5 Good Reasons to Believe that God is Good - Pastor David Asscherick- SecondComing.org

it's it's my favorite point and I can't wait to share it with you I'm literally jumping out of my skin by the way Jamie might mention this oh I was gonna do a little drawing but I'll do that later do that later I'll have time you guys don't know the answers anyway oh so tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock tomorrow there is no meeting tomorrow evening tomorrow evenings meeting is tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock right here in this facility so I don't know if you're a member of this local church if you are you're welcome to come to your own home Church isn't that nice the visitor inviting you to come to your own home Church and if you're not then you can play hooky on your home Church and come here and if you don't normally go to church on Saturday and you're typically go to church on Sunday well then hey you you're free here free so so we'll be here tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and I'm gonna talk about five good reasons to doubt Darwin and then 11 o'clock I'm gonna tell you five good answers to the question of suffering and so we're gonna go now to five good reasons to believe that God is good we spent our first time for session just over an hour on how reasons to leave that God is good or God exists rather five good reasons to leave God exists and now we transition from his mere existence to his character well okay so he exists who is he what is he is he good and if so how do we know that I'm gonna give you five good reasons to leave that God is good all right so let's have a quick prayer and we'll dive in father in heaven great to be here with these beautiful people lord I just I feel a real energy in this room a happiness in this room and thank you for this little snack that we got here on the break and be with us now father may our brains be energized for a good 40 minutes of really power-packed biblically based spirit filled instruction and I'm looking to you and lit and leaning on you Father in Jesus name Amen ok here we go 5 good reasons to believe is it plugged in to believe that God is good all right reason number one by the way do you love that picture can you see that picture the projector know that the screens don't really do it justice but let me tell you about that picture very briefly I took that picture in the most beautiful place I have ever been does anybody know where that is I'd be amazed if somebody knew it is not New Zealand but that is the second most beautiful place in the world it was the most beautiful place in the world in my opinion right up until I went to this place let me see if I can give nobody's gonna know where this is okay this is a place let me tell you a story about this place the youngest man the youngest person that ever has been to every country in the world he just recently completed his journey he did it by the time he was 28 or something like that or 32 is very young and he'd been every country in the world and I read an interview with him and they asked him what was the most what was your favorite place or the most beautiful place she went to and he said Lord Howe Island and that's what you're looking at right there Lord Howe Island is an island about an hour and a half flight off the coast the east coast of Australia and it is astonishingly beautiful by all means possible get there before you die if possible if not I think heaven is gonna be better but maybe not by much because it's pretty awesome okay so anyway reason number one to believe that God is good is he created the universe and he created our world and he made them really good scripture says these words again and again and again in Genesis chapter 1 and God saw that it was good God saw that it was good God saw that it was good God saw that it was good and then it closes Genesis 1:31 with these words then God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good so the evening in the morning were the sixth day now if I say that something's good because I am a fallen human being who has a compromised standard of goodness it may not be good by your standards I might hear a song and say that's a really good standard but you might be a professional musician and think that my song is not a good song or I might see a painting and think hey that's a really good painting but you might be a very talented painter and look at the painting that I think is a good painting and say that's not a good painting so my standard of goodness is compromised and qualified by the person that I am God's standard of goodness though is infinite and it is infinitely perfect so if God says something is very good that means it is astonishingly good by our stand and so in the beginning when God created he made the universe and the world very good so let me just talk to you a little bit about so much of the good that is in the world today first of all companionship and friendship right these are two things that that we easily take for granted because we were born into a social reality we take a social reality for granted but the truth of the matter is is that when you you step back and just think about the nature and the beauty of having a best friend or close friends or a circle of friends or for those of us that are fortunate enough to have a spousal companion that we regard as our second self some people say oh my wife is my best friend I feel like they'll are my husband is my best friend I feel like the language best friend falls so short of the nature of the relationship that I have with my spouse she is not my best friend she is so much more than a best friend she's my second self she knows where my wallet is when I don't know where my wallet is she knows what I'm trying to say when I don't know what I'm trying to say you know she she is the mirror image of me she is strong in all the places and I am weak and she's weak in some of the places that I am strong together we fit together in a synergistic synchronistic way that is indescribable truly in Genesis 1 and 2 God said everything was good good good good good good good but he said there was one thing that was not good and he said it is not good that man should be alone and if you are fortunate enough or blessed enough to be in one of those marriages where you're not just