WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.679 Father, we know that the world around us forms us to think and believe in certain ways. 00:00:08.580 --> 00:00:11.339 And Father, we know sometimes it forms us in good ways, 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:15.080 and sometimes, Father, it forms us in ways that take us far from your truth. 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:24.900 And it can be hard for us to wrestle with this and to trust your word over the story that the world tells us. 00:00:25.459 --> 00:00:30.079 Father, we approach a text today that this is really a big issue for many of us, 00:00:30.140 --> 00:00:36.359 and we ask that the Holy Spirit would move with might and power and deep conviction in each of our hearts 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:44.920 to bring home to us how just sure and trustworthy and good your word is 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:50.219 and how you want us, Father, to know a far better story, a true story, 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:53.780 that will lead to our flourishing and to our glory. 00:00:53.780 --> 00:01:00.579 So, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would do this mighty work of bringing your word and your gospel home deep into our hearts. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:03.859 And we ask this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:05.519 Please be seated. 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.040 So, we're going through a series of sermons called Knowing God, 00:01:11.299 --> 00:01:17.520 and each week we're looking at different attributes or characteristics of God. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:23.439 And I was just saying to somebody the other day that, I mean, all of them are a bit difficult and all of them have challenges, 00:01:24.099 --> 00:01:26.000 but there's probably three that are the hardest. 00:01:26.619 --> 00:01:30.119 One of the ones which is the hardest is the Trinity, which we've already done, 00:01:30.199 --> 00:01:36.159 and that's just because people of all generations have found the doctrine of the Trinity a hard doctrine to get their mind around. 00:01:36.739 --> 00:01:42.500 The second one was, I think, the sermon that Daniel did last week, which was on divine impassibility. 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:47.879 And that's just difficult because it seems when you read the Bible as if God has emotions. 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:54.000 So, why is it that Christians would say that God doesn't, in a sense, have emotions, that he's impassible? 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:56.200 Like, how do you figure all that stuff out? 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.760 So, that's just sort of hard to communicate, and I haven't had a chance to listen to Daniel's sermon yet, 00:02:00.859 --> 00:02:03.420 but from what I got, no, two weeks ago it was Daniel, not last week. 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:08.680 From what I heard, I think he did a really fine job at trying to bring that home to us and why it's an important doctrine. 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:14.040 This week, out of all the difficult ones, mine's the easiest on one level, 00:02:14.540 --> 00:02:23.860 but on the other level it's hard because it goes against two very, very, very powerful movements and stories in our society. 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:33.560 It's completely and utterly countercultural to two very powerful, formative truths, in quotation marks, that our society teaches. 00:02:34.140 --> 00:02:36.879 And I'm looking today at the doctrine that God has created all things. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:40.419 So, in fact, actually, on one level, it's a very, very simple doctrine. 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:42.979 If you, the point will be up on the screen. 00:02:43.519 --> 00:02:51.060 The triune God created, the uncreated triune God created all that exists out of nothing, 00:02:51.519 --> 00:02:53.900 and he alone sustains all that exists. 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:55.159 Fairly simple. 00:02:55.979 --> 00:03:00.180 The Apostles' Creed teaches this, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:02.919 and as we're going to show you in a moment, the Bible teaches this. 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:06.739 And it's a simple idea to get your minds around. 00:03:06.959 --> 00:03:08.439 It's simple to say on one level, 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.799 the triune God created all that exists out of nothing. 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:16.500 He, sorry, the uncreated triune God created all that exists out of nothing. 00:03:16.679 --> 00:03:18.799 He alone sustains all that exists. 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:20.619 So why is this a problem? 00:03:20.779 --> 00:03:22.679 Well, very simply put, 00:03:23.779 --> 00:03:28.339 every one of your high school biology teachers would say that that was wrong. 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:35.000 CBC, CTV, the University of Ottawa, Carleton, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:36.740 like I could go on and on and on and on. 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:38.800 They'd all say that, George, that's just not true. 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:41.319 It's just not true. 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:46.980 In fact, to really maintain it in many circles would be to communicate to the world 00:03:46.980 --> 00:03:53.800 that you are a mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, low IQ type of person. 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:59.460 It would get you banished from politics to try to maintain this in any particular type of way, 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:02.600 that in fact the story that we're told in our university, 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:07.920 that all things came as a result of evolution through natural processes, 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:12.540 would question that as to in fact get into a lot of trouble in our culture. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:15.000 So what are we going to do about it? 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:17.240 Well, I'm going to describe evolution a bit more in a moment, 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:21.280 but first what I want to do is I want to make it harder for us as Christians, not easier. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:23.799 At least it's going to seem harder. 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:27.679 Because this is in fact a doctrine that we can't just easily dismiss. 00:04:28.559 --> 00:04:32.219 It's a doctrine that the uncreated God has created all that exists 00:04:32.219 --> 00:04:34.359 and that he sustains all that exists. 00:04:34.719 --> 00:04:37.299 It's something which is taught in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:42.079 it's taught in the law, the wisdom literature, in the prophets, in the historical books, 00:04:42.139 --> 00:04:45.239 it's taught in the Gospels, the Epistles, the Book of Revelation, 00:04:45.359 --> 00:04:46.500 it's taught in all of the Bible. 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:49.199 And in fact, not only is it taught in all of the Bible, 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:54.540 the Bible links the idea of creation to the doctrine of salvation. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:58.519 Let's look very quickly and briefly at four different texts. 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.439 First is John chapter 1, verses 1 to 4. 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:03.639 If you can follow along, that would be great. 00:05:03.779 --> 00:05:06.339 We'll be moving a little bit quickly through the Bible passages. 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:08.560 I've picked texts which are fairly obvious. 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:11.680 So I'm not going to, in a sense, exposit them very much 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.500 because they're fairly straightforward and obvious texts. 00:05:14.500 --> 00:05:18.540 But I want to bring them to our mind and to our heart. 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:19.980 And here's how it goes. 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:25.860 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:28.560 He was in the beginning with God. 00:05:29.259 --> 00:05:34.720 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:38.339 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.699 I'll say verse 3 again if Clara can move back. 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:42.539 It can't be any clearer. 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:48.800 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:51.439 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:55.420 And then if you go on, as if you remember the gospel text which I read, 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:01.339 it connects the doctrine of creation to Jesus coming to save us, all in the same text. 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:05.599 Let's look at Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 through 17. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:09.780 Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 through 17. 00:06:09.900 --> 00:06:11.460 I'm just looking at New Testament texts. 00:06:12.020 --> 00:06:14.740 There's hundreds of texts in the Bible. 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.240 I'm just looking at four New Testament ones. 00:06:17.320 --> 00:06:21.760 Here's what it says in Colossians 1, 16 to 17, and it's referring to Jesus. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:29.860 For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:37.360 Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:43.319 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:46.779 And then if you go on and you read, it makes it very clear. 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:56.639 In fact, it's a very tightly organized text which connects the fact that Jesus and the Father created all things to the fact that Jesus is the Savior. 00:06:57.179 --> 00:06:59.979 It's very clearly connected in the next couple of verses. 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:03.339 Look to Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 to 3. 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:07.839 Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 to 3. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:14.719 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:25.539 But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:32.699 He, that is the Son, Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:36.819 And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:39.500 In other words, he's created all things. 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:41.060 He sustains all things. 00:07:41.659 --> 00:07:48.500 And then, after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. 00:07:49.259 --> 00:07:52.500 The creator who sustains, who redeems. 