Easter Sunday School Lesson

Outline of Message

Apologetics simply means defending  the faith.

We Need to defend our faith for two reasons.

1. So that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived.
2. So that we are able to give a good  answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.

Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus:

1. The Origin of the Disciples Belief in the Resurrection
   1. What brought about the change of attitude?
   2. What caused them to be willing to lay down their lives to tell others about this Jesus?
2. The Post-Mortem Appearances of Jesus.
   1. It could not be their faith that caused a vision because they had none.
   2. It could not be a Dream because they all experienced him and touched him.
3. The Evidence of the Empty Tomb.
   1. Those that opposed the disciples did not say the tomb is not empty, but accuse them of stealing Jesus’ Body.
      • Why would they steal it?
      • Where would they put it?
      •  Why would they get themselves killed over a lie?
   2. Some say he was not really dead.
   • Romans were proficient killers.
   • No one is going to believe Jesus resurrected if he is limping around bleeding everywhere.

Is There a God? Fulfilled Prophecy

Today we will be finishing our series of Apologetics.  Now remember that Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived, and second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.  We need to be able to say more than just because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.  Christianity is not true because Jesus lives in my heart, it is true because of what happened 2000 years ago outside Jerusalem.

For the past month we have been addressing the question, Is there a God?  Is there a logical and reasonable argument for the existence of God?  Outside of referencing the Bible, can a case for the existence of God be made that disproves the positions of those that do not believe in a God and gives sufficient warrant for believing in a Creator?  The answer is, yes, it can.  And today we will prove that the God that we proved to exist, is the God that we find in the Bible.

We all ask the question is there a God?  This is mainly because God has placed a God shaped hole in our heart that only He can fill.  This is why every nation and culture that has ever existed in history has worshiped something.  In other words, man does not ask the question about God, our very existence raises the question about God.  That is why today we all still worship something.

However, I want to help you discover that in order to get the most joy out of life you have to worship the right God.  There are 1,093 prophecies in the Bible that refer to Jesus and His Church, and each one of those prophecies was fulfilled!  There are 333 prophecies that Jesus is going to fulfill during his life, death, resurrection, Ascension, etc.  30 are fulfilled just on the day He dies.  The Old Testament contains 48 prophecies that pertain to the crucifixion of Jesus.

In considering the fact that several different prophets who lived in separate communities over a span of a 1,000 years made predictions of Christ 500 years before His birth, the odds against these prophecies coming true are simply beyond our wildest comprehension.  For example, the chances of one man (Jesus) fulfilling just 8 of the prophecies attributed to Him are one in 10 to the 17th power (that’s a number with 17 zeroes 1,000,000,000,000,000,000).

Someone has figured out the statistical probability of that happening — if you put an X on one quarter, and filled the state of Texas with stacks of 7 quarters each, the likelihood of a helicopter landing and finding that one quarter matches the odds of one man fulfilling all those prophecies as Jesus did.

The Bible with all its fulfilled prophecies proves the existence of God.  Through the law of probability and the mathematical odds of prophecy being fulfilled, we can know assuredly that there was a divine Designer and Author of the Bible.  The same One who brought into existence the universe.

Therefore, we can conclude that there is a God because universal moral laws exist, creation needs a creator, the design of the universe needs a designer, and because of the probability of all of the fulfilled prophecies, happening by chance is just simply unbelievable.  Therefore, we can conclude that there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible.  Which is extremely good news, because the God of the Bible, loves each one of you and has sent his only son to die for you so that you will be able to stand before Him righteous.  And you can make sure that you are adopted into His family by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord, Savior, and Treasure.

Finally, God, the Creator of the universe and author of our salvation tells us: “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Is There a God? Cosmological Argument

Today we will be continuing our series of Apologetics.  Now remember that Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived, and second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.  We need to be able to say more than just because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.  Christianity is not true because Jesus lives in my heart, it is true because of what happened 2000 years ago outside Jerusalem.