surviving you're not just in an economic relationship with somebody that you share a bed with and occasionally you know you negotiate terms but you really have a connection with that partner this is a beautiful gift it can be that's all it can be described at as is a gift a gift from God himself if you don't have that hey listen certainly you have friends companions associates it's a beautiful thing and we're surrounded by it and we take it for granted we don't all take it for granted it's easy to take it for granted that's probably the better saying thing to say the second one here is love and sex what what a fascinating reality that exists there is no probably no higher physical sensation that the human being can experience and in a wonderful act of of grace God made the life-giving act also the most pleasurable act that a human being can engage in which is really remarkable when you think about it because God could have made the act by which children are brought into the world like a handshake right I mean I mean that that's an option available to him so it it could have been like hey would you like to have a child well you know yeah yeah let's do it okay all right you know let's let's wait and see if you get pregnant no God God did this really cool really amazing thing and it's something that we because we are not only social beings we're social sexual beings it's something that's very easy to take for granted that the life-giving act is the arguably the single most pleasurable act that a human being can participate in and that's with great intention ality it's purposeful that God said hey listen I am the Creator I am the giver of life and I am the creator of pleasure and I'm gonna blend creation and pleasure together in this remarkable amazing thing that we know as human sexuality which then results in something else that's absolutely amazing babies am I wrong or am i right is there anything that is small and young and cute is there anything that's like in it's baby form that's not cute right I mean almost everything little baby owls look amazing little baby seals look amazing you know how many of us have been lured into bringing a kitten home right and we just forget that the problem with kittens is that they turn into cats right and and I mean babies babies are cute and little kittens are cute and little puppies are cute right it was just there's so much goodness in the world and not just babies but children I tell you one of the joys in my life are my two boys and I think part of the reason for that is I've given a lot of thought to why children bring such joy to their parents and you know not always joy but let's be honest I think the number one reason is this at least this is what it is for me I feel like with my sons my two boys and I wished I would have had a little girl in fact I'd say a cute little story I'm begging my wife she just turned 40 and I told her baby 40s the new 30 let's do this and and I'm just begging her to have a child a little girl and and she's just not having any of it but I'm just I'm still working the angle so I'm like hey listen let's do this working she's not feeling but anyway here's the point so she and I text back and forth while I'm here in America she's in Australia and my son got onto my computer which also has text and he texted me last night sweetheart let's make a baby a little girl and I was like I texted her I was like yes let's do it this will be great then I woke up this morning was going throughout my day my wife wakes up she reads her texts she's like hey that last text I'm like yes she's like Landon sent that that's my son that's my son so anyway anyway so here's my point here's my point that wasn't even my point just a cute little story the point is is that the great thing about children is you get to live your life over again you get to catch a ball for the first time you get to take a step for the first time you get to see a hippopotamus for the first time you get to see a giraffe for the first time you get to go swimming for the first time you you get to go ice-skating again for the first time you get to live your life vicariously through your children and I'm told though I don't yet know this experientially that it's it's almost better with your grandchildren because you get to send them home you get to have all of those great experiences and then send them home alright okay here's another one mangoes blueberries and peaches I mean are you kidding me really I mean food just think of the taste of a mango or of blueberries I mean life is good the simple pleasures right even if your whole world is falling apart go down to the store buy some fresh blueberries and eat them your life will get better right if only momentarily it will be better or if you can get your hands on a good mango which is next to impossible in the United States of America but if you come to Australia you can get them they grow in our yard by the way we have five mega trees I know it's terrible and we're just coming into mango season right when I get back I know you feel sorry for me but anyway you can come visit but if you ever can just get your hand on a mango even if you're in the deepest of depressions just just take a few bites and at least for that moment you'll be like life is good god is good life is good the little pleasures and finally here music how many people out there would rate music as very important to your life very important yeah me too and there are just certain emotions that you feel especially for those of you that are music lovers that you cannot feel under any other stimulus not I mean reading can produce a certain kind of feeling and poetry produces another and blueberries produce another and lovemaking produces and other and children produce another but there is something that music does that nothing else can do and I've been fascinated by music for years and read a book a number of years ago called this is your brain on music fascinating book by the way and there is just we are wired to appreciate music melody and rhythm and harmony and so we are surrounded by so much goodness but the list doesn't stop there how about this one Indian food yeah who else out there is feeling the goodness of God in Indian food all of the textures and the flavors and the curries yes and how about Thai food anybody else out there