Class Lesson December 22, 2019

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

We recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. It’s amazing to think that our smartphones today have more computing power than the entire bank of computers NASA Mission Control had in 1969. 1 That doesn’t mean landing on the moon was an easy task. Some 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists were involved in this mission. Because critical calculations had to be precise, they were checked and rechecked. Everything had to go absolutely right for the mission to be successful. 2

As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin prepared to land the lunar module, it would’ve been disastrous if Mission Control had told them, “Execute the moon landing however you think best. Don’t worry about the calculations; just do whatever feels good to you.” Disastrous? Yes, because the truth—the precise science that would land them safely—was absolute and could not change at the whim of the astronauts.

We want this form of absolute truth in science and physics; yet, many believe truth is subjective and personal and doesn’t apply to behavior or religious beliefs. Jesus Christ shows absolute truth exists in all aspects of life.

John 18:36-38a

36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38a Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

Hours before His crucifixion and death, Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate. Pilate had been appointed the governor of Judea, and he represented the most powerful figure in the world, the Roman Emperor Tiberius (14 BC–AD 37). Pilate could have seen Jesus as a rival, someone trying to usurp his authority, but Jesus made it clear: “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate saw that Jesus was not a rival king in the usual sense, but He was a king nonetheless.

As king, Jesus said He had come into the world for this: “that I should bear witness unto the truth.” Pay close attention to the subtleties in this passage. No more weighty or consequential definite articles may appear in the whole of Scripture than the definite article “the” in these verses. Jesus might have said the purpose of His life was to testify to my truth. Or a truth. Or some truth. Instead, Jesus referred to the truth.

Pilate had no interest in the truth and, with a skeptical tone he asked, “What is truth?” This Judean governor may have been the world’s first post-modern relativist, and he lived some two thousand years ago! Some commentators have attempted to impose a philosophical interpretation that Pilate was sincerely seeking truth. This is not the case. Pilate had neither time nor interest for truth. Jesus testifying to “the truth” was merely frivolous to Pilate.

Here was Jesus — “the truth” (John 14:6) — standing before Pilate, and yet Pilate could not recognize the truth.

We can know the truth; it is available to us because Jesus Christ is truth embodied. His mission and message is “the truth.” We can “know the truth,” and it will set us free (8:32). His Holy Spirit guides us in the truth (16:13), and His Word sanctifies us through the truth (17:17).

How can we know what truth is? Truth is what corresponds with reality; it corresponds to what we know to be accurately represented in the world around us. Truth exists whether we recognize it or not. Pilate did not recognize the truth in front of him, yet the truth was there. Truth is absolute—true for all people at all times and in all places—or it is not truth at all.

Absolute truth is from God. Jesus “dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (1:14). Jesus said, “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (18:37). The Source of truth is God and when we connect to the Source—God—we hear the voice of Jesus (truth). Therefore, we cannot know truth without God.

John 1:14-18

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

KEY WORDS: Grace for grace (1:16)—A phrase emphasizing the mercy of God toward His people. God’s grace finds its ultimate fulfillment in the saving work of Christ.

The first eighteen verses of the Gospel of John are a powerful prologue to the life and teaching of Jesus. John showed us that Jesus’ life did not “begin” at His human conception or birth; He is God Himself, who has always existed and is the agent of creation. But in the wondrous and amazing power of God, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Through the prophets of old, humanity gained a glimpse of God’s revealed truth, but when “The Word” became “flesh,” truth came to live among us! Jesus has “encamped” and taken up residence among us; truth no longer came second-hand through the prophets; the truth came directly to us in Christ.

Because Jesus came from God full of grace and truth, “of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” Because of Jesus we have received one blessing after another. By knowing the absolute truth in Christ and dwelling with Him, we go from strength to strength and receive grace upon grace. When we follow Christ we live in victory regardless of our outward circumstances.

Knowing Jesus Christ is the only way to know truth. Earlier, John wrote that Jesus, “the true Light,” came into the world, but “the world knew him not” and even “his own received him not” (John 1:9-11). The reason? “That light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (3:19). Our world is in trouble because it has not recognized or received Jesus Christ—the light and the truth.