For the next couple of weeks we will be addressing the question, Is there a God?  Is there a logical and reasonable argument for the existence of God?  Outside of referencing the Bible, can a case for the existence of God be made that disproves the positions of those that do not believe in a God and gives sufficient warrant for believing in a Creator?  The answer is, yes, it can.  At the conclusion of proving that there is a God, I will then prove to you that the God that we proved to exist, is the God that we find in the Bible.

We all ask the question is there a God?  This is mainly because God has placed a God shaped hole in our heart that only He can fill.  This is why every nation and culture that has ever existed in history has worshiped something.  In other words, man does not ask the question about God, our very existence raises the question about God.  That is why today we all still worship something.

However, I want to help you discover that in order to get the most joy out of life you have to worship the right God.  Today we will appeal to the cosmological argument.  Basically, what this argument says is that whatever begins to exist has a cause.  This universe and everything in it exists.  Therefore, the universe has a cause.  Ultimately, there must be something “un-caused” in order to cause everything else to come into existence.  That “un-caused” cause is God.

Science has proven that the universe has a beginning.  Although most call it the big bang theory, but I am OK with the Big Bang theory because I believe that when God spoke the universe into existence that something big happened.  Since the universe has a beginning; therefore, the universe had a cause.

That cause, being outside the whole universe, is God.  Someone that does not believe in God is thrust into an awkward position maintaining the belief that the universe for no reason magically popped into being out of nothing.

Therefore, we can now conclude that because moral laws exist, we can assume that there is a universal lawgiver.  And since we see that there are some things that are too complex without being created, there must me a creator.  And today we add to our list of proof of God by saying that since universe has a beginning, there must be something greater than the universe to cause it to happen.

Here is a video that will help you see how huge our universe is:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/qrFr3mRDXaM?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

Is There a God? Teleological Argument

Today we will be continuing our series of Apologetics.  Now remember that Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived, and second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.  We need to be able to say more than just because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.  Christianity is not true because Jesus lives in my heart, it is true because of what happened 2000 years ago outside Jerusalem.

For the next couple of weeks we will be addressing the question, Is there a God?  Is there a logical and reasonable argument for the existence of God?  Outside of referencing the Bible, can a case for the existence of God be made that disproves the positions of those that do not believe in a God and gives sufficient warrant for believing in a Creator?  The answer is, yes, it can.  At the conclusion of proving that there is a God, I will then prove to you that the God that we proved to exist, is the God that we find in the Bible.

We all ask the question is there a God.  This is mainly because God has placed a God shaped hole in our heart that only He can fill.  This is why every nation and culture that has ever existed in history has worshiped something.  In other words, man does not ask the question about God, our very existence raises the question about God.  That is why today we all still worship something.

However, I want to help you discover that in order to get the most joy out of life you have to worship the right God.  Last time we proved God existed by appealing to the Moral argument.  We said that since universal morals do exist, that there must be a universal law giver and that universal law giver is God.  Today we will look at the teleological argument.

This simply means “purpose” or “goal.” The idea is that it takes a “creator” to have purpose, and so where we see things obviously intended for a purpose, something had to have caused it for a reason.  In other words, design implies a designer.  We instinctively do this all the time.  When we are walking and we see a rock in the field we do not think anything about it, but if we find a watch, then we automatically know that there is something different about that watch from that rock.

We automatically know that someone created that watch and that it did not happen by chance out there in that field.  That it is too complicated to just happen by accident.

In no scientific field is design considered to be spontaneous; it always implies a designer, and the greater the design, the greater the designer.  Thus, taking the assumptions of science, the universe would require a designer beyond itself.

If designs implies a designer, and the universe shows marks of design, then the universe was created. Clearly, every life form in earth’s history has been highly complex. All of the DNA in the human body could be backed into the size of an ice cube, but the information that it would hold would fill a library. The human brain is approximately 10 billion gigabytes in capacity.

Besides living things here on earth, the whole universe seems designed for life. Literally, hundreds of conditions are required for life on earth—everything from the mass density of the universe down to earthquake activity must be fine-tuned in order for life to survive.