by the way this is my order this is the order of preference so Indian Thai food yes are you kidding me massaman curry Tom Kha soup I mean stop Mediterranean food any tabbouleh lovers out there mushara falafel come on are you kidding Italian food good Italian food I'm not talking about just spaghetti with sauce I'm talking about good Italian food do you love it and McDonald's just kidding I put that up there okay so there's just so much good in the world now CS Lewis says creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists a baby feels hunger well there is such a thing as food watch this it's a very persuasive line of reasoning a duckling wants to swim well there is such a thing as water men and presumably women feel sexual desire and there is such a thing as sex now watch this if however I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world now follow his line of reasoning because it's brilliant for every desire you have there is the resolution of that desire right you're hungry there is food you want water yet thirsty there is liquid just to slake your thirst you you want to you duckling wants to swim there you go men want to men and women wants to have sexual interaction they're all for every desire that we have there is the potential resolution of that desire but Lewis says but wait a minute what if I have in some difficult to describe part of me this yearning this hunger Ingush desire that no experience on this earth can satisfy he says the best explanation is that I was made for another world a better world a world that God himself would call very good now the world that we live in here is a very good world but it's a world that's been largely compromised we're gonna talk about the nature of that compromise tomorrow in our second session so you were created for pleasure you were created for joy and you were created for holiness and you probably believed that but what I want you to notice is the second part of what I've written here you were created for pleasure for joy and for holiness and these are not different things God takes pleasure in your God honoring pleasures and God takes great joy in your God honoring Joy's when you are at your happiest God is thrilled when you are at your most joyful this brings God the glory of God in the words of the Westminster Confession the glory that what is the chief end of man that the chief end of man is to know God and to enjoy him forever one of the early Christian fathers his name escapes me right now said the glory of God is man fully alive the glory of God is seen when mankind is fully alive and enjoying all of the pleasure and joy and happiness and connectivity that comes from this beautiful amazing thing that we call life when it's at its best now I know that everybody in this room knows sorrow as well you know tragedy as well you know depression as well you know disappointment as well you know failure as well as do I but is it not the case that the sorrow that we feel today is simply the absence of the happiness that we felt in the past isn't it true that in some significant sense the only reason that we know sorrow is that we've known happiness the Lebanese prophet Khalil Gibran famously said that the well of our are the waters of our happiness are only as deep as the well of our sorrows we can know it beautiful because we've known it sad and bad now who better to fulfill your desires and my desires than him who made the heart to desire itself he God made your heart with all of the desires with all of the passions with all of the longings that you have and who better to fulfill the longing desires of your heart than him that made your heart to desire in the first place there's this great text of Scripture found in one of the minor prophets where God's Messiah Jesus is referred to as the desire of all nations the Messiah is the desire the longing the craving of all nations of every human heart the answer is yes look at Psalm 16 verse 11 you will show me the path of life says the psalmist in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore God is not a killjoy God is not down on human pleasure in fact God is way up on human pleasure God created you to experience pleasure in fact the Garden of Eden Genesis 1 and 2 the word Eden means pleasure it's what the word means God took Adam and his even Adam and Eve his son and his daughter and he placed them in the garden of pleasure and he said of every tree you may freely eat God gave them opportunity to engage in all of the various trees that were there as we've already mentioned he made the social sexual interaction the the lovemaking life-giving connection between a man and a woman a highly wonderful and pleasurable experience God created those things he made those things because he takes great pleasure in our pleasure when they are god-honoring pleasures they bring him happiness enjoy you were made for pleasure and God takes pleasure in all of your god-honoring pleasures so that's reason number one life is awesome when it's at its best okay here's reason number two reason number two to believe that God is good is that universally we crave meaning goodness and joy this is not a David astrick thing this is not a Colorado thing this isn't an American thing this is a universal human experience we crave meaning we want our lives to matter and every one of us in this room to some degree believe that your life matters that you we have a sense almost that there's a movie that's taking place behind our eyes and there's you know and there's a movie and we see ourselves in some sense as playing a part large or small in this grand reality that's taking place in the world we we Intuit that our life has meaning every Hollywood movie or not every the vast majority of Hollywood movies communicate to us what we know intuitively that your life has some kind of meaning that there's that there's purpose right I'm talking about the best of Hollywood movies not the not the junk and we crave goodness and we crave joy most of us in this room would self-identify as good people or we would identify as people that want to be good people it's a natural human desire to want to be the best versions of ourselves and we long for joy now I'm going to share with you a quotation that's a little challenging it's one of my all-time favorite quotations it's only the second time