Disbelief?
Who’s lord over your life?
Why are so many offended by God?

Rick Hadley

Review...

• Biblical Errancy - the Bible disagrees with itself (or makes questionable claims)
• Bible vs. Science - the Bible disagrees with observable facts
• Morality - God contradicts His own moral code
• Christians’ Behavior - Like, eww…
• God of the Gaps - LOTS of evidence for God

The Big Question

• Why do really, really smart people ignore real, actual facts, reject our loving Creator, and buy into things like atheistic evolution?

Genesis 2: In the Beginning…

• God created us as His image bearers
• We reflect God’s nature to all of creation.
• We are truly unique.
• Our faculties far outpace other animals.
• Our capacities both for good and for evil are unrivaled.
• Even Elohim (angels/demons/gods…) aren’t explicitly said to bear the image of our Creator.

Genesis 3: The Fall…

• Given free will, we…
• …decided we’d rather replace God’s sovereignty with our own.
• …“permanently” fractured our relationship with The Creator.
• …forced Heaven to withdraw.
• …unintentionally handed lordship over creation over to the forces of darkness.

Our Lacking and His Lordship

• Deceit deceive
Decide just what you believe
I see faith in your eyes
Never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail
Follow the god that failed
- Metallica, The God that Failed

• He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering, and pain
Demands devotion, atrocities done in his name
God is dead, and no one cares
If there is a Hell, I’ll see you there
- NIИ, Heresy

• Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the by way
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
- Frank Sinatra, My Way

Our Lacking and His Lordship

• Attempts at validating unbelief:
• doing stuff
• ad hominem attacks
• “God of the Gaps”-style arguments
• “The atheist can’t find God for the same reason that a thief can’t find a policeman.” -C.S. Lewis

• It never really stops at simple unbelief:
• Offended by God’s lordship
• I’m not really all that bad, right?
…yet God is telling me I’m a lost soul.
• Anger
• Why is no one offended by the Easter Bunny?

• It never stops at simple unbelief:
• Assaults on God’s lordship
• BC and AD à BCE and CE
• Using His name in vain
• Taking prayer out of schools
• Unitarianism and the concept of a one-world government

• Holding on to your own lordship for dear death…err…life…
• Darkness seems to cover up our flaws.
• Peter predicted the atheistic evolutionists’ religion.
• “But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.” 2 Peter 3:5
• Dr. Frank Turek’s zinger question.

The Final Word

•Why do really, really smart people ignore real, actual facts, reject our loving Creator, and buy into things like atheistic evolution?
•It’s all rooted in our free will and the concept of lordship (Genesis 1-3).
•We want to be (like) God.
•We know we’re not.
•But that doesn’t stop us from trying…

My Next Steps with God this week:

1. Take a look at the program insert and do some exploring.
2. After exploring, share your findings and/or your questions with someone.
3. Reach out to someone for a conversation about their doubts regarding The God of the Bible.