Classic Proofs for God’s Existence

/essay/

An Outline and Evaluation of  the Classic Proofs for God’s Existence

Introduction

Does God exist? This question has engaged the minds of many people since the beginning of human history. Since science uses the methods of experimental repetition in order to prove something, a supernatural reality like God’s Being cannot be subjected to scientific research as it well goes beyond the realms of natural order of things. That’s why, in order to answer this question, many philosophers and theologians have attempted to construct and offer arguments ‘proving’ or ‘refuting’ that existence.

Of course, many people doubt whether non-believers can be convinced to believe that God exists by such argumentation (see Kreeft & Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, p. 48-49). But, nevertheless, the question of God’s existence is central to Christian apologetics as it can serve as an important step towards non-Christians taking the idea of divine existence seriously. Furthermore, each Christian is called by God to give a reasonable explanation of his/her faith (1 Pet. 3:15). That’s why all Christians should treat the arguments for God’s existence seriously.

There are, according to some authors, twenty arguments for the existence of God (ibid.). Among those, central are four: the ontological, the cosmological, the teleological and the moral argument.

The Ontological Argument

This argument is set out by Anselm of Canterbury in his Proslogion in 1079. His statement has become classics in religious philosophy (see Milne, Bruce, Know the Truth, p.53). Anselm begins by defining God as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived”. He tries to deduce the existence of God from the idea of the most perfect being (“greater” = more perfect) (see Brown, Colin. Philosophy & The Christian Faith, p. 20). His proof for this is as follows. If God does not exist, then remains only the idea of God. Therefore, it is possible to imagine a more perfect being than that perfect being, which exists only in the mind, and that is a contradiction. Hence, we must accept that God exists.

The ontological argument is the most controversial of all arguments of the existence of God. Whereas it has fascinated some thinkers like Descartes and Leibniz, others refuted it. Kant said that all it proved was if there is God, he exists. To use his analogy, a real banknote is of not more in currency value than an imagined one. In spite of all its opponents, recently Anselm’s argument has revived its popularity.

The Cosmological Argument

It is looking for an ultimate cause for the universe (cosmos (Greek) means universe). It was set out by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Contra Gentiles, as one of his Five Ways or arguments for the existence of God. The cosmological arguments considers that things don’t come about by chance; every event in the universe has a cause, which in its turn has a cause, and so on back to the original cause, God.

The opponents of this proof claim that there is no ultimate origin of things, so we just don’t need an uncaused cause. However, its defenders answer with the argument from time and contingency. It says that some existing (‘contingent’) things might not have existed at all, but there are such that must exist (‘necessary’). Even though the existence of some contingent things can be explained by referring to some contingent realities, “the coming into being and the continued existence of all contingent reality can be explained only in terms of a necessary being, God” (Milne, Know the Truth, p.55).

The Teleological Argument

This argument is given by Plato, but its classical formulation is set out by William Paley. It derives its name from the Greek word telos, meaning ‘purpose’. It is a subcategory of the cosmological argument and considers the things in the universe and the way they interrelate with others outside themselves. In other words, the way things exist and coexist shows a beautiful order, harmony and design that fill the observer with wonder (see Kreeft & Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, p.55). The argument is as follows: either this order and harmony are the products of chance, or they are the result of intelligent design. Chance cannot have caused such a complicate design. Therefore, the universe is the product of intelligent design. If there is a design, it must come from a designer. Therefore, there is an intelligent Designer, and this Designer is God.

All these claims seem quite easy to prove. Even the strongest defenders of Darwinism admit the presence of harmony and order in the universe. But, they cannot agree with the claim that chance cannot be the cause of this order. They say that it is indeed by chance that the universe “exists the way it does” (the Big Bang theory) (ibid.). Chance, though, makes sense only against the background of order. Here is the way Kreeft and Tacelli develop their argument:

 To say that something happened ‘by chance’ is to say that it did not turn out as we would have expected, or that it did turn out in a way we would not have expected. But expectation is impossible without order. If you take away order and speak of chance alone as a kind of ultimate source, you have taken away the only background that allows us to speak meaningfully of chance at all… Therefore it is eminently reasonable to affirm … the conclusion, that this universe is the product of intelligent design.

Even though many philosophers have subjected the teleological argument to criticism, it has been one of the most widely used ‘proofs’ in Christian apologetics.

The Moral Argument

The Moral argument is another popular approach in proving God’s existence. It is sometimes regarded as an aspect of ‘the anthropological argument.’ Its argument is as follows. People are moral beings. They distinguish between good and evil and have an inbuilt awareness of moral obligation. This moral obligation is universal and objective, and does not depend significantly on the cultural, ethnic or religious differences among people. Therefore the categories of good and evil and the sense of moral obligation must have been given to people from outside. But this outside source cannot be impersonal, since morality is a personal category. Therefore, there is a personal moral Being, God.