In a society held together by the Judeo-Christian ethic, the principle of absolute truth holds sway. Even those who are not ardent followers of Christ have an understanding that absolute truth exists. But as society has pushed further away from the tenets of Scripture and has driven Christ ever further out of the people’s midst, moral relativism has crept in and is now taking over. Without the light of Christ and the truth of Scripture He gave us, culture has joined Pilate in questioning what truth is.

Surely, we’ve all seen what happens when businesses and leaders come up with their own standards for morals and ethics. Many of us have been personally affected by their poor decisions and hurtful actions. But our top business leaders are no longer getting courses in ethics. Harvard Business School is considered one of the premier schools for leaders, but they dropped all their ethics courses. In response Chuck Colson said (in 2008), “They are all about diversity and sensitivity, not inculcating character based on moral absolutes. We are now paying the price.” 3 Michael Anteby, a former professor there, echoed that in his book titled Manufacturing Morals: The Values of Silence in Business School Education:

“I grew up in France where there were very articulated norms …. Higher norms and lower norms. Basically, you have convictions of what was right or wrong, and when I tried to articulate this in the classroom, I encountered … silence on the part of students. Because they weren’t used to these value judgments in the classroom.” 4

Truth—absolute truth—exists. The laws of science and math teach us that. Moral and ethical truth also exists—and we know that when we encounter Jesus who is the truth.

John 8:30-32

30 As he spake these words, many believed on him. 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Truth is not merely something we can know intellectually; we also can experience truth in Christ! “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But Jesus included a condition with that knowledge. We cannot exaggerate the importance of the word “if” in verse 31. We will only find freedom and be saved if we continue walking with Christ. It is not enough to know the truth in our mind. Truth is holistic; we must live it out. 

Moral relativism falsely claims it is possible to live outside of defined truth and still be free. Actually, living outside of Jesus’ truth and teaching confines us to a prison of our own making. We will know the truth and be set free only by consistently obeying God’s Word and continually walking with Jesus. Ye shall know means that as we pursue truth by following Christ, truth will be obvious.

We do not believe in some abstract or metaphysical truth. Jesus calls us to “continue in my word.” My word—the truth and teaching of Jesus Himself. We will not have spiritual freedom, moral clarity and lasting fulfillment without the word of Christ; therefore, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16).

The truth of Christ imparts great freedom! But from what exactly are we set free? Slavery in any form is wrong and evil, but the worst kind of bondage is the slavery of sin we bring on ourselves. Earlier, Jesus referred to sin and said twice that the religious leaders would die in their sins (John 8:21,24). We might also see this freedom in other ways in the Gospel of John: freedom from condemnation (5:24-29), freedom from darkness (12:46), freedom from the power of the evil one (17:15), and freedom from death (5:24).

I have found the freedom and joy that comes from living in the truth. A few years ago, when my wife was expecting triplets, our maternal-fetal physician specialist told us, “I recommend a fetal reduction.” Two of our triplets were sharing a placenta, a serious condition called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Fetal reduction. That’s nothing more than a euphemism for aborting one of our babies.

Years earlier we both had made the decision to follow Jesus and live by His truth. But what happens when that truth we’ve committed to live by is on a collision course with the truth of a dangerous situation? In our case, truth was a matter of life or death. It didn’t matter. God’s truth is absolute. My wife told the specialist, “We will trust God. There will not be a ‘fetal reduction.’”

God lavished us with “grace for grace.” Three years later, our sons are in complete health. And Ryder James, the most high-risk of the triplets, has the most amazing ear-to-ear smile. What if Audrey and I had followed a different standard of truth and had ended his life? Instead, we chose to follow Jesus. The truth of Jesus set us free.

LIVE IT OUT

In referring to the gospel, mathematician Blaise Pascal said we should “make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.” 5 The scales of truth always tip in our favor as believers, but the responsibility does too. What will you do to point to the truth revealed in Jesus?

Know. Because the Bible teaches us how to live and points to the truth in Jesus, commit to read it through. Discover what it says about matters of faith, ethics, and morality.

