Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000014
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01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:13 Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for this wonderful day that 01:17 You have given us. 01:18 We thank You for the privilege of living in a country 01:21 where we can worship freely, and read Your Holy Word 01:25 freely and obey it. 01:27 We ask that as we open that word this evening that You will 01:32 be with us through the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 01:34 Help us to understand the very important issues 01:39 that we're going to bring forth tonight. 01:41 We thank You Lord for hearing our prayer for we ask it 01:45 in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:47 The title of our study today is, New Age or Ancient Lie? 01:59 And we want to begin our study at Matthew 6:9, Matthew 6:9. 02:09 There's a very important principle that is expressed here 02:14 in what is known as The Lord's Prayer. 02:17 Matthew 6:9. Here Jesus says this: 02:36 Now why are we beginning our study with this verse? 02:39 Because this verse has some very important information 02:45 which will be useful in our study in understanding our study 02:50 for this evening. 02:51 First of all this verse makes it very clear that God 02:57 is a personal God, because we're supposed to 03:03 address Him as Father. 03:05 And so if He's our Father, we are His sons and daughters. 03:11 We are His children. 03:12 The only way that this can be true is if God is a person. 03:17 The second point that I want us to notice is that God is in a 03:25 specific place, which in the Bible is called heaven. 03:30 In other words, God inhabits a certain place, 03:34 a certain location, which in this verse is called heaven. 03:41 Now we're going to notice in our study this evening many things 03:46 that you've thought about, and you've heard many times before. 03:50 But I want you to notice the way that all of the points 03:54 are interconnected, because at the end of our study we're going 03:58 to talk about a philosophy which has almost taken over the whole 04:02 world, including the Christian world. 04:06 I'm talking about New Age philosophies 04:10 and New Age theologies. 04:12 Now go with me to Genesis 1:1, and this verse we practically 04:19 don't even have to look it up, but I'm going to look it up 04:22 in my Bible anyway. 04:23 It has a very important principle. It says there: 04:35 Now you say, Why would you read that verse? 04:38 For a very simple reason. 04:39 This verse makes it very clear that God 04:45 pre-existed the universe. 04:49 In other words, God existed before His creation. 04:54 God and the universe are not co-eternal. 05:00 God existed before the universe was created. 05:06 God is distinct from His universe. 05:10 God is transcendent. 05:13 That is He is separate from His universe, from His creation. 05:18 God is the Creator and the universe is His creation. 05:23 Notice Colossians 1:16, 17, Colossians 1:16, 17. 05:32 This is speaking about Jesus Christ, and it enunciates 05:39 several very important principles. It says: 06:16 Is it clear to you in these verses 06:19 that Jesus Christ was the Creator? 06:21 Is it also clear to you that Jesus Christ existed 06:26 before His creation? 06:27 Is it clear to you that there's a distinction between 06:31 Jesus and His creation? 06:34 That Jesus transcends His creation. 06:37 He pre-exists His creation. 06:39 He is separate and distinct from creation. 06:43 He is distinct, in other words, from the universe. 06:47 Notice another text that enunciates this same principle. 06:52 You're probably wondering why I'm underlining this so much. 06:55 You're going to see before we reach the end 06:57 of our study today. John 1:1-3. 07:14 Now lets stop there just for a moment. 07:22 It doesn't say, In the beginning became the Word. 07:26 It says, In the beginning the Word already was. 07:31 In other words, Jesus existed before the beginning. 07:36 Before the beginning of what? 07:38 Let's continue reading verse 2. It says: 07:56 According to this verse, did Jesus pre-exist His creation? 08:03 Is He distinct from His creation? 08:06 Does He transcend? 08:08 Is He above His creation? 08:10 Yes, He is distinct and separate from His creation, 08:15 and the Bible calls Him our Father. 08:18 Of course, when He becomes incarnate 08:20 He becomes our brother. 