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:57.319 And then finally, Revelation chapter 4, verse 11. 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.339 Revelation chapter 4, verse 11. 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:03.739 And this is a hymn of praise. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.539 The way the book of Revelation is written, there's sort of a longish introduction in chapter 1. 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:14.359 Chapter 2 and 3 describes this sort of, these seven churches. 00:08:14.939 --> 00:08:17.519 And then it gets to a vision of God in chapter 4. 00:08:17.599 --> 00:08:19.519 And in chapter 5, it's a vision of Jesus. 00:08:20.099 --> 00:08:23.059 And here at the end of the vision of God and the throne in heaven, 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:30.420 there's this powerful image of these heavenly creatures, these great creatures, 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:36.960 majestic and full of wonder, casting their crowns before the throne of God 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:39.159 and falling down before him in worship. 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.579 And as they do this, they say or sing, 00:08:43.079 --> 00:08:47.719 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. 00:08:47.939 --> 00:08:53.360 For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. 00:08:53.719 --> 00:08:54.620 Say it again. 00:08:55.219 --> 00:08:59.059 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. 00:08:59.219 --> 00:09:03.639 For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:11.000 Now, science would say that all of those things are untrue. 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:13.519 So what do we do? 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:16.939 Well, first of all, here's just, we're going to talk about it a little bit over, 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.319 I mean, I can't solve the whole thing. 00:09:18.419 --> 00:09:20.639 I'm going to, but I'm going to, here's what we're going to do. 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:25.539 Part of the reason, C.S. Lewis is actually very interested in this. 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.319 If you look up, I can't remember the essay that he talked about it. 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:33.179 But really, and I'm not saying this to downplay or dismiss science, even in the least. 00:09:33.179 --> 00:09:34.219 I'm not saying it at all. 00:09:34.939 --> 00:09:41.899 But what, at the heart, what makes this, the idea of evolution so plausible to many people 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:48.179 and so wonderful as it combines a very powerful story with the power and rigor, 00:09:48.339 --> 00:09:49.879 at least apparently, of science. 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:58.219 And the very, very powerful story is a story of uplift, of improvement, of getting better. 00:09:59.220 --> 00:10:01.440 And so that's what the story is. 00:10:01.560 --> 00:10:06.940 At the heart of it is this story that, you know, that there were very, very simple primitive organisms 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:09.120 and then they develop. 00:10:09.259 --> 00:10:13.060 But they don't just develop in terms of change, but they change into something better. 00:10:13.160 --> 00:10:17.800 They change from one cell into multiple cells and into multiple cells, into many cells, 00:10:17.920 --> 00:10:19.399 and into different living organisms. 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.699 And there's this continual natural process. 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:29.480 And with every, in a sense, next moment of this natural process, something better and more diverse 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.500 and more beautiful emerges. 00:10:31.819 --> 00:10:39.980 And so there's this unending process of improvement and diversity and life and mind and beauty and art. 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:44.659 And there's this process of development and development and improving and improving. 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:48.220 And that, in fact, is what this wonderful thing of science also proves. 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:51.480 And it's a very, very powerful and wonderful story. 00:10:51.560 --> 00:10:55.080 And it's no wonder the story has gripped the imagination of so many people. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:57.779 But there's several problems. 00:10:58.500 --> 00:10:59.940 And the first problem is this. 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:06.860 Every system of thought, whether it's Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, whether it's New Age, 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:13.660 whether it's your self-curated putting together of different bits of philosophy and theology 00:11:13.660 --> 00:11:17.220 and ideology in your own particular unique way, 00:11:17.620 --> 00:11:21.160 every system of thought has to have something in it which is uncreated. 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:26.900 You know, the sort of the infantile objection to the existence of the Christian God, 00:11:26.900 --> 00:11:29.620 that who created God, is just, it's infantile. 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:33.679 It's made by, sorry, I might have insulted some of you, but it's infantile. 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:35.320 It's made by somebody who hasn't thought about it. 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:39.000 Every system of thought has to begin with something that has always existed. 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:44.840 And here's the thing, that that something which has always existed has to either be, 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:48.799 and now I'm going to sound like a Dr. Seuss story, a what or a who. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.700 It's either a what, like some type of matter or some type of an energy, 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:55.860 or it's a who, it's God. 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:57.860 But here's the thing that we know from experience, 00:11:57.860 --> 00:11:59.980 experience time and time and time again. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.200 Whose make what's, but no what has ever made a who. 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:06.159 Right? 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:07.560 This could be a Dr. Seuss story. 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:08.500 I'm not belittling it. 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:10.320 But whose make what's all the time? 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:11.639 I have grandchildren visiting. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:15.600 Me and my little three-year-old, some of my grandkids, 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:17.600 even the young ones, they made me a birthday card. 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:18.980 It was my birthday on Thursday. 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:22.300 And little three-year-olds can make what's. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:23.480 They can make pictures. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:25.879 Whose can make what's. 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:27.279 Sometimes it's beautiful. 00:12:27.439 --> 00:12:28.460 Sometimes it's a mess. 00:12:29.019 --> 00:12:30.039 They can make what's. 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:33.559 But we've had no experience of a what making a who. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:35.980 Like none. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:39.799 So that's a problem with this story. 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:43.340 The second story is vastly more problematic, 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:46.139 which is that the story actually doesn't tell you the truth. 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:50.399 Now that's a very astounding thing to say, but it doesn't. 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:54.759 You see, what it sort of hides is it talks about, I don't know, 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:59.480 the last million or however many years that they think organisms have been around. 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:02.980 But they hide the previous 17 billion years. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:06.980 And what they don't talk about is that prior to that, 00:13:07.059 --> 00:13:10.960 there's all these things that had to happen before any life could come to be. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:17.700 That isn't a matter of evolution that you just have to basically describe it as dumb, blind, 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:21.080 purposeless, uncaring chance. 00:13:22.040 --> 00:13:23.019 And that's what it is. 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:25.139 There could be no life in this Earth. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.879 If our orbit was a little tiny bit closer to the sun, there would be no life. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.440 If our planet Earth was a tiny little bit farther away from the sun, there would be no life. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:39.740 If this Earth spun on its axis, like 1% faster, there would be no life. 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:42.020 1% slower, there would be no life. 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:49.060 And you could go on and on and on and on with all of these physical things that just have to be perfect. 00:13:49.660 --> 00:13:54.640 The fact of the matter is that the size of the sun relative to the Earth has to be exactly purpose. 00:13:54.760 --> 00:14:01.320 The size of the sun, you know, the entire galaxy is hurtling through space at an unbelievable speed. 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:04.780 And it's circling larger matters, and that all has to be perfect. 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:07.440 And none of those things can ever be said to evolve. 00:14:07.800 --> 00:14:10.060 It's pure, dumb luck. 00:14:10.540 --> 00:14:16.800 It's like believing that you could go to Las Vegas and always bet that in roulette the ball will land on one, 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:21.200 and it's going to land on one a hundred million billion times. 00:14:22.280 --> 00:14:24.680 And if you said you believed that, everybody else would say, 00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:27.440 you are the biggest nut in the world, like you're a fool. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:31.980 You deserve to lose your money, because that will never happen. 00:14:33.040 --> 00:14:39.820 And that's completely and utterly hidden by the story that's told in our secular culture. 00:14:39.920 --> 00:14:44.000 It's just sort of brushed over, as if it just happens automatically and effortlessly. 00:14:44.520 --> 00:14:47.420 And this leads us to the third type of problem. 