Read. Learn more about our need for truth in the book Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity by Jeremiah J. Johnston (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2017).

Engage. Talk with a friend who is not yet a believer. Listen to his or her views on absolute truth and share how you found the truth in Christ.

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Hope to see everyone this Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan

Teacher Notes:

Answers to Tough Questions: Defending What You Believe

DOES ABSOLUTE TRUTH EXISTS?

Song: Voice of Truth – Casting Crowns

Give each group member a sheet of paper and a pen. Play the song and encourage them to listen carefully to the words of the song and write down what it teaches them about truth.

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

After the song is over, allow a few volunteers to share their responses. Discuss.

• Emphasize that the song portrays truth as a person—Jesus Christ. So, this is important to remember because when we deny absolute truth, we are denying Jesus.

Would you consider this quote – truth? (my dad always quoted) St. Augustine / William Penn

“Right is right even if nobody is right, wrong is wrong even if everybody is wrong.”

How would you define absolute truth?

Absolute truth is something that is true at all times and in all places. It is something that is always true no matter what the circumstances. It is a fact that cannot be changed. For example, there are no round squares.

DISCUSS: Which of the following are true for all people, for all places, and for all time: “Do not steal,” “No right turns on red,” “Love your neighbor,” “Do not murder,” “Eat all your vegetables”? Why?

I. There are many that wonder if we can really know the truth.

John 18:36-38a

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” 38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.

Hours before His crucifixion and death, Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate. Pilate had been appointed the governor of Judea, and he represented the most powerful figure in the world, the Roman Emperor Tiberius (14 BC–AD 37). Pilate could have seen Jesus as a rival, someone trying to usurp his authority, but Jesus made it clear: “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate saw that Jesus was not a rival king in the usual sense, but He was a king nonetheless. As king, Jesus said He had come into the world for this: “that I should bear witness unto the truth.” Jesus might have said the purpose of His life was to testify to my truth. Or a truth. Or some truth. Instead, Jesus referred to the truth. Pilate had no interest in the truth and, with a skeptical tone he asked, “What is truth?”

How does our culture answer Pilate’s question: “What is truth?”

• Pontius Pilate once asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Society answers that question today by saying truth is whatever you want it to be. Even as many people deny the idea of absolute truth — “truth that applies to all people at all times”—science reveals the reality of absolute truth. Does absolute truth also apply to moral and spiritual matters? Yes! Because only one God rules the universe, only one standard for truth exists, and He has revealed that standard in Jesus Christ.
• Many people today believe that truth is relative — that what’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me. We are expected to tolerate, even condone, everyone’s choices because perceptions and opinions are valued as the highest measure of truth. However, this is illogical. According to the very definition of truth, the idea of relative truth is itself a contradiction. Aside from this, the most important fact is that Jesus is Himself the truth.

Where are some different places that people search for truth? What are some ways you filter or screen for truth?

• Here was Jesus — “the truth” (John 14:6) — standing before Pilate, and yet Pilate could not recognize the truth.

Lasting truths from John 18:36-38a?

• Jesus is King.
• Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world.
• Jesus came to bear witness to the truth of God.
• To know Jesus is to know the truth.
• His mission and message are “the truth.”
• His Holy Spirit guides us in the truth (16:13), and His Word sanctifies us through the truth (17:17).

How can we know what truth is?

II. We can know what truth is because Jesus has revealed it.

John 1:14-18

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. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. (grace for grace) 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

How are grace and truth demonstrated in Christ?

• KEY WORDS: Grace for grace (1:16)—A phrase emphasizing the mercy of God toward His people. God’s grace finds its ultimate fulfillment in the saving work of Christ.
• Knowing Jesus Christ is the only way to know truth.

What did John mean when he said Jesus was “full of grace and truth?”

• Because Jesus came from God full of grace and truth, “of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” Because of Jesus we have received one blessing after another. By knowing the absolute truth in Christ and dwelling with Him, we go from strength to strength and receive grace upon grace. When we follow Christ, we live in victory regardless of our outward circumstances.