I've ever shared it in a sermon because it's a little heady but I figured what a great opportunity to share it so if you get it great if you don't just wake up in about 120 seconds this is from Simon simone weil she's a French Christian philosopher who lived in the early 1900s and she writes in the period of preparation the soul loves in emptiness it does not know where whether anything real answers it's love she's describing the experience of the person who is not yet connected with God and in that period of preparation before we come to God the the the soul loves it longs to love and be loved but it does so in emptiness without any fundamental or foundational connection and she says the soul does not know whether anything real answers back in that love right she continues it may believe that it knows but to believe is is not to know such that such a belief does not really help the soul knows for certain only that it is hungry and we're gonna see this is the very analogy that Jesus himself used the soul knows that it is hungry the important thing is that the soul announces this hunger this longing this craving by crying and every one of us in this room knows that feeling that feeling of longing why am I here what why did I treat the person that way weak ray meaning and we crave an answer we want God and we want to know that he's there the important thing is that it announces its hunger by crying a child does not stop crying if we tell it that there is no bread child's crying child's hungry we say well there's no bread oh there's no bread I'll stop crying no the child continues to cry because the hunger is real it goes on crying just the same the danger is not lest the soul should doubt whether there is any bread but lest by a lie the soul should persuade itself that it is not in fact hungry it can only persuade itself of this by lying for the reality of its hunger is not a belief it's a certainty you see what she's on do here she's on to this reality that we know at our most fundamental level we long for something bigger than ourselves we long for beauty we long for joy we long for meaning we long for purpose and we know it and when our lives fall short of that ideal that we want to attain to we feel a sense of crying now not everybody does this because nowadays were so distracted with Facebook and social media and television and computers that we don't even we've lost the art of reflection and self reflection and but in those quieter moments back before the advent of televisions and smartphones that are making dumb people we there were opportunities to sit and reflect on the nature of life and to not be uninterruptedly distracted by a thousand pictures and a thousand posts and a thousand things that are calling for our attention okay and what wheel says here is so true in those quieter moments when we are falling short of the grand ideal of a true soul connection with God we know that we hunger and thirst how did Jesus say it hunger and thirst for rightness for holiness for goodness the God that our heart craves is the very God that scripture reveals well isn't that a happy coincidence the very god that our heart longs to be real that we hope is real in the words of my good friends hi Gibson the longing desire of every human heart is to be fully known and yet fully loved and this is what we wrestle with because most of us operate under the assumption whether we would ever say so or not that if we were fully known we could not be fully loved but what do we do with the god of scripture who knows us exhaustively and loves us completely to be fully known and fully loved if that were true would be the greatest of all possible joys and pleasures I want to say that again to be fully known and yet to be fully loved would be the greatest of all possible joys and pleasures yes the very god that we want to exist the very god that our heart cries out for does exist and not only does he exist he's revealed in Scripture as amazingly good and of course it just stands to reason because the God who created our heart created as Augustine said in our hearts a God shaped void a void that cannot be filled with alcohol or entertainment or or illegitimate relationships it can only be filled with the one who made the hole himself and he made that hole in his own shape Matthew chapter 5 verse 6 blessed are those jesus said who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled this is the very point that Simone Weil was making the soul hungers but what is it hungry for it's thirsting Jesus purposefully doesn't say here you know this is academic this is intellectual this is cerebral now Jesus uses something that's more visceral than that it's more it's a hunger I mean how do you know when you're hungry you just know it you your body begins to say hey look there's a vacancy here there's a need here we need something and in the same way there's a vacancy in us and we say I need something I'm hungry and I'm thirsty what what is better in life then when you're really thirsty and you get to drink cold water or some cold beverage or refreshment man you're in Colorado man the beer company's maker they make millions of dollars off of selling that imagery now I don't know how anybody can actually enjoy beer but people apparently do but but the whole idea that when you're super thirsty you just want to slake that thirst with something cold and refreshing are you with me on that just awesome I can remember some of my best memories I think I was severely dehydrated as a boy because I I can remember some of my best memories we're making it to the water fountain after recess as a boy and just like looking at the water fountain be like this is gonna be so good today we also have that experience I think I was just hugely severely dehydrated and when I get there I couldn't swallow a heart of it yeah yeah I mean just just like forcing it in and I just stay at that fountain and I remember kids used to say to me hey save some for the fish you know just like ah John chapter 6 verse 35 Jesus says I am the bread of life does your does our heart hunger for something of sustenance it does of course our heart hungers in the words of GK Chesterton I love this he says the purpose of an open mind is very similar to the same is very similar to the purpose of an open mouth to close around something solid right