I CAN’T HELP WONDERING…

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

January 20, 2008

Last week I reminded us of the fact that regardless of all the good things a person has done during the course of his or her lifetime; apart from repenting and accepting the free offer of forgiveness of their sins through all that Jesus accomplished by His agonizing death and resurrection, that person will never enter into God’s heaven. After I posted last week’s message on my web page, I received feedback from a couple of people. The first was from my son Mike who suggested, “[I] think you should have titled it (the Horrible Truth). Most people would hate this sermon and hate you for writing it.” My good friend Sergio added, “You have answered the question well. I just have a hard time accepting it.” Sergio isn’t alone. There are many Christians who have a difficult time accepting the truths I spoke about in that message; salvation from their sins is the most precious gift our Creator can offer His human creatures. There is nothing we can do to earn it. It is all of grace. And it is also absolutely certain that none of us are powerless to accept it.

You may also recall I quoted the first great commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” I went on to ask this question: “If all these good people I have been speaking about [in my sermon] were tried in a court of law and accused of obeying this commandment; would there be enough evidence to convict them? Perhaps some of them would be, but not most of them. Think of the ones you know personally, those who want little or nothing to do with the One who taught, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6 ESV). The sad fact is that perhaps most of these folks have deceived themselves into believing they are not all that bad and that each of them is a good person. And as I pointed out in my last couple of sermons, it’s equally sad that there are churches which actually encourage that terrible self-deception. The reason being is that they don’t steal, or engage in sex outside of marriage or do drugs or booze and the like as some of their neighbors traveling on the fast lane to Hell are doing. These so called good people do not believe that God views them as being bad enough sinners who are deserving of eternal punishment, and you and I know there are many churches which foster this kind of self-deception.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And you and I also know most of those so-called good people have brushed aside being godly as described in this first great commandment. They have little or no interest in diligently searching the Scriptures to learn how they can love Him with all of their mind, and with all of their heart, and with all of their soul, and with all of their strength; nor do they want to discover how they can glorify God in his or her every thought, word and deed in their daily walk. They have deceived themselves into believing that by trying to be a nice person and doing good things makes them righteous in God’s sight and that sincerely struggling to be godly is irrelevant. I ended by stating that each of us needs to be certain WHY we believe what we do. Is it because it’s what we want to believe or because it’s the truth as revealed in the Bible? And I hoped and prayed that every one of you folks who heard my message and all those who may read it later would be able to say: “We believe because it’s the truth.”

However, the things millions of people do with the truth is something else. For instance, “There is no conscious eternal punishment for the wicked. All “unbelievers” will be annihilated.” How can anyone come up with such an unbiblical outrageous assertion? What these demonically deceived people have done in this instance is whenever they read the passages pertaining to Hell and eternal damnation; they evaluate them in light of their fallible human reason which becomes the standard by which they judge truth. Listen to what Satan has persuaded them to believe. “The fiendish concepts associated with a hell of torment slander God and originate with the chief slanderer of God (the Devil)” (Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985, p. 175).[i] These poor deceived folks are known as Jehovah Witnesses. And as I pointed out in my Christmas message, over the last two thousand years millions of saints and sinners alike have interpreted Biblical prophecy using the then current events as the standard by which to judge prophetic truth. And, they were all wrong! But there is such a thing as truth and it behooves us to search for it. Consider the following passages for a moment.

John 1:14 (NKJV) ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 14:6 (NKJV) ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Deuteronomy 32:4 (NKJV) ⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.

Psalms 145:18 (ESV) ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

John 4:24 (ESV) ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

All Scripture has been given to us by the inspiration of our Creator Himself through the Holy Spirit and  He must speak the truth.

Acts 1:16 (ESV) ¹⁶ “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Hebrews 3:7-8 (ESV) ⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,

2 Peter 1:21 (ESV) ²¹ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus; God in the Flesh continually attested to the truthfulness of the Scriptures. He quoted them extensively in His teaching.

Matthew 4:4 (ESV) ⁴ But he answered, “It is written, ” ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Mark 12:10 (ESV) ¹⁰ Have you not read this Scripture: ” ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

John 7:42 (ESV) ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

Luke 24:27 (ESV) ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

The bottom line is that the Bible is the infallible Word of God. As such, the Bible is the standard by which we ought to judge ultimate truth. It isn’t what we think or some gut feeling we may have, or what human reason says, or what our church or pastor or today’s newspaper headlines proclaim. It is the Bible alone! As I said earlier, I can’t help wondering what Jesus thinks about the manner in which all too many of His fallible human creatures continually use a different standard by which to judge truth. A case in point is the origin of the world and this vast universe together with everything and everyone in it.

Genesis 1:31 (ESV) ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

John 1:2-3 (ESV) ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Romans 1:20 (AMP) ²⁰ For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],

Colossians 1:16 (AMP) ¹⁶ For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him.

Hebrews 1:2 (ESV) ² 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.