00:14:47.540 --> 00:14:50.540 It's sort of a bridge thing with the third problem, which is also a big problem. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:55.220 There's a fairly good science fiction novel by John Sanford called Saturn Run. 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:58.019 I'm a big John Sanford fan. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:00.019 He's not a Christian writer, but I'm a big fan of him. 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:04.420 And he mainly, in fact, exclusively other than this, writes mystery novels. 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:07.800 There's usually a murder or a murder and a bank robbery, 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:12.920 and people catching the murder, bank robbers, bad guys, and justice is done. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:17.700 But he always had a desire to write a science fiction novel, 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:20.900 so he teamed up with one of these brainiac science guys 00:15:20.900 --> 00:15:25.740 and wrote a very good science fiction novel called Saturn Run. 00:15:26.280 --> 00:15:29.759 And the way it starts is that there's this graduate student in Caltech, 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:34.000 and he's sort of monitoring different things in a corner of the sky, 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.600 and he notices a comet, and he thinks, 00:15:36.680 --> 00:15:37.500 oh, that's sort of cool. 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:38.700 There's a comet, you know? 00:15:38.800 --> 00:15:39.580 Like, those are cool. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:42.440 But then all of a sudden, as he's doing other types of stuff, 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:46.980 and he's noticing the comet, all of a sudden the comet decelerates. 00:15:48.920 --> 00:15:50.980 Now, that doesn't sound like very much, 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:54.100 but all of a sudden he goes from, you know, doing this, 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:55.780 and, you know, doing this, and doing this, 00:15:55.860 --> 00:16:01.800 to doing this, to doing this, to doing this, 00:16:02.180 --> 00:16:04.940 because nothing in nature decelerates like that. 00:16:05.680 --> 00:16:06.960 Comets should never decelerate. 00:16:07.520 --> 00:16:10.200 And then his jaw really drops when it stops. 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.660 And what does he instantly know? 00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:17.440 It's a very large spaceship. 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:19.259 It has to be done by intelligence. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.320 Nothing in nature could create that. 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:23.860 Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.879 And then the rest of the book is propelled from this. 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:33.000 There's, of course, people who say, 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:33.960 well, you sure it couldn't be? 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:35.300 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:39.259 Comets don't decelerate and stop and stay in one place. 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:40.460 It has to be a spaceship. 00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:42.080 It has to be a really, really big spaceship. 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:45.159 It means there is other intelligence in the universe. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:47.980 And then, of course, there's all the drama 00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:49.500 that propels the rest of the novel, 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.059 because the Americans at first try to keep this secret. 00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:53.399 Why do they want to keep it secret? 00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:55.740 They want to figure out how to get to the spaceship 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:59.100 so they can get all the cool alien technology 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:00.340 before anybody else. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:01.500 But there's a problem. 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:03.159 The Chinese have also noticed it. 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:04.940 And that's the whole story. 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:09.220 But all of this just comes from a very, very, very, very simple thing. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:16.400 That what appears to be a comet decelerates and then stops. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:19.340 And just seeing that, 00:17:20.660 --> 00:17:22.559 you know that there's intelligence. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:32.500 You can just imagine how the entire Internet would explode 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:41.460 if a Mars rover found a series of circular and oblong rocks 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:45.079 arranged in a way that it was obvious that it was Morse code, 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:48.879 even if it was just one, two, or three letters. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.220 Instantly, everybody would say intelligence. 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:53.880 It would be... 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:56.800 You know what I mean? 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.580 It would be huge. 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:01.960 It would take over the television reporting. 00:18:02.060 --> 00:18:04.140 They'd actually forget about COVID-19 00:18:04.140 --> 00:18:06.160 and climate change for a moment, 00:18:06.320 --> 00:18:09.600 because this would be so unbelievably huge. 00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:13.700 And how complex is it to have a couple of rocks 00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:15.580 that are circular and a couple of rocks 00:18:15.580 --> 00:18:16.780 that are a bit more oblong 00:18:16.780 --> 00:18:18.640 all in a small series? 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:20.380 That's very, very, very simple. 00:18:21.560 --> 00:18:22.740 But here's the problem, 00:18:22.860 --> 00:18:24.340 and here's the third big problem, 00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:26.840 then, for naturalistic evolution, 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.940 the idea that everything would happen by chance. 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:30.620 And the big problem is 00:18:30.620 --> 00:18:32.700 is that every day as science develops, 00:18:33.020 --> 00:18:34.700 evolution becomes more impossible. 00:18:35.360 --> 00:18:37.380 It literally becomes more impossible, 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:39.940 that all of this could just happen by chance. 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:46.020 The intricacy of the information communicated in DNA 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:51.039 is of many, many magnitudes greater 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.700 than seeing two or three or four or six rocks 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:56.000 that are circular and oblong put in order. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.160 Like, it's incommensurate 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:01.839 that there's information that is contained there. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:07.819 And that doesn't even talk about the intricacy of the cell. 00:19:07.939 --> 00:19:10.579 When the doctrine of evolution was first proposed, 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:11.839 it was thought that the cells 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:13.299 were just sort of like a little clump. 00:19:13.379 --> 00:19:15.519 But now, I mean, talk to somebody like Chris. 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:17.179 I don't think he's here today, 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:17.899 but James Lunney. 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:19.299 Talk to somebody like James Lunney, 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.059 and the cell is unbelievable. 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:22.500 Like, there's machines in it. 00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:25.220 Like, the complexity of a cell, 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:26.779 and they just keep discovering more and more 00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:28.519 the complexity within the cell. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.139 And so, everyday science develops, 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:33.079 the idea that this could happen by chance 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:35.400 becomes less and less plausible. 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:38.759 Now, there's a bit of a pushback, 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:39.660 and you can say, okay, George, 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:41.299 just because there's problems 00:19:41.299 --> 00:19:42.500 doesn't mean the Christian doctrine... 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:43.839 Like, are you just saying that, 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:45.259 okay, you just have to believe? 00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:49.220 Like, George, okay, here's the thing, 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:50.339 just very, very briefly. 00:19:51.379 --> 00:19:53.000 It's the doctrine of creation. 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.839 Remember I said that the uncreated trying God 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:58.460 created all things that exist, 00:19:58.519 --> 00:19:59.839 all that exists out of nothing. 00:20:00.180 --> 00:20:01.900 He alone sustains all that exists. 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:04.319 See, here's the thing about the doctrine of creation. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:10.680 God could have made a world that is like this. 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:15.039 One of the things which has been a real pleasure 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:16.000 for me over the years 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.980 is when I've had a grandchild come to visit, 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:19.500 and they come to be a certain age, 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:20.139 you know, I don't know, 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:22.160 like at three or four or something like that. 00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:24.019 You know, the kids aren't allowed up on the stage. 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:25.720 But at some point in time, 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:27.880 I have a grandchild visiting at that age, 00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:30.700 and they ask if they could come up on stage. 