouldn't be anything that interrupts that plan because that's my goal.
Right?
And so, without even knowing it, without even noticing, we can refute the first three commandments by thinking in the depths of our hearts.
No, there isn't just one God.
I am one God too.
I am the master of my own destiny.
And no one can stop me.
No one can prevent me from achieving what I want.
And God will have to accept me for my reputation.
My name and my reputation will go on forever.
And no one dare prevent that.
So what is the logical conclusion of this mentality, of this line of thinking?
What happens when something interrupts this trajectory that we're creating, this plan that we have?
What if someone comes along the way and is a disturbance, very inconvenient to us?
Well, when one loses all sense of God's supreme authority,
they will take their destiny in their own hands, even at the cost of others' lives.
So here's the second slide.
Here's my second point.
Murder is an attempt to assume God's role as Lord and giver of life.
See, when we try to tell God, no, you don't have any room in my life,
and that we're the ones who create the destiny of our lives,
and we don't allow God to have his word in it,
we can assume his role.
And the logical conclusion of that is that if anyone dares to prevent us,
we will take God's role in anger and in wrath against this person
and try to eliminate them from our lives,
even at the cost of their lives.
So let's look at what is considered murder.
And who is worthy to decide this?
So when Israel received this commandment,
I mentioned earlier that they had something in common with their neighbors.
But at the same time,
as their Canaanite neighbors believed that murder was wrong,
they also sacrificed children for the worship of their gods.
See, part of their worship was to offer their firstborn child
or some of their children to these burning altars.
They would place them on there so that the child would burn to death,
and that would be their form of worship.
And so when Christians today live in Canada,
they and their Canadian neighbors believe that murder is wrong.
But is there a parallel here?
Like in the days of ancient Israel,
are there things that Canadian law allows that the Bible would consider murder?
Is there a disguised form of worship in Canada
that demands the lives of the innocent?
So when we open the Bible,
we look at texts that just appear there.
We'll look through a book of the Bible,
and we're going to look at what the Bible tries to say.
And sometimes it maybe feels more positive,
and other times it feels more negative.
And as you've already noticed,
today we're going to look at murder,
and we're going to talk about some things that are quite dark,
and things that I believe that the devil would not want us to talk about.
And I would share from firsthand experience
that the devil doesn't want us to talk about these things.
And so let's just try to talk about things that involve life and death,
and how in Canada we might even support the killing of innocent human beings.
And so we're going to look first at abortion.
And I understand that some of you might not be pro-life.
You might not believe that abortion kills a human being.
And I understand.
I was there a few years ago.
I didn't really care.
I didn't really think about it.
And I didn't really try to understand.
So I understand where you're at.
So let's just, you know, if you can give me a few minutes,
we're going to look at a case for life.
And this might be the first time you hear this.
It might be the first time you hear a case for the pro-life position
as to why abortion is the killing of a human being.
So what is an abortion?
Is it actually killing a human being?
If you ever had a conversation about abortion,
you probably heard the slogan,
my body, my choice.
Now there's something very insightful about these words,
my body, my choice.
First, it says two things,
that science is important,
and that human rights are important to understand the issue.
When we talk about my body,
it talks about a scientific claim.
When we talk about my choice,
we're talking about a human rights claim.
So first, it says something about science and rights.
Second, it assumes a definite scientific position.
I've talked to a lot of people about abortion,
and I've talked to people,
and they would often say,
well, we don't know when life begins.
Well, the slogan, my body,
says that the pre-born child
is definitely the mother's body.
It's not saying that we don't know
if it's the mother's body,
we don't know when it begins or whatnot.
It's a claim.
It is a claim.
And the third is that it assumes,
if it is not the same body as the mother,
that it is not her choice.
If it is her body,
if the baby is the mother's body,
then it is her choice to do
what she wants to do with her own body.
If the baby is not the mother's body,
then, by implication,
it is not her choice.