we we hunger and longed for something substantive something solid and Jesus says I am the bread of life he who comes to me will never hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst when Jesus finds his place in that God shaped hole that that vacuum in our heart we become fully alive we become the people that we were created and saved to be and it's a beautiful happy thing and it's an evidence that God is good number three our reality the reality that we exist in is compellingly explained in the context of these three words that God is love now I'm going to explore this in depth in our second presentation a mob but I'll give you a quick introduction here are things that we take for granted intuitively if your brain is working correctly and you are alive and breathing then you take these things for granted you don't have to be taught them from a child you began doing two of them individuality you knew that you were not your brother you knew that you were not your sister you knew that you were not your parents you you're the most fundamental reality to human experience is that you are an entity right this goes back to Rene Descartes when he was beginning to wonder what we could firmly base a philosophical system on and he finally famously said I think therefore I am when you reduce life back to its most fundamental axiom every one of us knows that we are an individual and that we are not somebody else you are who you are and you are no one else our individuality is something that we cannot not it's something that you can't you it's impossible to not imagine it and I'm gonna give you an illustration I'm not doing a good job here you cannot imagine your own funeral okay has anyone here ever tried to imagine their own funeral I mean most people have okay I have the problem is is that you're it's not real you're not actually able to do it because you're they're seeing it right you cannot imagine your own non-existence because you're they're imagining it you follow so the idea of your non-existence is something you can't even conceive of the only sense in which you can conceive of your non-existence is if you think about the past you can you can imagine times that yeah I certainly didn't exist at the time that Alexander the Great existed I know that but Here I am aware of the fact that I never existed in the time of Alexander the Great it's impossible for David asterik or anybody to get around the the most basic notion of our of our existence and our fundamental individuality coupled with the second most fundamental thing to us and that is freedom and and children know very early on and mothers figure out very early on as do fathers that that children know what they want even if they can't communicate it very well they know what they want and they're going to do whatever they can within their little sphere of influence whether it's you know two months or two years to get what they want am I wrong am i right so before a child can ever say anything communicate in language he or she understands freedom intuitively incorrigibly a child understands natively hey I want whatever that is I want to do this and if you if you make a child do something they don't want to do they understand that their freedom is being restricted and they don't like it now you and I we're no longer children but we know this and this has easily Illustrated if you and if I was just walking down the street or you were walking on the street just imagine you're walking down the street any Street anywhere and somebody reaches out to you walking you know say somebody's coming at you and as you walk by they reach out to you and start with force with strength a man a grown man grabs you and starts pulling you in and against your will starts pulling you in an opposite direction you won't think you know this is I don't want this I don't not really wanting to go with this strange bearded man in a stinky flannel shirt I um I think I'm going to resist now no you will before you ever entertain any ideas about the nature of your freedom and where this guy is taking you you will instinctively resist you follow that because you know intuitively that to to have your frit your freedom impinged upon is something you don't like when we punish criminals how do our criminals usually punished by the restriction of their freedom because we understand that to limit somebody's freedom is to take away in some sense their personhood to take away in some sense their individuality to in some sense take away the thing that makes them human you with me on that and so number one your individuality number two your freedom at number three love and I'm gonna really talk about that tomorrow so I'm gonna skip over that I'm gonna skip over risk cuz I'm gonna talk about that tomorrow number four or number five meaning I've already talked about these are things that we take for granted we just assume these basic realities about our life individuality freedom love risk and meaning we'll pick it up tomorrow in the words of Lewis again to be to love at all is to be vulnerable and by the way that is true whether you are a human or God that is true even for God I'm gonna talk to you a little bit tomorrow but a book I'm reading right now brand-new book just published 2015 by a man named dr. John Peckham and he wrote a book called the love of God a canonical model mind-blowing 7th day having a scholar mind-blowing book and one of the things that he's exploring in this book is the the intrinsic vulnerability that is part of loving not only to humans and every one of us in this room if you've ever had your heart broken you've ever been betrayed you ever had a child lie to you we know that the moment we extend ourselves and love there is an inherent and essential vulnerability that comes with that love you with me on that and what what what Peckham brings out what Lewis brings out here is that that's true for God - God is making himself vulnerable in love and you'll see this at the end I've got to hurry up love anything says Lewis and your heart will certainly be rung and possibly broken if you want to make sure of keeping your heart intact you must give your heart to no one don't give your heart to anyone here's here's how you keep your heart intact wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries avoid all entanglements lock your