LVC 11/01/2015 Possibly the best known text JN 3:16-18
in the bible
1. Watching RT interview with Richard Dawkins, author of ‘The God Delusion’; What struck me was …
a. His insistence that he was pursuing truth
b. Claim that Atheism is proof of intellect
c. No place for emotion or any nonphysical realm – such a narrow view of reality.
d. Aggressive antagonism towards religion in general and theologians in particular
e. How hypocrital the atheist is – insisting that theists provide scientific proof of God’s existence while basing alternatives to His existence on outright theories and flights of fancy.
2. Prompted me to read a detailed summary and review of his book which appeared in the Journal of Evolutionary Philosophy. It slated the book in general and the ‘proof’ in particular as illogical and lacking any real merit.
3. This led me to purchase a Kindle book ‘Illogical Atheism’ by a Dr of Law.
4. Of course in all this I couldn’t avoid comparing atheist philosophy to the two best known verses in scripture.
5. [Ask what they are]… no, not ‘God helps those who help themselves’ – not in the bible at all.
6. GEN 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ And JN 3:16…. [Turn to and read JN 3:16-18]
7. Background in preceding verses = discussion with Nicodemus on the need to be born Again; spiritually regenerated.
8. Then the ‘how’ by citing OT reference to NUM 21:8-9 regarding the snake in the desert – [explain][read JN 3:14-15]
9. JN 3:16 starts with FOR GOD…
10. In biblical reality everything starts with God – He discloses and reveals, and we receive and perceive.
11. In Atheism, however, everything starts and ends with humankind - man seeks to discover and understand the working of an impersonal self-existent Cosmos.
12. The Atheist declares that God does not exist and that the very idea of a divine creator is a dangerous delusion equivalent to mass mental illness.
13. Dawkins and his followers claim that the burden of proof is on us, mentally sick ones, to show that God does actually exist – however only 16% of the world’s population is either Atheistic or Agnostic (Don’t know and don’t care)… so the burden of proof is actually on them, not us!
14. A second claim that Dawkins and others make is that all religions are archaic, barbaric and dangerous to society and that Christianity is the most dangerous of them all:
a. Ignores the societal good that has come from Christianity over the centuries – societal reformations, social upliftement etc.
b. A straw-man argument because the Christian Faith is not a religion as much as it is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ – to attack the negatives of organised religious forms of Christianity is to miss the point entirely.
15. One of his favourite contentions is that Theologians are idiots simply because a select few Young Earth Creationists or extreme fundamentalists behave and speak foolishly – ignores the towering intellects that have graced the Christian church over the centuries.
16. All this to say – Don’t be intimidated by the arrogant and militant Atheists of our day – they really don’t have a good case, have little to say about truth in general and nothing to say about Jesus, the very source of truth.
17. SO LOVED… THAT HE GAVE
18. At the risk of repeating the obvious here – love is manifested through giving.
19. To love God = to give to God; time, life-energy, resources, obedience.
20. To love God is to give to others ref. the two greatest commandments [State]
21. Ref also 1 Jn 4:20 ‘If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.’
22. THE WORLD
23. ‘Cosmos’ = the whole created realm but specifically humans (the subject of this text).
24. The word also used to describe the fallen world system. This is the context of Gods great act of self-giving love.
25. The state of the creation makes God’s love all the more exceptional. ROM 5:8 ‘God demonstrated his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’
26. What then does this say about God’s love for YOU, your spouse, your unbelieving child… Richard Dawkins – HE LOVES THEM!
27. The question this begs is ‘yes, but just how much?’
28. HIS ONE AND ONLY SON
29. Only-begotten translates mono-genἑ = one-and-only but also ‘unique’
30. Jesus was not God simply appearing to be human. Heresy of Docetism.
31. Jesus was not simply a divinely anointed man. Ebionite heresy.
32. Jesus was, and is, God the Son, the eternal Word, the second personage of the Godhead, who incarnated as the unique, one of a kind God-Man… Jesus Christ the Lord..
33. So, what then did God give of himself to humanity? What was the extent of his love?.... total!
34. Without trivialising [the story of the pig and hen discussing the farmers breakfast]
35. WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM
36. ‘Whosoever’ is non-discriminatory; non-exclusive, all inclusive
37. Not ‘The Elect’, the Calvinist doctrine that only some have been elected by God before time to be saved, for ref. 1 TIM 2:4 ‘God our saviour, who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.’
38. Salvation is non-exclusive but it is conditional… on believing in Jesus.
39. Believe = to have faith in; to entrust one’s life to.
40. What then of the biblical doctrine of Election? We are elect in Christ ‘predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son’ ROM 8:28
41. NOT SENT TO
42. Not sent to judge, condemn or punish. But sent to SAVE!
43. But why do we need to be saved? asks the Atheist.
44. Vs 18 because the whole human race stands condemned ALREADY.
45. This flies in the face of core atheistic belief – No God, therefore no sin therefore no need for salvation… therefore the crucifixion of Christ Jesus was just an unfortunate mistake of evolutionary forces… that is, if Jesus even existed at all (Like denying the holocaust).
46. Jesus came into the word for just such as Richard Hawkins.
47. So then, based on this great text of scripture, this most well-known of all bible verses, what would I say to Richard Hawkins?
a. There is a God and He believes in you, even though you do not believe in him or even acknowledge His existence.
b. This God, whom you deny, came into the world as the unique God-man so that you could have the opportunity of living in eternal relationship with your creator.
48. Then I would tell him about Jesus and trust the Holy Spirit to open his eyes as Jesus is lifted up before his view.
49. I would respectfully ask him to read the Gospels again to discover, not their inconsistencies, but their central truth claims about Jesus.
50. I would pray for him… but probably not aloud.