genesis … the key to reclaiming the culture genesis …the key to reclaiming the culture dr....
TRANSCRIPT
Genesis … the key to reclaiming the
culture
Genesis
…the key to reclaiming the culture
Dr. Quentin Smith&
AiG Answers in Genesis Ministries
Outline…
1. Bible is true world history2. Evolution is a belief system3. Book of Genesis is foundational
– To the rest of the Bible– To our thinking
“The Bible is true world
history!”
Loss of that simplicity
Present moral status As evolutionary theory seeks
to rewrite historyEvolution is a belief
system in which excludes God and has man deciding truth for himself
Genesis … the key to reclaiming the
culture
Genesis
…6 days or 6 million years?
Dr. Quentin Smith&
AiG Answers in Genesis Ministries
6 days?
Not believing in six literal
days…
Loss of the authority of the
word of God
Failure of the church to
influence the culture
Waw consecutive/disjunc
tive
Why don’t people… including some
Christian leaders… believe the days in
Genesis 1 are literal 24-hour days?
Waw consecutive/disjunc
tive
1. Because for the non-believers…
to do so would obligate them to believe the
rest of the book, and they would be
accountable to God!
Waw consecutive/disjunc
tive
2. Because even
Christians
Bible translators
church leadership
…have been influenced to accept “millions of years” and the
“science” of evolution as fact in this “scientific” age
Bible Modified
Bible Modified
Exegesis MAG
6 days or millions years
6 days?
Not believing in six literal
days…
Loss of the authority of the
word of God
Failure of the church to
influence the culture
6 days?
Not believing in six literal
days…
Loss of the authority of the
word of God
Failure of the church to
influence the culture
Genesis … the key to reclaiming the
culture
Genesis
…why won’t they listen?
Dr. Quentin Smith&
AiG Answers in Genesis Ministries
Blocks – Gospel/Genesis
Blocks – Good News/Bad News
Blocks – The Gospel
Blocks – The Gospel
Blocks – The Gospel
History-Salvation-Heaven
Because they are
“Greeks”
Because God has not yet drawn
them
Because they are
“Greeks”
1.“Greeks?”
1 Corinthians 1:10-31
1 Corinthians 1:23
1 Corinthians 1: 18-24
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is
the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:23
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through thefoolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
1 Corinthians 1:23
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Stumbling block: “Skandalon”
• figuratively applied to Jesus Christ, whose person and career were so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah, that they rejected him and by their obstinacy made shipwreck of their salvation
Strong’s analytical concordance
The Called: “Kletos”
• called, invited (to a banquet)
• invited (by God in the proclamation of the Gospel) to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ
• called to (the discharge of) some office – divinely selected and appointed
Strong’s analytical concordance
1 Corinthians 1:23
23 but we preach Christ crucified,
to Jews a stumbling block
and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The story of 2 sermons…
1. Acts 2
2. Acts 17
The story of 2 sermons…
1. Acts 2…2. Acts 17
Acts 2:22-24 NIV
Acts 2:22-2422 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Acts 2:22-24 NIV
Acts 2:36 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified”
Acts 2:37-38,40 NIV
Acts 2:37-3937When the people heard this, they were cut to
the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do”
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
Scripture Background - new
Acts 2:40-4140 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized;
and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Blocks – The Gospel
Blocks – The Gospel
Blocks – Stumbling Block/Creation
Based
Blocks – Stumbling Block/Creation
Based
Blocks – Stumbling Block/Creation
Based
01 Jews fall over Gospel
Stumbling block: “Skandalon”
• figuratively applied to Jesus Christ, whose person and career were so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah, that they rejected him and by their obstinacy made shipwreck of their salvation
Acts 2 – Peter & Jews
The story of 2 sermons…
1. Acts 2
2. Acts 17…
Acts 17:18 NIV
Acts 17:17-1817 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"-- because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
Blocks – Foolishness
Blocks – Foolishness
Blocks – Foolishness
God in Japan
Japan
02 Greeks jump road
Acts 17:23 NIV
Acts 17:19-2119 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean." 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Acts 17:23 NIV
Acts 17:22-2322 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
Acts 17:24,2524 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
Acts 17:24-25
Acts 17:26
26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
Acts 17:26-27
Acts 17:30-31 NIV
Acts 17:28-2928 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'
29 "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
Acts 17:30-31 NIV
Acts 17:30-3130 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
03 reach Greeks – old clothesThis is the God who…
Created all things (including every nation from one man),Who sustains all things and who needs nothing from us,
Who has overlooked ignorance previously but now calls every one to repentance,
Who has set a judgment date and has proven he will do this by the resurrection of his Son.