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:33.000 And here's one of the things. 00:20:33.100 --> 00:20:34.920 I don't, you know, how much the camera can see. 00:20:35.860 --> 00:20:39.180 But, you know, like if it's a well-designed stage, 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:41.200 we have a set designer in the room, for instance. 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.200 It looks like it's a real room, 00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:44.360 like it really does. 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:46.360 But what the grandkids like 00:20:46.360 --> 00:20:49.420 is they really like that they can come up here, 00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:52.300 and they can look up and they can see the lights, 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.100 and they go behind the walls, 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:55.580 and they realize that it's not a room, 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:56.200 it's not a house. 00:20:56.620 --> 00:20:58.480 In fact, some of you might not notice, 00:20:58.600 --> 00:21:01.240 but there's a stairway back there. 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:04.000 But it doesn't go to another room, 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:05.460 it's just a stairway to nowhere. 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:08.740 And so they find it really fascinating. 00:21:08.740 --> 00:21:10.800 They come and they're with their papa, 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:12.640 and they can go behind the wall, 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:13.320 and it's just, 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.519 God could have created a world like this, 00:21:15.600 --> 00:21:16.220 but he didn't. 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:18.240 He didn't. 00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:21.000 He created a world that was deep, 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:22.059 that was thick, 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:24.440 and had an unbelievable backstory. 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:29.180 If you just take it for a second 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:30.620 that God created all, 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:32.279 whether he did it in six days, 00:21:32.360 --> 00:21:33.400 or whatever the number is, 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:33.740 or whatever, 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:35.279 but he creates all things out of nothing, 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.839 the day after, 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:40.720 the evening after he's created all things, 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.140 if God put you back in a time machine 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:44.079 to that moment, 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.019 he created every, 00:21:46.059 --> 00:21:47.240 he finished all of creation, 00:21:47.419 --> 00:21:49.179 and then after that evening he comes, 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:50.379 and if you looked up in the sky, 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:51.299 would you see stars? 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:54.199 Well, the answer is yes, 00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:54.639 you would. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:56.639 But we all know 00:21:56.639 --> 00:21:57.879 that the closest star, 00:21:58.299 --> 00:21:59.720 the light from the closest star, 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.159 could not possibly get to earth 00:22:02.159 --> 00:22:03.359 from that morning 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:04.599 to that evening. 00:22:05.379 --> 00:22:07.519 If you got permission from God 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:08.480 to cut down a tree, 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:09.639 would the tree have rings? 00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:11.419 Well, yes, 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:12.119 it would have rings. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:12.379 Why? 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:13.600 Well, trees have rings. 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:16.720 That's partly what makes them trees. 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:18.940 In fact, Adam and Eve 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:20.320 would be a perfect example. 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:21.280 They'd look, I don't know, 00:22:21.820 --> 00:22:22.340 33. 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:24.480 A lot of the ancient Christians 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.400 thought that Jesus died at 33 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:27.380 so that Adam and Eve 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:28.120 must have been born 00:22:28.120 --> 00:22:29.660 at equivalent of 33. 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:30.640 But you could, 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:31.820 doctors could say, 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:33.380 well, this is a 33-year-old man, 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:34.860 a healthy 33-year-old woman, 00:22:34.860 --> 00:22:35.780 but we know they were actually 00:22:35.780 --> 00:22:37.080 just created that morning. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:39.060 If God, in fact, 00:22:39.120 --> 00:22:40.620 creates all things out of nothing. 00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:42.639 You see, the doctrine of creation 00:22:42.639 --> 00:22:43.959 is that God could have created 00:22:43.959 --> 00:22:45.259 a small world, 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:46.319 but he created a world 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:48.179 because he designed this universe 00:22:48.179 --> 00:22:49.759 for human beings to live in it, 00:22:50.139 --> 00:22:51.159 and that he wanted us 00:22:51.159 --> 00:22:52.839 to subdue the earth 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:54.199 and to understand the earth 00:22:54.199 --> 00:22:55.219 and to treat the whole earth 00:22:55.219 --> 00:22:55.899 like a garden, 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:56.759 and maybe eventually, 00:22:56.919 --> 00:22:57.659 if we hadn't fallen 00:22:57.659 --> 00:22:59.139 the entire galaxy 00:22:59.139 --> 00:23:00.259 and the entire universe, 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:01.959 and he wanted us 00:23:01.959 --> 00:23:03.399 to understand how to fly 00:23:03.399 --> 00:23:04.739 and how to do this 00:23:04.739 --> 00:23:05.519 and how to do that, 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:07.219 then he's created this backstory, 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:08.259 and because the God 00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:09.200 who's created all things 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:10.299 is a wise God 00:23:10.299 --> 00:23:11.640 who uses his intelligence, 00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:12.640 so to speak, 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:13.620 to create all things, 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:15.120 it means that scientists 00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:16.360 can go and look 00:23:16.360 --> 00:23:17.600 for the order of things 00:23:17.600 --> 00:23:18.759 and can see the wisdom 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:19.860 of God's creation 00:23:19.860 --> 00:23:21.500 and see all of the intricacy, 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:24.380 and things about black holes 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.279 and the distance of the stars 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:27.200 help us to understand 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:28.600 things about light and gravity, 00:23:28.600 --> 00:23:29.960 which will help to understand, 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:30.940 help people to make 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:32.319 scientific discoveries 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:33.299 about this and this 00:23:33.299 --> 00:23:33.960 and this and this, 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:35.100 because God made, 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:36.519 when he makes a world 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:37.500 out of nothing, 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:39.120 he chose to make a world 00:23:39.120 --> 00:23:40.299 which is deep and thick 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:41.799 and has an unbelievable backstory, 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:43.400 which means that scientists 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:45.200 can study and study and study 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:45.660 and can say, 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:46.740 well, it looked like this 00:23:46.740 --> 00:23:47.519 developed into this 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.220 and it looked like this 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:49.000 developed into this, 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:49.940 and by the way, 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:50.660 there's not a problem 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:51.160 for our theory 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:52.200 if there's huge gaps 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:53.480 in the biological record, 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:54.240 because that's just the way 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:55.680 that God designed to do it, 00:23:55.700 --> 00:23:56.660 and maybe he'd put 00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:57.600 those gaps there 00:23:57.600 --> 00:23:58.460 so you'd realize 00:23:58.460 --> 00:23:59.600 that it couldn't have happened 00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:00.299 just completely, 00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:01.620 not only by chance. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.740 And the fact of the matter is, 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:09.559 is this actually opens up 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:11.299 a vastly better story 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:12.299 for our society 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:13.440 to live out of. 00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:17.120 I mean, the story of Saturn Run 00:24:17.120 --> 00:24:18.539 is an exciting story. 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:20.440 There's other intelligence 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:21.279 in the earth, 00:24:21.380 --> 00:24:22.160 in the universe. 