Evening everyone, my name's Steve, I'm the city pastor here if I've not met you before.
I'm going to pray and then we're going to launch in to the next part of our Christmas story.
Gracious God, we thank you for your word as we have just been reminded as we celebrate Christmas of you coming into our world.
I pray that you'd come now by your spirit into our hearts so that we would understand with clarity,
build us up in hope, but also bring clarity to who you are, the world in which we live,
and what you've done to come and save it.
And we pray for your glory. Amen.
1961, a long time ago, the Russian Yuri Gagarin was the first person into space.
Nikita Khrushchev was the premier of Russia at the time.
And Khrushchev said that when Gagarin went into space, he discovered that God was not there.
You know, like he toured the world real quick, had a look out the window, couldn't see God,
and so came to the conclusion that therefore God does not exist.
In response to that comment by Khrushchev at the time, the Oxford professor C.S. Lewis wrote an article called The Seeing Eye.
Lewis writes in that article that if there is a God who creates us,
God would not relate to human beings or to his creation in the way that a person on the first floor of an apartment block
relates to the person on the second floor of an apartment block.
Both are the same beings, they're just at a different level.
Lewis wrote in this article that God would relate to humanity as the creator,
and we the creatures, he would relate to humanity the way that Shakespeare relates to Hamlet.
Shakespeare is the creator of Hamlet and the world that Hamlet exists in.
Hamlet would have no way of knowing Shakespeare existed,
no way of knowing his creator,
unless Shakespeare chose to reveal himself to Hamlet.
And to do that, Shakespeare would need to write himself into Hamlet, the play.
Lewis's point in the article is that the only way we can know God
is if God himself writes himself into his creation,
into the story of history,
so that the other characters within the story of history
would know their creator.
Now the claim of Christmas,
the claim of Christianity,
is that that is exactly what God has done.
God did not just write
about himself,
but that he wrote himself into the drama of history.
And so,
is that just too unbelievable?
Is it just too unbelievable?
That's the question I've been looking at in the last few weeks.
And as we've looked at the believability of Christmas,
James has suggested that the story of Christmas
isn't just a good story in our minds,
something that brings us a sense of joy at Christmas time,
once a year,
but it's in fact a true story.
It's a historical story.
He's looked at the evidence for Jesus being a real person in history,
the evidence that the New Testament accounts of his life
are not made up.
And that the miracles that are described in the New Testament
haven't yet been disproven by science.
Which leaves us with the,
so what question at the end of it all?
What does this all mean for us?
And the main point that I want to make tonight
is that if it's not true,
if Christianity and Christmas is not true,
you don't just lose the wonder of Christmas.
You don't just gut Christmas of all its meaning,
but in actual fact,
you lose everything.
Not just Christmas,
you lose everything.
We lose life.
We lose meaning.
We lose good and evil.
We lose you and me.
So, three points if you've got the St. Paul's app.
No news story, good news story, and which story?
So, no news story.
In his global bestseller,
Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind,
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari
tells the story of humanity from the beginning.
Harari rejects the claims of Christianity himself personally,
but what he does do is he recognises the significant influence of Christianity
on the history of humanity.
And he actually argues in his book
that our deepest moral beliefs,
our sense of good and evil that we have,
are not in actual fact self-evident truths,
which are things that our culture argues today.
Racism.
Well, it's just self-evidently true that racism is bad.
What he argues, Harari argues,
is not actually self-evident truth at all.
They are, in fact, biblical beliefs.
This is how he puts it.
The idea of equality, for instance,
as one self-evident truth,
is inextricably intertwined with the idea of creation.
If you do not believe in the Christian myths about God,
creation and souls,
what does it mean that all people are equal?
Most people in our society
have a sense that human rights are good,
that racism is wrong,
that women and men are equal,
that murder is evil,
and that rich should not oppress the poor.
General acceptance of those things being right or wrong.
But why?
You see, if there is no God,
if God does not exist,
as Khrushchev says,
or said,
then these things are not moral facts.
They are, in fact, opinions,
and only opinions.
British historian Tom Holland makes a similar point.
He stopped himself,
stopped believing in God as a child,
but after years of historical research,
he found himself being drawn back to Jesus.
