Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following message was recorded at an event hosted by
Desiring God. More information about Desiring God, events, conferences, and
resources is available at www dot Desiringgod dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Vodie Baucham was born in Los Angeles and has graduated
from Southwestern and Southeastern Baptist Seminaries.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
He combines three things that stand out to me.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
One husband and father, married to Bridget since nineteen eighty nine,
with one daughter and two sons. Two preaching and leadership
at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, which he
planted with others in April of this year. Three an
(00:55):
itinerant ministry proclaiming the supremacy of Christ and the compelling
force of the Christian worldview, with a special focus to
those who like to think hard and think clearly about
their faith. He has written The Family Driven Faith and
(01:15):
the Ever Loving Truth. This book here with the subtitle
can Faith Thrive in a Post Christian Culture? Which gives
me an occasion perhaps to encourage you, that the bookstore.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
At this event is not a sidebar, is part of
the main page.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And if you don't go there and just bask in
the riches, you're missing a very significant element of the conference.
So even if you just walk among the riches of
what God has put on.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Paper, at least do that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Just feel the wealth in that store, and this is
part of it. So take this home a hope. Let
me read you a paragraph to give you a flavor
of the man.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I had a similar encounter after a message I preached
from the fourteenth chapter of John immediately following the service,
a woman came barreling towards me. She had no problem
with the part of the text which taught that Jesus
was preparing a place in his father's house for those
who follow him. She did, however, have, in her words,
a serious problem with the idea that Jesus is the
(02:32):
only way. She spoke in a sympathetic yet condescending tone,
as though she were making me aware of what must
have been a monumental.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Oversight on my part.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
However, her sympathy and condescension quickly turned to outrage and
disbelief when I assured her that I meant exactly what
I said and exactly the way I said it, and
she said she couldn't understand how I, of all people,
could be so narrow minded. I've sat under vote Balcham's
(03:07):
ministry twice now, and each time I thought to myself,
I am loving this truth, and I am basking in
this way of saying.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
The truth with so much pleasure. I would love to
have Vote balcom minister.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
At one of the Pastor's conferences or at one of
the Desiring God national conferences. And when we conceived of
this one and I saw the title of this book,
I said, there's the golden opportunity. And I got on
the phone and he was willing to do this piece
in the conference.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So I am deeply honored and happy that voting you
have been willing to come.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Would you welcome with me, Vote Balkam.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Would you join me in a word of prayer, fatherly
grateful to being your presence and among your people, to
have this opportunity to set our mind's attention and heart's
affection on you, and to praise you for who you
are and for what you've done, to have the privilege
(04:15):
of entering into this two way conversation that we call worship,
wherein we say things too and about you that we
know and believe to be true, and anxiously anticipate those
moments where you, in turn speak to us clearly and
powerfully through your word to the end that our lives
would be touched and challenged and changed and transformed and
(04:37):
conformed to the very image of Christ. And it is
to that moment that we have come confessing to you, Lord,
that we desperately need a word from you, because we
are inadequate, we are sinful, we are limited, we are finite,
(05:01):
we are powerless, and apart from you we can do nothing.
And so speak, Lord, for your servants indeed are listening,
and we desire to hear and to heed what it
is that you would say. We pray these things because
(05:21):
we believe that they are in accordance with the will
and the nature and the authority of Jesus, who is
the Christ. And all God's people said Amen, Well, good morning.
I am honored to be here with you this morning.
I have looked forward to this for quite some time.
That the only difficulty, of course, is that you know,
(05:43):
I look down here and I see, for example, doctor
Carson here, and I'm trying to figure out because I
quote him all the time. You know, do you do
you do you quote the guy while he's sitting there
or so? You know, excuse me for a moment, would
(06:05):
it be okay, okay, all right. I just had to
clear that up. You know, in all honesty, this is
an honor for me, and my intention as I prayed
through this, and as I thought about the wealth of knowledge,
(06:27):
the wealth of information, well, as I thought about the
treasure of men who have come together for this conference,
and I thought about my peace and my part in
this conference, my prayer was, Lord, grant me grace to
stand up, speak up, and shut up, and to do
it quickly. And so that is my intention here this morning,
(06:47):
so that we can get on with it and continue
to be blessed and at times overwhelmed. I was just
tremendously blessed on last night, and for those of you
who were here on last night, you know what I'm
talking about. And we got off to a roaring start.
And so I'm looking forward to the rest of this
(07:09):
conference as much as I can stay and be a
part of it. I want to do my job and
talk about the supremacy of christ and truth in a
postmodern world. Now, that is an ironic title, the supremacy
of Christian truth in a postmodern world, because if you
(07:31):
know anything about postmodernity, you know that that word truth
at times is a difficult one to grasp, and it
is a difficult one to bring alongside postmodern epistemology. But
being difficult to grasp or difficult to sort of incorporate
(07:52):
in postmodern epistemology is not really the issue at hand,
because the first part of that title, the supremacy of Christ,
is the issue at hand. See, postmodernism is not what
is supreme in this world. Christ is that which is
(08:12):
supreme in this world. So if there is an issue
between Christ and postmodernity, guests who wins all day, every
day and twice on Sunday. There are two main competing
world views in our culture. Those two main competing world
(08:35):
views been referred to by many different titles, but for
the sake of this morning, let me sort of distinguish
them this way. There is Christian theism on the one hand,
and this secular humanism, this post modern version of secular humanism,
on the other. And although it is somewhat of an oversimplification,
(08:57):
just bear with me for a moment, because is what
I would like to do is sort of set the
stage for you and looking at these two competing world
views then address what I like to call life's ultimate
questions from the perspective of each of these two worldviews,
and look at what the scriptures have to say in
(09:19):
regard to these ultimate questions. As relates to these two worldviews,
I want to look at them categorically, but we'll look
at them through the major categories of how they answer
questions of God, the question of man, the question of truth,
the question of knowledge, and the question of ethics. Now,
(09:42):
there are some who would add a couple of other
worldview categories, but for now, those five will suffice when
it comes to the question of God. For example, Christian
theism obviously looks at the question from a theistic perspective.
There is a God who is a necessary and intelligence, sovereign,
(10:02):
all powerful being. On the other hand, however, this postmodern
secular humanism is really at its core atheistic. There is
no God in secular humanism. Man is the starting point
in secular humanism. Now that is rather ironic in our culture,
(10:25):
because secular humanism is the overriding world view of most
of the people in our culture. Yet when we poll Americans,
for example, the overwhelming majority say that they believe in God.
Just put a pin there for a moment. We'll come
back to it. Secondly asked to the question of the
nature of man, Christian theism sees man as special creation
(10:50):
made in the very image of God, whereas this postmodern
secular humanism sees man as a single celled organism. Run
them up a glorified eight who has lost most of
his hair and gained imposable thumbs, a cosmic accident with
no real rhyme or reason. To the question of truth,
(11:13):
Christian theism looks the question of truth and says that
truth is absolute. Whatever is true is true for all people,
in all places, at all times, whereas this postmodern secular
humanism views truth differently. Classic secular humanism viewed truth through
the epistemological lens of naturalistic materialism. Nature is a closed system,
(11:39):
and so all that we can know we can only
know through this closed system called nature, which is why
it's inherently a theistic because if nature is a closed system,
then there is by definition no such thing as the supernatural.
Now when you combine these things, and it doesn't seem
(12:00):
that you would be able to combine these things if
you believe in this sort of naturalistic materialism, why would
you ever presume to refer to yourself as a Christian
or anything like a Christian, or say that you have
a belief in some God when from an epistemological perspective,
you have excluded even the possibility of God. Folks, trust
(12:20):
me when I tell you that there are plenty of
people who openly make this assertion. For example, John Shelby
Strong and his book A New Christianity for a New
World openly argues from the perspective of naturalistic materialism, and
he argues that what we need to do is move
toward a non theistic view of God. And you can
(12:46):
help me on that, come see me later on. But
we have evolved to this theistic perspective, and we need
to continue to evolve to a non theistic view of God.
So as a result of latching on to this epistemology,
you have a man who spent thirty years in pastoral ministry,
(13:08):
was a lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, who says things
like and I quote, I do not believe that Jesus
was born by the miracle of a virgin birth, nor
do I believe virgin birth's happened anywhere except in mythology.
