Having an answer part 5
Over the past 4 weeks we have answered the questions like how do I know god exists?, how can I know the bible is true?, aren’t all religions basically the same and if God is so good why does he allow suffering in the world? If you missed any of those weeks I would recommend getting the CD or the notes online. These are some of the most asked questions by people that we witness to. Today we will look at four other questions.
1.Isn’t Christianity a crutch for weak people? This is the question often asked by atheists. They say that the human race just sat around campfires and invented God to help them make sense about the world rather than deal with the fact that we are alone and that there is nothing after we die. Not a really positive outlook but it reflects the view of 15% of Americans and nearly half of Europe. They think this life is all they have and that religion is just a way to cope with the hardship of life.
Karl Marx believed that religion was an attractive escape-mechanism for the downtrodden and depressed. Sigmund Freud believed that humans in the past dealt with the threat of the forces of Nature by personalizing them: If we can make the wind or rain or volcanoes into a god, we can reason with them. And if we can reason with them, maybe we can persuade them to show mercy.
“Religion is the opiate of
the people.” Karl Marx
Paul tells us in Romans that people find excuses for not believing in God.
Romans 1:18-20 (NIV)
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Two things- The idea that Christianity was simply made up from fairy tales is ridiculous when you consider the evidence that we have looked at so far. The evidence for the resurrection, historical events prophesied hundreds of years before they happened, the uniqueness of the scripture itself and many other factors show that Christianity isn’t based on some psychological smoke and mirrors. But is a belief system founded in truth. If an argument can be made that people invented the idea of God for fear that there might be nothingnout there, a stronger argument can be made that people have tried to un-invent the idea of God for fear that there might be SOMETHING out there
The bigger threat for many is that God is out there. Many of us may try to hide things about ourselves but the idea of an all knowing, all seeing God says there is someone who there is no hiding from. This is why there is probably more fear of flying than there is driving. Even though more accidents happen with driving. The car you can control, your in the drivers seat. The plane you can’t, you have to rely on the pilot. Those who don’t want God to pilot their lives try to find ways to deny his existence. Is Christianity a crutch for people who can’t handle the idea that there might be no power in the universe that can help us? Or is atheism a crutch for people who can’t handle the idea that there might be a Divine Power in the universe that can judge us?
2. Will God send to hell those who have never heard of Jesus?
We all want to believe that God is totally fair and totally just and when we think about those who grow up in areas where there is very little exposure to Christianity we wonder how God deals with that person who never heard of him. There are places in the world where the gospel is not heard as often either because of geographic isolation such as some tribal groups experience or because of government oppression such as happens in middle eastern countries.
As humans we long to create a belief system where all roads lead to heaven, because we long for that to be true; the truth remains that nothing in the created order works that way. All roads don’t lead to Miami. In fact, only a very few roads will
actually take you to Miami. Most roads lead elsewhere.” Dan Grider
But as we just we just read in Romans chapter 1 God has made his existence plain by creation itself so that man is without excuse. Not only that but if you go to
Romans 2:14-15 (NIV)
14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
So not only do all human beings on this planet have the natural revelation of God as evidence by creation itself but scripture tells us that the requirements of God’s law is written on their hearts. the whole concept of law making didn’t come through some evolution of the human mind. No, it is imprinted on the heart of every human being born in this world regardless of what culture or tradition they are raised in. As mankind is made in the image of God this comes as part of the package. Obviously from these scriptures we can see that God holds everyone accountable for the level of understanding they have of him. We see an example in the book of Jonah who was called to warn the Ninevites ,that is the Assyrians, that they must repent of their ways and follow God or face his wrath. In fact the prophets of the Old Testament often addressed foreign nations not just Israel and warned what would happen to them if they did not obey God. Oracles of God were given to Egypt, Lebanon, the Babylonians, the Persians etc…These people did not have all the Jewish laws and they worshipped their own gods but God did not give them a pass for growing up in a different culture or believing in false God’s
The primary problem is not a lack of information about God but a willing rebelliousness towards him. Again pointing back to
Romans 1:18(NIV)
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
People suppress the truth within themselves, not wanting to be judged they justify in their own minds their sinful behavior and instead make up their own belief system. They make God into an image in their mind that they can accept. Even though it is not an idol made of wood or stone they bow down and worship this image that has come from their imagination rather than from scripture. A lot of people say they are Christians but have a view of Jesus that is different from the one in the bible. Either that or they deny what is plainly revealed in nature and make up other explanations for life such as it all happened by chance or by accident.
Romans 1:21-22 (NIV)
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
God calls every one of us, regardless of culture or religion, to respond to Him. The Bible says that we are responsible to respond to God at the level of our revelation, and all of us are without excuse. Obviously, a person who has received the full knowledge of Christ has become responsible to respond to the message of Jesus as the Bible reveals. But the person who has never heard the gospel is still responsible for worshipping the creator of the universe and the one who has put his law in their hearts.
3.If the church is so great, why is it full of hypocrites?
“How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite!