08:21 But as our Creator Jesus is our Father. 08:26 Now this is a very important point that we're beginning with 08:30 in our study today. 08:31 Jesus pre-existed His creation. 08:35 He brought everything into existence. 08:38 He is distinct from His creation. 08:42 He transcends His creation. 08:44 All things came from Him, which means that there was a time 08:48 when there was no universe and only God existed. 08:53 Because if you believe that the universe has always existed 08:57 you would have to conclude that the universe is equal to God. 09:02 But scripture makes it clear that the universe, 09:05 at some point in eternity past, we don't know exactly when, 09:10 the universe came into existence. 09:12 It is not eternal. 09:13 It was created. God created it. 09:17 Now I want you to notice Genesis 1:11, Genesis 1:11. 09:25 We're going to go through creation week and see what it 09:30 was that Jesus created. 09:32 Genesis 1:11. By the way, when it says here that God said, 09:38 we know that the person of the Godhead who is 09:40 doing this is Jesus. 09:42 All things were made through Him, 09:46 and He is before all things. 09:50 And through Him all things were created. 09:53 And so it says in verse 11: 10:11 Who created the plants? 10:13 Who created the vegetation? Jesus. 10:17 Is the vegetation eternal like Jesus is, 10:23 or did vegetation have an origin? 10:26 Vegetation had an origin according to this verse. 10:30 Now go with me to Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:21. 10:41 You could put Jesus there in the light of John 1. 11:02 Did the fish and the birds have an origin or a beginning? Yes. 11:07 Who made them? God, or Jesus. 11:11 Go with me to verse 24, verse 24 of Genesis 1. 11:30 Were the beasts of the field created by Jesus? 11:34 Did they have an origin or a beginning during creation week? 11:38 Absolutely. Now lets go to Genesis 2:7, Genesis 2:7. 11:46 Here it speaks about the creation of man. 11:50 And we're told this: 12:07 Is man eternal, or did man have a beginning? 12:12 It goes without saying that, according to this verse, 12:16 man did not always exist. 12:18 At some point God, Jesus, in the light of John 1, created man. 12:26 Now go with me to Isaiah 64, Isaiah 64:8, Isaiah 64:8. 12:36 Here we find an additional description 12:40 of the creation of man. 12:41 It says there, once again Isaiah 64:8, But now, O Lord, 12:48 You are our what? father; we are the clay, and you our potter; 13:01 and all we are the work of your hand. 13:06 Very close to Genesis 2:7 where it says that God took dust 13:10 from the ground. Actually, it was clay. 13:12 It was wet dust. And He formed man. 13:15 The only thing is in Isaiah 64 it tells us 13:19 that God is our Father. 13:22 In other words, Jesus is our Father. 13:25 So the book of Genesis makes it very clear that everything 13:31 in this earth had an origin; had a beginning. 13:35 And it also clearly reveals that God, who created these things, 13:40 pre-existed these things, and actually transcends, 13:45 and is separate and distinct from His creation. 13:49 Now lets notice where life originated. 13:54 It goes without saying that plants are alive, 13:58 and birds and fish are alive, animals are alive, 14:00 human beings are alive. 14:02 But what was the source, explicitly, 14:05 of the life of creation? 14:07 Go with me to Acts 17, Acts 17, and we'll begin 14:15 reading at verse 24. 14:17 Acts 17:24. Here the apostle Paul is entertaining a dialog 14:23 with the philosophers at Athens. 14:27 You know, the Greeks were renowned for their philosophy. 14:30 And so the apostle Paul matched philosophy with philosophy. 14:35 Now I want you to notice what he says to those who were 14:38 worshipping the unknown God. Verse 24: 15:00 And now notice this: 15:47 Where did life come from, according to the apostle Paul? 15:50 It came from God! 15:53 God is the source of our life. 15:55 He is the source of our existence. 15:58 Now notice what we find in Genesis 2:9, Genesis 2:9. 16:06 God, that is Jesus, placed in the garden of Eden 16:10 a special tree, and Genesis 2:9 tells us about that tree. 16:16 It says there: 16:34 Now the tree that I want us to focus on here 16:36 is the tree of life. 16:38 Question, Did man have to eat from the tree of life in order 16:43 to have his existence perpetuated? 16:46 Did he have to eat from the tree of life to continue living? 