If the earth was not tilted at just the right angle, life would not exist.  If we were a little closer to the sun, it would be too hot for life to exist.  If we were little further from the sun, it would be too cold for life to exist.  It is a lot easier to believe all this occurred because of a creator than to think that it just happened.

Another example of complexity is the human eye.  A study of the human eye reveals the complexity of sight that just could not happen by chance.  However, we see our creator in not just complex systems but even single-celled creatures have too much complexity to explain without a creator!  Single-celled bacteria are so complex that without all of their parts working together at the same time they would have no survival potential. That means those parts could not have developed by chance.

Therefore, we can now conclude that because moral laws exist, we can assume that there is a universal lawgiver.  And since we see that there are some things that are too complex without being created, there must me a creator.

Sermon at the Community Good Friday Service

 Video Shown During Service

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/z5kvMyCIr8M?version=3&hl=en_US

A CASE FOR CHRIST

John 20:1-9

Introduction

Growing up I would often wonder, what is so good about Good Friday?  It is the day that my Lord was brutally murdered on the cross.  What is “good” about that?  I would wonder.

However, after growing in understanding, I have come to realize that this has to be one of the greatest understatements of all-time.  A “good” Friday is one in which Kaley & I get to go to the park together and walk Bella.  A “good” Friday is one in which we get out of school or work.

However, calling the day that Jesus bore the weight of sin so that I & other sinners just like me might justly stand before a righteous God is unspeakably more than “good”.  With my limited vocabulary, it is unfathomable.  The best I can come up with is that it should be called, really really ridiculously awesome good Friday, but of course, that would not fit on anyone’s calendar.

Outline of Message

Apologetics simply means defending  the faith.

We Need to defend our faith for two reasons.

1. So that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived.
2. So that we are able to give a good  answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.

Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus:

1. The Origin of the Disciples Belief in the Resurrection
   1. What brought about the change of attitude?
   2. What caused them to be willing to lay down their lives to tell others about this Jesus?
2. The Post-Mortem Appearances of Jesus.
   1. It could not be their faith that caused a vision because they had none.
   2. It could not be a Dream because they all experienced him and touched him.
3. The Evidence of the Empty Tomb.
   1. Those that opposed the disciples did not say the tomb is not empty, but accuse them of stealing Jesus’ Body.
      • Why would they steal it?
      • Where would they put it?
      •  Why would they get themselves killed over a lie?
   2. Some say he was not really dead.
   • Romans were proficient killers.
   • No one is going to believe Jesus resurrected if he is limping around bleeding everywhere.

Conclusion

Who Are You in the Passion Story?

Are you Peter, passionate and a leader, but sometimes find yourself being a coward when it matters most and needing forgiveness,Are you Thomas, you want to believe, but you are skeptical, if only you could place your hands on His scars too, then you would believe.Are you Judas, you feel the weight of what you fill like is an insurmountable mistake and are looking for any kind of relief from your pain,Or are you the Pharisees, who on the outside look like they have it all together, but on the inside are corrupt and have murderous intentions,

Or maybe some of you feel like you are Jesus, not that you think you are God, but that you know what it feels like to be accused of a crime that you did not commit,

Or do you find yourself resonating with Simon Cyrene, always carrying other peoples burdens,

Or are you Pilate, you want to do the right things in your life, but those around you are  crying out for you to do the wrong thing, and you fear what they might do to you if you do the right thing?

Well, I will tell you exactly who God wants you to resonate with in this story.  We get his story two chapters back in chapter 18 starting in verse 38.

Pilate went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

God tells us that we all are Barabbas.  Here we see that Barabbas was a robber, but in the other Gospels, we also see that he was a murder.

So why would God want you to realize that you are Barabbas in this story?

Because compared to God’s Holiness we are worse than Barabbas.  Matthew 5:21, tells us that anyone who hates his brother has committed murder in his heart.  Therefore, it is safe to say that all of here have committed murder in our hearts.