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:24.539 Let's go meet them. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:27.700 Let's use all of our creativity 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:29.380 to design spaceships in this, 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:30.440 and let's go. 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:32.059 Let's go as fast as we can. 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:33.640 Let's not spare any expense. 00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:34.960 Let's pursue them. 00:24:35.620 --> 00:24:36.940 And the fact of the matter is, 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:37.620 is that the Bible 00:24:37.620 --> 00:24:38.720 has communicated to us 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.160 a story, a better story, 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:41.040 which is actually true 00:24:41.040 --> 00:24:41.840 to science. 00:24:42.800 --> 00:24:43.920 We aren't alone. 00:24:45.060 --> 00:24:46.300 There is a God. 00:24:47.060 --> 00:24:48.240 There is a creator. 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:50.160 Let's understand 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.460 how he created things. 00:24:51.860 --> 00:24:52.820 Let's meet him. 00:24:52.819 --> 00:25:00.579 And the more you study science, 00:25:00.659 --> 00:25:01.339 the more you realize 00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:02.299 there had to be design. 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:04.359 There had to be design. 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:05.599 Had to be. 00:25:05.679 --> 00:25:06.079 Had to be. 00:25:06.139 --> 00:25:06.579 Had to be. 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:09.539 Now, for some people, 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:10.579 I have to watch my time. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:12.279 This is all very bad news. 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:13.179 Remember I said at the beginning, 00:25:13.259 --> 00:25:13.839 maybe you don't. 00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:15.359 I've already put you to sleep. 00:25:15.439 --> 00:25:16.539 You're just waking up right now. 00:25:16.659 --> 00:25:17.299 Maybe after you're, 00:25:17.379 --> 00:25:18.779 maybe my grandchildren coming up 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:19.439 help you wake up. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:19.920 That's fine. 00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:20.440 I understand. 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:21.860 I'm a human being too. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:23.640 If I fall asleep 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:24.460 during my own sermon, 00:25:24.580 --> 00:25:25.340 that's a really, 00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:26.400 really bad sign. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:28.920 Like, that's a pathetic sign. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:29.779 That's the time 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:30.440 when, George, 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:31.160 you get the, 00:25:31.600 --> 00:25:32.039 this, 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:33.180 and it's time to 00:25:33.180 --> 00:25:34.380 hang up the spurs 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:36.759 and just start praying 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:37.440 like crazy 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:38.440 for everybody else. 00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:39.039 But, 00:25:39.580 --> 00:25:40.160 you see, 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:40.820 this is actually, 00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:41.140 this, 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:42.100 what I've just described 00:25:42.100 --> 00:25:43.240 is for a lot of people, 00:25:43.340 --> 00:25:44.400 a big deflator. 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:45.740 It's very bad news. 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:48.600 And I'll help you 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:49.740 to understand why it is 00:25:49.740 --> 00:25:50.480 for many people 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:51.119 a deflator, 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:51.500 a very, 00:25:51.639 --> 00:25:52.699 very bad news story, 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:53.699 something they don't want 00:25:53.699 --> 00:25:54.319 to be true. 00:25:55.199 --> 00:25:56.899 If you put up the next point, 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:57.699 and it is this, 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:59.139 the triune God 00:25:59.139 --> 00:26:00.480 created man and woman, 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:02.019 male and female, 00:26:02.779 --> 00:26:03.659 in his image. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.839 The triune God 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:08.339 created man and woman, 00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:09.639 male and female, 00:26:10.459 --> 00:26:12.980 in his image. 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:16.599 What's one of the most 00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:17.240 powerful, 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:18.680 formative stories 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:19.500 in our culture? 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:21.299 You can be 00:26:21.299 --> 00:26:22.240 whatever you want to be. 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:24.539 You can be 00:26:24.539 --> 00:26:25.279 whatever you want to be. 00:26:25.339 --> 00:26:26.360 If you think you're a woman 00:26:26.360 --> 00:26:27.579 trapped in a man's body, 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:28.160 be a woman. 00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:29.519 You can be 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:30.420 whatever you want to be. 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:31.099 It can be very, 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:31.819 if you want to sleep 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:32.200 with a man, 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:32.700 sleep with a man. 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:33.099 If you want to sleep 00:26:33.099 --> 00:26:33.420 with a woman, 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:33.980 sleep with a woman. 00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:34.240 If you don't want 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:34.740 to sleep with anybody, 00:26:34.779 --> 00:26:35.420 don't sleep with anybody. 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:35.860 If you want to sleep 00:26:35.860 --> 00:26:36.339 with lots of people, 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.240 sleep with lots of people. 00:26:37.620 --> 00:26:38.380 You want to do that 00:26:38.380 --> 00:26:38.900 with surgery, 00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:39.799 without surgery, 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:40.680 whatever, 00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:41.900 you need to get 00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:42.880 in touch with you, 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:51.160 You need to understand who you really are inside, and you need to pursue that, and you can create yourself to be whoever you want to be. 00:26:51.540 --> 00:26:53.940 And it's not just in terms of sexuality. 00:26:54.080 --> 00:26:55.140 It's part of consumerism. 00:26:55.260 --> 00:26:55.940 You can be rich. 00:26:56.040 --> 00:26:56.980 You can be successful. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:58.360 You can be more slim. 00:26:58.820 --> 00:27:00.240 You can have more muscles. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:01.980 You can lose those wrinkles. 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:03.820 You can change your hair color. 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:05.140 You can have that car. 00:27:05.260 --> 00:27:06.260 You can have that house. 00:27:06.360 --> 00:27:07.360 You can have that wife. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:08.060 You can have it. 00:27:08.120 --> 00:27:08.660 You can have it. 00:27:08.700 --> 00:27:09.840 You should go for it. 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:14.679 You need to be who you need to be, and you can pursue it. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:23.559 And nobody can tell you what you need to be because it's completely and utterly up to you, and it's a very, very powerful story. 00:27:23.699 --> 00:27:24.980 It fits with consumerism. 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:32.359 It helps to explain why we want to buy new cars, why we want to buy new houses, why we want to get that education, how we understand sexuality. 00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:35.039 It's a very, very powerful and deep story in our society. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:43.759 And to be told that the triune God created man and woman, male and female in his image, to many people seems oppressive. 00:27:45.139 --> 00:27:46.899 It means that we're stuck. 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:57.759 It's a myth created by the powerful to oppress and stop us from being fulfilled. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:07.059 Well, first of all, let's see where I get that idea from, that the triune God created man and woman, male and female in his image. 00:28:07.059 --> 00:28:15.079 If you'd look at Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 to 31, it's a, once again, I'm not going to exposit it very much. 00:28:15.140 --> 00:28:16.640 It's a very obvious text. 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:18.379 And here's how it goes. 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:28.020 And by the way, if you're curious about how what I've talked about creation fits with the six days, about four or five years ago, I did a series of sermons on the first 11 chapters of Genesis. 00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:29.440 They're all available. 00:28:29.560 --> 00:28:32.060 I think they were all just recorded by audio back then. 00:28:32.100 --> 00:28:39.460 You can go online and you can find them and you can listen to how I connect intelligent design and creation with Genesis chapter 1. 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:40.580 I'm not going to talk about it today. 00:28:40.580 --> 00:28:44.280 But look here at this part, Genesis chapter 1, 26 to 31. 00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:52.440 Then God said, let us make man, and here man is referring to, in a sense, the human race, humanity. 00:28:52.599 --> 00:29:08.220 Let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them, that's the human beings, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:12.240 So God created man, humanity, in his own image. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:17.059 In the image of God, he created him, in other words, humanity. 