16:51 He most certainly did. 16:52 You say, How do we know that? 16:54 It's very simple. After Adam and Eve sinned they were cast out 16:59 of the garden, because God did not want them to eat from 17:03 the tree of life and continue living forever. 17:06 Now if they already had eternal life abiding within themselves 17:10 it would have done absolutely no good for God to forbid them from 17:14 eating from the tree. 17:15 Notice Genesis 3 on this point. 17:18 Genesis 3:22-24. 17:57 Let me ask you, was the life of man contingent? 18:01 Do you understand that word contingent? 18:04 In other words, did man depend on a source of life outside 18:10 himself? Yes. The life was not inside, the life was in the tree 18:15 which God planted in the garden. 18:18 In this way God wanted to teach man that his source of life 18:21 was not within himself. 18:23 His source of life was outside of him in the tree 18:26 which God had planted. 18:29 In other words, the life of man was derived. 18:32 The life of man was received from God, from the Creator. 18:36 It was not inherent. 18:38 It did not belong to man by nature. 18:41 He could perpetuate his existence only by partaking of 18:45 the external tree that God had made. 18:48 Now another very important point that we find in the book of 18:52 Genesis is that man was created to have dominion over the earth. 18:57 Notice Genesis 1:26, and then we'll read also verse 28. 19:04 Genesis 1, and I'll read verse 26 and then I'll go to verse 28. 19:10 It says in verse 26: Then God said, Let us make man 19:14 in our image, according to our likeness. 19:17 Let them have what? dominion over the fish of the sea, 19:22 over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, 19:25 over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 19:28 that creeps on the earth. Verse 28. 19:47 Notice that God created man to have dominion over creation. 19:53 Let me ask you this then, was man superior to creation? 19:58 Was he? Was he king of creation? 20:03 Absolutely, because he was told to have dominion. 20:06 Of course, above and over man, God had dominion over him. 20:11 But I want you to notice that man was placed to rule 20:15 over nature, which means that nature and man are not equal. 20:19 Animals and man are not the same. 20:25 Plants and human beings are not the same. 20:29 Planets and human beings are not the same. 20:32 What I'm saying is that man was created to have 20:37 dominion over nature. 20:38 He is distinct and separate from nature, because he was created 20:43 in the image of God. 20:45 Now notice also Genesis 2:15, Genesis 2:15. 20:52 By the way, this was supposed to be a loving dominion. 20:54 Man was not supposed to mistreat the ecosystem. 20:59 In other words, he was supposed to care for creation. 21:03 He was supposed to care for the air, and for the rivers, 21:06 and for the earth, because this was going to be his home. 21:10 He was to care for creation, not because creation was God, 21:13 but because creation was made by God, and it belonged to God. 21:18 Now notice Genesis 2:15, Genesis 2:15. It says here: 21:37 What did God place Adam in the garden for? to be the caretaker; 21:43 the one who would maintain the garden beautiful and in order. 21:50 In other words, man was superior to creation that God had made. 21:57 He was made to take care of the ecosystem. 22:01 Are you understanding what I am saying? 22:03 All of this is of critical importance, 22:05 we'll notice as we study along. 22:07 God made man. He made a wonderful body, didn't He? 22:12 Now notice what the apostle Paul says in 22:15 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. 22:22 You know this is something that it would be a good idea for 22:26 Christians to read on a regular basis. 22:28 The apostle Paul says, For do you not know that your body 22:32 is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, 22:35 whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 22:39 For you were bought at a price: therefore glorify God 22:44 in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 22:50 Why was Adam supposed to take care of the garden of Eden? 22:53 Because it was God's. 22:57 Why, according to the apostle Paul, are we supposed to 23:00 take care of our body? because it is God's. 23:04 Don't forget that, because later on we're going to find that 23:07 New Agers believe that we're supposed to take care of 23:09 the body, and we're supposed to take care of nature, 23:12 not because they are God's, but because they are God. 23:16 There's a difference! 