In a society held together by the Judeo-Christian ethic, the principle of absolute truth holds sway. Even those who are not ardent followers of Christ have an understanding that absolute truth exists. But as society has pushed further away from the tenets of Scripture and has driven Christ ever further out of the people’s midst, moral relativism has crept in and is now taking over. Without the light of Christ and the truth of Scripture He gave us, culture has joined Pilate in questioning what truth is.

What are some lasting truths from John 1:14-18?

• Jesus, the Word, came to dwell as God with us.
• Jesus makes known God’s glory in the fullness of His grace and truth.
• We know what God is like, receive His grace, and know His truth only through Jesus, God’s Son.

Truth—absolute truth—exists. The laws of science and math teach us that. Moral and ethical truth also exists—and we know that when we encounter Jesus who is the truth.

   

III. When we trust and follow Christ, we discover the truth and experience life and freedom.

John 8:30-32

30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him. 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

How would you describe the connection between truth and freedom?

• Truth is not merely something we can know intellectually; we also can experience truth in Christ! “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But Jesus included a condition with that knowledge. We cannot exaggerate the importance of the word “if” in verse 31. We will only find freedom and be saved if we continue walking with Christ. It is not enough to know the truth in our mind. Truth is holistic; we must live it out.

Lasting truths from John 8:30-32?

• Salvation comes through believing in Jesus.
• Authentic discipleship is evident in abiding in God’s Word and living by it.
• Those who are faithful to God’s Word will know Him and the truth only He provides.

Moral relativism falsely claims it is possible to live outside of defined truth and still be free. Actually, living outside of Jesus’ truth and teaching confines us to a prison of our own making. We will know the truth and be set free only by consistently obeying God’s Word and continually walking with Jesus. Ye shall know means that as we pursue truth by following Christ, truth will be obvious.

The truth of Christ imparts great freedom! But from what exactly are we set free?

• Slavery in any form is wrong and evil, but the worst kind of bondage is the slavery of sin we bring on ourselves.
• We might also see this freedom in other ways in the Gospel of John: freedom from condemnation (5:24-29), freedom from darkness (12:46), freedom from the power of the evil one (17:15), and freedom from death (5:24).

What are some ways you have experienced freedom through the truth of the gospel?

• I have found the freedom and joy that comes from living in the truth. A few years ago, when my wife was expecting triplets, our maternal-fetal physician specialist told us, “I recommend a fetal reduction.” Two of our triplets were sharing a placenta, a serious condition called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Fetal reduction. That’s nothing more than a euphemism for aborting one of our babies. Years earlier we both had made the decision to follow Jesus and live by His truth. But what happens when that truth we’ve committed to live by is on a collision course with the truth of a dangerous situation? In our case, truth was a matter of life or death. It didn’t matter. God’s truth is absolute. My wife told the specialist, “We will trust God. There will not be a ‘fetal reduction.’” God lavished us with “grace for grace.” Three years later, our sons are in complete health. And Ryder James, the most high-risk of the triplets, has the most amazing ear-to-ear smile. What if Audrey and I had followed a different standard of truth and had ended his life? Instead, we chose to follow Jesus. The truth of Jesus set us free.

LIVE IT OUT

We end where we began. “What is truth?” The Bible does not explicitly address the issue of absolute truth. Nevertheless, Scripture, such as the passages we have examined, does readily connect truth to God, and it naturally presumes it is absolute truth, meaning it applies to all people at all times. Therefore, absolute truth exists because God exists. It is fully grounded in His standard and ultimately and fully made known in Jesus Christ.

THE POINT: Truth is found in Jesus Christ.

Dec 21, 2019 From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: Why does it matter whether people believe in evolution over Biblical creation? -- E.B.

A: The entire educational system is rampant with evolution. Universities that were founded upon Scripture now teach atheistic or theistic evolution, producing skeptics, agnostics or atheists with little or no regard for God. Biblical creation is the only answer that has stood the test of time because it is founded on the absolute truth of God's Word that never changes.

Jesus Came into the World to Bear Witness to the Truth - Christmas Day

Resource by John Piper Scripture: John 18:37    Topic: Truth

Every year Christmas poses a question to the world—and to you this morning—namely, why did Jesus come? Or what is the meaning of Jesus Christ? Or, more personally, what difference should this man make in my life? In my marriage, in my work, in my leisure, in my thinking, in my emotions?

