Did any of you catch the big news story this week coming out of Dover, Pennsylvania? Evidently, the school board began requiring ninth-grade science students to hear a one minute statement. The statement commented that some parts of creation are so complex that the existence of an intelligent designer (that is, God) best explains them. The citizens of that community responded by voting eight of the nine school board members out of leadership! The ninth person did not get voted because he or she wasn’t up for reelection. Pat Robertson immediately responded by warning the community that disaster may strike, and not to turn to God if it does, because they had just rejected God from their city.
What many of us may not realize is that according to statisticians like George Barna, an overwhelming ninety percent of Americans believe God exists. None out often Americans believe in an intelligent designer who fashioned the world. Only ten percent of Americans, one in ten people, deny the existence of God. So why did eight out of nine school board members get voted out of office for wanting to affirm God’s existence?
A lot of people don’t want the school system to become a battlefield for religious activism. They don’t want Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, or anyone else hijacking the school system and proselytizing their children. An overwhelming number of Americans, God-fearing Americans, want the home and the Church, or a private school, to be the place for religious instruction, and not the public school system. They may not mind a Christian teacher leading their children in prayer, but they are petrified at the thought of creating a system that might allow a Muslim or some other religion's advocate to lead their Christian child in prayer! They are also petrified at the thought of public school boards dictating what theology or religious beliefs a student should learn! If you let the intelligent design stuff in the door, someone else will inevitably follow up with a revised and expanded statement. Then someone won’t like that statement, and all mayhem will break lose.
So Pat Robertson is completely misguided and out of touch with the larger issues. If you open the school doors to religion, where do you draw the lines? The voters of Dover, Pennsylvania said, "No. Let's not open this can of worms."
It is unlikely that the public school system will ever become a place for Christian religious instruction. I’m afraid that responsibility falls upon all of us. Together, we are the ones who must tell the world, starting with our own children, about the love of God the Father, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son. We cannot abdicate our responsibility to others. We cannot point the finger of blame at the culture, the local school board, governmental bureaucracies, or liberals.
We have no ones to blame but ourselves if our children do not know the Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Church is to empower you to be a God-teller. It is to empower you to be a Christ-proclaimer. Christ commanded you and me to go and make disciples of all the nations, starting with the people under our own rooves, in our own homes, in our circles of influence, in our communities, and then beyond. God didn’t command the local school board or the government to go and make disciples. He commanded his people, the Church, to make disciples.
Go and tell!
I am really excited about this new sermon series we are beginning. It’s called "Go Tell." Through the end of this year we're simply going to tell the whole story of Jesus Christ from cover to cover, from start to finish. This morning we have several different groups of people here. Some of you are window-shopping Christianity. Have you ever just wondered what Christianity is all about? Have you ever wondered what the Bible teaches about God? About creation? About good and evil? About suffering? About life and death? About Jesus Christ? About heaven?
If you’re a window-shopper you owe it to yourself to find out what God says about your life and his plan for your life in Christ. You need to make an informed decision whether to let Jesus Christ have the steering wheel of your life.
Now some of you are concerned parents and grandparents. Maybe you’ve asked, "What do I need to teach my children about God? About the Old Testament? About the New Testament? About God’s covenant? About God’s promises? What do I need to tell them about Jesus Christ? About the cross? About the resurrection? About the Church? About the end of the ages? About the future?”
One thing is certain, your children and grandchildren need to build upon the same foundation that you have built your life upon. You owe it to them to help them learn the basics of the Christian faith. Do you know what they need to learn? Do you have a plan? Can you explain the whole story of Christ to them from cover to cover?
Now some of you just need a tune-up. You have a general idea about how the story of Jesus Christ unfolds from Genesis to Revelation. But it is still kind of a fog. You are not confident enough to teach what you believe to another person. There are some things you need to think through and to hone your thoughts about.
I remember learning all these neat things about God while I was in college. Every day I would learn something new about God. I would get another piece to the puzzle. But the biggest problem I had was fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together to get a complete picture of what God wanted me to see. That is what I hope this series will do for everyone. I hope it will give you the big picture of how God has moved and worked throughout history right down into the present, and then how he will continue to work to the end of the ages.
One of the best ways for us to learn something is to teach it to other people. I’d like you to keep that in mind as we work through this series. You don’t really know something until you begin teaching it to other people. One of the best things I ever did for myself was lead a Bible study for women at a retirement village. I was one fourth the age of everyone in my group! They wanted someone to lead their Bible study and I needed the experience. The truth is that I learned more from them then they learned from me. But that is where I learned how to teach, to practice putting my thoughts into words. That is where I practiced telling the story of Jesus Christ over and over. If you get the chance to teach this stuff to other people, it will change your life.
The Key Pieces of the Gospel Story
There are a number of different ways people share the story of Jesus Christ. There is no right way or wrong way so long as you cover the big pieces. Here are the big pieces.
Creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Everything has its source in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the creator and sustainer of the universe.