I do not believe that angels sang to hillside shepherds
to announce his birth, or that he fled to Egypt
(13:30):
to escape the wrath of King Herod. I do not
believe that the event Christians celebrate at Easter was the
literal resurrection of the three days dead body of Jesus.
That's what happens when you cloak yourself in priestly robes.
(13:53):
But hold on to this kind of secular human epistemology
views nature as a closed system and man is no
more than an involved beast. What about the view of ethics, Well,
Christian theism views ethics as absolute, whereas secular humanism is postmodern.
(14:17):
Secular humanism uws ethics as cultural and negotiable. What's ethical
in your culture is not necessarily what is ethical in
another culture, And each culture negotiates its own ethics, and
each period of time, each period of history negotiates its
(14:41):
own ethics. Therefore, there are many history professors who were
unwilling to say that what Nazi Germany did in its
attempt to exterminate the Jews was unethical because somehow it
fit within the framework of their negotiated ethics, within the
context of their culture in their time, and with these
(15:06):
two frameworks. I want us to look at how it
lives itself out in real life and how we address
this issue of truth and the supremacy of Christ and
truth in the post modern world. I believe that every
human being who has ever lived or will ever live,
is asking, has asked, and or will ask four basic questions.
(15:33):
They are the same four basic questions no matter where
you live, whether you are in Asia or Africa, or
Europe or here in North America. They are the same
four basic questions, whether you lived in the first century
or the twenty first century, or if the Lord should
carry you live in the thirty first century. These four
questions are these, Who am I? Why am I I hear?
(16:03):
What is wrong with the world? And how can what
is wrong be made right? We may not all articulate
those questions, but it is in the soul of every
man to wrestle with those questions. Who am I? What
(16:26):
is my nature? What is my essence? Why am I here?
What is my goal? What is my purpose? What is
wrong with the world? Because it's obvious that something is wrong?
And how can what is wrong be made right? Because
the idea of a world where it cannot be made right?
(16:48):
Is unthinkable and unlivable. Allow me to answer these questions
first from the perspective of our culture, and then look
at the Book of Colossians Colossians Chapter one to answer
them from the perspective of Christian theism. If we ask
this postmodern secular humanism this question, or these four questions,
(17:11):
here the answers we get. Who am I? The answer?
You are nothing. You are an accident, You are a mistake.
You are a glorified eight. That's all you are. You
are the result of random evolutionary processes. That is it.
(17:33):
No rhyme, no reason, no purpose. That is all you are.
Why am I here? You are here to consume and enjoy.
Get all you can, can all you get, Sit on
the can. That's why you're here. That's the only thing
(17:59):
that matters. Remember when they asked the question of Leiahkoca,
when Chrysler was at its apex and he was making
money hand over fist, how much money would be enough?
He was as honest as any man has ever been.
His answer, a little bit more, always a little bit more.
(18:23):
Consume and enjoy. That's why you're here. By the way,
when you put these two things together, you get terrible results.
If I have no rhyme or reason for my existence,
if I am no more than the result of random
evolutionary processes, and I only exist to consume and enjoy,
(18:43):
the only thing that matters is if I'm more powerful
than you, and if you have something I need for
my enjoyment. Because if you have something I need for
my enjoyment, and I am more powerful than you are,
and there is no rhyme or reason your existence, then
it is incumbent upon me to take from you what
(19:06):
I need for my own satisfaction. Have we not seen this?
Have we not seen this lived out in the world.
Have we not seen the logical conclusion of this kind
of social Darwinism? Have we not seen a culture that
(19:28):
at one time said, there is one race that is
further evolved than all other races. And because the Aryan
race is further evolved than all other races, it is
incumbent upon the Aryan race to dominate and or exterminate
other races in order to usher in the next level
of our evolution. But don't look down on them. Don't
(19:55):
look down on their sciencests and their biologists who looked
upon Jews as things and not people, in order to
justify their extermination, because that's exactly what our scientists and
biologists do to the baby in the womb, the same
(20:16):
concept of eugenics, the same concept of all that is
is an inconvenient lump of flesh, or even more sinister,
this child will be severely deformed and will therefore hinder
(20:39):
your ability to consume and enjoy. Or worse, you are
old and feeble. The end is near. You not only
have a right to die, but you have a do
(21:00):
to die. We can give you this cocktail and your
children won't have to take care of you anymore. Who
am i? According to secular humanism, I'm nothing? Why am
(21:20):
I here to make the most of it? To consume
and enjoy while I can? What is wrong with the world? Well,
if you ask secular humanism what is wrong with the world,
the answer is very simple. People are either insufficiently educated
(21:41):
or insufficiently governed. That's what's wrong with the world. People
either don't know enough or they're not being watched enough.
That's what's wrong with the world. How can what is
wrong be made right? More education or government. That's the
(22:06):
only answer our culture can come up with. Teach people
more stuff, The only problem with that is if you
take a sinful, murderous human being and educate that individual,
they merely become more sophisticated in their ability to destroy. Well,
(22:27):
then we need to govern them more. Really, who's governing
the governors? The answers to these questions leave those who
adhere to this philosophy wanting and empty and lacking. How then,
(22:51):
do we respond, I'm so glad you asked. Open your
bibles with me to Colossians chapter one. Colossians Chapter one,
and let's see how the Bible responds to these same questions.
(23:16):
Let's see how the Christian worldview responds to these same issues.
Let's see how the supremacy of Christ can be applied
to life's ultimate questions, to the questions of who am I?
And why am I here? And what is wrong with
the world? And how can what is wrong be made right?
(23:37):
Colossians Chapter one begin with me in verse fifteen. As
we take these questions in turn, question number one, Who
am I? The beginning verse fifteen. He is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, For
(23:58):
by him all things were created, both in the heavens
and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether the thrones
or dominions, or rules or authorities, all things have been
created through Him and for him. Here's the irony, the
question is who am I? It almost seems like the
text didn't answer the question if you're starting with me,
(24:22):
If you're starting with man, and my question is who
am I? Why does the text start with he is?
Because of the supremacy of Christ and truth. You see,
the text begins with Christ as the creator of all things.
So the answer to the question who am I begins
(24:42):
with who Jesus is. He is the image of the
invisible God. He is the Idon, if you will, he
is the exact representation. He is the picture in human
flesh of who God is. He is God on this earth.
He is God with us, God among us. He is
the Almighty. For by him all things were created. He
(25:07):
is the creator of all things well, which things in heaven,
on earth, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities. All things were made
by him. All things were made through him. This hearkens
(25:27):
back to John one one in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
which also hearkens back to Genesis one one in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. If we continue
to read, we find these marvelous words. Let us make
man in our image and in our likeness. So who
(25:50):
am I? Secular humanism says that I am the result
of random processes. Christian theism says I am the crowning
glory of the creation of God. Christian theism says He
knit me together in my mother's room. Christian theism says
I am no accident. I am no result of random processes.
(26:11):
Christian theism says, whether I am tall and beautiful, or
whether I am small and not so handsome, whether my
body functions perfectly or I am deformed severely, I am
the crowning glory of the creation of God, and as
a result, I have inherent dignity and inherent worth and
(26:34):
inherent value. Christian theism cannot comprehend ideas like racism and
classism and eugenics. Christian theism looks at the black man
(26:55):
and the not so black man. You categorize the world
how you want to. I categorize the world I want
to when it's okay that you're not black like me.
God loves you just like you are, and the question
(27:31):
always comes. Well, if that's the case, it's always hovering.
Even when people don't ask it, the question hovers, it lingers.
I don't like lingering and hovering questions. I say, let's
get it over with. Here's the lingering and hovering question.
(27:52):
You say that in the context and confines of this
Christian deism, there is no room for this kind of racism.
But we know for a fact that there have been
cultures who claimed, on the one hand, this allegiance to
Christian theism, and on the other hand they embraced racism, slavery.
(28:17):
What are you gonna do with that? I don't have
to do anything with that. Narrative is not normative. Just
because it happened doesn't mean it was right. Here's my issue.