Unless I’m missing something it seems as though God, through Jesus, created everything. And according to Genesis 1: 31, He did it in the span of just six days. In my opinion, that’s one huge miracle. Furthermore, I can’t imagine Moses, the man the Holy Spirit inspired to write the Book of Genesis or any of those Jews who learned of the creation account through that account coming to any other conclusion. That would make our world about six thousand years old as opposed to the billions of years old evolutionists would have us believe. How can they arrive at that conclusion? It’s simple, if you use science as the standard by which you interpret Sacred Scripture. For instance, Francis Collins, a Christian and the former head of the Human Genome Project who worked on the cutting edge of the study of DNA, has written a highly acclaimed book entitled The Language of God. In answering the Bible’s apparent allusion to being a young earth, Collins writes: “But the claims of Young Earth Creationism simply cannot be accommodated by tinkering around the edges of scientific knowledge. If these claims were actually true, it would lead to a complete and irreversible collapse of the sciences of physics, chemistry, cosmology, geology, and biology.” “Is He [God] honored or dishonored by those who would demand that His people ignore rigorous scientific conclusions about His creation? Can faith in a loving God be built on a foundation of lies about nature?” [Emphasis added].”[ii]

Dinish D’Sousa in his recently published excellent book, “What’s So Great About Christianity” poses some thought-provoking questions concerning unbelieving scientists “Here we have scientists who do not seem to be acting like scientists. Why is it necessary to object to findings in modern physics in order to give evolution time to get going? Why is it important to avoid the “problem of Genesis” or shrink away from any theory that suggests a divine hand in the universe? If the evidence points in the direction of a creator, why not go with it? Douglas Erwin, a paleobiologist at the Smithsonian Institution, gives part of the answer. “One of the rules of science is, no miracles allowed, he told the New York Times. “That’s a fundamental presumption of what we do.” “Biologist Barry Palevitz makes the same point. “The supernatural,” he writes, “is automatically off limits as an explanation of the natural world.” “Modern science was designed to exclude a designer. So dogmatic is modern science in its operating procedures that today all evidence of God is a priori rejected by science. Even empirical evidence of the kind normally admissible in science is refused a hearing. It doesn’t matter how strong or reliable the evidence is: scientists, acting in their professional capacity, are obliged to ignore it. The position of modern science is not that no miracles are possible but rather that no miracles are allowed [emphasis added].”[iii] But how can a scientist who is a Christian get around the biblical account of the creation of Adam and Eve and the fall and the rest? Collins answers: “The first few chapters of Genesis, the book of Job, the Song of Solomon, and the Psalms, have a more lyrical and allegorical flavor, and do not seem to carry the marks of pure historical narrative.”[iv] Collins may not realize it but in that one brief statement he has dismissed the following teachings of Jesus.

Matthew 19:4-6 (AMP) ⁴ He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).

Genesis 1:27 (AMP) ²⁷ So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 2:24 (AMP) ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Writing in an article in the latest issue of Fulfilled Magazine, Ed Stevens comments: Jesus quoted from both Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, showing that Jesus believed the “male and female” created on the sixth day to be none other than Adam and Eve (mentioned in Genesis 2. Jesus also states (v.6) that marriage between the very first male and female” was instituted at the very beginning of creation, a marriage identified by His quote of Genesis 2:24 to be that of Adam and Eve. Jesus takes the account of Adam and Eve literally and historically and bases the sanctity of marriage (“let not man put asunder”) upon that first union which God arranged (“what He has joined”).[v]

Mark 10:6 (AMP) ⁶ But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

“Here Jesus teaches that Adam and Eve were created at “the beginning of the creation” (at the beginning of the world, not at the beginning of the human race), right after everything else had just been created-not millions of years later after everything else had long been in existence! (See also Mark 13:19).”[vi]

1 Timothy 2:13-14 (AMP) ¹³ For Adam was first formed, then Eve; ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was deceived, but [the] woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression.

“Both Adam and Eve are mentioned as historical persons. Paul says Adam was created first, implying his acceptance of Genesis’ account of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib as historical fact. Then he mentions the deception of Eve and her fall into transgression. Mentioning the serpent’s deception of Eve in 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul must have considered Genesis 1-3 to be historical narrative, not allegorical or mythological.”[vii]

2 Corinthians 11:3 (ESV) ³ But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

“If we removed Genesis (which depicts Creation, the Fall, the Flood, the genealogies, the tower of Babel, the Table of Nations, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph) from our bibles and considered it as either unreliable mythology or unhistorical allegory, it would destroy the foundation of the rest of the Bible, making it unintelligible and inapplicable. The New Testament bases its moral, ethical and redemptive teaching directly on the people and events mentioned in Genesis. The whole focus of the New Testament is on Christ’s sacrifice to cover the sinfulness of mankind which was introduced by Adam and Eve. If Adam and Eve never existed, then mankind never fell into sin, rendering meaningless Christ’s death and the plan of redemption. This would remove the essential historical fabric of the Bible through which the moral, ethical, and redemptive content is interwoven. Marriage and family-the most fundamental institutions of mankind-are based directly on literal, historical people, as well as the events mentioned in the first three chapters of Genesis.” “It would discredit both Christ and His disciples to teach otherwise, since it is clear from their teaching that they took Genesis literally.” [viii] For instance, consider the following additional verses for a moment.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (AMP) ²¹ For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come]. ²² For just as [because of their union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:45 (AMP) ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].

Romans 5:12-15 (ESV) ¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Salvation from their sins is the most precious gift our Creator can offer His human creatures. There is nothing we can do to earn it. It is all of grace. And it is also absolutely certain that none of us are powerless to accept it. If there is anyone here who has not acknowledged the indisputable fact that in the eyes of your Creator you are a sinner deserving of eternal punishment, I plead with you not to leave here without asking Him to forgive you. 1 John 1:9 (ESV) ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I can’t help wondering why any sinner such as you, and me and especially those often brilliant scientists wouldn’t accept this precious gift unless it’s because they idolize themselves and hate their Creator. Lord willing, next month….

[ii] The Language of God © 2006 by Francis S. Collins, Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, p, 173-174.

[iii] What’s So Great About Christianity, © 2007 by Dinesh D’Souza, Regency Publishing, Inc. One Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20001, p. 157-158.

[iv] The Language of God, p. 175.

[v] Ed Stevens FULFILLED ! Magazine, Winter 2007, Volume 2, Issue 4, p.6-7.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Ibid.