Logical however it may seem, the moral proof is attacked by the proponents of ethical relativism, who claim it does not explain away ethical subjectivism. However, the truth is, not many people live out what they say they believe. To claim that corruption is good is one thing; to be a victim of corruption and still to claim that it is good is a completely different thing.

Yet, a more serious attack against the moral argument is the disagreement with the final statement in the argument, concerning the personal aspect of morality. These critics say that it points not to God, but to “some vague ‘religious’ view” (Kreeft & Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, p.73). The Christian apologist might reply that it is true. But, no matter how general and vague this religious view is, it is completely incompatible with atheism and all other views that don’t accept the ultimate objective values. To believe that “moral conscience is the voice of God within the soul” seems just most reasonable (ibid.), because moral value is a personal characteristic. Of course, Christians should admit that there is still a long way from this ‘personal moral Creator’ to the Christian ‘triune God of love’ (ibid.). 

Conclusion

As Wayne Grudem points out in his treating of the subject, “all these traditional ‘proofs’ are attempts to cause people to think rationally or correctly about the evidence of God’s existence” when their tendency is to think irrationally, due to the original sin (Systematic Theology, p.144). He goes on to say that all these arguments are valid in the sense that they are a reality that every Christian is convinced of: God exists as being greater than anything that can be conceived, He is the cause/creator of the universe as we know it, He is the intelligent purposeful Mind behind it and He is the source of objective moral values. But, on the other hand, these arguments cannot be treated as valid in the sense that they are “able to compel agreement even from those who begin with false assumptions” (ibid.). Their value is mainly in helping Christians overcome the intellectual objections non-believers raise, and providing them with further evidence for their convictions based on the testimony of Scripture.

Trif Trifonov

2002, London Bible College

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Milne, Bruce: Know the Truth, IVP, 1982

Kreeft, P & Tacelli R.K.: Handbook of Christian Apologetics, IVP, 1994

Brown, Colin. Philosophy & The Christian Faith, IVP,1968

Grudem, Wayne: Systematic Theology, IVP & Zondervan, 1994

McGrath, Alister E.: Christian Theology, Blackwell, 2001

The NIV Study Bible

Райри, Чарлз: Основно богословие, Верен, 1997 (originally published as Charles C. Ryrie: Basic Theology, Victor Books, 1986)

Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Wheaton College, 2000 (on a CD):

Kant, Critique of Pure Reason. Translated by F. Max Muller. New York, 1896. P­483 et seq

Leibnitz, New Essays Concerning Human Understanding. Translated by A.G. Langley. New York, 1896. P. 502 at seq

Descartes, The Philosophy of Descartes in Extracts from His Writings. H. A. P. Torrey. New York, 1892. P. 161 et seq

Spinoza, The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza. Translated by R.H.M.Elwes. London, 1848. VoI. II., P. 51 at seq.

How can we be sure that Christianity is the right religion?

/sermon by Mike Enns/

Greetings      -Today is the next Sermon to our serious „you asked for it“

-The Question today is: How can we be sure that christianity is the right religion?

-I think it is a question every christian has or should ask himself. So I think it is a very good question to talk about.

→ Yet giving a good answer to a good question is not always easy. But I'm a very pragmatic guy and did the most reasonable think: ...I asked the question somebody else of course.

I asked this question a couple of other christians I knew and the answers were suprising... Suprising because everyone answered me something different. A lot of the answers had things in common but non were the same.

- I heard we can be sure that christianity is the right religion because:

-The only relegion where we can be sure to be saved.

-only religion where we are saved by mercy alone and not our merits or deeds.

-somebody told me he believe in christianity because it is the only religion that makes sense an is historicaly convincing

-and somebody even told me it would be rude not to accept the sacrifice of God, his son himself on the cross for us and be sure about it.

So there is no easy, universal answer......All of them were corect of course, but all were different. But there was one thing the answers had in common. People were very confident.

So how can we as well be confident in our answer. How can we be sure as well that christianity is the right religion?

Well I think the reason why there are so many answers is that you can be sure in many different aspects. But They mainly split in 2 perspectives.

The first is the spiritual. Were we believe. Believe in God's word, his actions for us and our expierience with him. That is very good and God wants us to believe in him but when other non christians talk with us about this topic they often expect the other perspective.

2.That are the Facts. Hard empirical data. Historical proof. Real evidence.

-which is not suprising people love facts and evidence. Me too. I'm in a science field after all. Even random once.

-Did you know that the Eiffel tower has 1665 steps?

Anyway...Our answers are a mixture between facts and and spiritual beliefs and people might not understand the belief part when we talk to them from that perspective or even call us stupid.

In this sermon I will focus more on the factual side. I think the question was asked with that in mind.

But before that I want to establish that the other side is just as important.