It stopped. What made it stop? What was the underlying
worldview that rose up and said this is inconsistent. What
(28:42):
was the underlying worldview that says we are an exercise
in cognitive dissonance here? What was the underlying worldview that
rose up and said, you cannot on the one hand,
claim allegiance to Christian theism and on the other hand
despise men because of the color of their skin. Was
(29:03):
it wrong. Yes, it was wrong, but by what standard?
By the standard of the supremacy of Christ. Secular humanism
can't grasp this truth. But when we grasp the supremacy
(29:29):
of Christ, we can't escape this truth. Who am I?
Who are you? The crowning glory of the creation of God.
I don't care what anyone has ever said to you,
what anyone has ever told you. I don't care if
your mother and your father look you in your eye
(29:51):
and told you that you are a mistake. You're the
crowning glory of the creation of God. I will never
forge get the moment I grasped this. I spent much
of my life wondering why. I was raised by a
single teenage mother in the projects in south central Los Angeles.
(30:15):
She was seventeen years old when she became pregnant with me.
She and my father married briefly, but she ended up
raising me alone from the time I was about a
year old, raising me in the drug infested, gang infested
projects in south central Los Angeles, where at that time
(30:35):
the average life expectancy for a young black male was
somewhere around twenty four. I have often asked why, especially
in light of our culture today, that looks at young
women in my mother's condition and says it would be
(30:57):
irresponsible for you to carry this pregancy through. But who
am I the crown and glory of the creation of God,
regardless of the circumstances surrounding my birth or yours, regardless
(31:19):
of difficulties or infirmities with which you wrestle, regardless of
your class or your station in life, because of the
supremacy of Christ in truth, you are what the creator
of the universe says you are, And by breathing into
you the very breath of life, he says you have value.
(31:43):
He says you have dignity. He says you have worth,
and he says that I had better recognize that in
you as well as in myself. And so we see
the supremacy of Christ in truth in question number one,
Question number two, Why am I here? This post modern
(32:04):
secular humanism basically says that we are here to make
the most of it. There is no rhyme or reason,
so we're here to make the most of it. Consume,
en joy. That's why you're here. This is the overarching
mentality in our culture, both inside and outside of the church.
This is the overarching mentality that brings us to this
(32:26):
place of unquenchable materialism. This is the overarching and overriding
mentality that causes people in our culture. Where the rest
of the world looks at children as a blessing, we
look at them as a blight and as a burden.
Where the poorest nations in the world talk about how
(32:47):
many children they can have, we talk about how many
children we can afford. We have houses that are larger
than they've ever been and families that are small that
they've ever been, Cars, minivans. Why when our attitude towards
(33:09):
children is a boy for me and a girl for you,
and praise the Lord we're finally through. Why because they
get in the way of our consumption and our enjoyment.
They cost too much. That's secular humanism Christian theism. This
(33:37):
is the question of why are we here? And answers
it very differently. Again, we go to the supremacy of Christ.
Look at the next part of the text. All things
have been created through Him and for him. He is
before all things, and him all things hold together. He
is also the head of the body the Church. He
(33:57):
is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he
himself might come to have first place in everything. All
things were created through him, and all things were created
for him. The ultimate purpose of all things is to
bring him glory and honor, and that he might have
the supremacy in all things. So who am I the
(34:19):
crowning glory of the creation of God? Why am I
here to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why I exist. That is why you exist. That
is why He breathed into us the very breath of life.
(34:40):
He is to have supremacy and pre eminence in all things.
He is to have supremacy and pre eminence in your life,
supremacy and pre eminence in the Church, supremacy and pre
eminence over death and hell and the grave, supremacy and
pre eminence over all. So why am I here not
(35:01):
just to consume and to enjoy? And listen, let me
clarify this. God is not against you having things. He's
just against things having you, And there's a vast difference
between the two. But we exist to bring glory and
honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have the privilege
(35:24):
of lecturing on college campuses all around this country, and
this is an issue that I love to bring to
the forward when dealing with these college students, because most
of them walk onto that campus and they have one
thing in mind. What can I get here that will
facilitate my consumption and enjoyment? Why most people change their
(35:48):
majors three or four times before they get out of college.
Here's how you do it. You come to college and
you have major number one, oftentimes a dream majoring to
do with your aptitude. It's a dream. I meet students
all the time, and I always shake their hand and
(36:10):
ask them a couple of questions, ask them where they're from,
ask them what they're studying, and ask them what year
they're in. And this happens. I walk up and I
shake hands. Hey, how you doing where you're from? I'm
from Podunk, Iowa. Great? What are you studying? Pre mad
and microbiology? My next question is you're a freshman right
(36:32):
to a center's fond Well, yes, how did you know
that that stuff is hard? You won't be in it
next year? But again, hey, if that's your aptitude, I'm
not talking about it. If that's your aptitude, I'm talking about
if you just walk in and that's your dream. Because
of the prestige of that position. That's how we get
major number one, that dream major? How do we get
(36:55):
major number two? Go to forcing cart from your magazine,
find out who's making the most money, which one of
them have at least mind education? You major in that?
That becomes difficult. How do you get major number three?
Around the second semester of your junior year, you walk
(37:16):
into a counselor's office and say, excuse me, but what
do I have the most hours? In?
Speaker 5 (37:29):
Ye?
Speaker 4 (37:30):
Sounds I gotta be taking that right there by that time?
Our major is get out ology? And how about this
radical idea? God knit you together in your mother's room
(37:53):
and gave you a unique mix of gifts and talents
and abilities and desires. And what would it look like
like if we grasped the supremacy of Christ in truth
as it relates to our very purpose for existing, and
saw to it that all of our education, As Richard
(38:15):
Baxter would say, that Christ would be the beginning and
the end and the supreme goal of all of our education.
What if we saw our studies as stewardship. What if
we raised our children not to go and do something
that would make us proud? But what if we raised
(38:37):
them with a keen eye toward discovering the way that
God has put them together, so that we could shepherd
them and nurture them, toward allowing God to squeeze out
of them all that He has put into them. Because
we continually taught them and focused on the supremacy of
Christ and truth as it relates to the very purpose
(38:59):
for exists.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
Sting, Yeah, He is before all things.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
Why did you choose your last job? Was it because
of the supremacy of Christ and Truth as it relates
to your purpose or existence? Or was it because it
paid you more than the place you were before? Pastor?
How did you choose your current church? Was it because
(39:38):
of a pursuit of the supremacy of Christ and Truth
in all things, even as it relates to your pastor
or purpose? Or was it because this position is a
little more prestigious than your last one? All things were
(39:59):
ma through Him and for Him. What about the next question,
what is wrong with the world? There's obviously something wrong
with the world. Look to the next part of the text.
For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the
(40:20):
fullness to dwell in him and through him, to reconcile
all things to himself, having made peace through the blood
of His cross. Through him, I say, or the things
on earth or things in heaven. And although you were
formally alienated and hostile and mind engaged in evil deeds? Stop,
what is wrong with the world? You? I mean me too,
(40:47):
but mainly you hostile in mind and engaged in evil deeds?
What is wrong with the world. You are the crowning
glory of the creation of God. You are created to
(41:07):
live and bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And instead you are hostile towards the one by whom
and for whom you are created. That is what's wrong
with the world. As students come up to me all
the time after taking the semester in philosophy, there want
(41:29):
to be a rule. You should not be able to
talk about philosophy unless you've had more than a semester
of philosophy. If you haven't had any, that's fine, talk away.
But if you've had a semester, you are messed up.
(41:52):
Be better off just not taking it at all. And
they'll come up and they'll say things to me, and
these things out and I'm on the campus to talk
about these issues and dealing with apologetics, and they want
to catch me alone and ask me these questions. And
they look at me and they say, I just wanted
to ask you that if you believe in a God
(42:14):
that is omnipotent and omni benevolent, and how do you
reconcile the issue of theodicy, to which I respond to
semester of philosophy? Right, Well, yes, how did you know?
Because if you hadn't you just said, listen, God's so
(42:36):
powerful and so good, how come bad stuff happens? But
I'm not going to answer the question until you ask
it correctly. I worked on that all. What do you
(43:00):
mean to ask it correctly? You're not asking the question properly.
What do you mean asked the question properly? It's my question.