Choice. God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of his creation. He gave them freedom to enjoy all of creation and to eat of almost any tree in the garden. But they were commanded not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For if they ate of the fruit of that tree, they would surely die.
Consequences. Adam and Eve didn’t listen to God, and they were deceived by the evil one. They sinned against God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their eyes were opened and they felt naked and ashamed. They were expelled from the Garden of Eden, and from God’s presence. From that point on, their lives would be full of pain and difficulty. One son would murder the other son. Wickedness would increase. Natural disaster would bring calamity on their house. Through the law, man would fall under God’s judgment.
Covenant. Despite man’s sin God covenanted with men like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, King David, Ezra, and Nehemiah. For hundreds of years God demonstrated his unconditional love and faithfulness to his people. They would fail, and God would restore them. They would fall into sin, and God would rescue them. Time and time again God would keep his promise to his people, Israel. He promised to send a messiah to once and for all save them from the power of sin and death.
Christ. On Christmas morning, God sent his one and only Son not to condemn the world, but to save the world from the power of and death. Once again, like he had done through the ages, God kept his promise to his people, Israel. Jesus Christ came teaching, preaching, and healing. He was the promised messiah, the savior of the world. He was the way, the truth and the life. He was the fullness of God dwelling among us in bodily form.
Cross. In Colossians 1:21-22 (NIV) Paul says, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven…"
Church. The Church is the community of faith. It is comprised of those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. The Church is charged with the mission of going and telling the whole world about Jesus Christ. We are Christ’s ambassadors, his representatives, and his instruments of righteousness in the world. We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, the Church continually bears the fruit of righteousness in character and in ministry.
New Creation. At the end of the age Jesus Christ will return and make all things new. Believers will receive a new resurrection body and reign with Christ for eternity. We will receive our inheritance and eternal rewards. However, the unbeliever will face judgment and will be thrown into the lake of fire.
These eight words, these eight concepts summarize all of history. God creates. God gives choice. God creates consequences. God covenants. God sends Christ. Christ dies on the cross. The Church is sent into the world. God reveals the new creation.
Common objections.
Do you realize that each of these words, in addition to summarizing God’s work in history, also represent a major barrier to faith?
- Creation: Does God exist? Where did I come from?
- Choice: Why is there evil in the world?
- Consequences: Why does God allow suffering?
- Covenant: What is God like? What is his character? What is his nature? Is he faithful?
- Christ: Where is God? How can I find him? How can I know him? What is truth?
- Cross: Can I be forgiven of my sins? Where can I find healing? How can these destructive patterns in my life be broken? How can I be changed?
- Church: Why is Christ's family so messed up?
- New creation: Is there hope? What happens after I die? Is there life after death? What will heaven be like? Do I have the hope of eternal life? Will I be there?
Creation, the beginning of God's story.
One of the first questions people ask relates to creation. Does God exist? You might be surprised to learn that the Bible doesn’t really answer this question. From the very first verse of scripture to the very last verse of scripture, the Bible assumes that people already know that God exists, from what can be seen.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV) says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Romans 1:20 (NIV)says, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
Psalm 19:1-2 (NIV) says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge."
Proverbs 3:19-20 (NIV) says, "By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided and the clouds let drop the dew."
Revelation 4:11 (NIV) says, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV) says, "He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
The case for a creator.
You know, for a century or more science relied upon the theory of evolution to explain the origin of everything that’s been created. But there is growing dissatisfaction with the theory of evolution.
In his book The Case for a Creator Lee Strobel demonstrates how a growing number of scientists are embracing the notion of an intelligent designer. It is statistically improbable that molecules would evolve into a man. Scientists have been unable to create a single shred of life out of dead chemicals. Not a single conclusive transitional fossil that has been found to prove that a monkey can evolve into a man, or a grasshopper into a frog, or whatever. If the world began with a giant bang, there is no logical explanation for what may have triggered the bang, or how so much order came out of the chaos of an explosion. If evolution were true, why don’t we see evolutionary processes in motion today? What we do see is death and extinction, not evolution.
If you are hung up on the existence of God, why not check out a copy of The Case for a Creator in our lobby? In the lobby there is a bookshelf of resources on these matters. In Hebrews 11:6 there is an important verse I would like to close with. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
The Christian faith begins with the obvious. Just look around you. Look at the beauty and complexity that exists throughout creation. To please God you need to believe that he exists and that he will reward those who seek.
When I went to Bible college as a freshmen, I went as the skeptic. I said, "God, let’s take it from the top. Prove your existence to me." I read my Bible more than at any time in my life. I drilled other Christians with questions like, "Why do you believe in God? How do you know he exists?" I read every book I could get my hands on that spoke to the existence of God.
I went from being a skeptic to being a seeker and then to being a believer. When I was a skeptic I didn’t know if I would ever stop having doubts about God’s existence. The reward I eventually got for earnestly seeking God was assurance. I don’t have those doubts anymore about God’s existence. I am overwhelmed by the evidence. Everyone begins as the seeker. Just don’t be a lazy seeker. Apply yourself and be earnest. Help other people work through the question you have found the answers for.