When he was on trial for his life Jesus gave us an answer to this question. He said in John 18:37, "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."

The words were spoken at the end of his life, but they are about Christmas. "For this reason, I was born . . . " For this reason there is Christmas. Christmas exists because Jesus came to bear witness to the truth.

So, what I would like to do on this Christmas morning is to think for a few minutes with you about these words of Jesus. I suggest that we focus on two implications of this verse, or two implications of Christmas, and then close with an exhortation.

1. Christmas means that there is truth—truth that everyone should believe.
2. Christmas means that Jesus came to testify to that truth—He is the key witness.

Class Lesson December 15, 2019

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

For over seventy years, China has been a communist and atheistic country. When Mao Zedong ruled, he attempted to wipe out Christianity. Religious thought was suppressed, so that today somewhere between 40 and 49 percent of the population do not believe in God. 1

Yet, as tragic as that is, China is still on pace to have the world’s largest Christian population by 2030. 2 In spite of all the government’s efforts to suppress biblical beliefs and persecute believers, more Christians than communists now live in China. 3 We might be surprised by the growth of Christianity in a deeply irreligious country, but God has a way of making Himself known. I heard one missionary in China say, “God will always reveal Himself to anyone who is seeking Him, and that has been my experience in China.”

Many of us learned about God at home; our families talked openly about God. Or they took us to church. For others, we had a friend who pointed us to Christ. But even for those who haven’t had such experiences, they still can have an awareness and knowledge of God. The Book of Psalms shows us the ways God has revealed Himself to us.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Psalm 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message[b] has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming from his home; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat. 

What makes the Judeo-Christian worldview unique among its rivals is our worship of the Creator; other belief systems worship aspects of the creation: the sun, moon, stars, nature, and animals. The Old Testament law condemned anyone who had “gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded” (Deut 17:3). Such idolatry is tragic because the created universe points us to God’s presence and power.

In this psalm, David worshiped God for revealing His existence in the created, observable world. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” 

God’s declaration is not periodic or occasional; it continues non-stop. David said, “Day unto day uttereth speech.” It’s like coming late to a worship service: you enter the room and hear worship already in progress.

Nor is the declaration of God’s presence and glory limited to one corner of His universe. “Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” The prophet Isaiah expressed the same thing in his vision, as he heard the Seraphim proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3). David continually saw the worship of God in the world around him: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens” (Ps. 8:1). 

God has never been hidden. God’s general or natural revelation; that is, the unveiling of Himself, has been communicated since the very beginning of creation. David’s use of the word declare is from the Hebrew word rendered to count or make a written record. The universe is a record we read that proclaims God’s existence, His power, and His glory. Centuries later, Paul stood on the shoulders of David and declared, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20).

Let’s look at just one example: the sun. What is it about a sunrise that captures our attention? At a time when our daughter was struggling with fear—a fear that made it difficult for her to sleep—we were on a weekend trip to Galveston. My wife, Audrey, took our daughter to the beach for devotions at dawn. As they observed the glorious sunrise, Audrey walked her through the truths that God is always with her and she has nothing to fear. The sunrise is a reminder of God’s presence. Our daughter was able to leave her fear on the beach, and she returned home assured of God’s abiding presence in her life.

The sun holds a central role as evidence for the creative power of God. In describing the sun, David used two emotive word pictures.

The sun is like a husband rushing out of his bedroom after his wedding night and like a powerful runner crossing the finish line at the end of a race. These are pictures of joy and purpose. And because the sun is such a prominent feature of the creation we see, it is a bold declaration of God. We cannot hide from the sun’s heat, and we cannot hide from its message about God.

Creation’s message is limited, though. We call the message the universe reveals about God “general revelation.” General revelation points us to our Creator, but only Jesus Christ and His special, written revelation in the Bible gives us a fuller understanding of the nature and character of that Creator. General revelation should be seen as a gateway—only the beginning. As the psalmist said, “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein” (Ps. 111:2). That means God’s creation draws us in to seek Him more, and that brings us to Scripture, His revealed Word.