And same holds true to being robbers.  We have all taken something that did not belong to us or at least coveted something that we did not have.  Therefore, we all are robbers.

Too often we get caught up in our own self-righteousness and we like to compare ourselves to others and think we are alright.  As long as we are better than someone we feel safe in our eternal security.  However, God is not comparing you to others he is comparing you to Himself.

That is why he compares you to murder and a robber in this story.  But guess what there is good news.  Barabbas was set free, because Jesus took his place.

And that is what Good Friday is all about.  We deserve death, we deserve Hell, we like Barabbas deserve punishment because we have fallen short of the glory of God.  But just like Barabbas we did not do anything to deserve it.  But it was a gracious gift given to us.

But this gift was not free, it was paid for, Jesus Christ took the punishment full force that we deserved.  Now all you have to do is repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord, Savior, and Treasure and you can be set free from your punishment just like how Jesus took Barabbas spot on the cross.

Is There a God?

Today we will be continuing our series of Apologetics.  Now remember that Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived, and second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.  We need to be able to say more than just because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.  Christianity is not true because Jesus lives in my heart, it is true because of what happened 2000 years ago outside Jerusalem.

For the next couple of weeks we will be addressing the question, Is there a God?  Is there a logical and reasonable argument for the existence of God?  Outside of referencing the Bible, can a case for the existence of God be made that disproves the positions of those that do not believe in a God and gives sufficient warrant for believing in a Creator?  The answer is, yes, it can.  At the conclusion of proving that there is a God, I will then prove to you that the God that we proved to exist, is the God that we find in the Bible.

We all ask the question is there a God.  This is mainly because God has placed a God shaped hole in our heart that only He can fill.  This is why every nation and culture that has ever existed in history has worshiped something. In other words, man does not ask the question about God, our very existence raises the question about God.  That is why today we all still worship something.

However, I want to help you discover that in order to get the most joy out of life you have to worship the right God.  We will first prove that there is a God by appealing to the Moral argument.  The moral argument begins with the fact that all people recognize some moral code (that some things are right, and some things are wrong).

Every time we argue over right and wrong, we appeal to a higher law that we assume everyone is aware of, holds to, and is not free to subjectively change.  Right and wrong imply a higher standard or law, and law requires a lawgiver.  Because the Moral Law transcends humanity, this universal law requires a universal lawgiver.  This, universal lawgiver is God.

In support of the moral argument, we see that even the most remote tribes who have been cut off from the rest of civilization observe a moral code similar to everyone else’s.  Although differences certainly exist in civil matters, virtues like bravery and loyalty and vices like greed and being a coward are universal.

Two examples can be applied.  We can all fairly say that what Nazi Germany did during WWII was objectively wrong.  Even if they had won WWII and were successfully able to exterminate or brainwash the world into believing what they did was right, we know that what they did was still morally wrong.  Therefore, we see that right and wrong is not subjective.

Another example is the terrorist attack of 9/11.  The men that drove that plane into those towers had been brain washed and truly believe what they were doing was right, but that does not make it right.  Even if we were not Americans, we would know that what they did that day was morally wrong.

Therefore, we see that there is a moral code built inside of all of us.  If man were responsible for that code, it would differ as much as every other thing that man has invented.  For example, our houses here in America look nothing like the houses in other parts of the world.  However, all across the globe and over centuries of recorded time we all have similar basic laws.  Murder, rape, and stealing are wrong in every culture that has ever lived.

Where, then, do we get these ideas of what is right and wrong?  Romans 2:14-15 says that the moral law (or our conscience) comes from an ultimate lawgiver above man.  If this is true, then we would expect to find exactly what we have observed.  This lawgiver is God.

To put it negatively, the belief in no God provides no basis for morality, no purpose in life, no explanation for the problem of this world, and no solution on how to fix it.  While this does not disprove the belief in no God, by itself.  However, we should realize that if the logical outworking of a belief system fails to account for what we instinctively know to be true, it ought to be discarded.  Without God, there would be no objective basis for morality, no life, and no reason to live it.  Yet all these things do exist, and so does God.  Thus, this is the moral argument for the existence of God.