You can't tell me how to ask my question. I
will answer your question when you ask it properly. How
do I ask it properly? Here's how you asked that
(43:22):
question properly. You look me in my eyes and you
ask me this, How on earth can a holy and
righteous God know what I did and thought and said
on yesterday and not kill me in my sleep last night?
(43:43):
You ask it that way and we can talk. But
until you ask the question that way, you don't understand
the issue. Until you ask the question that way, you
believe the problem is out there. Until you ask the
question that way, you believe that there are somehow, some
individuals who in and of themselves deserve something other than
(44:05):
the wrath of Almighty God. Until you ask me the
question that way, until you flip the script and ask
the question this way and say, why is it that
we are here today? Why has He not consumed and
devoured each and every one of us? Why? Why, oh God,
(44:25):
does your judgment and your wrath terry? When you ask
it that way, you understand the issue. When you ask
it the other way, you believe in the supremacy of man?
How dare God not employ his power on behalf of
almighty Man? You flip the question around, you believe in
(44:49):
the supremacy of Christ. How dare I steal his air?
Because the last breath I to look, I borrowed it
from him and I'm never going to give it back.
And when you borrow something and never give it back,
you're stealing. So I me, you need to take a
(45:15):
moment and get right right now. The problem is me
The problem is the fact that I do not acknowledge
(45:37):
the supremacy of Christ the truth. The problem is I
start with me as the measure of all things. The
problem is I judge God based upon how well he
carries out my agenda for the world. And I believe
(46:01):
in the supremacy of me and truth. And as a result,
I want a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign.
If I have a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign,
I can wield his power. But if my God is
(46:27):
both omnipotent and sovereign, I am at his mercy. Who
am i the crowning glory of the creation of God
knit together in my mother's womb? Why am I here
(46:51):
to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is wrong with the world me I don't do
what I was meant to do. How can what is
(47:13):
wrong be made right? Look at the last part of
the text, verse twenty two, one of the most beautiful
words in the whole Bible. Yet I needed that? Amen?
(47:38):
Can you imagine what life would be like a Statements
like these in the scriptures weren't followed by yet Nevertheless,
but yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly
(48:04):
body through death, in order to present you before Him
holy and blameless and beyond reproach. If if indeed you
continue in the faith firmly established, steadfast, not moved away
from the hope of the gospel that you have heard,
(48:25):
which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and to
which I Paul was made a minister, How can what
is wrong be made right? We see two things, and
at last set of statements Number one, we see that
what is wrong to be made right by the penal
(48:48):
substitutionary atoning death of Christ. And secondly, by that if statement,
we see that it cannot be made right any other way.
This primacy of Christ in truth, in redemption, we see
the supremacy of Christ in his exclusivity. There is no
(49:10):
other means by which man can be justified. There is
no other name under Heaven given among men. Whereby we
must be saved Christ, God for sin, once for all,
the just, for the unjust, in order that He might
bring us back to God. All we like sheep and
gone astray. Each of us had turned to his own way.
(49:31):
But God hath caused the iniquity of us all to
rest on him. How can what is wrong be made right?
What is the answer? Every other religious system in the world,
and again and oversimplification, but forgive me for the sake
of time, every other religion in the world basically boils
(49:52):
down to this. You need to have a religious experience,
and from that moment on, you need you more good
things than bad, and then hope for the best when
you die. They may differ in what that experience needs
to be and how they define the good, but ultimately
I need to have an experience, and from that moment on,
(50:14):
I need to do everything in my power to do
more of the good and less of the bad. And
still there is no certainty or security. I wrestled with
this as a young freshman in college. See here's what
I didn't tell you about my upbringing. I didn't grow
(50:36):
up around Christians or around Christianity. My mother was a
practicing Buddhist. I never heard the Gospel until I got
to college. I wrestled with this, and ultimately here's what
I wrestled with. Everything tells me I'm supposed to have
(50:58):
a religious experience, do more good than bad, and hope
for the best when I die. Three problems with that
number One, I can't be good. I tried. I can't
do it. I'm incapable of it. I am totally, radically depraved,
(51:19):
beyond the shadow of any doubt. I can't be Even
when I do things that look to be good, I
do them for wrong motives, and that destroys the good
that was in them. I can't be good. Second problem,
what of aut all the things I did before my
religious experience? Third problem, where's my assurance? The answer the
(51:54):
supremacy of Christ in truth released to redemption? The answer
God made him who knew no sin, to become sin
for us in order that we have become the righteousness
of God in him. The answer after God has apparently
(52:22):
overlooked these sins in days gone by, and as it
would have appeared that there could have been some question
about his justice, As it would have appeared that someone
somewhere could have said, God, how can you claim to
be righteous? And you did not crush Moses the murderer,
(52:46):
You did not crush Abraham the liar, You did not
crush David the adulterer? How o God? As though there
were a moment in time where some of those questions
could have been legitly asked, there came a day when
God trust and killed his son and satisfied his wrath
(53:11):
in order that he I be both just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.
Was that enough for adam sin? Was that enough for
Moses's sin? Was that enough for Abraham's sin? Can you
hear the rhetorical questions from Calvary? Was that enough for
(53:38):
your sin? Was not enough for you to recognize the
supremacy of Christ and truth as it relates to redemption.
There was nothing else that could have been done that
would have allowed God to be both just and I
would justify her. But in Christ, in his humiliation and
(54:02):
his exaltation, the question is answered, How can what is
wrong be made right? What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me
whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, Oh precious,
(54:25):
is the flood that makes me white of snow? No
other found. I know nothing but the blood of Jesus.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins,
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
How can what is wrong be made right? The spotless,
(54:50):
sinless Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to
pay a debt that he did not owe on behalf
of sinners who could never pay him back. Who am
(55:15):
i the crowning glory of the creation of God? Why
am I here to bring glory and honor to the
Lord Jesus Christ? What is wrong with the world me
and every one like me who refused to acknowledge the
(55:39):
supremacy of Christ and live in pursuit of the supremacy
of self. How can what is wrong be made right
through the penal substitutionary atoning death of the Son of
God and through repentance and faith on the part of sinners.
(56:11):
You juxtapose these two world views, and something very interesting happens.
On the one hand, you are left imply empty and
you are left hopeless. On the one hand, man is
left worthless. On the one hand, you are left to
(56:33):
pursue your own satisfaction and never find it. And on
the other you are precious. You have a purpose, but
you are powerless. But it's okay because you were purchased.
(57:00):
This is the supremacy of Christ in truth in a
post modern world, as we walk through the highways and
byways and look into the lifeless eyes of individuals who
have bought the lie. Let us rest assured that we
(57:24):
possess the answer, and we are possessed by the answer.
The answer is Christ and his supremacy in truth. Let
Us rest assured that those who walk aimlessly through this
life will never be satisfied with the answers that our
(57:46):
culture has seemed fit to give. And the further we
have run away from the supremacy of Christ, the further
we have run away from the only thing that will
ever satisfy fly and the only thing that will ever suffice.
Let Us rest assured that the supremacy of Christ and
(58:12):
Truth also means the sufficiency of Christ and Truth. We
preached Jesus and him crucified, And I'm not ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ, because it is the power of
God unto salvation for those who believe. To the jew
(58:35):
first and also to the Greek. This is the supremacy
of Christ and Truth in a postmodern, pre Christian, dying, rotting,
decaying and hurting world. For embrace it and proclaim it passionately,
(59:06):
confidently and relentlessly, because, after all, that is why we
are here.