That's just the logical implications
of what that claim is saying.
And so first, let's look at the science.
When we look at biology,
the claim is that an embryo or fetus
is no different than the mother's tooth or nail.
It is her body.
But is that really true?
Is that really true?
If we were going to go on
a crime scene investigation,
what would we look for
if we wanted to find the criminal?
We'd look for evidence.
We would look for pieces of hair,
handprints.
We would look for, you know,
maybe a piece of skin that got scraped off.
And what do we do with them?
We bring them to the lab
and we examine.
And we look at the DNA
because the DNA is unique
for every human being
and is the same in all of our bodies.
So I have one DNA code
that is throughout my body.
My nails have it.
My eyelids have it.
Everything.
Okay?
So if the baby is the mother's body,
then we should expect
that the DNA of the baby
is the same as the mother's.
So here's the thing.
When an egg is fertilized
by the seed,
there is a fusion
that creates a new human entity.
At that very moment,
there's no such thing
as a fertilized egg, by the way.
It doesn't exist.
The process is so fast
that instantly we have
a new human being,
a whole,
a distinct,
and a living human being.
But, and here,
continue with the rights claim.
So a claim that following,
a claim following
and depending upon the premise
to allow the killing
of a pre-born human being.
So if that is true,
then we cannot give
the right as a nation
to the mother
to take away,
or to the physician,
to take away the life
of their child.
You can look at
science textbooks,
even Dr. Christopher DiCarlo,
who came to do a talk
just last year,
I believe,
at Dig and Delph
at the Ottawa Little Theatre.
He's the professor
of bioethics
at the University of Toronto.
He will say that life begins
at fertilization,
and he's an atheist.
Christopher Hitchens
is an atheist.
He would say that abortion
is killing a pre-born human being.
So, just to give
a last illustration
about the argument
that we don't know
when life begins.
We don't know
if it's a whole,
distinct,
and living human being.
So let's suppose
that it's not clear.
Let's suppose
that we don't know
when life begins.
If you've been
to a construction site,
and they have to demolish
an old building,
they'll place DNA
in the building
and they'll have people,
you know,
put a,
sorry,
did I say DNA?
Sorry, dynamite.
Close.
They'll place dynamite
throughout the building
and then they'll
explode the building.
They'll go poof,
like you've seen
in the cartoons.
So,
let's imagine
that the person
who's in charge
of blasting the building
asks his fellow workers,
so do you think
there's anyone left
in the building?
And the person
comes back to him
and says,
well, I don't know.
Should we just go anyway?
Maybe.
Let's just do it.
See,
that would not pass, right?
That would not pass regulation.
You have to make sure
that there's someone
in there or not.
You have to make sure
that no one
is left in the building
before you blast it.
Because
we err on the side
of caution.
So,
if we don't know,
if we're not sure
if it's a human being
or not,
wouldn't we want to err
on the side of caution
in the mother's womb
to say that
we're going to
take away the life
of this entity
or not?
Wouldn't we want to be
more careful
than just say,
I don't know.
Wouldn't we want to
look at science
and see
if it is a human being,
if it is whole
and distinct
and unique?
So,
here's the next slide.
If I could have that,
please.
So,
abortion
is the intentional
and deliberate
killing
of a whole,
distinct,
and living,
pre-born
human being.
So,
I'm just saying
what science is saying
and even the Bible
says that,
that human beings
are human beings
in the womb.
That Jesus
was called Jesus
and Lord
when he was in the womb.
that John the Baptist
leapt for joy
in the womb
and the Holy Spirit
fills human beings
and he was filled
with the Holy Spirit.
So,
he was a human being,
little John the Baptist,
not born yet,
human being.
But,
when we look at science,
we know that
fertilization
marks the beginning
of a human being's life
and that from that moment on,
they are whole
because they have the DNA
to grow
into being
full-grown adults
and they are
distinct
because their DNA
makes them unique
and they are living
because they are growing
at a rapid pace.