Therefore, the short answer to the question is there a God, is yes, because  we can logically say that there is a God by using the Moral Argument because

1.) If God did not exist, objective moral values would not exist.

2.) However, objective moral values do exist.

3.) Therefore, God does exist.

What is the Solution?

Today we will be continuing our series of Apologetics.  Now remember that Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be easily deceived, and second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.  We need to be able to say more than just because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.  Christianity is not true because Jesus lives in my heart, it is true because of what happened 2000 years ago outside Jerusalem.

Therefore, during these sessions I will be answering your questions.  So, if you have a question that you want answered give it to me personally, or through Facebook or twitter, or you could just give it to Stuart and he will give it to me and all questions will remain anonymous, so that no one knows who asked which question.

Today we will be answering the question, “How Can We Fix it?”  The first week we answered the question, Why were we created?  And the short answer was for the glory of God.  Week two we discovered if our goal in life is to glorify God, why is it so hard to do so? Or, What is wrong with this world?  We saw that the short answer to that question was that sin separated us from God.  Today we will be looking closely on what can be done to fix the problem, so that we can go back to living a life of joy because we are glorifying our creator, God almighty.

So the short answer to the question, “How Can We Fix it?” , is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord, Savior, and Treasure.  This is more than a calling to just say a prayer or to fill out a card or go through some spiritual ritual.  For God to be your Lord, is to mean that you now have a new master.  You were once slaves to sin, we all bow down to something, so the question is are you bowing down to God the one that wants to draw you to Him and make you his sons, or are you bowing down to things that will fade away as time goes by.  It is better to be a slave of God who cares for us than, slaves to our own selfish desires.

For God to be your savior means that you realize that you once were lost.  We have all fallen short of the glory of God.  We all have lied, stolen, or cheated.  Therefore, knowing that we are separated from God we need someone to save us from our darkness.  Jesus Christ came and died for our sins so that we could be able to stand before God as righteous.  You cannot earn your way there through good works, or by trying to beat out the person next to you.  Only belief and Jesus Christ can save you.

For God to be your Treasure he has to be what you value above all else.  If you accept Christ as your Lord, Savior, and Treasure then it is impossible for you to go back to living a life just like how you did before you were saved.  This is because you now have a new value system.  If you see what it cost to save you from your sins then you will want everyone to experience this repentance and because of that, you will become more God-centered and less self-centered.  You will be looking out for others more than you will yourself.

There should be no competition for our love for Jesus.  We should love him better than life itself.  And you will find that you love others in your life far more when you put them in second place than if you were to get it out of whack and put them in first place and put Jesus second.  I often say to my wife, Kaley you are my number 2, and she knows that is the most loving thing I can say to her, because if I was to put her number 1, then I would be putting on her unrealistic expectation to fulfill my joy.  If I put her number 1, she is going to fail me.  And I will live a life in constant resentment because I put someone number 1 that continually fails me.

Likewise, anything that you are putting number one is going to fail you too.  People will disappoint you, other people change, other people will die, and if you have put them first in your life you are going to find it hard to live after betrayal or loss.  Jesus will never betray you and Jesus has already died and risen from the dead so He will never forsake you.

You put him first and you will never be disappointed.  Christians will let you down.  We are not perfect, but we do not worship the church members, we worship the one that is the Lord Jesus Christ and I point you to him.  Likewise, I will let you down, if I have not already done so, but you are not following me, you are following Jesus Christ and He will never let you down.

Therefore, we conclude that if you want to know why you were created it was to glorify God, and if you want to know why it is so hard to do so with your own self will, it is because of sin, and the solution to the problem with sin is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord, Savior, and Treasure.  And to live a life that is honoring to him and doing everything for the Glory of God so that you will be able to get the most joy out of life.  And you do this by remembering that God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied with him.

What is Wrong with the World?

Today we will be continuing our series of Apologetics.  Now remember that Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be able to be easily deceived, and second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith.  We need to be able to say more than just because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.