Even if other people don't understand

-That is ok.God wants us to believe. Even if we are called stupid.

That can happen. It happened to me a couple of times and I know it will again. I don't know if you have experienced it but you probably know it can and even God knows it.

1 Corinthians 1, 18-25       _read carefully it is a powerful text.

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a]

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

For the people who do not believe it is foolish and stupid to believe and always will be.

The death of Jesus Christ, God's son, on the cross for our sins and his resurrection is stupid for people who do not believe. It is not provable and not understandable by human means. It is a miracle God did for us in his mercy. He conquered death so we can live.

That is the very essence of what we believe. Not understandable with facts and the laws of nature. 

Humans can't comprehend it.

So however much we love facts and data we as christians believe that God is bigger than them.

-Because he destroyed the wisdom of the wise and frustrated the intelligence of the intelligent by overcoming these things. That is the victory of the cross we celebrate every Easter and we believe in.

And it is good we believe because God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what was preached.

When I saw this question of: „How can I be sure that christianity is the right religion?“, one of the first things I thought about was a story from the bible where someone is very similar in doubt and wanted to be proofen with facts.

You can find the story in John 20:24-29.

It happened just after Jesus ressurected. He appeared to a few of his apostles but Thomas missed out on that so the others told him „We have seen the Lord“ full of excitement. And do you know what Thomas told them?....

-“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later jesus appeared in the house where all his disciples where and led Thomas do just that but what Jesus told him afterwards is really interesting....

-he said to him: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I said it before. God wants us to believe and we as Christians do. This is something we should always be aware of and undertand. That is not something non christians, especially atheists understand.

2.But because we haven't seen Jesus and believe does not mean we are blind.

-That reminds me of the of a story of a missionary who went to distant tribes to evangelise. So he went to the people and told them that through believing in Christ they will be saved. But there was a problem because the translator told him they do not have the concept of belief in there language so he can not translate it. You have to explain it.

So the missionary was very puzzled. He never had to do that before.

He looked around an noticed a cloud going in front of the sun and he knew how to tell them.

So he pointed at the sun and said do you see the sun? - No came the answer

Then he asks if he knows that the sun is there? -Yes of course came the answer.

That is belief. The missionary told him. You do not see the sun and yet you know it is there

God gave us eyes to see and a mind to think so we should use them and that is for the other perspective.

The facts and proofs we humans love so much.

We can not see the sun yet we can see it's light, the trees it let's grow and the fruit it brings.

Similar we can see all the fats and proof surrounding our sun we believe in so we should do that.

It also helps us understand what we believe in.

First. I have a question for you. Do not be afraid to answer. It is very important.

-How heavy do you think I am?    86

So now we can go and sing about that I'm ...kg and have sermon every sunday that I'm ….kg and can convince millions of people that I'm ….kg It does not change the fact that I'm ...kg.

It does not change the fact there is only one truth.

When we talk about why we believe in christianity and not in any of the other religion I have often heard that it doesn't matter in what we believe. They are all the same anyway or it is all the same God anyway. Allah, God. There is no difference.

Or If God loves the people how can he let so many become lost so he probably excepts the other religion too as long as they belive in him.

I have also heard it doesn't matter what you believe as long as it works for you and you are happy or a good person.

This is absulute Nonsense. A higher form of Nonsense.

No matter how much I believe that I'm ...kg or how happy I am that I believe that I'm ...kg or how many people believe that I'm ...kg.  The only thruth will be that I'm ...kg.

Ok. Enough about my weight. Here is a quote for you.

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” People do believe in that.

That is a quote from Adolf Hitler by the way.

There is only one truth The only truth is our God and savior and the only way to him is his son jesus christ.

Nowadays it's all about tolerance and you are called intolerant when you try to convince someone of something else. Everyone their own. Whatever fits them.

Even Christians and churches change their believe to better fit their needs. For example start mixing evolutionary theory with creationism. That is not right.

God and his word is the only truth.

But other religions claim that too so what is the difference? Why do we believe in Christianity and not any other religion?

Let's talk about these differences.

Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, Gnosticism, Naturalism and many many more. As much as you can imagine. Why is christianity different than other religions.

First of all. I don't think christianity is a religion like the others at all.

-There is no scholarly consensus over the definition of "religion"

It is not clear but most people believe that the word religion comes from the latin „ligare“ wich means to connect and „re“ again.

So the word means the Human efford to connect with God again. But in Christianity we believe in God's effort to connect with us humans again. The opposite of religions.

We destroyed the connection with God with sin and Jesus came to us to rebuild it again.

We can't do anything to be saved by God. None of our actions and deeds matter. Only through God's grace are we saved. We only have to believe.

If we want to be more sure about Christianity we can look at the evidence which it presents itself to us.