Speaker 1 (59:20):
Thank you for listening to this message from Desiring God,
the ministry of John Piper, pastor for preaching at Bethlehem
Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Feel free to make copies
of this message for others, but please do not charge
for those copies or alter the content in any way
without permission. We invite you to visit Desiring God online
(59:42):
at www dot Desiringgod dot org, where you'll find hundreds
of sermons, articles, radio broadcasts, and more, all available at
no charge. Our online bookstore carries all of Pastor John's books,
audio and video resources, and you can also stay up
to date on what's new at Desiring God again. Our
(01:00:03):
website is www dot Desiring Good dot org or call
us toll free at one eight eight eight three four
six forty seven hundred. Our mailing address is Desiring God
twenty six oh one East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, five
(01:00:26):
five four zero six. Desiring God exists to help you
make God your treasure because God is most glorified in
us when we are most satisfied in Him
The following message was recorded at an event hosted by
Desiring God. More information about Desiring God, events, conferences, and
resources is available at www dot Desiringgod dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Vodie Baucham was born in Los Angeles and has graduated
from Southwestern and Southeastern Baptist Seminaries.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
He combines three things that stand out to me.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
One husband and father, married to Bridget since nineteen eighty nine,
with one daughter and two sons. Two preaching and leadership
at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, which he
planted with others in April of this year. Three an
(00:55):
itinerant ministry proclaiming the supremacy of Christ and the compelling
force of the Christian worldview, with a special focus to
those who like to think hard and think clearly about
their faith. He has written The Family Driven Faith and
(01:15):
the Ever Loving Truth. This book here with the subtitle
can Faith Thrive in a Post Christian Culture? Which gives
me an occasion perhaps to encourage you, that the bookstore.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
At this event is not a sidebar, is part of
the main page.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And if you don't go there and just bask in
the riches, you're missing a very significant element of the conference.
So even if you just walk among the riches of
what God has put on.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Paper, at least do that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Just feel the wealth in that store, and this is
part of it. So take this home a hope. Let
me read you a paragraph to give you a flavor
of the man.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I had a similar encounter after a message I preached
from the fourteenth chapter of John immediately following the service,
a woman came barreling towards me. She had no problem
with the part of the text which taught that Jesus
was preparing a place in his father's house for those
who follow him. She did, however, have, in her words,
a serious problem with the idea that Jesus is the
(02:32):
only way. She spoke in a sympathetic yet condescending tone,
as though she were making me aware of what must
have been a monumental.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Oversight on my part.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
However, her sympathy and condescension quickly turned to outrage and
disbelief when I assured her that I meant exactly what
I said and exactly the way I said it, and
she said she couldn't understand how I, of all people,
could be so narrow minded. I've sat under vote Balcham's
(03:07):
ministry twice now, and each time I thought to myself,
I am loving this truth, and I am basking in
this way of saying.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
The truth with so much pleasure. I would love to
have Vote balcom minister.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
At one of the Pastor's conferences or at one of
the Desiring God national conferences. And when we conceived of
this one and I saw the title of this book,
I said, there's the golden opportunity. And I got on
the phone and he was willing to do this piece
in the conference.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So I am deeply honored and happy that voting you
have been willing to come.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Would you welcome with me, Vote Balkam.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Would you join me in a word of prayer, fatherly
grateful to being your presence and among your people, to
have this opportunity to set our mind's attention and heart's
affection on you, and to praise you for who you
are and for what you've done, to have the privilege
(04:15):
of entering into this two way conversation that we call worship,
wherein we say things too and about you that we
know and believe to be true, and anxiously anticipate those
moments where you, in turn speak to us clearly and
powerfully through your word to the end that our lives
would be touched and challenged and changed and transformed and
(04:37):
conformed to the very image of Christ. And it is
to that moment that we have come confessing to you, Lord,
that we desperately need a word from you, because we
are inadequate, we are sinful, we are limited, we are finite,
(05:01):
we are powerless, and apart from you we can do nothing.
And so speak, Lord, for your servants indeed are listening,
and we desire to hear and to heed what it
is that you would say. We pray these things because
(05:21):
we believe that they are in accordance with the will
and the nature and the authority of Jesus, who is
the Christ. And all God's people said Amen, Well, good morning.
I am honored to be here with you this morning.
I have looked forward to this for quite some time.
That the only difficulty, of course, is that you know,
(05:43):
I look down here and I see, for example, doctor
Carson here, and I'm trying to figure out because I
quote him all the time. You know, do you do
you do you quote the guy while he's sitting there
or so? You know, excuse me for a moment, would
(06:05):
it be okay, okay, all right. I just had to
clear that up. You know, in all honesty, this is
an honor for me, and my intention as I prayed
through this, and as I thought about the wealth of knowledge,
(06:27):
the wealth of information, well, as I thought about the
treasure of men who have come together for this conference,
and I thought about my peace and my part in
this conference, my prayer was, Lord, grant me grace to
stand up, speak up, and shut up, and to do
it quickly. And so that is my intention here this morning,
(06:47):
so that we can get on with it and continue
to be blessed and at times overwhelmed. I was just
tremendously blessed on last night, and for those of you
who were here on last night, you know what I'm
talking about. And we got off to a roaring start.
And so I'm looking forward to the rest of this
(07:09):
conference as much as I can stay and be a
part of it. I want to do my job and
talk about the supremacy of christ and truth in a
postmodern world. Now, that is an ironic title, the supremacy
of Christian truth in a postmodern world, because if you
(07:31):
know anything about postmodernity, you know that that word truth
at times is a difficult one to grasp, and it
is a difficult one to bring alongside postmodern epistemology. But
being difficult to grasp or difficult to sort of incorporate
(07:52):
in postmodern epistemology is not really the issue at hand,
because the first part of that title, the supremacy of Christ,
is the issue at hand. See, postmodernism is not what
is supreme in this world. Christ is that which is
(08:12):
supreme in this world. So if there is an issue
between Christ and postmodernity, guests who wins all day, every
day and twice on Sunday. There are two main competing
world views in our culture. Those two main competing world
(08:35):
views been referred to by many different titles, but for
the sake of this morning, let me sort of distinguish
them this way. There is Christian theism on the one hand,
and this secular humanism, this post modern version of secular humanism,
on the other. And although it is somewhat of an oversimplification,
(08:57):
just bear with me for a moment, because is what
I would like to do is sort of set the
stage for you and looking at these two competing world
views then address what I like to call life's ultimate
questions from the perspective of each of these two worldviews,
and look at what the scriptures have to say in
(09:19):
regard to these ultimate questions. As relates to these two worldviews,
I want to look at them categorically, but we'll look
at them through the major categories of how they answer
questions of God, the question of man, the question of truth,
the question of knowledge, and the question of ethics. Now,
(09:42):
there are some who would add a couple of other
worldview categories, but for now, those five will suffice when
it comes to the question of God. For example, Christian
theism obviously looks at the question from a theistic perspective.
There is a God who is a necessary and intelligence, sovereign,
(10:02):
all powerful being. On the other hand, however, this postmodern
secular humanism is really at its core atheistic. There is
no God in secular humanism. Man is the starting point
in secular humanism. Now that is rather ironic in our culture,
(10:25):
because secular humanism is the overriding world view of most
of the people in our culture. Yet when we poll Americans,
for example, the overwhelming majority say that they believe in God.
Just put a pin there for a moment. We'll come
back to it. Secondly asked to the question of the
nature of man, Christian theism sees man as special creation
(10:50):
made in the very image of God, whereas this postmodern
secular humanism sees man as a single celled organism. Run
them up a glorified eight who has lost most of
his hair and gained imposable thumbs, a cosmic accident with
no real rhyme or reason. To the question of truth,
(11:13):
Christian theism looks the question of truth and says that
truth is absolute. Whatever is true is true for all people,
in all places, at all times, whereas this postmodern secular
humanism views truth differently. Classic secular humanism viewed truth through
the epistemological lens of naturalistic materialism. Nature is a closed system,
(11:39):
and so all that we can know we can only
know through this closed system called nature, which is why
it's inherently a theistic because if nature is a closed system,
then there is by definition no such thing as the supernatural.
Now when you combine these things, and it doesn't seem
(12:00):
that you would be able to combine these things if
you believe in this sort of naturalistic materialism, why would
you ever presume to refer to yourself as a Christian
or anything like a Christian, or say that you have
a belief in some God when from an epistemological perspective,
you have excluded even the possibility of God. Folks, trust
(12:20):
me when I tell you that there are plenty of
people who openly make this assertion. For example, John Shelby
Strong and his book A New Christianity for a New
World openly argues from the perspective of naturalistic materialism, and
he argues that what we need to do is move
toward a non theistic view of God. And you can
(12:46):
help me on that, come see me later on. But
we have evolved to this theistic perspective, and we need
to continue to evolve to a non theistic view of God.
So as a result of latching on to this epistemology,
you have a man who spent thirty years in pastoral ministry,
(13:08):
was a lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, who says things
like and I quote, I do not believe that Jesus
was born by the miracle of a virgin birth, nor
do I believe virgin birth's happened anywhere except in mythology.