00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:20.319 Male and female, he created them. 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:25.640 In other words, both a male and a female are equally bearers of God's image. 00:29:26.120 --> 00:29:31.660 And being part of God's image is also something which requires male and female. 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:35.359 So both have integrity as being made in God's image. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:39.159 But that integrity is also combined by their being male and female. 00:29:40.719 --> 00:29:51.959 And God blessed them, verse 28, and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 00:29:52.419 --> 00:29:53.439 In other words, flourish. 00:29:54.159 --> 00:29:54.939 Be blessed. 00:29:55.939 --> 00:29:56.419 Flourish. 00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:58.099 Fill the earth. 00:29:58.099 --> 00:30:07.659 And God said, verse 29, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit. 00:30:08.059 --> 00:30:09.259 You shall have them for food. 00:30:09.679 --> 00:30:18.679 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth and everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. 00:30:19.259 --> 00:30:20.259 And it was so. 00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:23.559 And listen to what he then says. 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:26.099 And God saw everything that he had made. 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:27.819 And behold, it was very good. 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:30.279 It was very good. 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:33.759 And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:51.839 Now, as I said, this idea that human beings actually have a nature that there's, and by the way, if you're watching this or if you're present and you find this a hard text, 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:56.619 I understand why lots of people in our culture find this very hard. 00:30:57.139 --> 00:30:59.199 Personally, why I was trying to communicate the big story. 00:30:59.379 --> 00:31:08.379 But especially, I just want to say that if you're here or watching this and you really feel as if you, and I shouldn't say really as if I'm dismissing it. 00:31:08.379 --> 00:31:09.179 I'm not dismissing it. 00:31:09.199 --> 00:31:12.199 The fact of the matter is there are people who feel like they're in the wrong body. 00:31:13.099 --> 00:31:14.980 That is a real human problem. 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:20.019 And I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for you if that's your situation. 00:31:20.980 --> 00:31:25.660 Like, if you're here or if you're there and you really feel that you are in the wrong body, 00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:32.279 like, I am, I mean, I'll talk with you. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:33.519 I walk with you. 00:31:34.059 --> 00:31:35.680 Our church will walk with you. 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:39.200 It must be very, very, very, very, very, very, very difficult. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:41.860 Like, it is. 00:31:42.059 --> 00:31:44.920 And don't take anything I say as belittling your experience. 00:31:46.059 --> 00:31:51.140 But this story goes against our cultural story on one very important thing, 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:56.299 is that if we're made in God's image, if we're made male and female, man and woman, 00:31:56.360 --> 00:31:58.700 it means that there is a type of nature to us. 00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:03.140 And it also probably means we have some type of telos or end or destiny, 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.059 and that we can't be completely and utterly self-created. 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:10.940 But you see, here's the big problem with the secular story, which is very powerful. 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:17.119 The popular story is a tragedy. 00:32:20.859 --> 00:32:27.759 Like, we have TikTok, and we have Instagram, and we have gambling, 00:32:28.119 --> 00:32:33.299 and we have drag queen shows, and we have sports, 00:32:33.700 --> 00:32:35.919 and we have lots of stuff to amuse ourselves. 00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:41.559 But the fact of the matter is, is that the story that's being told in our culture that's so formative, 00:32:41.659 --> 00:32:44.039 what's not being told to people is that it's a tragedy. 00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:46.759 Tragedies end in death. 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:53.359 And that's how every single human being will end, in death. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:33:00.839 And in Canada, it's very, very, very impolite to say that to people. 00:33:02.199 --> 00:33:06.079 In fact, church is one of the very few places, 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:08.199 and even many churches in our culture, 00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:11.139 it's such an unpopular thing to say in Canada that you're going to die, 00:33:12.059 --> 00:33:14.240 that even in many churches it's never said. 00:33:14.339 --> 00:33:17.500 In fact, in many funeral services it's not even said. 00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:26.559 They use euphemisms and metaphors to try to get around the fact that you're here, 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:30.980 because George has died. 00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:40.440 And so it's a huge elephant in the room that the story is a tragedy. 00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:44.440 And to understand just how important this is, 00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:49.660 imagine if you had a message or something that just came, 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:53.240 and it was a believable message that you were going to die today at 3 o'clock. 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:55.360 3 o'clock. 00:33:55.460 --> 00:33:57.160 No matter what you did, you're going to die at 3. 00:33:57.620 --> 00:33:58.440 How would you feel? 00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:02.240 Now, I'm talking to Christians, and many of us would go, 00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:04.920 whoa, that's a blow. 00:34:06.620 --> 00:34:09.519 Some of us might say, I'm glad I'm not dying at noon, 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:12.619 because I'd really like to tidy up my apartment before I die, 00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:15.000 so that people don't see my mess. 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:18.760 And many of us would, maybe some of us would say, 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:19.920 I'm going to meet Jesus at 3. 00:34:19.940 --> 00:34:21.079 That's a wonderful thing. 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:24.700 But in our culture as a whole, 00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:27.359 if you were to go and tell people everything's going to die at 3, 00:34:27.539 --> 00:34:28.779 you're all going to die at 3, 00:34:29.439 --> 00:34:31.119 it would not cause happiness. 00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:32.799 And yet the fact of the matter is, 00:34:32.819 --> 00:34:34.219 is that all human beings will die. 00:34:34.399 --> 00:34:40.019 All of the popular story that forms people is a tragedy. 00:34:41.219 --> 00:34:45.039 And part of the deeper tragedy is they never say it's a tragedy. 00:34:47.759 --> 00:34:50.639 In fact, the psalmist puts it perfectly, 00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:54.000 and the psalmist wrote 3,000 years ago, 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:57.039 Psalm 103, verses 15 to 16. 00:34:57.539 --> 00:35:00.519 It's something which could be written by Nietzsche. 00:35:00.699 --> 00:35:02.500 It could be something that could be written by 00:35:02.500 --> 00:35:05.639 some modern poet who's very depressing. 00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:08.659 As for man and woman, his days are, 00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:10.440 as for man, his days, 00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:12.179 Psalm 103, 15 to 16, 00:35:12.260 --> 00:35:13.840 as for man, his days are like grass. 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:16.300 He flourishes like a flower of the field, 00:35:16.679 --> 00:35:18.139 for the wind passes over it, 00:35:18.139 --> 00:35:18.880 and it is gone, 00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:22.059 and its place knows it no more. 00:35:22.059 --> 00:35:24.679 And that is the end of every human story. 00:35:24.679 --> 00:35:32.899 So you see, this leads us to try to deal with the, 00:35:33.019 --> 00:35:34.339 you see, the Christian story, 00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:36.279 which I just expressed, 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:38.239 that the triune God created man and woman, 00:35:38.359 --> 00:35:39.539 male and female in his image. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:42.699 It's actually part of a better story. 00:35:42.819 --> 00:35:44.539 It's a better, it's actually, 00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:45.619 well, here's what it is. 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:47.739 By the way, I got this idea from Glenn Scrivener 00:35:47.739 --> 00:35:49.719 to give credit to where credit is due. 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:51.259 If you could put up the third point. 00:35:51.260 --> 00:35:53.120 Out of his infinite love, 00:35:53.980 --> 00:35:55.300 the Father sent the Son 00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:57.520 in the power of the Holy Spirit 00:35:57.520 --> 00:35:59.480 into his fallen creation 00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:01.840 to turn the story of your life 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:04.460 from a tragedy to a comedy. 00:36:06.640 --> 00:36:07.920 Out of his infinite love, 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:09.520 the Father sent the Son 00:36:09.520 --> 00:36:11.200 in the power of the Holy Spirit 00:36:11.200 --> 00:36:13.040 into his fallen creation 00:36:13.200 --> 00:36:15.400 to turn the story of your life 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:17.920 from a tragedy to a comedy. 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:22.000 tragedies end with the hero dying 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.920 tragedies end with a funeral 00:36:24.920 --> 00:36:29.320 comedies usually end with a marriage 00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:31.680 or nowadays in Hollywood 00:36:31.680 --> 00:36:33.220 because marriage is out of fashion 00:36:33.220 --> 00:36:34.460 with a kiss 00:36:34.460 --> 00:36:38.039 and often a kiss with applause 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:41.260 and it's interesting for those of you 00:36:41.260 --> 00:36:42.099 who don't know the Bible 00:36:42.099 --> 00:36:43.579 but if you read the book of Revelation 00:36:43.579 --> 00:36:45.300 which describes the end of the end 00:36:45.300 --> 00:36:47.019 of the end of the end of all things 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:49.820 how is it that the Christian story ends? 