There are a lot of different aspects of evidence we can look at:

There is the historical evidence, theological evidence, scientific evidence and so on. You can find so much for each of these points we could do our own sermons and because we don't have that much time I'll try to make it compact.

First let's talk about historical evidence. It is porbaly the most discussed kind of evidence.

The bible for historians is unimaginably valuable. You have thousands of years of detailed history of israel and the surrounding countries. Their wars. Their laws. Their Cities. Their Kings and their descendants an so on and so on. Especially in the old testament.

All wich is proved accurate by other sorces and documents found but such kind of  timelines and description can not be found in other religios texts.

One example is The Existence of Hittites. Genesis 23 reports that Abraham buried Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah, which he purchased from Ephron the Hittite. Second Samuel 11 tells of David’s adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. A century ago the Hittites were unknown outside of the Old Testament, and critics claimed that they were a figment of biblical imagination. In 1906, however, archaeologists digging east of Ankara, Turkey, discovered the ruins of Hattusas, the ancient Hittite capital at what is today called Boghazkoy, as well as its vast collection of Hittite historical records, which showed an empire flourishing in the mid-second millennium BC.

-This historical challenge against the bible was often repeated over time and still the bible stands correct

Another example from a different region are The Nuzi Tablets. The some 20,000 clay tablets discovered at the ruins of Nuzi, east of the Tigris River and datable to c. 1500 BC, reveal institutions, practices, and customs remarkably congruent to those found in Genesis. These tablets include treaties, marriage arrangements, rules regarding inheritance, adoption, and the like.

We also now that the content in the bible is unaltered over time unlike what some people claim.

The oldest biblical texts found are not different from what we have today in our bible.

Last year in 2016 scientist where able to read the oldest known bible text found in En Gedi, Israel. A scroll of leviticus over 2000 years old. It was so damaged nobody could open the scroll and read it without destoying it.

New imaging techniques made it possible and scientist say the text is 100% identical to what is used today and that it is amazing how the text can stay unaltered for centuries.

There is a lot more and I had a really hard time picking out these examples.

There is historical  Anthropological proof of the bible with the common flood story in so many civilisations around the world but I think you understand the point. Historians treassure the bible nowadays second only to the christians and jews.

We can also look at theological proof.

We have all the prophesies given to us by God.

 If you only look the ones up about jesus You will find a list of 353 Prophesies in the old testament fullfilled by him. What are the chances of that happening?

My personal favorite prophecy is in the last chapter of Isaiah 66,7-8 where he talks about Israel being reborn as a nation again in one day and he literally asks. „Who has heard such a thing. Who has seen such things.

Nothing is comparable in world history yet May 14, 1948 The Jews were able to declare independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2,900 years.

That is incredible and you can find a lot more of these kinds of proof in christianity and I really mean a lot, but I would like to talk to you a little bit about some kind of evidence not spoken so often about.

Scientific evidence in the bible.

People often don't know that it is there but the bible reveals some scientific proofs and laws of nature only understood by humans many many years after the bible was written.

Do you know this friendly fellow with the name Pythagoras. He is quite famous. Maybe you remember him from Math class in school.

Pythagoras invented this triangle formula and also is credited to say the earth is round. That was around 500 BC.

You can find indications of a round earth quite a few bible verses. Old an new testament.

The very first statement I could find was in Job 26,10.

„He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.“

That circular horizon is called terminator the border of day and night and can only exist if the earth is round. Otherwise it would be a line. And not a circle

As you can see we can find evidence of the nature of the world given to us by God that was only found 1500 years later by mankind. We can find a more recent example.

In Isaiah 40,22 God is mentioned as the one „who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.“

That clearly indicates an expanding Universe which was only clarified by astonomers in the 1920s because of observation that galaxys clearly move away from each other.

And if we are in astronomy already we can talk about the numbers of stars. Nowadays we know that there is an uncountable amount of stars. In the year 150AD the astronomer Claudius Ptolemy cataloged 1,022 stars in his work The Almagest. Most believed that was it. You can still buy the book today.

But in the very first book of the bible Genesis 32,12 we can read God said already to Jacob:

„12 For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

With the help of modern science, we have an even greater appreciation of just how innumerable the stars are. We have over 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone.

Scientists believe there are more galaxies in our seeable universe than stars in our own. Having each 100 of billion and trillion stars on their own.

But not only the Nature of the world is shown to us in the bible but also the laws of nature and much more.

As you have seen there is really a lot of evidence supporting christianity over other religions but a leader of a street evangelism workshop I have been to many year ago told me that you will not convince anyone to believe in Christ by beating them in facts or winning an argument.

That is why it is also so important not to forgett our beliefs when we go search for proofs.

In the beginning of the sermon I said the question of „how can I be sure that christianity is the right religion?“ is a good question every christian has or should ask themself.