I do not believe that angels sang to hillside shepherds
to announce his birth, or that he fled to Egypt
(13:30):
to escape the wrath of King Herod. I do not
believe that the event Christians celebrate at Easter was the
literal resurrection of the three days dead body of Jesus.
That's what happens when you cloak yourself in priestly robes.
(13:53):
But hold on to this kind of secular human epistemology
views nature as a closed system and man is no
more than an involved beast. What about the view of ethics, Well,
Christian theism views ethics as absolute, whereas secular humanism is postmodern.
(14:17):
Secular humanism uws ethics as cultural and negotiable. What's ethical
in your culture is not necessarily what is ethical in
another culture, And each culture negotiates its own ethics, and
each period of time, each period of history negotiates its
(14:41):
own ethics. Therefore, there are many history professors who were
unwilling to say that what Nazi Germany did in its
attempt to exterminate the Jews was unethical because somehow it
fit within the framework of their negotiated ethics, within the
context of their culture in their time, and with these
(15:06):
two frameworks. I want us to look at how it
lives itself out in real life and how we address
this issue of truth and the supremacy of Christ and
truth in the post modern world. I believe that every
human being who has ever lived or will ever live,
is asking, has asked, and or will ask four basic questions.
(15:33):
They are the same four basic questions no matter where
you live, whether you are in Asia or Africa, or
Europe or here in North America. They are the same
four basic questions, whether you lived in the first century
or the twenty first century, or if the Lord should
carry you live in the thirty first century. These four
questions are these, Who am I? Why am I I hear?
(16:03):
What is wrong with the world? And how can what
is wrong be made right? We may not all articulate
those questions, but it is in the soul of every
man to wrestle with those questions. Who am I? What
(16:26):
is my nature? What is my essence? Why am I here?
What is my goal? What is my purpose? What is
wrong with the world? Because it's obvious that something is wrong?
And how can what is wrong be made right? Because
the idea of a world where it cannot be made right?
(16:48):
Is unthinkable and unlivable. Allow me to answer these questions
first from the perspective of our culture, and then look
at the Book of Colossians Colossians Chapter one to answer
them from the perspective of Christian theism. If we ask
this postmodern secular humanism this question, or these four questions,
(17:11):
here the answers we get. Who am I? The answer?
You are nothing. You are an accident, You are a mistake.
You are a glorified eight. That's all you are. You
are the result of random evolutionary processes. That is it.
(17:33):
No rhyme, no reason, no purpose. That is all you are.
Why am I here? You are here to consume and enjoy.
Get all you can, can all you get, Sit on
the can. That's why you're here. That's the only thing
(17:59):
that matters. Remember when they asked the question of Leiahkoca,
when Chrysler was at its apex and he was making
money hand over fist, how much money would be enough?
He was as honest as any man has ever been.
His answer, a little bit more, always a little bit more.
(18:23):
Consume and enjoy. That's why you're here. By the way,
when you put these two things together, you get terrible results.
If I have no rhyme or reason for my existence,
if I am no more than the result of random
evolutionary processes, and I only exist to consume and enjoy,
(18:43):
the only thing that matters is if I'm more powerful
than you, and if you have something I need for
my enjoyment. Because if you have something I need for
my enjoyment, and I am more powerful than you are,
and there is no rhyme or reason your existence, then
it is incumbent upon me to take from you what
(19:06):
I need for my own satisfaction. Have we not seen this?
Have we not seen this lived out in the world.
Have we not seen the logical conclusion of this kind
of social Darwinism? Have we not seen a culture that
(19:28):
at one time said, there is one race that is
further evolved than all other races. And because the Aryan
race is further evolved than all other races, it is
incumbent upon the Aryan race to dominate and or exterminate
other races in order to usher in the next level
of our evolution. But don't look down on them. Don't
(19:55):
look down on their sciencests and their biologists who looked
upon Jews as things and not people, in order to
justify their extermination, because that's exactly what our scientists and
biologists do to the baby in the womb, the same
(20:16):
concept of eugenics, the same concept of all that is
is an inconvenient lump of flesh, or even more sinister,
this child will be severely deformed and will therefore hinder
(20:39):
your ability to consume and enjoy. Or worse, you are
old and feeble. The end is near. You not only
have a right to die, but you have a do
(21:00):
to die. We can give you this cocktail and your
children won't have to take care of you anymore. Who
am i? According to secular humanism, I'm nothing? Why am
(21:20):
I here to make the most of it? To consume
and enjoy while I can? What is wrong with the world? Well,
if you ask secular humanism what is wrong with the world,
the answer is very simple. People are either insufficiently educated
(21:41):
or insufficiently governed. That's what's wrong with the world. People
either don't know enough or they're not being watched enough.
That's what's wrong with the world. How can what is
wrong be made right? More education or government. That's the
(22:06):
only answer our culture can come up with. Teach people
more stuff, The only problem with that is if you
take a sinful, murderous human being and educate that individual,
they merely become more sophisticated in their ability to destroy. Well,
(22:27):
then we need to govern them more. Really, who's governing
the governors? The answers to these questions leave those who
adhere to this philosophy wanting and empty and lacking. How then,
(22:51):
do we respond, I'm so glad you asked. Open your
bibles with me to Colossians chapter one. Colossians Chapter one,
and let's see how the Bible responds to these same questions.
(23:16):
Let's see how the Christian worldview responds to these same issues.
Let's see how the supremacy of Christ can be applied
to life's ultimate questions, to the questions of who am I?
And why am I here? And what is wrong with
the world? And how can what is wrong be made right?
(23:37):
Colossians Chapter one begin with me in verse fifteen. As
we take these questions in turn, question number one, Who
am I? The beginning verse fifteen. He is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, For
(23:58):
by him all things were created, both in the heavens
and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether the thrones
or dominions, or rules or authorities, all things have been
created through Him and for him. Here's the irony, the
question is who am I? It almost seems like the
text didn't answer the question if you're starting with me,
(24:22):
If you're starting with man, and my question is who
am I? Why does the text start with he is?
Because of the supremacy of Christ and truth. You see,
the text begins with Christ as the creator of all things.
So the answer to the question who am I begins
(24:42):
with who Jesus is. He is the image of the
invisible God. He is the Idon, if you will, he
is the exact representation. He is the picture in human
flesh of who God is. He is God on this earth.
He is God with us, God among us. He is
the Almighty. For by him all things were created. He
(25:07):
is the creator of all things well, which things in heaven,
on earth, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities. All things were made
by him. All things were made through him. This hearkens
(25:27):
back to John one one in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
which also hearkens back to Genesis one one in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. If we continue
to read, we find these marvelous words. Let us make
man in our image and in our likeness. So who
(25:50):
am I? Secular humanism says that I am the result
of random processes. Christian theism says I am the crowning
glory of the creation of God. Christian theism says He
knit me together in my mother's room. Christian theism says
I am no accident. I am no result of random processes.
(26:11):
Christian theism says, whether I am tall and beautiful, or
whether I am small and not so handsome, whether my
body functions perfectly or I am deformed severely, I am
the crowning glory of the creation of God, and as
a result, I have inherent dignity and inherent worth and
(26:34):
inherent value. Christian theism cannot comprehend ideas like racism and
classism and eugenics. Christian theism looks at the black man
(26:55):
and the not so black man. You categorize the world
how you want to. I categorize the world I want
to when it's okay that you're not black like me.
God loves you just like you are, and the question
(27:31):
always comes. Well, if that's the case, it's always hovering.
Even when people don't ask it, the question hovers, it lingers.
I don't like lingering and hovering questions. I say, let's
get it over with. Here's the lingering and hovering question.
(27:52):
You say that in the context and confines of this
Christian deism, there is no room for this kind of racism.
But we know for a fact that there have been
cultures who claimed, on the one hand, this allegiance to
Christian theism, and on the other hand they embraced racism, slavery.
(28:17):
What are you gonna do with that? I don't have
to do anything with that. Narrative is not normative. Just
because it happened doesn't mean it was right. Here's my issue.