This was mainly because
he found that many of the values
that he held dear to him
and that were dear to society
were intimately connected to Jesus
and the Christian faith.
human equality and rights,
equality of men and women,
love for foreigners,
care for the poor,
vulnerable and the marginalized
are specifically Christian beliefs.
Now, history shows us
that it was only as the Christian faith spread
in the first century
into the Roman Empire and beyond
that these beliefs
became generally accepted.
The ancient world prior to Christianity,
prior to Jesus,
laughed at the concept of equality of people,
laughed at the concept of good and evil,
of the necessity to care for the poor
and the marginalized.
The temptation of our society nowadays
is to assume that you can keep those values,
but you can get rid of the God
that lies behind those values.
And Harari makes the significant point
of what happens when you do.
As far as we can tell
from a purely scientific viewpoint,
human life has absolutely no meaning.
No meaning.
Humans are the outcome
of blind evolutionary processes
that operate without goal or purpose.
Our actions are not part
of some divine cosmic plan,
hence any meaning
that people ascribe to their lives
is just a delusion.
Now, he's saying that
on the assumption
that if you take God out of the picture,
that philosophically
is all that you're left with.
And this is a non-Christian saying this.
Now, I acknowledge
that there are obviously people in our world
who think their life
has no meaning at all.
I suspect, though,
deep down,
none of us really want
what Harari writes there
to be right.
None of us really wants
that to be right and true.
If there is no God,
then we are left
with the reality
that we live,
we die,
we decay,
and that is it.
That is,
it's not just a bad news story,
it's a no news story.
There's nothing to be declared there.
But Christianity
and Christmas
is the alternative.
It's the alternative story.
So let's look at the good news story.
It is, in fact,
Christmas is a good news story.
We just read out,
Nick just read for us
a portion
from the beginning
of John's Gospel
in the New Testament.
John begins
not with the birth of Jesus,
but he begins
with the birth
of the universe.
He mentions a key figure
who he calls
the Word.
I'll read the first five verses
again for us.
In the beginning,
that's the beginning
of the universe,
in the beginning
was the Word
and the Word
was with God
and the Word
was God.
He was with God
in the beginning.
Through him
all things were made,
without him
nothing was made
that has been made.
In him
was life
and that life
was the light
of all mankind.
The light
shines
in the darkness
and the darkness
has not overcome it.
Now,
as John
unfolds,
the Gospel of John
unfolds,
we discover
that the key figure
known as the Word
is, in fact,
Jesus Christ.
The Bible
teaches
that the creator
God,
the one who made
all things,
is three persons.
God,
the Father,
God,
the Son,
and God,
the Holy Spirit,
who have always
existed
in perfect unity
and love
together.
And the very
first Christmas
marks the moment
in history
when God,
the Son,
the Word,
the creator
of all things,
writes himself
into
his story.
He became
a human being
with a specific
purpose.
John tells
the story
of our lives
being part
of a God
and his loving
cosmic plan.
Let me pick it up
in verse 9
of John
chapter 1.
The true light
that gives light
to everyone
was coming
into the world.
He was in the world
and though the world
was made through him,
the world
did not recognize him.
He came to that
which is his own,
but his own
did not receive him.
Yet
to all
who did receive him,
to those
who believe
in his name,
he gave the right
to become
children of God.
Children born
not of natural descent
nor of human decision
or of a husband's will,
but born
of God.
the word
became flesh
and made his dwelling
amongst us.
We have seen
his glory,
the glory
of the one
and only son
who came
from the father
full
of grace
and truth.
And from
a little bit
further down
we read
in John's gospel
that the grace
and truth
came
from Jesus
Christ.
So what
that text
is saying
is that
Jesus
is the
author
of the story
and
its
lead
character.
It's like
Shakespeare
has written
himself
into Hamlet
and has
become
the lead
character
of the
story
of Hamlet.
The God
who made
the universe
enters
into it
in order
to rescue
it.
Instead of
celebrated
we are told
there
he is
rejected.
Instead of
honoured
he is
killed.
But his
death
was written
into the
script.
It was
written
into the
script
as the
central
part of
the
script.
That is
his death
was not
an accident.