Because God says

Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Do you know the book or movie Ben Hur? There was just this new movie in 2016. It is after a book written by civil war general Lew Wallace in 1899 Ben Hur a tale of Christ. It is now known as one of the most famous christian stories of all time.

What many people don't know is Wallace never was member of a church. His novel startet by a discussion with Colonel Robert Ingersoll who „poured audacities and antithesis against believers in God, Christ and heaven like he never heard before.“

Lew laiter said: „... Yet here was I now moved as never before, and by what? The most outright denials of all human knowledge of God, Christ, Heaven... Was the Colonel right?

That would make a book, and compel me to study everything of pertinency; after which, possibly, I would be possessed of opinions of real value.

It only remains to say that I did as resolved, with results--first, the book Ben Hur, and second, a conviction amounting to absolute belief in God and the Divinity of Christ."

So I enourage all of you ask yourself and others this question and study, read the bible, pray and listen to God's word till you find an answer too.

 "New Life" Bulgarian Protestant Church

Varna, 30.07.2017

Our Deepest Needs

/sermon by Dalton Alvis/

I. Intro

• I’ve been in Bulgaria for a little over a month now, and while learning just a
little of the language, I’ve come across some linguistic similarities. Of course
there are some words that are essentially the same like taxi or pizza. Each
language has their own slang, like a couple of weeks ago I learned spoko
which of course means like “chill or calm down.” But something else I
realized was that both languages have very definitive differences between the
words “want” and “need.” In both English and Bulgarian, wants are not the
same as needs even though they can be similar. A toddler may scream and cry
because he feels like he “needs” a toy, but he doesn’t actually need it; he just
wants it. I may not always feel this incredible desire for oxygen, but if I hold
my breath for very long at all, I begin to know I need it very quickly.
Sometimes it can be easy to get these two confused, but it becomes even more
difficult with the different kind of needs we have.

• Did you know that we sometimes perceive things as real needs, when they
actually aren’t? These perceived needs can be things we think we need, when
in reality, they may just be deep wants or desires. But then other times, a
person may have multiple very real needs, but some are just deeper than
others. Today, I want us to look at a couple different passages and I believe
we’ll see that not only is a relationship with Christ our greatest need, but he is
also the answer to every other need we may ever have. Until Jesus is enough,
nothing else will be. Until Jesus is enough if your life and in mine, nothing
else will bring any kind of real satisfaction, so if you’ll turn with me to Acts
chapter 3 we’re gonna start there . . . (Read Acts 3:1-10)

II. We Need Him for Salvation

• The first thing we need Jesus for is for salvation. Here we see a man who had
some very real physical and financial needs. V. 2 says he had been lame from
birth and had to be carried everywhere he went. This would obviously make
for an extremely difficult life in a variety of ways. He couldn’t work, so he
begs outside the temple in order to survive. He had to rely on friends, family,
or other beggars to transport him. What’s interesting is that Peter and John
don’t deny this man’s very real needs, but rather, when he asks them for alms,
they directed their gaze to him. They do not ignore the lame beggar’s
desperate situation, but they are able to see his most desperate need even if he
couldn’t.

• Beyond any person’s troubles in this world, their greatest need is always going
to be a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eternal life is the single most important
assurance we can have and that only comes through following him. No matter
what may come in this lifetime, the struggles of this world don’t come with us
after we die. This lame man had been in poverty and unable to walk since
birth, but Peter knew that what he needed above all else was the promise of a
new body and riches in glory in the life to come. There is this burning, innate
desire in us as humans to long for something - something outside ourselves.
We can know there is a God, and as the early church leader Augustine said,
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they
rest in you.” (repeat) The only true fulfillment we can experience in this life is
found in resting in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That is our
greatest need - to be saved from the punishment we so deserve, to be
graciously brought into relationship with our Heavenly Father, and to be
mercifully forgiven of all of our sins. But that’s also the Gospel, the good
news. We have all of that in Jesus. He paid the price on the cross for our sins,
through him we can be brought back to God the Father, and because of his
sacrifice, we can be forgiven.

• Peter and John obviously knew this was this man’s greatest need and so they
use this healing miracle as a way to exemplify their own faith in Christ, as
well as be a witness of Christ’s transforming power. In vv. 7-10, the man’s
spiritual transformation is seen through his joy and exuberance in worshipping
God. He even becomes an effective witness for Christ to those around him as
the last line of the passage says “And they were filled with wonder and
amazement at what had happened to him.” (Pause) So if you’re here and you
have never experienced this fulfillment through a relationship with Christ, or
maybe you don’t know what you believe, let me encourage you to keep
seeking. Keep searching for what that missing piece is in your life because I
believe his name is Jesus.