heart up in a safe in the casket of your selfishness but in that casket safe dark motionless airless your heart will change but it will not be broken it will become unbreakable it will become impenetrable it will become irredeemable you see the only way to protect your heart from vulnerability is to create a situation where your heart becomes something it was never created to be and that is stony and in not extending there is it there's an inherent strength and yet an inherent vulnerability in love and reaching out to someone else and scripture communicates this in three basic ideas in fact these are the three basic ideas that are foundational to the whole Bible people say to me what's the Bible about and there's a couple different ways to answer that question there's two answers I like to give when people say to me what is the Bible about one answer I like to give is the Bible is the story of God making promises to a man named Abraham and his descendants and then keeping those promises that's the story of Scripture in a nutshell God making promises to Abraham and his descendants and then keeping those promises that's one way to say it that's sort of the narrative way to say it the thematic way to talk about what the Bible is is the three words that you see on the screen there the Bible tells the story of creation which we've been exploring in Genesis 1 and 2 it tells the story of conflict which we're gonna pick up tomorrow in depth and it tells the story of covenant which is simply another way of saying relational faithfulness that there was creation that there was conflict and there is relational fidelity that God has in an act of inherent vulnerability extended himself as we learned last night from Alvin Plantinga the gospel is not just a nice story Plantinga said it's the most beautiful story that could ever be told and member I gave you homework try to imagine a better story there isn't one you cannot conceive of a better story than the story that scripture tells which is the basic story of God giving himself we're gonna see this in just a second I got to hurry this up reason him before Jesus came from God and is God and he's really awesome sometimes you just got to say it like it is John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the father Jesus Christ as I mentioned last night if God looks like Jesus that's really good news if God looks like somebody who finds a woman who was caught in the act of adultery and who says to her I do not condemn you go and sin no more he sees a future for her he sees a possibility for her that she cannot even see for herself if God will sit down with a publican a tax collector if God will sit down with a Pharisee named Nicodemus and interact with him if God will speak to a hated publican named Zacchaeus and go eat dinner at his house if God will speak to a Roman centurion who was hated because he was a Gentile doubly hated because he was a Roman triply hated because he was a Roman soldier and quadruply hated because he was a leader of soldiers if Jesus can say to this guy I'm not seeing so great faith in all of Israel if God looks like that that is really good news in fact it's the greatest conceivable good news and as I mentioned last night can you think of a better more beautiful story I'll answer that for the answer is no ok number 5 now I wish I had an hour to talk about what I'm gonna talk about here in the next 10 minutes 10 minutes my son was here he'd be laughing his head off alright now this is gonna require a little bit of thinking one of the reasons that we can be sure that God is good is that the gospel the life death and resurrection of Jesus is not a two party is a two party arrangement not a three party arrangement okay now you're sitting there going you making that face you making that it's a little late for that don't you think okay let me explain what I mean by this we just quoted John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that's the verse that we all know and we all know well but what do we do with this verse Jeremiah chapter 19 4 and 5 God says speaking of Israel they have forsaken me and they have made this Jerusalem an alien place God's City he says it's an alien place it's a foreign place I come here I feel like I don't even belong in my own City my own town among my own people well why not God why do you feel like a foreigner in your hometown well because they have burned incense in to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known and they have filled this place with the blood of innocence more specifically what do you mean verse 5 they have built the high places of bail to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to bail which I did not command or speak neither did it come into my mind now let me just tell you what's going on here in the ancient Canaanite religions one of the ways that you could show your supreme devotion to the various gods of the Canaanite faith was by sacrificing your child sacrificing your child to God and God says you know what I came to to my place my city my people and I felt like a foreigner there because my own people began to participate in the actions of the Canaanites they were offering their children as offerings and he says not only do I find that repugnant not only do I find that absolutely disgusting and revolting it never even came into my mind to ask for such a thing ok but but wait a minute we just read a second ago that the good news is that God gave his son but God here says I never even imagined the idea of child sacrifice so which is it which is it is it John 3:16 or is it Jeremiah 19 I mean is the gospel the good news that God gave his son as a sacrifice or is the idea of child sacrifice is something that never even entered into God's brain so repugnant so disgusting that it never even came into his mind what's going on here well most of us would have a difficult time answering that question but I want you to understand just how crucially important this question is and it is proof positive that God is good all of this of course takes us back to that primordial story that's found in Genesis chapter 22 where God said the unthinkable to Abraham take now your son your only son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering I want to tell you something right now every person in this room I can basically