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:52.440 with a marriage 00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:54.219 and applause 00:36:54.219 --> 00:36:58.719 if you turn to John chapter 1 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:00.179 verses 9 to 14 00:37:00.179 --> 00:37:02.259 it's beyond the scope of this sermon 00:37:02.259 --> 00:37:04.360 to talk about how evil entered the world 00:37:04.360 --> 00:37:05.780 but it fundamentally came in 00:37:05.780 --> 00:37:08.000 when human beings during in a sense 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:08.300 are 00:37:08.300 --> 00:37:13.320 I should have written it down 00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:15.960 if you get hired you have three months 00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:17.039 anyway whatever it is 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:19.119 you know they chose to become like God 00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:20.539 and in choosing to become like God 00:37:20.539 --> 00:37:22.220 they brought death and evil into the world 00:37:22.220 --> 00:37:24.220 but then here's God's response 00:37:24.220 --> 00:37:25.320 he never stops loving 00:37:25.320 --> 00:37:28.720 and even at the moment that the human race 00:37:28.720 --> 00:37:29.900 brings in the fall 00:37:29.900 --> 00:37:30.880 brings in evil 00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:31.960 brings in death 00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:33.380 even in that moment 00:37:33.380 --> 00:37:35.000 God provides a covering 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:36.059 and makes a promise 00:37:36.059 --> 00:37:37.960 that one day he will send a deliverer 00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:40.460 and in John chapter 1 verse 9 to 14 00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:41.440 in poetic language 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:42.539 you get the true light 00:37:42.539 --> 00:37:43.880 which gives light to everyone 00:37:43.880 --> 00:37:45.119 was coming into the world 00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:46.700 he was in the world 00:37:46.700 --> 00:37:47.660 so he's coming 00:37:47.660 --> 00:37:48.380 promised 00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:49.400 that's the Old Testament 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:50.579 New Testament 00:37:50.579 --> 00:37:51.700 he was in the world 00:37:51.700 --> 00:37:53.440 and the world was made through him 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:55.380 yet the world did not know him 00:37:55.380 --> 00:37:56.900 he came to his own 00:37:56.900 --> 00:37:57.640 and his own people 00:37:57.640 --> 00:37:58.900 did not receive him 00:37:58.900 --> 00:38:01.039 but to all who did receive him 00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:02.440 who believed in his name 00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:04.200 he gave the right 00:38:04.200 --> 00:38:06.220 to become children of God 00:38:06.220 --> 00:38:07.980 who were born 00:38:07.980 --> 00:38:09.420 a new birth 00:38:09.420 --> 00:38:11.380 not of blood 00:38:11.380 --> 00:38:13.220 nor of the will of the flesh 00:38:13.220 --> 00:38:14.900 nor of the will of man 00:38:14.900 --> 00:38:15.980 but a birth 00:38:15.980 --> 00:38:17.059 a new birth 00:38:17.059 --> 00:38:18.420 in our fallen world 00:38:18.420 --> 00:38:20.320 that comes from God 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:22.960 and the word became flesh 00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:24.340 and dwelt among us 00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:26.039 and we have seen his glory 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:27.700 glory as of the only son 00:38:27.700 --> 00:38:28.440 from the father 00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:30.440 full of grace 00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:31.700 and truth 00:38:31.699 --> 00:38:37.219 in a sense 00:38:37.219 --> 00:38:37.939 if you understand 00:38:37.939 --> 00:38:38.579 that creation 00:38:38.579 --> 00:38:39.599 is a little bit 00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:40.339 like if one of you 00:38:40.339 --> 00:38:41.339 were to write a story 00:38:41.339 --> 00:38:43.759 and then that's 00:38:43.759 --> 00:38:44.359 the story 00:38:44.359 --> 00:38:45.179 in a sense 00:38:45.179 --> 00:38:45.980 is made by you 00:38:45.980 --> 00:38:46.960 declared by your word 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:47.759 just as the Bible 00:38:47.759 --> 00:38:48.379 describes it 00:38:48.379 --> 00:38:49.359 God just says a word 00:38:49.359 --> 00:38:50.039 and it is 00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:51.899 and just as if you 00:38:51.899 --> 00:38:52.939 were to write a story 00:38:52.939 --> 00:38:54.039 or series of stories 00:38:54.039 --> 00:38:54.739 there's no reason 00:38:54.739 --> 00:38:55.419 why you couldn't 00:38:55.419 --> 00:38:56.079 write yourself 00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:56.919 into the story 00:38:56.919 --> 00:38:58.159 and God 00:38:58.159 --> 00:38:59.000 in a sense 00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:00.079 writes himself 00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:01.039 into the story 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:02.000 of the human race 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:03.679 because the human race 00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:04.699 has fallen 00:39:04.699 --> 00:39:05.340 and it means 00:39:05.340 --> 00:39:06.480 that every human life 00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:07.619 will end in a tragedy 00:39:07.619 --> 00:39:09.400 there's only one new story 00:39:09.400 --> 00:39:10.519 in the entire planet 00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:11.639 and it is a story 00:39:11.639 --> 00:39:12.880 that ends with the grave 00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:14.719 and God does not want 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:15.719 that to be the end 00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:16.639 for human beings 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:17.819 because he loves us 00:39:17.819 --> 00:39:19.199 so he writes himself 00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:20.199 into the story 00:39:20.199 --> 00:39:21.480 in the person of his son 00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:22.440 and in the power 00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:23.460 of the Holy Spirit 00:39:23.460 --> 00:39:25.519 the son does everything 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:26.579 that is needed 00:39:26.579 --> 00:39:28.679 so that if you just stop 00:39:28.679 --> 00:39:29.799 and turn to him 00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:30.560 and say 00:39:30.560 --> 00:39:33.519 Jesus take me 00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:35.860 I will no longer run 00:39:35.860 --> 00:39:37.420 I can't even really 00:39:37.420 --> 00:39:38.840 I can't even stop 00:39:38.840 --> 00:39:39.680 running by myself 00:39:39.680 --> 00:39:41.440 I can't take my weapons 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:42.200 away by myself 00:39:42.200 --> 00:39:43.060 I just stop 00:39:43.060 --> 00:39:43.920 you do it 00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:45.000 you need to do it 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:45.880 do it all 00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:49.740 and when Jesus takes you 00:39:49.740 --> 00:39:51.340 he turns the story 00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:52.140 of your life 00:39:52.140 --> 00:39:53.019 to the moment 00:39:53.019 --> 00:39:53.740 that you give 00:39:53.740 --> 00:39:54.539 up until the moment 00:39:54.539 --> 00:39:55.440 you give your life 00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:56.240 to Jesus 00:39:56.240 --> 00:39:57.039 your story 00:39:57.039 --> 00:39:58.420 is like every human story 00:39:58.420 --> 00:39:59.760 it was like mine was 00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:01.079 which is a tragedy 00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:02.579 but when you give yourself 00:40:02.579 --> 00:40:03.139 to Jesus 00:40:03.139 --> 00:40:03.820 and God 00:40:03.820 --> 00:40:04.559 in this person 00:40:04.559 --> 00:40:05.220 of his son 00:40:05.220 --> 00:40:05.780 in the power 00:40:05.780 --> 00:40:06.579 of the Holy Spirit 00:40:06.579 --> 00:40:08.139 does all that is needed 00:40:08.139 --> 00:40:08.860 to be done 00:40:08.860 --> 00:40:09.639 for you to have 00:40:09.639 --> 00:40:10.440 a new birth 00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:11.480 to be adopted 00:40:11.480 --> 00:40:12.480 as his child 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:13.720 to be at the end 00:40:13.720 --> 00:40:14.320 of the day 00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:15.760 to be reconciled 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:16.280 to him 00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:17.139 and now 00:40:17.139 --> 00:40:17.920 the story 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:18.740 of your life 00:40:18.740 --> 00:40:19.519 will be 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:20.480 a comedy 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:22.380 it will end 00:40:22.380 --> 00:40:25.680 or should I say 00:40:25.680 --> 00:40:26.099 begin 00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:27.200 in the new heaven 00:40:27.200 --> 00:40:27.900 and the new earth 00:40:27.900 --> 00:40:33.019 it ends 00:40:33.019 --> 00:40:33.640 in the marriage 00:40:33.640 --> 00:40:35.660 ends with applause 00:40:35.660 --> 00:40:38.079 it's all offered 00:40:38.079 --> 00:40:38.680 as a gift 00:40:38.680 --> 00:40:43.780 if you read the blog 00:40:43.780 --> 00:40:44.220 that I wrote 00:40:44.220 --> 00:40:44.780 this week 00:40:44.780 --> 00:40:46.800 I talk a little bit 00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:47.340 about how this 00:40:47.340 --> 00:40:48.000 has an impact 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:49.200 upon human creativity 00:40:49.200 --> 00:40:50.519 but I just want us 00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:51.079 to remember 00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:52.279 a little bit more 00:40:52.279 --> 00:40:52.880 about the true 00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:53.739 and better story 00:40:53.739 --> 00:40:54.719 that the Bible tells 00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:56.360 turn to Psalm chapter 8 00:40:56.360 --> 00:40:58.579 in closing 00:40:58.579 --> 00:41:00.420 Psalm chapter 8 00:41:00.420 --> 00:41:04.179 this is the text 00:41:04.179 --> 00:41:05.059 that Daniel read 00:41:05.059 --> 00:41:06.039 you see there's 00:41:06.039 --> 00:41:07.259 a true and better story 00:41:07.259 --> 00:41:07.880 that the story 00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:08.400 of your life 00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:09.259 is not going to have 00:41:09.259 --> 00:41:10.139 to be all about 