III. We Need Him Every Day

• But what if you’re here this morning and this is all old news to you? Maybe
you’ve been a devoted follower of Jesus for a long time, and thus, that deepest
need has been fulfilled. You know you rest in Him, but does that mean life is
now a smooth path and all our other struggles are taken care of? No, of course
not. What so many of us forget is that yes, our greatest longing is to be with
God through faith in Jesus, but that doesn’t mean that from that point forward,
we will never have another struggle. What is even more amazing though, is
that after salvation, Jesus is still the answer to all of our existing needs. And
that’s our second point which is We need him every day.

• Let’s look at a variety of verses which illustrate other continuous needs we
have of God.
- John 15:4-5 says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in
me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,
he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Even
after we’ve begun following Christ, we must abide with him, or continue in
a daily, personal relationship with him, because apart from him, it says we
can do absolutely nothing of real, eternal value or significance.
- “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me
under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5).
We need Him as our Protector; He is our safe haven, our shelter.
- “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought of me. You are
my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!” (Psalm 40:17). He is
where we must go when we need His divine, sovereign help.
- “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We
need His mercy and grace.
- “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel
you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8). We need His Spirit to guide us.

• The Bible is full of verses like these exemplifying how we need God, not just
for one day of salvation, but every single day after as well. Let’s look at just
one more passage where the Apostle Paul so clearly depicts this need for
Christ. It’s found in Philippians chapter 4 and to give it a little context, Paul is
concluding his letter to the Philippians and thanking them for this gift, this
support they’ve sent him. (Read Phil. 4:10-13)

• Paul says he’s learned to be content no matter the circumstance, whether he’s
down and in need or abounding and has plenty, he is content. How? “Through
Christ” he says in v. 13. Christ gives him the strength to endure regardless of
what’s going on around him. We can be content in all situations because we
trust God. What exactly does Paul trust that He will do? (Read v. 18-19) “God
will supply for every need.” He and He alone can provide, satisfy, and save.

• These verses depict one of the most important truths I’ve ever had to grasp:
Jesus is always enough. That’s how Paul was able to be content through
everything that he faced - being hated and persecuted, beatings, and even
imprisonment. He knew that no matter what happened, Christ was enough and
he would supply every need. That’s why Paul is able to say earlier in this book
of Philippians that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Even unto death, Jesus
is enough. He is what we so desperately need, and he is always, always
enough.

• Now, that sounds simple, but in our day-to-day life, it can seem impossible to
comprehend and actually apply. Any time we feel like we “need” anything or
anyone else, we are sinning, we are turning our back on Christ. We tell him,
“You are good when I need you, when I’m really desperate, but now I’m good,
I’m alright. These other things will suffice.” When this happens, we turn that
thing we need into an idol, and we kind of set Jesus in the back till we “need”
him again. The greatest problem with doing so is that nothing in this world can
ever truly satisfy. When we feel like we “need” anything in this world outside
of Christ, we mistake the gifts for the Giver, the Creation for its Creator. Often
times, those things we feel we “need” the most, we actually need to fast from
the most. Put yourself in a position to go without that which you feel like you
need and replace it with something where you can find true contentment in
Christ.

• Until Jesus is enough, nothing else will be. (repeat) Until he is all you need,
nothing else in this world will bring contentment or satisfaction. But when we
have our priorities right, everything else seems to find its order. Psalm 37:4
says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your
heart.” The order of these words is everything. This verse does not mean as
long as we follow Christ, God is gonna give us everything we want. Rather,
when we truly begin to delight in who God is, find our contentment in Christ,
and love Him for Himself and not for what He can do for us, our heart begins
to change. As we delight in the Giver first, our desires change according to
what God wants. He gives us His desires, He reshapes our wants and desires
according to His own.

IV. Conclusion
• So both wants and needs are important. We have God-given needs and desires,
but we must not forget why we have them in the first place - to point us back
to Christ, back to the Giver. Whether your here today and hearing some of this
for the very first time, or maybe you’ve heard this a thousand times before, we
all have one need that is deeper than any other, and that is to surrender to
Christ and follow him, but even if you’re living your life totally devoted to
him today, we must always remember just how desperate we are for him every
second of every day. So maybe you’ve never taken that first step in giving
your life to Christ, maybe today was your first time hearing his good news,
quit trying to find real satisfaction in this world. I’ll save you the search, it’s
not there. Maybe you want just a little of what that lame man had, find Trif or
Vanya after the service and ask them about what it means to really follow
Christ, because he is the only way we can find true contentment. Or if you are
a believer here this morning, but you’ve tended to put Jesus in the back at
times, be reminded that until Jesus is enough for you, nothing else can be, and
then identify those things, those idols you’ve replaced him with. Be comforted
today knowing that Jesus is all we need, he is what we should want most. In
the good days and the bad, in the darkest trials and the happiest victories, he is
enough.