If it
is true
that there
is a
God
who made
us
and loves
us
then that
is fantastic
news.
It means
that Christmas
is fantastic
news.
It means
that because
of Christmas
our lives
have meaning.
There is
such a thing
as good
and evil.
It means
that justice
and love
and all
of God's
purposes
will end
up winning
in the
end.
But Christmas
is also
terrible news.
It's
also
humbling
news
because it
means that
we actually
need saving.
Humanity
needs saving
from the
judgment we
rightly deserve
for rejecting
God, for
living as if
this God
does not
exist, for
trying to
find meaning
and satisfaction
outside of
him.
Now some
of us are
deeply aware
of sin
even if
we don't
use that
word.
If there
is a
God who
sees
everything,
knows
everything,
then we
ultimately
deep down
know that
that's not
good.
On one
level,
that is
good and
healthy.
The Christmas
story, the
message of
Christianity,
in the end,
is not a
self-help
message
where you
are told
that you
are mostly
good enough
but the
baby in the
manger will
just give
you that
little extra
prob that
you need
to get
over the
hurdles in
the end.
Every time
we see
Jesus helping
someone in
the gospel,
it's those
who knew
they weren't
enough.
They are
the ones
that Jesus
welcomes.
Those who
were considered
too bad
or too
broken were
in fact the
preferred company
of Jesus
in his
story.
If you're
unsure of
yourself,
let me ask
you,
how would
you feel
right now
if we
projected
onto these
screens
every thought
that you've
ever had,
every action
done in
secret,
if it
was projected
onto these
screens and
played,
replayed,
would you
be able to
hold your
head up
high right
now?
To be
frank with
you,
I'd be
crushed if
it was
just today's
tally.
Just today's
tally.
God sees
it all.
He sees
it all and
that is,
in the end,
terrible,
terrible news
for us.
Christmas.
But it's
not the
end of the
story.
In the
Christmas story,
we are told
Jesus is
presented with
three gifts
by the
astrologists who
come from
the east.
And one of
those gifts
would have
totally thrown
Mary,
myrrh.
It was
used to
embalm the
dead.
Who gives
baby toy
coffins to
kids at
Christmas time?
Under the
Christmas tree,
there's a toy
coffin.
Weird,
weird thing.
It was a
symbol of
death.
Jesus came
into this
world to
die.
That was
his purpose,
to die.
That's what
he needed to
do in order
to bring
about
reconciliation
between God
and humanity.
Jesus would
die for the
sins of
humanity.
And about
33 years
after his
birth,
he was
crucified just
outside of
Jerusalem.
But his
death was
not the
end of
the story
because three
days later
the tomb
was empty
and Jesus
appeared to
his followers
alive.
He faced
death.
He defeated
death.
He paid
for our
sin so
that we
don't have
to pay
for it.
He knows
every single
one of our
secret thoughts,
our deepest
failures and
our deepest
shame,
love.
But he
loves us
all the
way to
death and
back again.
And all
you have
to do
is trust
him.
The
Christmas
story
is part
of God's
story of
time and
eternity.
So I want
to ask you
which story
are you
jumping in
onto at
the moment?
God's
story has
three main
parts to
it.
Sorry,
four main
parts to
it.
In chapter
one,
the God
who stands
outside of
creation
always existed,
the one who
created all
things by
speaking to
existence.
It's the
only storyline
in the
history of
the world
through every
great religion
and philosophical
system.
It's the
only storyline
that has a
divine being
that creates
all things
out of
love.
The only
one.
In
chapter two
of the
biblical
storyline,
the Christmas
storyline,
people reject
the love
of God.
All people
live life
with no
consideration
for God
at all.
Relationship
with God
and each
other is
deeply
fractured.
All
brokenness
and evil
in the
world
is
connected
to
chapter
two.
Chapter
three
is
God's
plan
to
reverse
all
the
wrong
that
we
have
created
for
ourselves.
And
this
plan
is
worked
out
through
history
and
finds
its
culmination
in
the
life
and
the
death
and
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
Christ.
That
is
in
the
miracle
of the
Christmas
story
and the
miracle
of the
Easter
story.
Jesus
takes
the
judgment
of
God
for
our
rebellion
against
God
upon
himself.
