Worldview - Worldviews in Collision

Introduction

So, worldviews. What on earth is that?

A worldview is the lens through which we see the world.

In the world, we have three primary worldviews.

All religions can be divided into these three categories.

So what are the categories?

Firstly, we have theism.

Theism believes in a personal God who created the universe - but that is not part of the universe.

Secondly, we have pantheism, someone who believes in an impersonal God who is quite literally the universe.

In other words, God is everything.

God is these chairs; God is this building; God is the toilet; and God is you and me.

Thirdly, we have atheism - someone who does not believe in God at all.

The fourth possible catergory would be agnostics.

An agnostic is someone unsure about the existence of God.

So let’s simplify the matter:

Theism believes that God made everything.

Pantheism believes God is everything.

Atheism believes there is no God at all.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Muslims) fall under the category of theism.

Buddhism, Hinduism, and the New Age fall under Pantheism.

And finally, humanists would fall under atheism.

As we have seen every single one of these worldviews has different beliefs, but we as Christians base our worldview on what the Bible says.

We believe the following.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Because we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we allow it to transform our way of thinking and to defend it against other false worldviews.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

So in the remainder of our talk today, we’ll be looking at Genesis 1-3.

We’ll be exploring four major topics, namely: God, Creation, Man and Sin.

And then we’ll contrast our beliefs with some of the other worldviews.

Topic 1: What does the Bible have to say about God.

Genesis 1:1, shows us that God is a self-existent being who exists outside of space and time.

Genesis 1:1-31 tells us that He is an all-powerful being, who created the universe out of nothing.

The Bible shows us that He created everything with precision and purpose.

When reading Genesis 1 in light of John 1:1-3, we can see that God is a Truine being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

At creation, God the Father is present, and Genesis 1:2 describes the Spirit of God hovering over the waters.

John 1:14, describes word proceeding from the mouth of God - is Jesus Christ Himself. All things were made through Him.

Because God is a trinity: One God, in three distinct persons. He is also a God of relationship.

God the Father, enjoys a relationship with God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Not only that, He desires to have a relationship with you and me.

God’s intention in creating mankind was to commune with us, to dwell among us, and to enjoy us.

He is a God of love (1 John 4:16).

All things were created by Him and for Him.

The Bible tells us our primary purpose is to glorify Him, and when we do that we experience a joy and satisfaction that the world cannot provide us.

Isaiah 43:7 NLT

Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.’ ”

The Atheist view of God:

Now let’s compare this view with the Atheistic view of God:

The Atheist does not believe in God.

They deny all things spiritual found in creation.

They deny God as the creator of all things, they reject a personal relationship with Him.

Because Jesus is a real historical figure. Literally spliting time in two, events happening before Christ and after Christ, Atheists are forced to acknowledge him as a real person.

However they limit Him to being a good moral teacher.

They deny His divinity and His resurrection from the dead, because they do not believe in the miraculous.

However, all Atheists become Christian’s when they die.

Jesus is waiting for them on the other side.

But they won’t be spending eternity with Him.

Topic 2: What does the Bible have to day about Creation?

As we just saw, Genesis 1:1 presents God as the creator of all things.

God stands outside of His creation.

In other words, He is separate from the universe that He created.

He stands outside of time, and He is both eternal and infinite.

Genesis 1:1-31 shows us that God alone has the power to create things with the power of His Word, and He alone has the power to create something out of nothing.

Creation does not share this attribute with him.

We as humans can only create something out of something and our words do not have creative power.

God is also presented to us as omniscient, a theological term, meaning that He is all knowing.

He has an extraordinary intellectual capacity.

He understands all things and orders things perfectly.

He makes no mistakes, because He is perfect. (Matthew 5:48).

And on that note - remember, that you are not a mistake. You are valuable and precious to God.

Genesis 1:26-27 shows God made mankind in His image and likeness.

He created two genders: male and female. Nothing in between.

Therefore, our identity is something we receive from God - not something we need to figure out for ourselves.

Genesis 1:26-27 also makes it clear that God is divine, and that we as mankind do not share in his Divine nature.