The tower of Babylon (Genesis 9:18-11:32)

/sermon by Mike Enns/

Greeting

-We do still have the sermon series about the gospel of genesis. And I hope by now many of us like myself have realized that the stories have more meaning and power than we give them credit to and are not just good children stories like Trif thought us about the flood last week and so today as well.

-The topic I want to talk about today is, many have probably guessed it…that’s right. Dinosaurs

-I’m just kidding of course we are going to talk about Alcohol right now.    -> Though dinosaurs will appear as well despite very briefly.

 - At this point you are allowed be a little confused because you were probably expecting some kind of tower.

But alcohol is a serious issue.  And in the bible it is mentioned a lot of times not to get drunk and even not to make others drunk.

->it is not only against the will of God. It is dangerous, can destroy families and many sad stories start with it just as the story of the Babylonian tower.

->In fact with the first human hangover in documented history.

        We can find the beginning of the story in genesis 9,18

-I will take you know a little bit through this history and I know many of you might think it is boring even though this history is more like blockbuster movie than any other story I know and it’s true. But I like history so my opinion is biased and I know that it might seem boring to some people.

-> That is why remember:  I will be talking about dinosaurs. That is interesting.

So After the flood Noah and his 3 sons left the ark and Noah built himself a nice vineyard which he then enjoyed a little to much and he was lying drunk and naked in his tent.

è This proves that Noah, even though he was a man of God was also only human and a sinner like all of us

-The problem here is that his youngest son Ham saw him and he was eager to shame him and told this sight to his brothers Shem and Japhet

-They however were not as amused and went walking backwards to their father to not see his shameful sight and dishonor him and they covered him with a cloak.

- When Noah found out he was really angry and cursed Ham who was called father of Canaan that it will be servant to his brethren.

And blessed Shem and Japhet.

->After Noah’s death they split up with their separate families and Ham got a few sons and one of them named Cush got a very important Son himself named Nimrod. The great grandson of Noah.

- He was the first King of Mankind and that is the guy who built the Babylonian tower

-So let us read about it in Genesis 11, 1-9 ……..

So this Guy called Nimrod and his people wanted to build a tower to heaven and God didn’t like it so he split the people up while giving them different languages.

This is not all that happened there.   

-This is not some legend or Childrens story to explain where languages come from like you might hear from others.

There is so much of importance in this story

- I do believe it is very important to understand Nimrod and his past to understand not only this story but also a lot of circumstances reaching till today.

So let us first talk about this people who apparently did not do what God wanted.

-        As you remember Nimrod was the grandson of Ham and cursed by Noah to serve. But he goes and makes his own Kingdom to rule. So clearly he is not following neither God’s nor Noah’s will so there can not be a lot of blessing on this.

-And in fact from the Mountain where the Ark landed Ararat in todays Turkey they went to Mesopotamia in todays Iraq  and started there Kingdom there. This became the start of the Assyrian Nation and the Babylonian Nation both bitter enemy’s of Israel. The Babylonians even destroying Jerusalem and the Temple around 587BC.

So let this get in chronological order of humanity. First we bring the sin to this world and God throws us out of paradise than we behave so badly that God’s sends a flood to save a few and promise out of love to never do something like that again and gives us a symbol for our bond in the sky the rainbow. And 3 Generations later the humans are already building nations to kill of God’s people.

And then we get so arrogant already that we try to built a tower to reach God in the sky as we read in verse 4

This is in fact a very nice description.

-> Let me get you a better picture of what happened.

-First the place Mesopotamia. It was not an easy place to live in. You probably have heard about the Nile and how easy and prosperous the regular floodings made the land to live in for the Egyptians. Well Mesopotamia is between the Euphratis and the Tigris and they flood unpredictable and violently. Historical evidence shows that a lot of slave labor was needed to make it livable there.

And Nimrod the name literally means “let us rebel” and that he did against God.

The tower reaching the sky was of cause not really reaching the sky.       even today the tallest building is only 828 meters high and we still don’t even know how vast the sky is.

-This tower was a symbol of arrogance just like some ship we were told is unsinkable.

And just like the titanic was not unsinkable this tower did not reach sky but only managed to stand as symbol for its creator’s arrogance and ignorance

Just that this tower was much worse

The Temples in Mesopotamia where called Ziggurat or Schiggorat which translates from Babylonian to “High , sky hill or God mountain” and they are Temple towers

-This one is a recreation of the one in Babylon by a german museum.

So when he built the tower to reach the sky it is not only to challenge God but a temple to reach his new false God’s and idols.

-3 Generations after the flood only it came already to that. Turning your back on God and making your own false Idols.

That is awful! But this is not all. There is historical evidence that he later became Marduk the highest God of the Babylonian pantheon. So he not only made up false God’s but proclaimed himself as such. Like the Pharaonians and the Cesars later continued.

That is unbelievable disappointing to the bound with God…  But wait Nimrod is not finished yet.