Psalm 111:7-9

7 The works of his hands are truth and justice; all his instructions are trustworthy. 8 They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and in uprightness. 9 He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

The psalmist originally wrote Psalm 111 to be sung in worship to God. In its original Hebrew form it is an alphabetical acrostic: it contains twenty-two lines, and each line begins with the next successive Hebrew letter. With its focus on God’s works, it’s like saying, from A to Z, all God’s works call for praise.

In verses 7-9, the psalmist zeroed in on the works of God as seen in His truth, justice, instruction, and redemption. We know of these things because He has revealed them through Scripture, the divinely inspired Word of God. And that Word is trustworthy! The psalmist’s statement — “all his commandments are sure” — is a confession of trust and respect for God’s Word and its application to his life.

This passage reflects a divine agreement. The psalmist acknowledged both the covenant and the redemption established by God, but it was more than a mental acknowledgement. The psalmist wrote with absolute faith in the works and words of God. We also live in divine agreement when we are one with God on the same issue. We choose to see things from God’s perspective. We can entrust the difficult decisions in our lives to God because His Word — His instructions to us — are trustworthy.

The Word of God stands forever, and it empowers my walk with Christ. Therefore, it is not enough to know the Bible intellectually; in fact, we don’t really know the Bible until we encounter it experientially. We truly learn God’s truth as we apply it to our lives.

To that end, adopt one of these principles:

The K-D Principle: Know what the Word says, then Do what the Word says.

The M-A Principle: Discover the Meaning of the Scripture, then Apply that meaning to your life. Only when you understand the meaning of Scripture do you have the confidence to apply that meaning to your life.

It is not enough to know about God’s redemption; we must experience it for ourselves! God’s Word is clear: we can never come into a right relationship with God on our own (Rom. 3:10-12).

Thankfully, God has “sent redemption unto his people” through Jesus Christ. The Scripture—God’s trustworthy instruction—points us to Jesus, our Redeemer. Only God can redeem us; He has paid the price to set us free.

It gets even better! The redemption God lavished on His people cannot fail; it is confirmed by His covenant—a covenant “he hath commanded … forever.” Moses connected this covenant with God’s love, or more specifically, His “covenant and mercy” (Deut. 7:9). God’s love is faithful, even when we are unfaithful, because His covenant of love cannot fail. He brings us into His family in a covenant to protect, provide, and commune with us. This covenant is not based on our performance but on His redemption accomplished in Jesus Christ.

The psalmist’s response to the redemption and covenant was worship: “holy and reverend is his name.” The universe around us reveals a God who is both awe-inspiring and holy—set apart from His creation; Scripture reveals the salvation and covenant of God—aspects of His nature and character that are equally holy and awe-inspiring. Like the psalmist, we should be drawn to worship Him who loves us so.

Psalm 111:10

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.

The Hebrew word for fear in this passage is yirah; it means reverence and profound respect motivated by love. When we consider the extreme power and greatness of God and couple that with His unfailing love for us, we’re moved to this type of fear. David showed us how to fear the Lord: “But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple” (Ps. 5:7). I express this fear by beginning each day with these words, “God, what do you have for me today?” I am sensitive to His leadership in my life because I stand in worshipful awe of His plan and goodness in my life.

Living before our loving God with fear puts us on the path to wisdom. Ultimately, the greatest Source of wisdom is in Christ, who is Himself the truth (John 14:6). When I fear God, I see His plan for my life—and I see it is better than my plan! His plan includes living under the lordship of Christ, so I entrust my life to Him.

Doubting the wisdom of God is a clear picture of what happens when we don’t fear the Lord. We pivot to wisdom or wickedness according to our fear of God. Just as “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” so also a lack of godly fear is the beginning of wickedness. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Ps. 14:1). In his indictment against sinful humanity, Paul quoted Psalm 36:1: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18).

Three men in Scripture found the wisdom that comes from fearing the Lord:

Job. Before Job was restored by God, he expressed his reverential truth in the Lord. “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

David. David saw the restorative power of fearing the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever” (Ps. 19:9).