First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
Luke 6:42, NLT
Karl Marx was born into a long line of devout Jews. His father, Heinrich, was a well-respected Jewish lawyer in the Prussian city of Trier. Heinrich’s father and grandfather were both rabbis. As Trier’s economic climate changed, Heinrich’s clients exited the city for employment elsewhere. In order to preserve his business, Heinrich abandoned the Jewish faith and joined the Lutheran church. Karl believed that his father was a hypocrite, leaving one faith system for another not out of conviction but for expediency. For the rest of Marx’s life, this feeling that his father had acted hypocritically left him with a negative impression of both his father and his father’s new religion.
We all know someone who attends church on Sundays and “lives like hell” the rest of the week. How can this be? If Christianity is true, how can people who claim to be Christians lie to their friends, cheat in their businesses, treat others harshly and generally do things that are mean and nasty?
The Church Should Be Full of Hypocrites-Jesus founded His church to bring people into relationship with God and to help them become more like God. The one trait common to all Christians is their admission that they need God’s help with their lives. So if a church is doing what God wants, it will be attracting people who look and act like they need a Savior. Does this excuse arrogant, immature or hypocritical behavior by church members? By no means! But maybe it does explain it. If a church is doing its job right, people with problems will feel free to enter into the life of that church and bring all their baggage with them. Hopefully, over time, as God heals their wounds, their baggage will shrink.
Not All Christians are Hypocrites- I have watched many genuine transformations in my life of people who have come to a place of brokenness whether from drug abuse, troubled marriages, depression whatever it might be. As they came humbly before God there was a transformation. Sometimes it is a radical transformation sometimes it is a gradual building of new character traits. Genuine Christians that see their flaws and are concerned when they fall short are not hypocrites. The word hypocrite means to be an actor. Hypocrites are not concerned about being hypocritical. They see nothing wrong with what they’re doing. The genuine believer on the other hand has conviction of sin and desires to be at a better place in their walk with God. Before we call someone a hypocrite we had better check for the log in our own eye 1st because we are all at different stages of construction.
4.What happens to me when I die?-
Even though recent polling has suggested an increase in the amount of atheism or agnosticism in our country it doesn’t really tell the whole story. There has actually been a far greater growth in spiritual interest and the after life especially in the past 15 years. What is good about this is that it means people are thinking about where they go when they die. What is not so good is that most people are preparing to go to heaven without consulting the God of heaven. In fact many of these people leave God out of their lives all together.
- Research has been done in the are of near death experiences. We always hear about those who saw a tunnel of light or had a glimpse of heaven be we hardly hear about the other 50% of those documented experiences, the ones where there is a glimpse of hell. I knew a lady who’s heart had stopped on the operating table and I am not sure how long she was gone but she awoke in what she described as a lake of blood surrounded by flames and she could hear screams. It was so vivid that when she was revived and awoke from surgery she gave heart to the Lord. If the thousands of these documented cases are in fact true than there is proof of something beyond this life and that should make the concept of where we spend eternity relevant.
Jesus taught more on eternity than any of the prophets. He taught that there where two deaths. Physical death in this life and a spiritual death in the next one for those who are perishing or do not accept salvation from him. Spiritual death is eternity in hell a place that Jesus described as a place of sadness and darkness. While spiritual life is a being with God in heaven. Jesus said
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Jesus further illustrates the nature of eternity in a story of two very different men. The first owned much, and the second owned little. The wealthy man was possessed
by his possessions and was concerned about finding pleasure in life. The poor man ate the breadcrumbs from the rich man’s table. At the time, it was customary for wealthy
people to wipe their hands on bread like napkins and then dispose of the bread by tossing it from the table. The poor would come after the meal and eat the bread that the
wealthy had tossed away. Eventually, both rich and poor men die and are
faced with two very different eternities. The poor man, because of his priorities, had inherited God’s eternity. By no means does this story imply that Jesus condemns
riches; however, he does caution us not to become so busy accumulating things that we have no time for God. Jesus also distinguishes between the place of eternal
comfort and the place of eternal torment and separation, and He clearly reminds us that after we die, there are only two alternatives
In our popular culture where everything is relative, many people do not accept this teaching of Jesus. People prefer to believe that heaven exists, but they deny the existence of hell, or they assume it is simply a temporary place of penance. Many who believe in heaven cut-and-paste it together with mythological icons such as clouds, angel wings and harps.
The Choice is Yours
Jesus’ teaching about the nature of heaven and hell was not intended to scare us; it was meant to teach us how to live. Imagine you and I were driving and saw a sign
warning that a bridge ahead was unsafe. Would we speed up, ignoring the people and signs trying to stop us from driving across the bridge? If we refused to stop
despite the advice, we would be responsible for our own deaths. God has warned us that this life and the decisions we make in this life are serious matters. We will
go to one of two destinies in eternity, and we are each fully responsible for our eternal destination. Author C.S. Lewis said, “Hell is locked from the inside. The residents
of hell have chosen the outcome of hell with intention and clarity.” 13
The benefit of accepting Christ as our Savior is that we can live without fear. Jesus told us that we do not know the time of His return, so we should live our lives
prepared for it. He said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) Because we do not know when that day will come, we certainly do not know if we can afford to wait to
make a decision to follow Christ.