00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:11.539 how much you can consume 00:41:11.539 --> 00:41:12.920 and how much power 00:41:12.920 --> 00:41:13.779 you know stories 00:41:13.779 --> 00:41:14.219 like this 00:41:14.219 --> 00:41:14.940 they're very good 00:41:14.940 --> 00:41:16.139 for powerful people 00:41:16.139 --> 00:41:16.799 they're very good 00:41:16.799 --> 00:41:17.699 for young people 00:41:17.699 --> 00:41:18.940 they're very very good 00:41:18.940 --> 00:41:19.719 for people 00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:20.400 who have lots 00:41:20.400 --> 00:41:21.059 of education 00:41:21.059 --> 00:41:21.900 they're very good 00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:22.420 for the type 00:41:22.420 --> 00:41:22.880 of person 00:41:22.880 --> 00:41:23.579 who are born 00:41:23.579 --> 00:41:24.740 on third base 00:41:24.740 --> 00:41:25.740 but think 00:41:25.740 --> 00:41:26.619 they hit a triple 00:41:26.619 --> 00:41:28.360 you've heard that line 00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:29.740 they're born 00:41:29.740 --> 00:41:30.380 with privilege 00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:30.980 they're born 00:41:30.980 --> 00:41:31.720 on third base 00:41:31.720 --> 00:41:32.460 but they walk around 00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:33.440 thinking I hit a triple 00:41:33.440 --> 00:41:34.619 no you didn't hit a triple 00:41:34.619 --> 00:41:35.920 look who your parents are 00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:36.360 you were born 00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:37.180 on third base 00:41:37.180 --> 00:41:40.660 and that story 00:41:40.660 --> 00:41:41.619 is very very good 00:41:41.619 --> 00:41:42.680 and it enamors us 00:41:42.680 --> 00:41:43.360 but there's a far 00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:44.240 better story 00:41:44.240 --> 00:41:47.559 and the far better story 00:41:47.559 --> 00:41:48.360 is there is a God 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:49.180 who's created you 00:41:49.180 --> 00:41:50.599 and when you put 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:51.440 your hand in Jesus 00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:52.120 even if you have 00:41:52.120 --> 00:41:53.360 very very deep problems 00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:54.019 like feeling 00:41:54.019 --> 00:41:55.320 very very very 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:56.900 very very very strongly 00:41:56.900 --> 00:41:57.519 that you are in the 00:41:57.519 --> 00:41:58.059 complete and utter 00:41:58.059 --> 00:41:58.780 wrong body 00:41:58.780 --> 00:42:00.320 that there is a savior 00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:01.320 who will walk with you 00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:02.160 there is a company 00:42:02.160 --> 00:42:02.840 of people called 00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:03.300 the church 00:42:03.300 --> 00:42:04.420 who will walk with you 00:42:04.420 --> 00:42:05.420 as you walk 00:42:05.420 --> 00:42:06.160 towards healing 00:42:06.160 --> 00:42:06.940 and wholeness 00:42:06.940 --> 00:42:08.039 and that God 00:42:08.039 --> 00:42:09.000 has called you 00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:10.440 to have your life 00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:11.260 end in glory 00:42:11.260 --> 00:42:12.500 and before you come 00:42:12.500 --> 00:42:13.039 to glory 00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:14.200 he has called you 00:42:14.200 --> 00:42:15.480 grace will begin 00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:17.500 to perfect your fallen nature 00:42:17.500 --> 00:42:19.260 so that you can begin 00:42:19.260 --> 00:42:20.179 to flourish 00:42:20.179 --> 00:42:22.119 and psalm 8 will be true 00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:23.159 oh lord our lord 00:42:23.159 --> 00:42:24.460 how majestic is your name 00:42:24.460 --> 00:42:25.240 in all the earth 00:42:25.240 --> 00:42:26.820 you have set your glory 00:42:26.820 --> 00:42:27.780 above the heavens 00:42:27.780 --> 00:42:29.079 out of the mouths 00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:30.240 of babies and infants 00:42:30.240 --> 00:42:31.519 you have established strength 00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:32.679 because of your foes 00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:33.740 to still the enemy 00:42:33.740 --> 00:42:34.360 and the avenger 00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:34.740 in other words 00:42:34.740 --> 00:42:36.699 God can even use infants 00:42:36.699 --> 00:42:37.920 for his purpose 00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:39.260 because the power 00:42:39.260 --> 00:42:40.099 comes from him 00:42:40.099 --> 00:42:42.300 when I look at your heavens 00:42:42.300 --> 00:42:43.440 the work of your fingers 00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:44.500 the moon and the stars 00:42:44.500 --> 00:42:45.679 which you have set in place 00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:46.940 what is man 00:42:46.940 --> 00:42:48.179 that you are mindful of him 00:42:48.179 --> 00:42:49.440 and the son of man 00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:50.519 that you care for him 00:42:50.519 --> 00:42:52.179 you have made him 00:42:52.179 --> 00:42:53.360 a little lower 00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:54.679 than the heavenly beings 00:42:54.679 --> 00:42:56.760 and crowned him 00:42:56.760 --> 00:42:58.579 crowned you 00:42:58.579 --> 00:43:00.400 with glory and honor 00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:00.960 what does it mean 00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:01.760 to be a human being 00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:02.579 you are made in the image 00:43:02.579 --> 00:43:03.019 of God 00:43:03.019 --> 00:43:03.719 you have a dignity 00:43:03.719 --> 00:43:04.340 and a worth 00:43:04.340 --> 00:43:05.380 and in Christ 00:43:05.380 --> 00:43:06.179 you have a destiny 00:43:06.179 --> 00:43:06.940 which is eternal 00:43:06.940 --> 00:43:08.219 which is made for glory 00:43:08.219 --> 00:43:09.559 he has crowned you 00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:10.280 he has made you 00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:11.019 a little less 00:43:11.019 --> 00:43:11.880 than the heavenly beings 00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:12.940 he has crowned you 00:43:12.940 --> 00:43:13.579 with glory 00:43:13.579 --> 00:43:15.759 and you have given him 00:43:15.759 --> 00:43:16.739 dominion over the work 00:43:16.739 --> 00:43:17.440 of your hands 00:43:17.440 --> 00:43:18.440 and put all things 00:43:18.440 --> 00:43:19.219 under his feet 00:43:19.219 --> 00:43:20.420 all sheep and oxen 00:43:20.420 --> 00:43:21.199 and also the beasts 00:43:21.199 --> 00:43:21.739 of the field 00:43:21.739 --> 00:43:22.799 the birds of the heavens 00:43:22.799 --> 00:43:23.759 the fish of the sea 00:43:23.759 --> 00:43:25.420 whatever passes along 00:43:25.420 --> 00:43:26.480 the paths 00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:27.599 of the seas 00:43:27.599 --> 00:43:28.699 oh Lord our Lord 00:43:28.699 --> 00:43:29.980 how majestic is your name 00:43:29.980 --> 00:43:30.860 in all the earth 00:43:30.860 --> 00:43:32.639 the story of your life 00:43:32.639 --> 00:43:34.119 is to be reconnected 00:43:34.119 --> 00:43:34.860 to your creator 00:43:34.860 --> 00:43:35.799 is to begin to learn 00:43:35.799 --> 00:43:36.480 to flourish 00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:38.880 to the glory of God 00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:40.519 in a world 00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:41.360 that God has made 00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:42.500 for you to be your home 00:43:42.500 --> 00:43:45.619 and so you can 00:43:45.619 --> 00:43:46.579 roll up your sleeves 00:43:46.579 --> 00:43:47.140 we are going to deal 00:43:47.140 --> 00:43:47.940 with that pollution 00:43:47.940 --> 00:43:49.440 roll up your sleeves 00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:49.980 we are going to deal 00:43:49.980 --> 00:43:50.579 with the poor 00:43:50.579 --> 00:43:51.720 roll up your sleeves 00:43:51.720 --> 00:43:52.400 we are going to make 00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:53.240 that dance 00:43:53.240 --> 00:43:53.920 we are going to 00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:55.240 write this song 00:43:55.240 --> 00:43:56.980 we are going to 00:43:56.980 --> 00:43:58.019 have that feast 00:43:58.019 --> 00:43:59.519 we were going to 00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:00.300 deny ourselves 00:44:00.300 --> 00:44:01.220 to give to others 00:44:01.220 --> 00:44:01.619 then we are going 00:44:01.619 --> 00:44:02.220 to have a feast 00:44:02.619 --> 00:44:03.700 roll up your 00:44:03.700 --> 00:44:04.260 sleeves 00:44:04.260 --> 00:44:05.700 walk with Jesus 00:44:05.700 --> 00:44:07.000 walk with his people 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:14.039 brothers and sisters you're here in christ my prayer is that you will believe this that you 00:44:14.039 --> 00:44:17.760 will walk from this wanting to live out of the true stories that come from the bible 00:44:17.760 --> 00:44:24.380 and if you are here and you have never made that change from tragedy to comedy there is no better 00:44:24.380 --> 00:44:29.800 time than now to call out to jesus and he does everything that needs to be done when you call 00:44:29.800 --> 00:44:35.719 out to him to be your savior and your lord i urge you to do it today in your own words let's stand 00:44:35.719 --> 00:44:38.079 please stand 00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:44.179 let's bow our heads in prayer 00:44:44.179 --> 00:44:54.279 father we ask that you help us to be regular and coming to spend time with your people whether it's 00:44:54.279 --> 00:45:00.259 having a just a good spiritual friend if we don't have one father lead us to people who can be good 00:45:00.260 --> 00:45:06.740 spiritual friends to mentors if we need to have those to small groups to places father where we 00:45:06.740 --> 00:45:12.780 can gather around your word and and we can begin to unlearn the stories of our society the secular 00:45:12.780 --> 00:45:18.760 stories and that we can relearn and be re-gripped by the story of the gospel the true stories that 00:45:18.760 --> 00:45:25.060 that you have given us to form us for our good and for your glory and for the good of the created order 00:45:25.059 --> 00:45:32.159 and father we ask that these stories would grip us with deeper and deeper as deeper and deeper truths 00:45:32.159 --> 00:45:36.440 and more and more formative for us and father if there are any who have not yet given their lives 00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:40.599 to jesus we ask that the holy spirit would move with might and power and deep conviction in them 00:45:40.599 --> 00:45:46.739 that they will put down their soul and shield sword and shield they will turn to jesus 00:45:46.739 --> 00:45:53.839 and call out to him and father we know that jesus will rush to them and embrace them 00:45:53.839 --> 00:46:00.739 embrace them and save them all these things we ask in the name of jesus 00:46:00.739 --> 00:46:06.360 your son father and our savior and all god's people said amen