Only God is God.

The Pantheist’s view of Creation:

Now let’s compare our view of Creation with the Pantheist’s view of creation.

Pantheists believe that all things are God, namely the universe and everything in it.

Therefore, Pantheists do not believe that they are made in the image and likeness of God, they believe they are God.

They also view morality as subjective.

Meaning, that they get to decide what is right and wrong.

As gods get to get to make their own rules.

This view is irreconcilable with the Bible.

Pantheists also believe that mankind purely spiritual in nature, and that the physical/material world is purely an illusion.

They also, like Atheists, believe our existence is ultimately meaningless.

The Bible however, clearly shows us in Genesis 1:26-28, that God created human beings with meaning and purpose.

That being, to be fruitful and mulitply and to have dominion over the earth and everything in it.

The Biblical Account is much far more reasonable.

Additionally, I think its safe to conclude that no one is sitting here is God.

Well I hope not, because then we’re all in some pretty big trouble.

Topic 3: Man and Sin.

Again, in Genesis 1:26-27 we see that the Bible states that God is the one who created mankind.

We as God’s creation are dependent upon him for everything, we are accountable to him for our actions, and we were created with meaning purpose.

One of those purposes being, that we are his workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)

We have been given dominion over the animal kingdom, and we are of greater value to God than the rest of creation (Matthew 6:26-30).

Because mankind is created in the image of God, we share five distinctive characteristics with God that the rest of the animal kingdom does not, namely:

The ablity to reason - mankind can reason and understand the world around him.

Freedom of choice - mankind can use his free will to make decisions.

A sense of morality - mankind has been given a conscience by which they can determine between right and wrong.

Self-awareness - mankind is both conscious of themselves and the aware of the environment around them.

Spirituality - mankind has been given an awareness of his need for a relationship with God.

Genesis 1:31, also makes it clear that when God created things, they were made good.

Genesis 3:1-13, we see how sin entered the world.

Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us that Satan, a fallen angel, along with his demons fell from Heaven because of their act of rebellion towards God.

Satan, the temper, enticed Adam and Eve to partake in an act of rebellion against God, by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It was when they partook in this rebellion that a sinful nature infected humanity, that would be passed on from generation to generation.

Sin, as defined, is man’s failure to conform himself to the moral law of God (1 John 3:4).

Both Adam and Eve were equally guilty in the act.

Eve was guilty of the sin of commission, she actively disobeyed God by breaking his commandment.

Adam was guilty of the sin of omission - he passively stood by and did nothing to lead her away from danger. He neglected to do the right thing.

In fact, one could argue that Adam sinned first.

The Atheist view of Man and Sin:

Lets contrast things with the Atheists view of man and sin.

Again, atheists don’t believe that man is created by God.

They believe that man is a “cosmic accident”, and do not believe that man is created in the image and likeness of a personal God.

Most Atheists believe that mankind was created by an evolutionary process, and mankind is nothing more than an evolved animal.

Therefore, you or I have any no signifance or value.

Atheists do not believe in spiritual realities - they view mankind strictly in the natural sense.

They deny the reality of the soul and spirit.

Atheists, much like pantheists, deny the reality of moral abosultes.

They believe in subjective moratlity, meaning, that man’s value and value system is to be determined by the culture around them.

They believe that morality evolves over time.

Therefore, they believe that the ulitmate solution to the problem of evil in the world, is in man’s education.

This is obviously absurd. No amount of education will ever eradicate the problem of evil in the world.

Today the world is more education than ever before, and the more time goes by the more wicked we become.

The problem of evil is a heart isssue, and not a lack of education.

Only Jesus can give you a new nature and transform a man from the inside out by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Only Jesus can transform the man’s heart.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, today we explored what a worldview is: the lens through which we see the world.

We explored three worldviews: Theism, Pantheism and Atheism.

We looked explored four topics from, namely: God, Creation, Man and Sin.

And we compared these beliefs with a Biblical Worldview.

Did you learn something new today?

Praise God.

Thank you for your time. Boet - you are up next.