So,
even if,
if you are
pro-life,
you might not be pro-life
in every case,
you're,
you're thinking,
well,
you know,
it is a compassionate answer
to some circumstances,
isn't it?
Like,
isn't it
the more compassionate thing
to offer
when,
say,
a woman was raped?
And I'll use that example
because that's usually
what people bring up.
And so,
we'll talk about that.
First of all,
rape is a horrible thing.
Absolutely horrible.
And as a nation,
we don't do enough
to prevent that.
We don't do enough
to punish that.
And so,
we should do a lot more
to punish the rapists.
But here's the problem.
What if the child
of the mother
who was conceived
by rape
was born,
was brought to term,
was born,
and,
and the mother
found out,
discovered,
or just thought
that the child
looked a lot
and reminded her
of the rapist.
Would it be okay
for her to kill
the child now
after the child
is born?
Of course not.
That would be wrong.
So,
what's the difference
between that
and a couple weeks earlier
or a few days earlier
or a couple months earlier
when the child
was in the womb?
Science says
there is no difference.
That they are
the same human being
except they're smaller,
maybe less developed.
Do we give more rights
to people
who are more developed
than others?
My nephew
is about this tall.
He's a little bit
quite less developed
than I am.
Do I have more rights
than he does?
No.
I asked this question
to a university student
who was clearly
on the football team.
He must have been
6'5",
350 pounds,
just a big guy.
I asked him,
do you have more rights
than I do?
No.
Just because you're bigger,
you're more developed,
you're probably older than me.
No.
That's not how it works.
So we can't base
our arguments
on those things.
So,
where am I here?
Yeah.
Okay,
so the question is,
if a mother delivers her child
and the child reminds her
of a rapist,
is it okay for her
to kill the child then,
after the child is born?
No.
Why would it be okay
before the child is born
if the child is the same?
So what is the difference
between a human being
in the womb
and one out of the womb
when we have already
established scientifically
that a human being
begins at fertilization?
Now,
some of you might have
had an abortion
because a medical practitioner
encouraged it to you,
saying that in order
to remove the cancer
or maybe an ovarian cyst
or different circumstances
maybe even alleviate
some cultural pressures
and maybe even to save
the mother's life,
that it would be necessary
to have an abortion.
Well,
I can't spend 20 minutes
to give a full case on that,
but there are medical practitioners
across the world
who will say
that there's never
an actual need for abortion,
that there are other procedures
that can take place,
but there's never actually
a need for that.
So,
if you have had an abortion,
Jesus can bring forgiveness.
Jesus can cleanse you from that
and send you off clean and free.
I was talking to a man
who,
you know,
big guy
in the streets of Toronto
about abortion
and he said,
you know,
like I had a girlfriend
back in the day,
he was,
I think he was 50,
he looked much younger,
but he said,
back in the 80s,
we had two kids
and,
well,
she got pregnant twice,
rather,
and the child,
she decided to abort
the children both times
and here I am today,
20 some years later,
and I was just thinking
about it last week
and,
like,
what do I do?
Do you think God
can forgive me?
The answer is
that there is good news,
that God is faithful
and just
to forgive us
our sins
when we come to him
and confess them to him.
So,
if that's you today,
if you've been through that,
you can confess it to God,
confess it to a friend,
I would be more than thrilled
to talk to you about that
and to go through
that process with you.
Now,
you might be wondering,
Jonathan,
are you saying that,
actually,
no,
I'll skip over here.
Sorry.
I know that this is an issue
that's on your mind
because it's coming up a lot.
What about euthanasia?
What about physician-assisted dying?
Some of you might be thinking,
why not help the people
out of their misery
if they have the right laws in place
with proper limitations
and safeguards?
It can be done safely, right?
So,
that's where we're heading
with our Canadian laws.