Solomon. Solomon, the Bible’s wisest man and author of the Book of Proverbs made some foolish mistakes, which he chronicled in the Book of Ecclesiastes. At last he arrived at this conclusion: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13).

God-fearing wisdom shows us that right living is defined by a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We not only can know God exists, but we can know God, walk with Him, and live our lives grounded in His wisdom.

LIVE IT OUT

Helen Keller famously said to Phillips Brooks about God, “I always knew He was there, but I didn’t know His name.” 5 God is in all places at all times, and He has revealed Himself through creation—but most importantly, in His Word.

How will you acknowledge the existence and presence of God?

Take a walk. Get outside and observe nature around you. Gaze up at the night sky. Consider how all that you see points to God. Give God the glory for His creation.

Read the Word. Commit to regular reading of God’s Word. As you read and learn more about God and His ways, commit to live out the truths you discover.

Have a conversation. Discuss with someone why you are convinced God exists. Explain what He has revealed to you through the created order and through His Word.

Hope to see everyone this Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan

Teacher Notes:

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Video: For the Glory of God in Creation

God created all things, including the heavens and the earth. A brief study of space reveals God’s creative mastery:

1. Is there noise in space? SPACE IS COMPLETELY SILENT - There is no atmosphere in space, which means that sound has no medium or way to travel to be heard. Astronauts use radios to stay in communication while in space, since radio waves can still be sent and received.
2. The hottest planet in our solar system is 450° C – which planet is it? - Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system and has an average surface temperature of around 450° C. Interestingly, Venus is not the closest planet to the Sun – Mercury is closer but because Mercury has no atmosphere to regulate temperature it has a very large temperature fluctuation.
3. Could there be life on another planet? THERE MAY BE LIFE ON MARS - Of all the planets in our solar system (apart from Earth), Mars is the one most likely to be hospitable to life. In 1986, NASA found what they thought may be fossils of microscopic living things in a rock recovered from Mars.
4. How many stars are in space? NOBODY KNOWS - The sheer size of space makes it impossible to accurately predict just how many stars we have. Right now, scientists and astronomers use the number of stars only within our galaxy, The Milky Way, to estimate. That number is between 200-400 billion stars and there are estimated to be billions of galaxies so the stars in space really are completely uncountable.
5. When will Halley’s comet orbit past the earth again? Not until 2061 - Discovered in 1705 by Edmond Halley, the famous comet was last seen in 1986 and is only seen once every 75 to 76 years.
6. How much does a full NASA space suit cost? $12,000,000 - 70% of that cost is for the backpack and control module.
7. Is there a planet made out of diamonds? Maybe - As space facts go, this is pretty impressive. Research by Yale University scientists suggests that a rocky planet called 55 Cancri e — which has a radius twice Earth’s, and a mass eight times greater – may have a surface made up of graphite and diamond. It’s 40 light years away but visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Cancer and still considered “a girl’s best friend.”
8. How long will the footprints on the moon be there? FOR 100 MILLION YEARS - The Moon has no atmosphere, which means there is no wind to erode the surface and no water to wash the footprints away. This means the footprints of the Apollo astronauts, along with spacecraft prints, rover-prints and discarded material, will be there for millions of years.
9. What happens if two pieces of the same type of metal touch in space? THEY WILL PERMANENTLY BOND - This incredible fact is also known as cold welding and it happens because the atoms of two pieces of metal have no way of knowing they are separate. This doesn’t happen on Earth because of the air and water found between the pieces.
10. Is there water in space? THERE IS FLOATING WATER IN SPACE - Astronomers have found a massive water vapor cloud which holds 140 trillion times the mass of water in the Earth’s oceans somewhere around 10 billion light years away – making it the largest discovery of water ever found.

Physicist – Stephen Hawkins: There is no God

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Why do you believe there is a God?

THE POINT: God has given us ways to know He exists.

Psalm 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming from his home; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat.

In this psalm, David worshiped God for revealing His existence in the created, observable world. He says we are surrounded by fantastic displays of God’s craftsmanship – the heavens give dramatic evidence of His existence, His power, His love, and His care.

