Last week: What does God expect from us

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(No Transcript)
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Last week What does God expect from us?

• To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and
  strength
  
• To love your neighbor as yourself

3
The god of our culture

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

4
Divine Butler, Cosmic Therapist
This God is not demanding. He actually can't be,
because his job is to solve our problems and make
people feel good. In short, God is something like
a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist
he is always on call, takes care of any problems
that arise, professionally helps his people to
feel better about themselves, and does not become
too personally involved in the process.
5
Divine Butler, Cosmic Therapist
As one 14-year-old white Catholic boy from
Pennsylvania, in response to our inquiry about
why religion matters, said, " 'Cause God made us
and if you ask him for something I believe he
gives it to you. Yeah, he hasn't let me down yet.
So what is God like? God is a spirit that
grants you anything you want, but not anything
bad." Similarly, this 17-year-old conservative
Protestant girl from Florida told us, "God's all
around you, all the time. He believes in
forgiving people and whatnot and he's there to
guide us, for somebody to talk to and help us
through our problems. Of course, he doesn't talk
back."
6
Divine Butler, Cosmic Therapist
This last statement is perhaps doubly telling
God, being distant, does not directly verbally
answer prayers, according to this girl, but he
also does not offer any challenging comebacks to
or arguments about our requests. Perhaps the
worst the God of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism can
do is simply fail to provide his promised
therapeutic blessings, in which case those who
believe in him are entitled to be grumpy. Pg. 165
7
This view is clearly heavily influenced by
historic Christianity

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

8
Good people God grades on a curve?

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

9
Romans 1
Romans 118-20 (TNIV)The wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all the godlessness
and wickedness of human beings who suppress the
truth by their wickedness, since what may be
known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them. For since the creation of
the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal
power and divine naturehave been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made, so that
people are without excuse.
10
We have a natural drive to happiness, the
question is where and to what this drive was
designed to lead

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

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• John Pipers Christian Hedonism (Desiring God)
• The longing to be happy is a universal human
  experience, and it is good, not sinful
  
• We should never try to deny or resist our longing
  to be happy as though it were a bad impulse.
  Instead we should seek to intensify this longing
  and nourish it with whatever will provide the
  deepest and most enduring satisfaction
• The deepest and most enduring happiness is found
  only in God. Not from God, but in God.
  
• The happiness we find in God reaches its
  consummation when it is shared with others in the
  manifold ways of love.
  
• To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit
  of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and
  love people. Or, to put it positively the
  pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all
  worship and virtue. That is The chief end of
  humanity is to glorify God BY enjoying him
  forever.

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There is a sense of this but it is also a fish
in water question

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

13
People see this as a matter of fairness

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

14
There is a sense of this that is Biblical
Romans 25-11 (TNIV)But because of your
stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are
storing up wrath against yourself for the day of
Gods wrath, when his righteous judgment will be
revealed. God will repay everyone according to
what they have done. To those who by persistence
in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality,
he will give eternal life. But for those who are
self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow
evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will
be trouble and distress for every human being who
does evil first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile but glory, honor and peace for everyone
who does good first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
15
The trick is always, who is good enough or
bad enough

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

16
Does God grade on a curve?

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

17
Divine Butler, Cosmic Therapist
As one 14-year-old white Catholic boy from
Pennsylvania, in response to our inquiry about
why religion matters, said, " 'Cause God made us
and if you ask him for something I believe he
gives it to you. Yeah, he hasn't let me down yet.
So what is God like? God is a spirit that
grants you anything you want, but not anything
bad." Similarly, this 17-year-old conservative
Protestant girl from Florida told us, "God's all
around you, all the time. He believes in
forgiving people and whatnot and he's there to
guide us, for somebody to talk to and help us
through our problems. Of course, he doesn't talk
back."
18
Divine Butler, Cosmic Therapist
This last statement is perhaps doubly telling
God, being distant, does not directly verbally
answer prayers, according to this girl, but he
also does not offer any challenging comebacks to
or arguments about our requests. Perhaps the
worst the God of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism can
do is simply fail to provide his promised
therapeutic blessings, in which case those who
believe in him are entitled to be grumpy. Pg. 165
19
Would such a god

• Send a flood because the evil of people was too
  great?

20
Genesis 65-8 (NRSV)The Lord saw that the
wickedness of humankind was great in the earth,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of
their hearts was only evil continually. And the
Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the
earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the
Lord said, I will blot out from the earth the
human beings I have createdpeople together with
animals and creeping things and birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I have made them.
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Genesis 65-8 (NRSV)The Lord saw that the
wickedness of humankind was great in the earth,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of
their hearts was only evil continually. And the
Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the
earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the
Lord said, I will blot out from the earth the
human beings I have createdpeople together with
animals and creeping things and birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah
found favor in the sight of the Lord.
22
Would such a god

• Send a flood because the evil of people was too
  great?
  
• Send a prophet to warn an evil city about their
  imminent destruction?