23:19 Now, let's notice a few other things about creation. 23:25 Genesis 2:16, 17, Genesis 2: 16, 17. 23:33 This God who gave life to man, who created nature, 23:40 who placed Adam and Eve as caretakers of His creation, 23:48 or rulers over His creation, had a law which He expected 23:54 Adam and Eve to obey. 23:55 Notice Genesis 2:16, 17, Genesis 2:16, 17. It says there: 24:19 Did God have a law that He expected His creatures to obey? 24:23 Yes or No? Was this law external to man, or did man just guess 24:30 within himself what God expected from him? No! 24:34 The fact is that God had a law outside man, external to man, 24:40 which He expected man to what? 24:43 He expected man to obey. 24:46 Was Adam, and was Eve accountable 24:51 to God as a superior? Absolutely! 24:56 Notice that after they sinned something very interesting 25:00 occurred. Genesis 3:8-11, Genesis 3:8-11. 25:08 Notice that He's calling Adam to render Him an account. 25:12 Adam is supposed to give God an accounting of his actions. 25:16 Does this make God greater than Adam? 25:18 Does this show that God is separate from Adam? 25:22 That God has a law which He expects His creatures to obey? 25:25 Absolutely! Now notice Genesis 3:8: And they heard 25:30 the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden 25:32 in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves 25:36 from the presence of the Lord God among the 25:38 trees of the garden. 25:39 Then the Lord God called Adam, and said to him, Where are you? 25:43 So he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, 25:48 because I was naked; and I hid myself. 25:58 Is God asking Adam to render Him an account; 26:02 an accounting for what he's done? Absolutely! 26:05 The accounting is of a creature to his Creator. 26:10 Notice also Genesis 3:13, when He comes and speaks with Eve. 26:16 It says there in verse 13: 26:23 The woman said, The serpent deceived, me and I ate. 26:29 Is God asking Adam and Eve to render Him an accounting 26:34 for what they have done? Absolutely! 26:37 For breaking His law; His external, objective law 26:41 outside of man? Absolutely, Yes! 26:46 In fact, do you know the Bible in many places says that we as 26:50 creatures will have to render God an 26:52 accounting for our actions. 26:54 Let's notice several of those verses. 26:56 Go with me to 2 Corinthians 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10. 27:05 Here the apostle Paul presents this very important principle 27:09 that God is the Creator, and we as creatures someday will have 27:14 to stand before His judgment bar, and God is going to hold us 27:17 accountable as to whether we obeyed His law or not. 27:21 Notice 2 Corinthians 5:10. 27:24 Here the apostle Paul says: 27:36 The judgment seat of whom? 27:40 Who's going to be our judge? Christ. 27:45 Who is our Creator? Christ. 27:48 Will we have to render an account to our Creator? Yes. 27:52 By the way, whom did Adam and Eve render an account to? 27:55 It must have been who? Christ. 27:59 Because we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 28:02 Now notice: 28:13 Must we someday render an account for our 28:18 actions to our Creator, to Jesus Christ? Absolutely! 28:23 Notice also John 5:22, 27, John 5:22, 27. 28:31 This theme of us giving an accounting for what we've done 28:34 to our Creator God is very abundant in scripture. 28:39 It says there in John 5:22: 28:50 Notice verse 27: It says: 28:55 That is the Father. 29:06 According to the Bible, who is going to be the judge? 29:10 The judge is going to be none less than 29:13 Jesus Christ our Creator. 29:15 We will all have to render Him an account as to a superior. 29:21 Now lets go to Ecclesiastes 11:9. 29:25 I want this point to be absolutely abundantly clear. 29:28 Ecclesiastes 11:9, and here Solomon is speaking 29:37 to the young people. 29:38 He's speaking to youth, and he says this: 29:44 He's speaking kind of sarcastically. He's saying: 29:53 In other words, live it up. 29:57 That is have a good time, but now notice: 30:10 And then chapter 12 and verse 1 says to the youth, 30:14 because you remember that God is going to bring you into 30:17 judgment, He says: 30:24 Do you see, once again, that the idea is that we will 30:27 have to appear before our Creator in judgment 30:33 to give an account for our actions, according to scripture? 