guarantee you if you thought that God was telling you to sacrifice your son you would not do it I can I can assure you I would not if I had a voice that came to me that said to me hey kill Landon go sacrifice Landon I would not do it and I am 99% sure that no father or mother in this place would do it which raises the question why was Abraham willing to do something that I wouldn't even consider and here's why because in Abraham's cultural context namely in the land of Canaan this was the way that God opted this was the way that God's operated I mean if you really wanted to be devoted to God you would bring a small offering if you wanted to be super devoted you increase the size of that offering if you wanted to be supremely devoted maybe you bring your best goat or your best cow or your best sheep whatever it is but what if you really really really want to show your devotion to a god well that next logical step would be taken by the Canaanites and they would offer not just their livestock but their offspring now it's a seemingly logical step except that God says I find that disgusting and repulsive and I never ask you to do such a thing so much so that it never even came into my mind so why is God asking Abraham to do something that he says never even came into his mind because he finds it so revolting and he finds it so revolting that he says when he comes to his people he's a foreigner or an alien well here's why Abraham lived in a time in a situation and in a culture where this was the very kind of thing that God's asked people to do take your son and kill him show your real devotion to me show your real loyalty to me show you real obedience to me and so Abraham who has been in a covenant relationship with God for years at this point he would have scratched his head and said man like I guess I thought this God was different I guess not come on Isaac let's go and he begins to lead him through that three-day journey on his way to Mount Moriah and all the way all the while Moute Abraham is trying to make sense out of this seemingly incongruous command God appeared to be good he appeared to be kind he promised descendants of course there was the whole logistical nightmare of how am I going to have descendants if I'm killing the only you know legitimate offspring that I have there's all of that going on and as they're making their way up the mountain Isaac young boy probably not more than 14 somewhere between 14 and 17 he asks his dad a question he says hey Dad there's the wood where's the lamb where's the animal for the sacrifice and Abraham preaches the gospel and he doesn't even know it he says this my son God will provide for God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering himself Abraham doesn't know he's saying the gospel he's just trying to delay he's stalling he doesn't know what to say frankly God will take care of this God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering himself but here's a remarkable thing keep a close eye on that screen because I'm gonna insert a comma and when I insert this comma it is going to make the gospel centered nature of this passage come alive for those of you that that are really tuning in here watch this comma my son God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering himself at just that moment on top of Mount Moriah there was a ram that was caught in a thicket in the bush and the RAM was slain and Isaac was spared in a significant and wonderful way then Isaac does not really represent Jesus he represents us because we're spared and the RAM represents Jesus an answer to the question hey Dad where's the RAM where's the lamb where's the animal Abraham said God will have to provide this God will provide a lamb himself you see friends it looks like this which of these is the gospel is the gospel on the right or on the left is the gospel a three-party arrangement God Jesus and sinners or is the gospel a two-party arrangement God and sinners now let me just unpack that for you some of us have in the mind in our mind an idea that though we might not articulate it this crudely I'll give you the basic picture we have this idea that God is upset God is angry he's wrathful against sin and he's wrathful against evil and he's gonna pour out his wrath and his anger and his judgment on evil and sin and because we are evil and we're sinners God is going to pour out his wrath on us but at just that moment when God is about to do that someone else steps into the picture and says no no I'll do it God's like alright well I really want to pour out my wrath on them but instead I'll pour out my wrath on you and my wrath and my anger will then be placated and I will have cooled down so I don't have to take it out on them this is a three party arrangement there's God Jesus and sinners and God's initial wrath was on sin sinners and evil but he redirects his wrath over to this third party to protect under the second party to protect the third party I'm gonna tell you right now that is not the gospel and not only is that not the gospel that's not even good news that's terrifying it's it's terrifying to think that that that people conceived that is the essence of the gospel that God is gonna give somebody else a good whacking when he really wants to whack those people no no no the gospel is not a three-party arrangement the gospel is a two-party arrangement you see friends Jesus is God if there's any if it's anybody other than God hanging on that cross that's not good news the good news is that God Himself not some other party God himself took the penalty and the consequence of sin upon himself to preserve those who were undeserving and who were in rebellion against him you see friends the gospel isn't three the gospel is two and if Jesus isn't God the gospel isn't good news it's child sacrifice that's what's happening in Jeremiah 19 in Jeremiah night Jeremiah 19 where God says this never even came into my mind that's one party sacrificing a second party to a third party and God says I don't think so I'll think so that's disgusting to me the truth is is that there's only two parties in this arrangement there's God and they're sinners and God in the person of his son Jesus who was fully and completely God in the in the most emphatic sense of what it means to be God he laid down his own life in fact jesus said it this