God gave his first command to humanity in Genesis 9,1:” “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth”

 And now Nimrod Comes and tells his followers in verse 4:” Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

This is open rebellion against God’s command. This is the story of human arrogance and ambition to be like God. What a sad thing. A thing very much alive even today.

So how angry was God after this disappointment? I would be absolutely furious. In fact I’m a still a little mad at Nimrod and he died thausends of years ago.

So how angry do you think God was?

I don’t think he was. I can’t see any indicator that he was.

 -5Chapters earlier in Genesis 6 verse 5-6 we read: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”⁶ And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

God is not angry at us he grieves in his heart about us and our wrongs.

Think about that. You can be angry at anyone but to grieve it really has to mean something to you.

-So how much must we humans mean to God if he grieves about us in his heart.

Have you ever thought about that? We think about the consequences for us when we sin and we talked about it when we talked about the first sin. It means we get death and separations from God if you remember

-But have you thought about the consequences for God that we are hurting his heart and he is grieving for us.

-He loves us

- That is why while Nimrod and the humans pushed God away God makes a step towards us.

Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Verse 7

He actually says let us go down. The almighty God as the trinity. The father, the son and the holy spirit stepped down to stop them.

That is not punishment. That is love. He is concerned with us.

I don’t think it was necessary for God to step down himself  if he was not concerned

-That is more like a father seeing his child poking with a fork in the power plug. He doesn’t take the fork away as punishment but because the son is going to hurt himself.

We humans are so sinful and push God away. Everyone. But God loves us. He is concerned about us and cares about us.

That is also why Jesus had to stop down towards us and he took the punishment himself for us on the cross. God will never push us away. He sacrificed himself for us.

He knew at that time of cause already that for these humans there in Babel. The ones pushing him away, proclaiming themselves God. For these arrogant and sinful humans, he will die on the cross.      

Because God knows who we are. He knows I’m just as sinful as Nimrod the guy even I’m angry about and he still loves me and cares about me and that is amazing.

 Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Slow to anger and abound in love.

---------

-So we learned what human sinfulness is capable of and saw a glimpse of what God’s love is capable of. But I think we can still learn more from this story.                      And that is about Unity and Diversity

->Furthermore I haven’t talked about the dinosaurs yet that I promised you .

- Unity is a very good thing. I think Bulgarians who fought for so long to be united and independent think so too.                       But is that true?

here we clearly learn that unity is not always good.

-        In verse 6 we read: “And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.”

-        So the people were so united no one disagreed when they were doing something stupid

So Unity when you are united in the wrong thing is very much bad.

We just had elections here and probably not everyone is happy with the candidate elected so they will agree with me.

-For the other are other examples like one that Jesus gave about the body in 1^st Chorinthians . If we all unite and site with the eye we would be only eyes and if we all agreed on the food is the best our body would only be feet.      -> That is not good

So the actual problem is that they all united in Nimrod. A human. And we know they are not perfect.

But I can understand Nimrod was pretty cool from human perspective.

In Genesis 10 verse 8 and 9 : “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”

-That sounds already pretty cool till you realize that at that time where still dinosaurs running around so imagine what he did to be a mighty hunter.

-do you remember that Nimrod later became Marduk the Babylonian God.

Well his symbol is the mušḫuššu.

->that translates to “fierce snake”

 So yes it is most likely that he actually fought dinosaurs. And if that is not impressive I don’t know.

But here we learn not to unite in people or follow them because we think they are impressive or for any other reason. And to ensure that and make it easier God divided us in different languages.

God gave us diversity so we can help each other stay and only unite in the right way. The one way.    ->Jesus Christ.

-because like Jesus said we see the splinter in our brothers eye and not the plank in our own.

In the story of Pentecost in acts 2 verse 4-6 we read: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.⁵ And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.⁶ Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

-God divided us by language to be separated in the world but he unites us in the fellowship of the holy Spirit

So when Trif is standing here translating I want to see it as a symbol. He is standing there not because we should be united in human language, values or standards but in God.

->He is standing here because the holy spirit unites us and we are brothers and sister in God.

I think we see that there is enough wrong kind of unity in this world. Racism and nationalist groups a gaining power everywhere and Terror is an everyday topic.

-And when we have diversities for example in elections or in families, …with friends we should be reminded that we are united in the fellowship of the holy spirit.

Or how Jesus said it in 1corinthians 12 verse 12 and 13 about the example of the body I gave earlier: ² For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into^[c] one Spirit.

In the end I want you to take with you from this Sunday that this story about the Babelonian tower is not only about the human sin but even more so about the unimaginable love of God the Father and Jesus Christ has for us, as well as about the Unity and fellowship we do have in the holy spirit.

-Amen

_____________________

Sermon by Mike Enns

New Life Church Varna

November 13, 2016