It stopped. What made it stop? What was the underlying
worldview that rose up and said this is inconsistent. What
(28:42):
was the underlying worldview that says we are an exercise
in cognitive dissonance here? What was the underlying worldview that
rose up and said, you cannot on the one hand,
claim allegiance to Christian theism and on the other hand
despise men because of the color of their skin. Was
(29:03):
it wrong. Yes, it was wrong, but by what standard?
By the standard of the supremacy of Christ. Secular humanism
can't grasp this truth. But when we grasp the supremacy
(29:29):
of Christ, we can't escape this truth. Who am I?
Who are you? The crowning glory of the creation of God.
I don't care what anyone has ever said to you,
what anyone has ever told you. I don't care if
your mother and your father look you in your eye
(29:51):
and told you that you are a mistake. You're the
crowning glory of the creation of God. I will never
forge get the moment I grasped this. I spent much
of my life wondering why. I was raised by a
single teenage mother in the projects in south central Los Angeles.
(30:15):
She was seventeen years old when she became pregnant with me.
She and my father married briefly, but she ended up
raising me alone from the time I was about a
year old, raising me in the drug infested, gang infested
projects in south central Los Angeles, where at that time
(30:35):
the average life expectancy for a young black male was
somewhere around twenty four. I have often asked why, especially
in light of our culture today, that looks at young
women in my mother's condition and says it would be
(30:57):
irresponsible for you to carry this pregancy through. But who
am I the crown and glory of the creation of God,
regardless of the circumstances surrounding my birth or yours, regardless
(31:19):
of difficulties or infirmities with which you wrestle, regardless of
your class or your station in life, because of the
supremacy of Christ in truth, you are what the creator
of the universe says you are, And by breathing into
you the very breath of life, he says you have value.
(31:43):
He says you have dignity. He says you have worth,
and he says that I had better recognize that in
you as well as in myself. And so we see
the supremacy of Christ in truth in question number one,
Question number two, Why am I here? This post modern
(32:04):
secular humanism basically says that we are here to make
the most of it. There is no rhyme or reason,
so we're here to make the most of it. Consume,
en joy. That's why you're here. This is the overarching
mentality in our culture, both inside and outside of the church.
This is the overarching mentality that brings us to this
(32:26):
place of unquenchable materialism. This is the overarching and overriding
mentality that causes people in our culture. Where the rest
of the world looks at children as a blessing, we
look at them as a blight and as a burden.
Where the poorest nations in the world talk about how
(32:47):
many children they can have, we talk about how many
children we can afford. We have houses that are larger
than they've ever been and families that are small that
they've ever been, Cars, minivans. Why when our attitude towards
(33:09):
children is a boy for me and a girl for you,
and praise the Lord we're finally through. Why because they
get in the way of our consumption and our enjoyment.
They cost too much. That's secular humanism Christian theism. This
(33:37):
is the question of why are we here? And answers
it very differently. Again, we go to the supremacy of Christ.
Look at the next part of the text. All things
have been created through Him and for him. He is
before all things, and him all things hold together. He
is also the head of the body the Church. He
(33:57):
is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he
himself might come to have first place in everything. All
things were created through him, and all things were created
for him. The ultimate purpose of all things is to
bring him glory and honor, and that he might have
the supremacy in all things. So who am I the
(34:19):
crowning glory of the creation of God? Why am I
here to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why I exist. That is why you exist. That
is why He breathed into us the very breath of life.
(34:40):
He is to have supremacy and pre eminence in all things.
He is to have supremacy and pre eminence in your life,
supremacy and pre eminence in the Church, supremacy and pre
eminence over death and hell and the grave, supremacy and
pre eminence over all. So why am I here not
(35:01):
just to consume and to enjoy? And listen, let me
clarify this. God is not against you having things. He's
just against things having you, And there's a vast difference
between the two. But we exist to bring glory and
honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have the privilege
(35:24):
of lecturing on college campuses all around this country, and
this is an issue that I love to bring to
the forward when dealing with these college students, because most
of them walk onto that campus and they have one
thing in mind. What can I get here that will
facilitate my consumption and enjoyment? Why most people change their
(35:48):
majors three or four times before they get out of college.
Here's how you do it. You come to college and
you have major number one, oftentimes a dream majoring to
do with your aptitude. It's a dream. I meet students
all the time, and I always shake their hand and
(36:10):
ask them a couple of questions, ask them where they're from,
ask them what they're studying, and ask them what year
they're in. And this happens. I walk up and I
shake hands. Hey, how you doing where you're from? I'm
from Podunk, Iowa. Great? What are you studying? Pre mad
and microbiology? My next question is you're a freshman right
(36:32):
to a center's fond Well, yes, how did you know
that that stuff is hard? You won't be in it
next year? But again, hey, if that's your aptitude, I'm
not talking about it. If that's your aptitude, I'm talking about
if you just walk in and that's your dream. Because
of the prestige of that position. That's how we get
major number one, that dream major? How do we get
(36:55):
major number two? Go to forcing cart from your magazine,
find out who's making the most money, which one of
them have at least mind education? You major in that?
That becomes difficult. How do you get major number three?
Around the second semester of your junior year, you walk
(37:16):
into a counselor's office and say, excuse me, but what
do I have the most hours? In?
Speaker 5 (37:29):
Ye?
Speaker 4 (37:30):
Sounds I gotta be taking that right there by that time?
Our major is get out ology? And how about this
radical idea? God knit you together in your mother's room
(37:53):
and gave you a unique mix of gifts and talents
and abilities and desires. And what would it look like
like if we grasped the supremacy of Christ in truth
as it relates to our very purpose for existing, and
saw to it that all of our education, As Richard
(38:15):
Baxter would say, that Christ would be the beginning and
the end and the supreme goal of all of our education.
What if we saw our studies as stewardship. What if
we raised our children not to go and do something
that would make us proud? But what if we raised
(38:37):
them with a keen eye toward discovering the way that
God has put them together, so that we could shepherd
them and nurture them, toward allowing God to squeeze out
of them all that He has put into them. Because
we continually taught them and focused on the supremacy of
Christ and truth as it relates to the very purpose
(38:59):
for exists.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
Sting, Yeah, He is before all things.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
Why did you choose your last job? Was it because
of the supremacy of Christ and Truth as it relates
to your purpose or existence? Or was it because it
paid you more than the place you were before? Pastor?
How did you choose your current church? Was it because
(39:38):
of a pursuit of the supremacy of Christ and Truth
in all things, even as it relates to your pastor
or purpose? Or was it because this position is a
little more prestigious than your last one? All things were
(39:59):
ma through Him and for Him. What about the next question,
what is wrong with the world? There's obviously something wrong
with the world. Look to the next part of the text.
For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the
(40:20):
fullness to dwell in him and through him, to reconcile
all things to himself, having made peace through the blood
of His cross. Through him, I say, or the things
on earth or things in heaven. And although you were
formally alienated and hostile and mind engaged in evil deeds? Stop,
what is wrong with the world? You? I mean me too,
(40:47):
but mainly you hostile in mind and engaged in evil deeds?
What is wrong with the world. You are the crowning
glory of the creation of God. You are created to
(41:07):
live and bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And instead you are hostile towards the one by whom
and for whom you are created. That is what's wrong
with the world. As students come up to me all
the time after taking the semester in philosophy, there want
(41:29):
to be a rule. You should not be able to
talk about philosophy unless you've had more than a semester
of philosophy. If you haven't had any, that's fine, talk away.
But if you've had a semester, you are messed up.
(41:52):
Be better off just not taking it at all. And
they'll come up and they'll say things to me, and
these things out and I'm on the campus to talk
about these issues and dealing with apologetics, and they want
to catch me alone and ask me these questions. And
they look at me and they say, I just wanted
to ask you that if you believe in a God
(42:14):
that is omnipotent and omni benevolent, and how do you
reconcile the issue of theodicy, to which I respond to
semester of philosophy? Right, Well, yes, how did you know?
Because if you hadn't you just said, listen, God's so
(42:36):
powerful and so good, how come bad stuff happens? But
I'm not going to answer the question until you ask
it correctly. I worked on that all. What do you
(43:00):
mean to ask it correctly? You're not asking the question properly.
What do you mean asked the question properly? It's my question.