way no no one takes my life from me I lay it down myself I like to ask the question who killed Jesus did the Romans kill Jesus did the religious leaders of Jesus day kill Jesus did our sins kill Jesus the answer is none of the above Jesus laid down his own life he said no one can take my life from me I lay it down voluntarily and I take it up again he was not a third party or a second party that was sacrificed to appease he was one of only two parties there was God and there was sinners and God took upon himself in the person of His Son Jesus Christ who was fully God the consequences of our sin in our rebellion and that is really really really good news greater love has no one than this and a man then someone would lay down his life for his friends the text doesn't say greater love has no man than this that a man would lay down the life of his friend it was a wasp oh man just like the enemy greater love has no man than this that a man would lay down his life for one of his friends all right you made it no seriously can you think of a better story than that you can't reason number one he created the universe in our world and he made them very good number two universally we all crave meaning goodness and joy we Intuit this we know this from from the outset of our lives we long for meaning we long for joy we long for freedom number three our reality is compellingly explaining the context of God is love I'll impact that more fully in our session tomorrow the second session reason number three Jesus came from God and He is God and this is really good news because Jesus is super cool and awesome and number three the gospel is not a two part but not a three party arrangement the gospel is a two party arrangement where God himself takes upon himself the responsibility of our sin I can only say with Paul for I am convinced that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus and final slide that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width get out of here well is that coming forward for an altar call here what are you doing here he comes get behind me wasp oh he's coming back for more I never had this happened before I've had some weird things happen in my meetings but never this okay anyway where was I yeah what is the width in length and depth and height to know the love of Christ I love this which passes knowledge I've done my best tonight in a long time you've been very generous to communicate to you with with my intellectual capacities in my research things that I find really compelling but at the end of the day Paul says this love this kind of love that we're talking about it cannot be quantified in words it cannot be quantified in academics it cannot be quantified in knowledge it passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God it's been great to be with you let me close with prayer father and having beautiful people in this wrong room and and yet we are people broken and but in our brokenness father as we've mentioned here you love us you know us perfectly and love us genuinely and Lord this is an astonishing thing it's a thing that we can scarcely come to grips with and tonight I just want to pray for every person here for that person that's suffering struggling wondering doubting father just give them a sense that life is a beautiful meaningful thing that you have created for good and that you want them to be a part of that whether small or great father help us to be that puzzle piece that uniquely shaped piece in this grand painting that you're that you're creating that only we can fill my father helped us to do that and we look to you we love you but we know father that that's not the big story the big story is not our love for you but your love for us and send us home tonight hearts full with the breadth height width depth of the love of God the fullness of God shown to us in the man Jesus Christ in whose name we pray amen alright 9 it's not bad we're good we're good we're good it'll be better tomorrow morning you'll be out let me make a promise I'll make a solemn promise tomorrow I will have you out of here by 8:30 p.m. I think he's good for his word on that one I think he's good for his word how many of you been enjoying the meeting so far how many of you would like to do better on the quiz next time ok I'm going to tell you how you can do that last night's programs are already up on our church website it's Frank town SDA org and you can listen to them on there but we are also going to make available to you the video presentation or the audio presentation which whichever you would like of the whole series you may have noticed that we have an awesome audio-visual crew who's been here each night they'll be if they've been filming and recording the audio as well and if you would be interested in having a copy of this and us sending this copy to you at the end when it's all said and done right on the back two tables where you had your snack in between the two meetings there are pens and paper pen and paper and you can fill out a short little piece of paper and we can then send you the final copy whichever you would like audio or a DVD series that you can have so you can have it at home or you could share it with somebody who might enjoy the series as well so on your way out please take a moment just head over to the table fill out the information there and we will be happy to share this with you so that you can do better on further quizzes later on at the beginning of our programs but you can check the the first two are already up on there thank you so much for coming we'll see you tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and then 11:15 for part number 2 have a great evening and a safe trip home

Channel: SecondComing.org

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Keywords: Second Coming, SecondComing.org, ARISE, David Asscherick, God is Good, 5 Good Reasons, Christian Videos, 5 good reasons david asscherick, david asscherick 5 good reasons, david asscherick 2016, secondcoming, david asscherick 5 reasons, 5 reasons david asscherick, 5 good reason david asdcherick, david asscherick five good reasons, david asscherick sermons, religious videos, pastor david asscherick, asscherick, david asscherick 2017

Id: tB7QQ2Cld60

Length: 50min 3sec (3003 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 05 2016