So,
in a culture
that used to consider
the needs of the vulnerable
and the dependent
people,
such as the young,
the elderly,
the suffering,
the disabled,
it's hard to believe
that when we can simultaneously
offer special parking spaces,
wheelchair accessible ramps,
senior discounts,
children's hospitals
to provide care
and alleviate possible barriers
to the more vulnerable population,
yet offer death
as an alternate solution.
at the same time.
So,
let me propose to you
a scenario.
Just recently,
I called the suicide helpline
for a friend,
but I want to create
a hypothetical situation here.
Usually,
when you call them,
they give you two options,
but we'll talk about three options.
First option,
they'll say,
I will equip you
so that you can talk
to your friend
and that you can counsel
your friend.
Second option,
you tell your friend
to call me
and I'll take care of it
and I'll talk to your friend.
But let's think
of this other option.
Bring your friend over
and we'll help them
out of their misery.
Wouldn't that be strange?
Doesn't that give you,
doesn't that make
your stomach twist?
That's what the laws
are right now
in Canada,
is that we want
to protect those
who are in crisis
of suicide
and yet at the same time
offer them death.
My friend,
who's a police officer,
came back from work
one day
when I was visiting
and said,
well,
I asked him,
like,
how was your day?
And he said,
you know,
I was on the highway,
gave a ticket
and brought three people
to the hospital
because they tried
to kill themselves.
And that's what we do
as a society.
We want to protect
those who are
thinking about suicide.
So,
it is a bit strange.
And when we think
of the word euthanasia,
in the original language,
it talks about
good,
you,
good,
death,
thanasos.
So it's talking about
suggesting a good death.
For some of us,
death might feel
like a compassionate solution
to a crisis
or undesirable situation.
But let's remember
what the Bible says
about death.
That the Bible teaches
that death
is not a solution
but an intruder.
And that death
will be completely
eradicated
from the created order.
If I can have
my second point,
please.
So death
is the emblem
of human rebellion
against God.
To side with death
is to side
against God.
who creates
and sustains
life.
So what do I mean
by that?
Death is the emblem
of human rebellion
against God.
In the garden,
when human beings
rebelled against God,
God cursed creation
and limited their days.
Death
was
on the earth
now
for the first time
because of human sin.
So death,
when we think
of death,
when we think
of human rebellion,
death should be
the first thing
that comes to mind.
death.
And to side
with death
is to side
with that human rebellion
against God
who creates
and sustains
life.
Now,
it is an awful reality
when suffering
is so difficult
and overbearing
that death
seems to be
a better friend
than the suffering.
suffering.
But in the Christian
worldview,
suffering produces
perseverance.
Suffering is something
that God uses
to create in us
his image
that
in our suffering
we are not
doomed
to destruction
but God
is there,
he's alive,
he's active
in our lives
to produce in us
something,
a new creation
that we've never seen
before.
And it can seem
helpless
and hopeless
especially when
the glory of this life
is what we live for.
See,
for the common person,
our hope is usually
centered
in the goodness
of life,
the things that
bring us
great joy,
maybe a particular
time of health
in our life
or a great achievement
or the breathtaking
experience
of beauty
and pleasure.
Those are the things
that we can
live for
and once
that seems
no longer attainable,
it seems like
the best option
is to cease
from existing.
But for the Christian,
our hope is centered
on the person
of Jesus
and his promise
to make all
things new.
And we are always
looking forward
to this future glory.
Paul summarizes
the future glory
in 1 Corinthians
and I'll read that.
For this perishable body
must put on
the imperishable
and this mortal body
must put on
immortality.
When the perishable
puts on
the imperishable
and the mortal
puts on
the immortal,
then shall come
to pass
the saying
that is written,
death is swallowed
up in victory.
O death,
where is your victory?
O death,
where is your sting?
The sting of death
is sin
and the power
of sin
is the law.