Therefore, during these sessions I will be answering your questions.  So, if you have a question that you want answered give it to me personally, or through Facebook or twitter (@joegunter08), or you could mail it to the church at PO Box 4 Flemingsburg, KY 41041 and all questions will remain anonymous, so that no one knows who asked which question.

Last Week we looked at the question, “Why Were We Created?”  And remember the short answer was for the glory of the Lord.  Now as you lived out your life this week you probably noticed that what you were created for seems to be awful difficult and you might have asked yourself, “if this is what I am created for why is it so difficult to do?”

Today we will be answering the question, “What is Wrong with the World?”  We all know that something is wrong.  We see it in how we treat others.  We feel it in our souls when we want to do what is right, but are driven to do wrong instead.  And even in nature as we see what happened in West Liberty just a couple of weeks ago, that something is wrong with this world.  Today I will try to shine light on this question and how we are to address it Biblically.

The short answer to what is wrong with this world is that, we sinned against God and subjected the whole world to a curse.  Even though men and women are created in God’s image, the entrance of sin into the world has had great and negative influences upon God’s creation, especially humans created in God’s image.  As a result of sin, the image of God, though not lost, is severely tarnished.

The ability to live in right relationship with God, with others, with nature, and with our very own selves has been corrupted.  Ultimately, all are spiritually dead and separated from God (see Eph. 2:13).  This does not mean that we are all as bad as we can be, but that not any of us are as good as we should be.  We are therefore unable to reflect properly the divine image and likeness of God (see Rom. 1:18-32).  As a result, we are not fully able to complete what we were created for as we learned last week to glorify God because of our sin.

It is important to see that the fall into sin (see Gen. 3) was not just a moral lapse, but a deliberate turning away from God and rejection of Him.  The day that Adam and Eve disobeyed God they died spiritually, which ultimately brought physical death (see Gen. 2:17).  Sin’s entrance has brought about a sinful nature in all humanity.  Therefore, men and women are not simply sinners because they sin, but they sin because they are sinners.  People think and act in according to their fallen natures.

This idea is most significant when reflecting upon our relationship to God.  Because of the entrance of sin into the world and our inheritance of Adam’s sinful nature (see Rom. 5:12-19), we are by nature hostile to God and seperated from Him (see Rom. 8:7; Eph. 2:1-3).  We have wills that do not obey God, eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear because spiritually we are dead to God.

While we function with a free will, our decisions and actions are always affected by sin.  In seeking to understand what has gone wrong with the world, we recognize that human choices are negatively influenced by sin.  About our relationship with God, we do not genuinely repent or turn to God without divine enablement because we are by nature hostile to God.

Any time we seek to give a defense for the faith like we are doing in this study of apologetics we must wrestle with the problem of sin.  Sin effects all of our being, including our thinking and emotions.  People still do right and good things as viewed by society, but these thoughts and actions, no matter how noble or generous, fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23).  We can affirm that people choose to do good, but a Christian worldview helps us distinguish between the good and the ultimate good, which is the goal of glorifying God.

Answering the question about what has gone wrong in the way we have does not mean all are totally corrupt.  Factors such as environment, emotional makeup, heritage, and the continuing effect of our having been created in the image of God, influence or limit the degree of our corruption.  Yet, a Christian worldview recognizes that all types of immoral actions, whether lying, murder, adultery, seeking after power, pride, or our failure to love one another, are related to our alienation from God.  All in this world are separated from God.  The good news is that our sin was judged at the cross of Jesus Christ.  He has regained what was lost in Adam (Rom. 5:12-21).  The grace of God has provided restoration for believers and has brought about a right relationship with God, with one another, with nature, and with ourselves.

And for those that have repented and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord, Savior, and Treasure, we are looking forward to the day when Jesus Christ returns to establish the new heavens and the new earth so that we can live in a world without sin and how God had originally created it.

Why Did God Create Us?