23
Jonah 31-5 (NRSV)The word of the Lord came to
Jonah a second time, saying, Get up, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the
message that I tell you. So Jonah set out and
went to Nineveh, according to the word of the
Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city,
a three days walk across. Jonah began to go into
the city, going a days walk. And he cried out,
Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown!
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Jonah 31-5 (NRSV)The word of the Lord came to
Jonah a second time, saying, Get up, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the
message that I tell you. So Jonah set out and
went to Nineveh, according to the word of the
Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city,
a three days walk across. Jonah began to go into
the city, going a days walk. And he cried out,
Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown! And the people of Nineveh believed
God they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great
and small, put on sackcloth.
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Would such a god

• Send a flood because the evil of people was too
  great?
  
• Send a prophet to warn an evil city about their
  imminent destruction?
  
• Send his own son to die a brutal and shameful
  death for people who hadnt a clue?

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Q A 9 Q. But doesn't God do us an injustice  
by requiring in his law   what we are unable to
do?
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Q. Is God unfair by having high expectations and
not grading on a curve?
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Q. Is God unfair by having high expectations and
not grading on a curve? A. No, God created hum
ans with the ability to keep the law.1   They,
however, tempted by the devil,2      in
reckless disobedience,3      robbed themselves
and all their descendants of these gifts.4
   1 Gen. 131 Eph. 424   2 Gen. 313 John
844   3 Gen. 36   4 Rom. 512, 18, 19
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Q A 10 Q. Will God permit   such disobedience
and rebellion   to go unpunished?
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(Q A 10) Q. Wont God simply in the end say, o
h well, it was all just a little problem, go
about your business, whatever makes you happy,
right?!
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(Q A 10) Q. Wont God simply in the end say, o
h well, it was all just a little problem, go
about your business, whatever makes you happy,
right?! A. Certainly not.   He is terribly ang
ry      about the sin we are born with      as
well as the sins we personally commit.
   As a just judge   he punishes them now and in
eternity.1    He has declared      "Cursed is
everyone who does not continue to do     
everything written in the Book of the Law.\92
   1 Ex. 347 Ps. 54-6 Nah. 12 Rom. 118
Eph. 56 Heb. 927   2 Gal. 310 Deut. 2726
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Final Cut
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Rememory
34
Edited telling of a life
35
Selected Scenes that help people remember the
best
36
Someone has to edit the footage
37
Someone sees the truth
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And bears the burdens of the secrets and the lies
39
It is an act of terrible injustice to reduced
history to a rememory
40
To tell the victims of the fall that their cry
will ultimately go unheard
41
Gods answer to the catastrophe of the fall is
not ah shucks, Im sure they all mean well
enough
42
This seems fair but overestimates who we are and
what we are capable of

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

43
God grading on a curve leaves the consequences of
our sin unanswered

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

44
It tells all of the victims of this world that
ultimately God doesnt care about the wrong done
to you
45
Look at your own life. How well have you loved
God and your neighbor?
46
Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism

• Places us as god and God as our happiness
  servant.
  
• Children who believe this will be disappointed
  and fire him. The model is wrong
  

47
Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism

• Naively disregards the consequence of our own
  evil in this world
  
• And wants to just reduce life to an edited
  rememory, leaving the fact of the devastation
  of planet earth unanswered
  

48
We need to be fixed, from the inside out, from
the ground up and we have no power to do it
49
Romans 1
Romans 118-20 (TNIV)The wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all the godlessness
and wickedness of human beings who suppress the
truth by their wickedness, since what may be
known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them. For since the creation of
the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal
power and divine naturehave been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made, so that
people are without excuse.
50
There will be judgment day
Romans 25-11 (TNIV)But because of your
stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are
storing up wrath against yourself for the day of
Gods wrath, when his righteous judgment will be
revealed. God will repay everyone according to
what they have done. To those who by persistence
in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality,
he will give eternal life. But for those who are
self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow
evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will
be trouble and distress for every human being who
does evil first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile but glory, honor and peace for everyone
who does good first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
51
Romans 321-26 (TNIV)But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify.
52
Romans 321-26 (TNIV)But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe.
53
Romans 321-26 (TNIV)But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe. There is no difference
between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and all are
justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
54
Romans 321-26 (TNIV)But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe. There is no difference
between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and all are
justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God
presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his bloodto be received
by faith.
55
Romans 321-26 (TNIV)But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe. There is no difference
between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and all are
justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God
presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his bloodto be received
by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished he did it to
demonstrate his justice at the present time, so
as to be just and the one who justifies those who
have faith in Jesus.
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Will you place your hope and the hope of the
world on a rememory
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Is your hope that God grades on a curve?

• God exists who created and orders the world and
  watches over human life on earth.
  
• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
  each other, as taught in the Bible and by most
  world religions.
  
• The central goal of life is to be happy and to
  feel good about oneself.
  
• God does not need to be particularly involved in
  ones life except when God is needed to resolve a
  problem.
  
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

58
Dont you wish for true justice and true
restoration?
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Look for your goodness somewhere else
Romans 321-26 (TNIV)But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe. There is no difference
between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and all are
justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God
presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his bloodto be received
by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished he did it to
demonstrate his justice at the present time, so
as to be just and the one who justifies those who
have faith in Jesus.