Interlocked Week7

Lesson 2 Week 1

SONGS:

King of Glory

Marvelous Light

Quick Review:

Difference between creator and created.

Creator is worthy of trust.

Responsible dominion, marriage, and the family, are all God-given responsibilities that glorify God.

*Show Timeline pg. 1 of lesson 2

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Get in Groups:

I want you in your groups to think of one worldview that is different from Christianity.

Explain in a few sentences what that view believes and how it is different from Christianity.

GO!

After ask:

*Is it helpful to look at and study things we don’t agree with?*

Yes! It absolutely is.

Here’s one reason why.

Anything worth believing can hold up to scrutiny.

Today we are going to look at a worldview that is not biblical.

The reason is not to confuse, but to sharpen what we believe.

Again, it’s not to make you question, but rather, to help you ask the right questions that strengthen what you believe about Scripture.

So let’s dive in.

To start, we need to look at one more part of creation that we didn’t discuss last week.

This is Biblical and I will let you know when we move from Biblical to unbiblical.

Job 38:4-7 “4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

Before God created the world, what other created beings were watching?

angels!

We don’t know when exactly they were created, but according to Job, they were present as God created the universe.

It looks like this *Show graphic on page 2 of lesson 2*

Angels are referred to by several different names in Scriptures, but specifically and generally.

Morning star, angels, cherubim, seraphim, archangels… These would all be examples of more specific names given to angels.

Multitudes, hosts, starry hosts… these are very broad examples of angels in Scripture.

Revelation 5:11 “11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.”

There are incredibly large numbers of them mentioned.

They are capable of taking on a form that can communicate with humans.

Take Mary for example in Luke 1:28 “28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.””

Angels are also servants.

Hebrews 1:14 “14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

Like humans, angels are have the choice to follow God or not.

Unlike humans, the Bible never discusses angels as having the ability to be redeemed if they choose to reject God.

Unlike humans, they do not seem to have relationships with one another that we know about.

No marriage or kids.

They are not given the job to rule as we are, but are called to serve.

One angel - also referred to as the morning star - rebelled against God.

This was Satan.

The creature wanted to become creator.

Or the created wanted to be the creator.

He took on an attitude of pride and sin and rebelled against God’s perfection.

The Bible really only talks about this in 2 places.

Isaiah 14:12-14 “12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.””

Ezekiel 28:14-17 “14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”

Specifically, these two passages are talking about human kings.

Isaiah discusses the King of Babylon and how his kingdom will fall, but God is drawing this point from the pride of Satan.

The King of Babylon will fall because he has followed the morning star and not the will of God.

He has chosen the pride of created over creator.

Same for the King of Tyre mentioned in Ezekiel 28.

Satan is still working towards this goal today.

Causing chaos.

Hoping others choose anything that is not God.

Satan ultimately doesn’t care and is not trying to get you to choose him over God.

Satan just wants you to not choose God! He’s ok with whatever else you choose.

1 Peter 5:8 “8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Given this background, we know that Satan deceives, is an agent of chaos, and is interested in only trying to make God lose.

With that in mind, we can now move to unbiblical worldviews.

We will call these “Pagan” worldviews.

What do other worldviews say about where the world came from?

Here is a 3 point summary of Pagan (non-biblical) worldview.

Continuity of Being : gods -> man -> nature

Impersonal fate and Chance

Ultimate authority is: self

We will discuss: A. What these things mean. B. Where they came from. and C. What they look like in our world today and what the Bible has to say about them.

Continuity of Being.

*SHOW GRAPHIC ON PAGE 6*

Not a clear distinction between spiritual world and they universe they live in.

There’s lots of chaos and out of the chaos came the gods.

gods also created other gods.

For example:

in Greek mythology, gods marry humans and have children who are referred to as demigods.

Demigods are not as powerful as gods, but are more powerful than mortals.

There is even an example of a princess who was turned into a goddess by Zeus.

So with Greek mythology and other myths in particular there seems to be a scale where you can slide up and down the scale.

Not a clear distinction between gods, the universe, and mortals. It’s all just kind of a chaotic mess.

Another example:

In a lot of pagan worldviews, beings can change after death. This is called reincarnation.

An ant could become a cat who then could die and become a person.

If that person is bad they may go back down the scale and become a mosquito.

Bottom line: Based on your behavior you can slide up or down the scale becoming lesser or greater in being.

IF we can pause for a moment, and consider this.

If something can become anything, then everything loses meaning.

Nothing is special. Nothing has significance.

Jesus was the only being to enter earth and become a baby while being God himself. It was a miracle of God putting on flesh.

John 1:14 “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

pagan worldviews try to show no distinction between beings.

However, Jesus says we are made in His image.

We are different.

And then He Himself took on flesh for us.

Thank you Jesus.

Another pagan worldview is that of Impersonal Fate and Chance.

2. Impersonal Fate and Chance

some people believe in gods some people do not.

Most people believe in fate and chance.

Why did this bad thing happen to this good person?

Oh it was because it just happened by chance.

It was fate for that to happen i guess.

What is that? That’s just empty words.

But this is what many believe!

For any questions people have, the cop-out answer we love to give is that Chance is responsible.

Why didn’t life turn out how I want it right now?

Well, i guess it’s just up to chance and it didn’t go my way.

Romans 8:28 “28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Biblical:

We know that God created with order.

Things aren’t left to chance.

God is Sovereign (he is over all of creation and all that exists.)

God’s Providence (God is working in his creation to do his will and desires).

God is at work folks.

Don’t throw out cliche’s and impersonal statements.

When we look at the good things and the difficult things in life, we can stand on the sovereignty and providence of God.

He is over it all and involved in it all.

May we trust that always and never run to fate or chance.

Finally this morning,

3. Ultimate Authority: Self

We talk a lot about this.

The worship of self is at the core of sin and at the core of the darkness of our culture.

In a pagan worldview, there is no personal God who owns and rules.

There is just us.

We are the final authority.

If you couple a self-focused person with chance and fate, then its not hard to see how there is no accountability.

In a self-focused world, you don’t answer to anyone, you just decide what is right in your own eyes.

Judges 21:25 “25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”

Romans 1:28 “28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.”

When man forgets God, this is darkness.

This is the absent of light.

At the core of all worldviews ultimately is this idea of selfishness.

The idea that man wants to do what man wants to do.

We must be so careful of this worldview.

APPLICATION:

To apply this today.

Remember whose you are.

God has the ultimate authority not me. Not you.

What a wonderful blessing it is that we don’t have to shoulder the responsibility of the universe.

God willingly takes that responsibility on himself.

May we submit to Him.

Trust Him.

Follow Him.

And may we find joy as well that while many other pagan worldviews do not have anyone to intercede for them, but must rely fully on the self.

We believe in God who took took on flesh.

Became a man.

Went to the cross.

And paid the price of our sin that we owed.

May we always. Always give joy to Jesus and follow Him in all we say and do.

Let’s pray.