You can't tell me how to ask my question. I
will answer your question when you ask it properly. How
do I ask it properly? Here's how you asked that
(43:22):
question properly. You look me in my eyes and you
ask me this, How on earth can a holy and
righteous God know what I did and thought and said
on yesterday and not kill me in my sleep last night?
(43:43):
You ask it that way and we can talk. But
until you ask the question that way, you don't understand
the issue. Until you ask the question that way, you
believe the problem is out there. Until you ask the
question that way, you believe that there are somehow, some
individuals who in and of themselves deserve something other than
(44:05):
the wrath of Almighty God. Until you ask me the
question that way, until you flip the script and ask
the question this way and say, why is it that
we are here today? Why has He not consumed and
devoured each and every one of us? Why? Why, oh God,
(44:25):
does your judgment and your wrath terry? When you ask
it that way, you understand the issue. When you ask
it the other way, you believe in the supremacy of man?
How dare God not employ his power on behalf of
almighty Man? You flip the question around, you believe in
(44:49):
the supremacy of Christ. How dare I steal his air?
Because the last breath I to look, I borrowed it
from him and I'm never going to give it back.
And when you borrow something and never give it back,
you're stealing. So I me, you need to take a
(45:15):
moment and get right right now. The problem is me
The problem is the fact that I do not acknowledge
(45:37):
the supremacy of Christ the truth. The problem is I
start with me as the measure of all things. The
problem is I judge God based upon how well he
carries out my agenda for the world. And I believe
(46:01):
in the supremacy of me and truth. And as a result,
I want a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign.
If I have a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign,
I can wield his power. But if my God is
(46:27):
both omnipotent and sovereign, I am at his mercy. Who
am i the crowning glory of the creation of God
knit together in my mother's womb? Why am I here
(46:51):
to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is wrong with the world me I don't do
what I was meant to do. How can what is
(47:13):
wrong be made right? Look at the last part of
the text, verse twenty two, one of the most beautiful
words in the whole Bible. Yet I needed that? Amen?
(47:38):
Can you imagine what life would be like a Statements
like these in the scriptures weren't followed by yet Nevertheless,
but yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly
(48:04):
body through death, in order to present you before Him
holy and blameless and beyond reproach. If if indeed you
continue in the faith firmly established, steadfast, not moved away
from the hope of the gospel that you have heard,
(48:25):
which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and to
which I Paul was made a minister, How can what
is wrong be made right? We see two things, and
at last set of statements Number one, we see that
what is wrong to be made right by the penal
(48:48):
substitutionary atoning death of Christ. And secondly, by that if statement,
we see that it cannot be made right any other way.
This primacy of Christ in truth, in redemption, we see
the supremacy of Christ in his exclusivity. There is no
(49:10):
other means by which man can be justified. There is
no other name under Heaven given among men. Whereby we
must be saved Christ, God for sin, once for all,
the just, for the unjust, in order that He might
bring us back to God. All we like sheep and
gone astray. Each of us had turned to his own way.
(49:31):
But God hath caused the iniquity of us all to
rest on him. How can what is wrong be made right?
What is the answer? Every other religious system in the world,
and again and oversimplification, but forgive me for the sake
of time, every other religion in the world basically boils
(49:52):
down to this. You need to have a religious experience,
and from that moment on, you need you more good
things than bad, and then hope for the best when
you die. They may differ in what that experience needs
to be and how they define the good, but ultimately
I need to have an experience, and from that moment on,
(50:14):
I need to do everything in my power to do
more of the good and less of the bad. And
still there is no certainty or security. I wrestled with
this as a young freshman in college. See here's what
I didn't tell you about my upbringing. I didn't grow
(50:36):
up around Christians or around Christianity. My mother was a
practicing Buddhist. I never heard the Gospel until I got
to college. I wrestled with this, and ultimately here's what
I wrestled with. Everything tells me I'm supposed to have
(50:58):
a religious experience, do more good than bad, and hope
for the best when I die. Three problems with that
number One, I can't be good. I tried. I can't
do it. I'm incapable of it. I am totally, radically depraved,
(51:19):
beyond the shadow of any doubt. I can't be Even
when I do things that look to be good, I
do them for wrong motives, and that destroys the good
that was in them. I can't be good. Second problem,
what of aut all the things I did before my
religious experience? Third problem, where's my assurance? The answer the
(51:54):
supremacy of Christ in truth released to redemption? The answer
God made him who knew no sin, to become sin
for us in order that we have become the righteousness
of God in him. The answer after God has apparently
(52:22):
overlooked these sins in days gone by, and as it
would have appeared that there could have been some question
about his justice, As it would have appeared that someone
somewhere could have said, God, how can you claim to
be righteous? And you did not crush Moses the murderer,
(52:46):
You did not crush Abraham the liar, You did not
crush David the adulterer? How o God? As though there
were a moment in time where some of those questions
could have been legitly asked, there came a day when
God trust and killed his son and satisfied his wrath
(53:11):
in order that he I be both just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.
Was that enough for adam sin? Was that enough for
Moses's sin? Was that enough for Abraham's sin? Can you
hear the rhetorical questions from Calvary? Was that enough for
(53:38):
your sin? Was not enough for you to recognize the
supremacy of Christ and truth as it relates to redemption.
There was nothing else that could have been done that
would have allowed God to be both just and I
would justify her. But in Christ, in his humiliation and
(54:02):
his exaltation, the question is answered, How can what is
wrong be made right? What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me
whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, Oh precious,
(54:25):
is the flood that makes me white of snow? No
other found. I know nothing but the blood of Jesus.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins,
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
How can what is wrong be made right? The spotless,
(54:50):
sinless Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to
pay a debt that he did not owe on behalf
of sinners who could never pay him back. Who am
(55:15):
i the crowning glory of the creation of God? Why
am I here to bring glory and honor to the
Lord Jesus Christ? What is wrong with the world me
and every one like me who refused to acknowledge the
(55:39):
supremacy of Christ and live in pursuit of the supremacy
of self. How can what is wrong be made right
through the penal substitutionary atoning death of the Son of
God and through repentance and faith on the part of sinners.
(56:11):
You juxtapose these two world views, and something very interesting happens.
On the one hand, you are left imply empty and
you are left hopeless. On the one hand, man is
left worthless. On the one hand, you are left to
(56:33):
pursue your own satisfaction and never find it. And on
the other you are precious. You have a purpose, but
you are powerless. But it's okay because you were purchased.
(57:00):
This is the supremacy of Christ in truth in a
post modern world, as we walk through the highways and
byways and look into the lifeless eyes of individuals who
have bought the lie. Let us rest assured that we
(57:24):
possess the answer, and we are possessed by the answer.
The answer is Christ and his supremacy in truth. Let
Us rest assured that those who walk aimlessly through this
life will never be satisfied with the answers that our
(57:46):
culture has seemed fit to give. And the further we
have run away from the supremacy of Christ, the further
we have run away from the only thing that will
ever satisfy fly and the only thing that will ever suffice.
Let Us rest assured that the supremacy of Christ and
(58:12):
Truth also means the sufficiency of Christ and Truth. We
preached Jesus and him crucified, And I'm not ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ, because it is the power of
God unto salvation for those who believe. To the jew
(58:35):
first and also to the Greek. This is the supremacy
of Christ and Truth in a postmodern, pre Christian, dying, rotting,
decaying and hurting world. For embrace it and proclaim it passionately,
(59:06):
confidently and relentlessly, because, after all, that is why we
are here.
Speaker 1 (59:20):
Thank you for listening to this message from Desiring God,
the ministry of John Piper, pastor for preaching at Bethlehem
Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Feel free to make copies
of this message for others, but please do not charge
for those copies or alter the content in any way
without permission. We invite you to visit Desiring God online
(59:42):
at www dot Desiringgod dot org, where you'll find hundreds
of sermons, articles, radio broadcasts, and more, all available at
no charge. Our online bookstore carries all of Pastor John's books,
audio and video resources, and you can also stay up
to date on what's new at Desiring God again. Our
(01:00:03):
website is www dot Desiring Good dot org or call
us toll free at one eight eight eight three four
six forty seven hundred. Our mailing address is Desiring God
twenty six oh one East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, five
(01:00:26):
five four zero six. Desiring God exists to help you
make God your treasure because God is most glorified in
us when we are most satisfied in Him
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!