But thanks
be to God
who gives us
victory
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
And so what we have
in this situation
of, you know,
you call the suicide
helpline,
we want to help
the person
who is thinking
of killing themselves
and offer
to kill the person
who wants
to kill themselves.
we have a contradiction,
a dissonance here
in the way
we perceive
the crisis.
But
euthanasia
or
assisted
or
physician-assisted suicide
lessens the value
of the life
and suffering
of the other person
in crisis
seeking help.
It lessens their life
and their value.
So here's
what I would suggest
is one of the
big problems
in our culture.
We often
weigh our lives
next to the
American dream
or the Canadian dream
and we lose control
or when we lose control
or independence
or we are abandoned
to loneliness
when we feel
indignity
or lose
our self-image
and feel as though
we are
burdens to others.
we
this place
we come to
a place of
struggle
where we
cannot
live up to the
expectation
that we set
ourselves
to live up for.
And so we strive
for success
in the eyes of the world
or people
that we seek
to please
whether it is
the best grades
at school
or a university
degree
a promotion
at work
a particular
lifestyle
and so on
so forth.
let's have
our next point
our next slide
our worth
is not measured
by our interests
abilities
knowledge
success
or relationships
but by the costly
death
of Christ
on the cross
there's a problem
in our culture
and that
wants us
lures us
to place our worth
in things
in activities
in different pleasures
and experiences
of life
but God is calling us
to put our worth
our value
completely on him
not half and half
completely
on the death
of Jesus Christ
when we think
of that value
of the life
of Jesus
that God himself
would die
to save
sinners
that place
is value
that is
far surpassing
anything
on this earth
and anything
that can try
to define
your worth
that the person
of Jesus
dying on the cross
for you
for me
to make us
right with him
so that he can have
us for all eternity
and that we can have
him
for all eternity
I'll read these words
of one of my
favorite songs
as of late
from
the Gettys
it's called
My Worth Is Not
In What I Own
My worth is not
in what I own
not in the strength
of flesh and bone
but in the costly
wounds of love
at the cross
my worth is not
in skill or name
in win or lose
in pride or shame
but in the blood
of Christ
that flowed
at the cross
as summer flowers
we fade
and die
fame youth
and beauty
hurry by
but life eternal
calls to us
at the cross
I will not boast
in wealth
or might
or human wisdom's
fleeting light
but I will boast
in knowing Christ
at the cross
and here's probably
my favorite line
two wonders
here
that I confess
my worth
and my unworthiness
my value fixed
my ransom
paid
at the cross
see when
when we try to
inflate
our worth
beyond
what we are
and try to make
ourselves into gods
or whether
we try to
deflate
our value
and our worth
and make
ourselves
like
I don't know
insects
and think that
we're no longer
we no longer
possess any worth
we look to
Jesus
we look to the cross
and we cling
onto Jesus
he's our only hope
he's the only one
who places value
on your life
on my life
and so let me ask you
what competes
with Christ
in your hearts
this day
to be the worth
of your life
and what competes
with
with that
that will make you
in five years
from now
believe it
believe the lie
and not hold on
to Christ
as the worth
of your life
if the gospel
grips you
are you willing
to surrender
your ideal life
to God
will you allow him
to move you
to inconvenient places
will you pray
for God
to show you
his power
in your weakness
let's pray
Father
we're thankful
that
that you are God
and that we don't have
to pretend to be
or try to
make ourselves
into God
but
that you are God
and
at the same time
you are holy
and you love us
you love us
more than we can imagine
Lord
even in the depths
of our sin
and our sinfulness
even though
we can't see it all
Lord
you see it all
yet you love us
and you sent
Jesus
to purchase
all of us
for all eternity
Lord
would you grip us
with that truth
Lord
would you help us
to come to you
when it's difficult
to seek forgiveness
for things
that we'd rather
keep secret
and to allow you
to do the mighty work
of cleansing
in our lives
Lord
thank you
for your love
would you grip us
with your gospel
this day
in Jesus name
Amen