30:36 By the way, do you know that we are now in that judgment? 30:40 Go with me to Revelation 14, Revelation 14:6, 7, 30:46 Revelation 14:6, 7. It says here: 31:09 Ha Ha, you're sharp tonight! It says: 31:25 Do you see how the idea of judgment is connected to the 31:28 fact that God is the Creator; that Jesus is the Creator? 31:30 It says, Worship Him who what? who created the heavens, 31:34 the earth, the seas, and the fountains of waters. 31:37 Now is this clear that we're all going to have to render 31:40 an account to God, because God is going to judge us? 31:43 Jesus is going to judge us? 31:44 Absolutely, the scripture is clear. 31:47 Now let me ask you, as a result of sin did man begin to die? 31:54 Man had to eat from the tree of life to continue living; 31:59 God's tree. But when Adam and Eve sinned, did they and their 32:04 descendents begin to die, just like God said? 32:06 So man must not be immortal then. 32:09 Now notice several verses on this point. 32:12 Genesis 2:17, I don't even have to look this one up. 32:17 It says in Genesis 2:17: 32:26 In the day that you disobey My law you will what? 32:31 And, of course, God is saying, I will judge you, 32:33 and if you're found guilty, in the judgment, 32:37 then you will what? 32:39 Then you will die. 32:40 Did God pronounce that sentence against Adam? 32:43 In Genesis 3:19 God said to Adam, Dust you are, and to dust 32:52 you shall what? and to dust you shall return. 32:55 By the way, how many people in this world have sinned? 32:59 Anybody here that's never sinned? 33:03 Don't raise your hand. 33:05 I don't want you to sin, because you'd be lying. 33:09 The apostle Paul says there is none righteous, no, not one! 33:16 That's in Romans 3:10, and he says in Romans 3:23: 33:21 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 33:25 And as a result of disobeying God's holy law, appearing guilty 33:30 before the judgment battle of God, to render an accounting 33:33 for what we've done, the sentence of death is 33:37 pronounced against man. 33:39 And, by the way, the sentence of death has been 33:42 dictated upon all men, because all men have sinned. 33:45 Notice Romans 5:12, Romans 5:12, on this point. 33:52 Here the apostle Paul explains the consequences of sin 33:57 with the following words: 34:12 Death spread to how many? 34:14 Death spread to all men. 34:17 Let me ask you, is God mortal? 34:20 Can God die? God can't die. 34:27 Do you remember we read a text where it says, 34:30 that only God has what? 34:33 Only God has immortality. 34:37 Now you're probably saying, Pastor Bohr, this is a pretty 34:40 negative picture that you've painted here tonight. 34:45 You know the fact that God has a law that He holds His 34:50 creatures accountable to? 34:51 We've all disobeyed that law therefore when we appear 34:57 before the judgment seat of Christ we're all doomed. 35:01 We're all condemned to die, because we've sinned. 35:05 You say, Pastor, then how can anyone in this world ever 35:10 be saved from death? 35:12 The answer is very simple. 35:15 The Creator, according to the Bible, came down to this earth 35:20 to pay the debt that we owed. 35:24 He came down to this earth to suffer the death 35:28 which we should suffer so that we could have life. 35:31 In other words, because of sin, because of death, Jesus came 35:38 to this earth to pay our debt, so that we could be redeemed 35:43 from the power of death. 35:45 It was the only way out. 35:47 There was no other way of escape. 35:50 By the way, have you noticed that in Genesis 2:17 God said 35:55 to Adam, When you're 930 years old you will surely die? 35:59 What is it that he said in Genesis 2:17? 36:04 He said, The day that you eat thereof, you will what? 36:08 You will surely die. 36:11 But Adam did not die that very day. 36:13 You know, people say, Well, he began to die. 36:15 He died spiritually, you know. 36:17 And all of those have an element of truth. 36:19 But God was saying, The day that you eat from this tree, 36:22 that day you are going to die; second death, 36:25 eternal separation from God. 36:27 But Adam didn't die that day. 36:30 And so you ask the question, Why not? 36:33 Very simple. We've studied this before. 36:35 In Genesis 3:21 it says that God took the skins God made for Adam 36:42 and his wife, tunics of skins, and He clothed 36:47 the shame of their nakedness. 36:49 What needed to happen in order to get the skins 36:51 of those animals? 