Interlocked Week8

Lesson 2 Week 2

Last Week:

Order of Creation:

Nothing created God.

God created angels

God created man.

1 Peter 5:8 “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

The Devil doesn’t care what you believe in.

He’s not trying to be an evangelist for evil and draw you to himself.

Satan just wants to make sure you DON’T choose God.

That’s his goal.

And that’s what led us into talking about pagan worldviews.

Pagan = unbiblical 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*

things are fluid.

There is not a clear distinction between gods and the universe they live in.

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.

If everything could do that, nothing is special.

The goal of changing after death would always be to be something better, right?

I mean it wouldn’t make sense for a person to have the goal of being a mosquito when they die.

That wouldn’t make any sense. The goal is always to go forward, not backward…

And yet…

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.

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.

The interesting thing about what we’ve discussed this morning is that all of world’s religions that are not Christianity could be thrown into one of these (or more than one) categories.

The only religion that tells us God came down to us, specifically to take on our debts, and to free us of those debts, is Christianity.

Now, it’s not true because it’s the only one

But because it is the only one, shouldn’t that raise our interests?

___________

Now that we’ve looked at some pagan worldviews, lets shift our thinking and consider, where did this idea that the Ultimate Authority is the SELF come from?

Read Genesis 3:1-8

Genesis 3:1–8 (ESV)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Let’s look at 3 things here.

Satan promised Eve she could be like God: (Continuity of being)

Genesis 3:5 “5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

Satan here removes the creator-creature distinction.

Promises Eve that she can become a god.

Like a video game, she could level up and gain new characteristics!

Now don’t forget, Satan himself had treid to do this.

He had failed and was thrown out of heaven.

Satan knew this was a lie, but again, His goal is not that Adam and Eve would join his side.

He just wants to make sure they are not on God’s side.

2. Satan diminished the Lord God by calling him “God” (Idea of impersonal fate and chance).

Genesis 3:1 “1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

Genesis 3:8 “8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

In these verses, the “Lord God” is the Hebrew name for God “Yahweh”

This is God’s proper name if you will.

Said differently, one of God’s most respected names.

So much so, sometimes Jews will write the name without vowels so as not to even write or say the name because they consider it so Holy.

This name for God is used over 6500 times in the Old Testament alone.

And yet, the Serpent approaches Adam and Eve and uses a lesser name.

Genesis 3:4-5 “4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

What’s the point in doing that?

Satan diminishes God’s holiness.

Satan implies there is nothing special about God that is distinct from Adam and Eve.

They can become gods too.

Satan also removes the personal, relational aspect of God.

Satan wants to create DOUBT

Push the idea that Yahweh was not in charge.

3. Satan tricked Even into thinking she had the Ultimate Authority (SELF)

The self is the greatest authority, not God.

Genesis 3:1 “1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

“Did God really say...”

Doubt.

Genesis 3:4-5 “4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

in Vs. 1: Satan suggests God is unreasonable.

It’s like saying, “I can’t believe God said that… Eve, why don’t you decide if that’s reasonable or not. Try the fruit and find out...”

In vs. 4, Satan puts the thought in her mind that God is a liar.

“You won’t die!”

Eve, you are the authority here, you decide if that’s true or not.

DO you see? In both cases, Satan subtly strips God of His power and gives that authority to Eve.

You decide Eve.

You do what is right in your eyes…

And Adam and Eve both fell for it.

SHOW graphic on page 11.

APPLICATION:

GOd is God and we are not.

He is personal and Sovereign, life is not just left up to chance and fate.

God is working all situations for His glory.

We won’t have all the answers.

We won’t have all the words to say.

Sometimes all we can do is pray.

But ultimately God is the authority, not me, not you, nobody But Him.

Here is why that matters.

Matthew 11:28-30 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””

The only way to have rest for all the trials of life is to rest in the hands of God.

To Trust Him completely.

To reject the lies that attack us.

To recognize the lies and trust and hold on to the truth with everything we’ve got.

The first step to holding on to the truth is rejecting your selfish desires.

And trusting God’s continual sovereignty.

Let’s do that today.

Pray.