He
dies
the
death
that
we
should
have
died
and
he
rose
victorious
over
sin
and
death.
And
everyone
as we
read in
John
chapter
one
everyone
who puts
their
trust
in
Jesus
is
gathered
back
into
relationship
with
God
and to
each
other.
chapter
four
of
God's
story
is
not
the
end
of
the
story
it's
the
beginning
of
the
chapter
that
has
no
end.
It's
a
chapter
where
God
reigns
forever
with
his
people
in
the
world
recreated
in
perfect
peace
and
harmony.
This
is the
good news
of the
Christmas
story
written
of
God
writing
himself
into
history.
You
see the
Christmas
story has
got to
be
connected
with
the
whole
story.
It's
just
one
part
of
the
chapters.
But
we
exist
in
our
culture
at
the
moment
dominated
by
many
stories
but
there
is
one
particular
story
which
stands
out
and
it's
permeating
culture
in
every
kind
of
way.
It's
the
one
that
was
raised
by
Nikita
Khrushchev.
It
was
highlighted
there,
Harari
highlights
it
himself.
It's
a story
that's
taken up
residence
in the
soul
of
Western
society
for the
past
60
years
in
particular.
The
technical
term
for this
story
is
philosophical
naturalism.
It's
a fancy
name for
materialism,
secular
materialism.
person.
It's
a three
chapter
story
and it's
a story,
it's a
three
chapter
story
that
most
people
in
our
world
are
living
to
day
by
day.
The
first
chapter
of that
story
says that
there is
no
supernatural
or spiritual
power that
rules the
physical
universe.
Everything
that can
be seen
and measured
is a
result
of an
explosion
that appeared
out of
nothing
billions
of years
ago.
Scientifically
unproven.
Can't
prove it
scientifically.
Chapter
two of
this story
is that
against
all odds
humanity
evolved
from
prehistoric
soup
to be
the dominant
species
of the
earth
right now.
Despite
what people
might feel
there is
no absolute
right or
wrong.
If you
feel that
something is
right or
wrong
then that's
due to a
chemical reaction
in your
brain that
is again
not
scientifically
proven.
Everything
is an
accident
and so
therefore
life has
absolutely
no meaning
or purpose
at all.
And so
therefore
if that's
the case
make the
most of
life right
now.
Make it
as happy
as you
possibly
can.
Buy
everything
you
possibly
can.
Consume
every
experience
you
possibly
can
because
chapter
three
is
coming.
And
chapter
three
is just
simply
the
end.
The
sun
will
burn
up.
Humanity
will
become
extinct
and there
is no
form of
afterlife
or survival
of the
conscience.
the
story
of
materialism
is
that
only
what
you
can
see,
taste,
touch,
feel
has any
is the
purpose
of life.
That's
it.
The
Christmas
story says
that we
have a
loving
creator
who
has
triumphed
over
evil
at
great
cost
to
himself
to
love
you
dearly.
and we
look
forward
to a
day
when
everything
wrong
will be
made
right
and we
will
live
with
him
in
joy,
blissful
joy
for all
of
eternity.
Historically
plausible,
philosophically
satisfying.
Science
can't
disprove
it.
this
Christmas
story
is
unbelievably
good
news.
So
which
story
is your
story?
Which
story
drives
you
day
by
day?
Joining
Jesus
story
is the
most
real
and
wonderful
thing
that can
happen
to you
in your
life.
But
to get
to that
point,
we have
to start
with seeing
what
humanity
is,
who we
are,
we have
to come
to the
awful,
awful
realisation
that in
God's
story,
we're the
villains.
love,
we have
to come
to the
world.
And
Jesus is
the hero.
He's the
hero.
He's the
main character
in the
story.
And so
this
Christmas,
the biggest
thing you can
do with your
life is to
get written
into Jesus'
story by
in fact
giving your
life to
him.
make your
story a
good one,
one that
will go on
living as
Jesus himself
lives and
reigns right
now.
Up on the
screen, if
you're not
sure where
you sit with
the Christian
faith, on
the screen
is a QR
code.
And I
would encourage
you just
to take that
extra step
this Christmas
to get into
Jesus'
story with
your life.
to
his
child
that
'll
...