I. Nature points to God. It’s called and considered God’s General or Natural Revelation.

How do you see nature declare the existence of God?

A.  The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

Many examples showing God's design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:

The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter. Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life. The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day. Our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents. Water itself...colorless, odorless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life: It has wide margin between its boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees. Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that various chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels. Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances, it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body. Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees. Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter. Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water. 

The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands. The human brain processes more than a million messages a second. Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people. Then there’s the eye...it can distinguish among seven million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an astounding 1.5 million messages -- simultaneously. Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of living organisms from nonliving matter.

B.  The universe had a start - what caused it? 

Did God start the universe - Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself. Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen." Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousand million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light." The universe has not always existed. It had a start...what caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and matter.

C.  The universe operates by uniform laws of nature. Why does it? 

Much of life may seem uncertain, but look at what we can count on day after day: gravity remains consistent, a hot cup of coffee left on a counter will get cold, the earth rotates in the same 24 hours, and the speed of light doesn't change -- on earth or in galaxies far from us. How is it that we can identify laws of nature that never change? Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable? "The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence." Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle."

D. The DNA code informs and programs a cell's behavior. 

DNA is like a computer program. All instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent. Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose. Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of our cells is very similar. It's made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There are three billion of these letters in every human cell!! Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual. There are 3 billion chemicals of DNA within each human cell. Why is this so amazing? How did this information program wind up in each human cell? These are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop. Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot find instruction, precise information like this, without someone intentionally constructing it.

What are some lasting truths from Psalm 19:1-6?

• The Lord is to be praised as the Creator of all that is.
• The Lord has revealed Himself through His creation; its existence, order, and beauty.
• The skies and the heavenly bodies, like the sun, declare the glory of God that no one can miss.

Psalm 111:7-9

7 The works of his hands are truth and justice; all his instructions are trustworthy. 8 They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and in uprightness. 9 He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

In verses 7-9, the psalmist zeroed in on the works of God as seen in His truth, justice, instruction, and redemption. We know of these things because He has revealed them through Scripture, the divinely inspired Word of God. And that Word is trustworthy!

II. Scripture reveals God.

How would you describe the value of the Scriptures to you in knowing the Lord and in having insight for living a life that pleases Him?

E. We know God exists because He pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to Him. 

For many atheists, the issue of people believing in God is bothersome. What is it about atheists that they would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that they don't even believe exists?! What causes them to do that? An atheist will do all they can to help believers realize their hope is completely ill-founded. But they have another motive to. They like to challenge those who believed in God, curious to see if they could convince the atheist otherwise. Part of their quest was to become free from the question of God. God seeks to know us – many atheists don’t realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on their mind, was because God was pressing the issue. They have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know Him. He has surrounded us with evidence of Himself and He keeps the question of His existence squarely before us. It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them. C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England." Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. 

F.  Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing Himself to us. 

Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at Him. Though He talked about His Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in Him, believed in the Father. Jesus Christ reveals God to us - He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to Himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me." What proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people...blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature...walked on top of a lake, commanded a raging storm to stop. People everywhere followed Jesus, because He constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least believe in Me based on the miracles you're seeing. Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although He views us as sinners, worthy of His punishment, His love for us ruled and He came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sound ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because He first loved us. Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with Him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to Himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, He offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." This is God, in action.

General revelation points us to our Creator, but only Jesus Christ and His special, written revelation in the Bible gives us a fuller understanding of the nature and character of that Creator.

General revelation should be seen as a gateway—only the beginning.

God does not force us to believe in Him, though He could. Instead, He has provided sufficient proof of His existence for us to willingly respond to Him.

• The earth's perfect distance from the sun,
• the unique chemical properties of water,
• the human brain, DNA,
• the number of people who attest to knowing God,
• the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there,
• the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ.

LIVE IT OUT

Helen Keller famously said to Phillips Brooks about God, “I always knew He was there, but I didn’t know His name.” 5 God is in all places at all times, and He has revealed Himself through creation—but most importantly, in His Word.

Have a conversation. Discuss with someone why you are convinced God exists. Explain what He has revealed to you through the created order and through His Word.

Why I Believe There is a God