Today we will be starting a new series, since we just finished up a walk through the book of Proverbs and before that we had an overview of the Bible.  Our new series will be on Apologetics.  Now Apologetics is just a fancy word for the defense of the faith.  We as Christians need to be able to defend our faith for two reasons.  First, so that we are strong in our faith and will not be able to be easily deceived.  Second, so that we are able to give a good answer when others searching have questions for us about our faith, we need to be able to say more because Jesus lives in my heart that is how I know.

Therefore, during these sessions I will be answering your questions.  So, if you have a question that you want answered give it to me personally, or through Facebook or twitter, or you could just give it to Stuart and he will give it to me and all questions will remain anonymous, so that no one knows who asked which question.

Our first question that we will be looking at this morning is Why Did God Create Us?  The short answer to the question “why did God create us?” is “for His glory.”  Revelation 4:11 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 1:16 echoes the point: “All things were created by him and for him.”  Being created for God’s glory does not mean humanity was made to entertain God or provide Him with amusement.  God is a creative Being, and it gives Him pleasure to create.  God is a personal Being, and it gives Him pleasure to have other beings that  He can have a genuine relationship with.

Therefore, knowing that the reason we were created is for the glory of God then we can recognize that in order to get the most joy out of life then we need to do everything for the glory of God.  So, our purpose in life is to live a life that glorifies the lord so that we can get the most joy out of this life and the next.  Whether it be as a farmer, teacher, preacher, sales rep, doctor, or a lawyer, whatever you do, do it for the glory of the Lord.  Since God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, we need to seek our joy and pleasures from delighting God because that will lead to lasting eternal joy.  Instead of seeking after short-term pleasures that promise joy, but always fall short and often end up as a root of sadness.

That is basically what the Bible is about.  The Bible is God’s Word telling us how to have a relationship with him and how to live a life that will get us the most joy.  However, let us first define joy since it is an often misunderstood word.  Joy is not the same as happiness.  Joy is the state of delight and well-being that results from knowing and serving God (Dean, 2003).  Happiness, however, is a fleeting emotion that is based on circumstances.  Joy is the fruit of a right relationship with God.  It is not something people can create by their own efforts (Dean, 2003, p. 956).

Many people think that God is the great killjoy.  Meaning you cannot have fun in this life if you are a Christian.  Nothing could be a bigger lie.  God himself knows joy and he wants his people to know joy instead of seeking the short-term pleasures of this world.  You might recall the illustration from previous lessons that I gave when I said that God’s law is not there to keep us from having fun, but it is like the game of baseball, if you do not play by the rules then it would be total chaos and not much fun.

Joy in the Christian life is in direct proportion as believers walk with the Lord.  They can rejoice because they are in the Lord.  Joy is a fruit of a Spirit-led life.  Or in other words, joy is in your life when you are walking with the Lord.  Sin in a believer’s life robs the person of joy.  When a person walks with the Lord, the person can continue to rejoice even when troubles come.  Joy in the Lord enables people to enjoy all that God has given them (Dean, 2003, p. 957).

Being made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27), human beings have the ability to know God and therefore love Him, worship Him, serve Him, and fellowship with Him.  God did not create human beings because He needed them.  As God, He needs nothing.  In all eternity past, He felt no loneliness, so He was not looking for a “friend.”  He loves us, but this is not the same as needing us.  If we had never existed, God would still be God—the unchanging One (Malachi 3:6).  The God of the universe was never dissatisfied with His own eternal existence.  When He made the universe, He did what pleased Himself, and since God is perfect, His action was perfect.  “It was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Recognizing the complete sovereignty and holiness of God, we are amazed that He would take man and crown him “with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5) and that He would humble himself to call us “friends” (John 15:14-15).  Therefore, Why did God create us?  God created us for His glory and so that we, as His creation, would have the joy of knowing Him.

Now you have two choices.  You can either choose to play a large role and play the main character of your life and it end in, if your lucky 70 years.  Or, you can choose to play a smaller role in an eternal story where God is the main character and you spend your life glorifying and pointing others to Him.