36:52 Those animals had to die. 36:56 The only way of getting the skin of an animal 36:58 is by slaying the animal. 36:59 In other words, the very day that Adam and Eve sinned, 37:02 they appeared before the Creator. 37:04 They said, We're guilty, we sinned, we deserve death. 37:08 But God, instead of executing the sentence of death against 37:11 them, executed the sentence of death against two lambs. 37:17 You say, but the blood of lambs and goats can't take away sin. 37:21 You're right! But those lambs represented Jesus Christ. 37:27 The Creator who would come and take the place of all of His 37:31 creatures, and suffer on the cross of Calvary the death that 37:36 His creatures should suffer. 37:38 And Jesus now became accountable before His Father in our place. 37:43 That's why in John 1:29 it says: 37:57 And as we're told in John 1:14: 38:05 In other words, the only way that humanity could be redeemed 38:11 from the sentence of death was if the Creator took the place 38:16 of His creatures, and suffered the death which they should die. 38:20 There was no other way out. 38:22 Now two or three other things before we study this world view, 38:29 this totally radically different world view of pantheism. 38:33 Do you remember that in the garden of Eden, 38:36 and this is just review, the devil came and he told Eve, 38:41 You will not surely die. 38:47 And then he said, God actually knows that the day you eat 38:55 of this tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God 39:01 knowing good and evil. 39:03 Now he's not saying you're going to be little Gods. 39:06 He saying, You are going to be God, just like He is God. 39:12 Some versions translate it, You will be like God's. 39:16 The word there is Elohim, the very same word that appears 39:18 in Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens 39:22 and the earth. The translation needs to be God. 39:24 You will be like God; you will be God's in yourselves. 39:28 You won't have to depend on that individual, 39:31 who claims to be God, who intimidated you saying, 39:35 Don't eat from the tree, because if you eat you're going to die. 39:37 He knows very well you're not going to die, 39:39 is what the devil is saying. 39:41 He knows that you're going to be just like Him, 39:43 and God doesn't want any rivals around. 39:45 He doesn't want any competition. 39:48 So the devil is sharing two lies: 39:51 1. You're not going to die. 39:52 2. You don't have to obey God's law, because you can be a law 39:57 unto yourself. Now let me ask you something. 40:02 Why do we worship God? 40:09 Because the Bible says that God is the what? 40:14 He's the Creator. 40:15 Notice Psalms 95 very quickly. 40:18 Psalm 95, and let's read verses 1 through 6, and we'll do this 40:24 very quickly. Psalm 95:1-6. It says: O come, let us sing 40:31 to the Lord: let us shout joyfully to the 40:33 rock of our salvation. 40:34 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, 40:37 Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms. 40:43 For the Lord is the great God, and the great King 40:45 above all gods. 40:46 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: 40:49 the heights of the hills are his also. 40:52 The sea is his, for he made it: and his hands 40:55 formed the dry land. 40:56 And now notice verse 6: O come, let us worship and bow down: 41:02 let us kneel before the Lord our maker. 41:09 Why do we worship God? 41:11 We worship God because He is our what? our Creator! 41:16 In fact, the passage that we read a few moments ago 41:19 from Revelation 14 makes this clear. 41:33 Worship the Creator, in other words. 41:36 We worship God because God is the Creator. 41:39 Notice that as creatures, we render God worship 41:43 as a superior, or One greater than us. 41:47 Now my question is this: Has God given us a sign 41:53 that He is the Creator? 41:54 Has God given us a sign that He is the Creator? 42:00 He most certainly has. 42:01 What is the sign of the Creator, of the distinction between Him 42:05 as God, and us as creatures? 42:07 It is the Holy Sabbath. 42:10 Notice Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 20:8-11. 42:19 This is the fourth commandment, which we've read before. 42:22 And I want to notice the motivation again for keeping 42:26 the Holy Sabbath. 42:27 It says in verse 8: 42:47 And then God explains why. 43:01 Why did God tell His people to keep the Sabbath? 