Acts 17:32, 34 NIV
Acts 17: 32-3432 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." 33 So Paul went out of their midst.
34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Blocks – Greek culture - animated
Acts 17 – Paul & Greeks Remove
Acts 17 – Paul & Greeks no base
Church Witness to World
Church Witness to World
Church Witness to World
Church Witness to World
‘GREEKS’
04 Greeks educating Greeks
07 Greeks educating Jews
05 Greeks today
06 reach Greeks – modern clothes
Blocks – Gospel/Genesis
Blocks – Good News/Bad News
Because they are
“Greeks”
Cannot be the whole story…
1. Jewish leaders who knew
the history of the worldand they still crucified
the Lord…2. Gentiles who had no idea about God who believed and
were saved as a result of Paul’s
preaching
1 Corinthians 1:23
1 Corinthians 1:23-24
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block
and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Because they are
“Greeks”
Cannot be the whole story…
1. Jewish leaders who knew
the history of the worldand they still crucified
the Lord…2. Gentiles who had no idea about God who believed and
were saved as a result of Paul’s
preaching
Because God has not
yet drawn them
Sovereignty of God in election…
1. Is not a popular doctrine today
2. Is taught in the New Testament
3. Is the essential ingredient in a person’s response
4. Goes hand-in-hand with the [foolishness of] preaching of the word
The response to the
foolishness of preaching“faith comes by hearing, and
hearing by the word
of God”Romans 10:17
God’s sovereignty
In drawing menand womento Himself
SalvationSalvation
God’s sovereignty
In drawing menand womento Himself
God’s sovereignty
God’s eternal intention and purpose was to draw / call to Himself a specific people in
whom He would dwell
God’s sovereigntyEphesians 1: 3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
God’s sovereignty
Ephesians 1:13
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
God’s sovereigntyEphesians 2:1-9
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, as the rest.
God’s sovereigntyEphesians 2:1-94 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
God’s sovereignty
Ephesians 2:22
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
God’s sovereigntyRomans 8: 5-8 [NIV]
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
God’s sovereignty
1 Corinthians 2
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
God’s sovereigntyRomans 828 And we know that God causes all things to work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
God’s sovereigntyJohn 5:21 "For just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.
John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:65 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."
God’s sovereigntyRomans 9:9-219 For this was how the promise was stated: "At the
appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.“10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the
same father, our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done
anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand:
12 not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger.“
13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
God’s sovereignty14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!
15 For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
God’s sovereignty18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to
have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?“
20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "
21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
God’s sovereignty
Matthew 13: 11-13
Purpose our Lord’s teaching in parables was to…
hide truth!
The response to the
foolishness of preaching“faith comes by hearing, and
hearing by the word
of God”Romans 10:17
God’s sovereignty
In drawing menand womento Himself
The “foolishness” of preaching…
• The chosen instrument of God
• The power is in the message
The “foolishness” of preaching…
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek.
The “foolishness” of preaching…Romans 10
8 But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
The “foolishness” of preaching…12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.“
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
The “foolishness” of preaching…
15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"
16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?"
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
The “foolishness” of preaching…
Acts 1113 "And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, 'Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;
14 and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.'
The “foolishness” of preaching…
Acts 1348 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
The “foolishness” of preaching…Acts 16:13-14
13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
The “foolishness” of preaching…
Philippians 16 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
The “foolishness” of preaching…2 Corinthians 5:17-21
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
The “foolishness” of preaching…
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The “foolishness” of preaching…
• So if this is God’s chosen instrument, the message we preach must be accurate
• It is not our message it is His message: we do not have the right to distort it– We are simply ambassadors sharing the
message/word of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-21)
• We do not have the right to say which part of it is “outdated/mythical”
Man’s responsibility to
respond to the preached word
God’s sovereignty in drawing man and
enabling him to respond
Acts 2:40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"
2 Corinthians 5:20 … we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God
John 5:21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes
John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him
Jews Ploughed ground
Church Today - Greeks
Bulldozer – Creation
Evangelism
Bulldozer – Creation
Evangelism
Bible Stories or Bible Foundation
Because they are
“Greeks”
Because God has not yet drawn
them
The response to the
foolishness of preaching“faith comes by hearing, and
hearing by the word
of God”Romans 10:17
God’s sovereignty
In drawing menand womento Himself
SalvationSalvation
Final word…1 Corinthians 3:4-74 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of
Apollos," are you not mere men?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
Genesis … the key to reclaiming the
culture
Genesis
…why won’t they listen?
Dr. Quentin Smith &AiGAnswers in Genesis Ministries
Awesome God
Our God is an awesome God;
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, pow’r and love.
Our God is an awesome God!
(repeat)
Our God is an awesome God!
Our God is and awesome God!