43:03 Because the Sabbath reminds His people that He is the what? 43:08 the Creator, and they are His creatures. 43:13 The observance of the Sabbath then is a recognition 43:17 on our part that God is the great Creator. 43:20 He's superior to us. 43:22 We are His creatures. 43:24 We are the work of His hands. 43:26 Every Sabbath when I come to church I'm announcing 43:29 to the world that the great Creator God is my Father, 43:33 and I am His creation. 43:35 Now notice Isaiah 66 very quickly before we turn to speak 43:40 a little bit about New Age theories. 43:43 Isaiah 66. There are three ideas here that I want us to notice. 43:47 Isaiah 66:22, 23. 43:51 We're told here by the prophet: 43:57 Is God going to make a new heavens and a new earth? 43:59 Who do you suppose that's going to be who's going to make 44:02 a new heavens and a new earth? 44:03 Jesus, of course! 44:05 Jesus is the Creator. 44:06 Jesus is the Redeemer. 44:08 Jesus is the Judge. 44:10 Jesus is coming again. 44:12 Jesus will make a new heavens and a new earth. 44:15 The Father has given this planet to Jesus. 44:17 He's one of us! He's our brother! 44:20 He became incarnate. And so it says: 44:42 What will be the motivation for worship in the earth made new? 44:45 The fact that Jesus made what? a new heavens and a new earth. 44:51 At the beginning the Sabbath was observed to commemorate 44:55 the creation that was made at the beginning. 44:57 Now we observe the Sabbath for that reason, and for another 45:01 one, because Jesus rested in the tomb on Sabbath, 45:05 and outside His followers rested with Him. 45:08 And someday very soon, when Jesus makes a new heavens, 45:12 and a new earth, His people are going to observe the 45:15 Sabbath in eternity, according to this. 45:18 And so the Sabbath is a triple sign of the distinction between 45:23 God and His creatures. 45:25 It points to Him as our Creator, as our Redeemer, 45:29 and as our final restorer. 45:32 Now, let's talk a little bit about New Age philosophy, 45:38 which has overtaken, basically, the world, and many, 45:42 even in the Christian world. 45:44 I'm going to go through this as quickly as I can, 45:47 but it's very, very important. 45:50 For New Age philosophers God is an impersonal, immaterial, 45:58 cosmic force of energy that permeates the entire universe. 46:05 God is not a person in New Age theology who lives 46:11 in a place called heaven. 46:13 He is not a loving Father who cares for His creatures. 46:17 You see, in New Age theology, which is philosophically called 46:23 Pantheism, the idea that God is everything, 46:27 and everything is God. 46:28 The idea is that the universe is God. 46:31 God is indistinguishable from the universe, because God 46:37 is the universe, and the universe is God. 46:40 In other words, God is imminent in nature. 46:44 He's within nature. 46:45 And because man is part of nature, and nature is God, 46:51 man ultimately is what? is God. 46:55 There is no distinction between creator and creature. 46:59 You see, in New Age theology, in Pantheism, 47:04 God is not separate or distinct, or independent, or transcendent 47:09 from His creation, God is creation. 47:13 According to New Age philosophy the universe has eternally been 47:19 creating itself by the process of evolution. 47:23 There's no place for a personal Creator God, who loves, 47:28 who's distinct from His creatures, who transcends 47:31 His creation, because God is creation. 47:35 Now this must mean that if the universe is God, and man is part 47:41 of the universe, man is God, and because God is immortal, 47:46 man must be also what? 47:48 Man must have inherent life within himself; 47:52 he must be immortal. 47:54 Because if the universe is God, and God is immortal, 47:57 and man is part of the universe, man is immortal 48:00 as well as being God. 48:02 Where did these ideas come from? 48:05 They came directly from the garden of Eden. 48:08 Now allow me to read you a statement from R. M. Buck. 48:12 This is a New Ager. 48:15 His book is Cosmic Consciousness, Page 14. He says: 48:19 Of the universe. 48:35 In other words, the universe is entirely immaterial. 49:00 Now this has serious implications, because if the 49:05 universe, if creation is God, the New Ager, you know, 49:11 is very much into taking care of the ecology, 49:15 the animal kingdom, the air, and the rivers, and so on. 49:21 But it's for the wrong reason. 49:22 You see, we believe we're supposed to take care of 49:25 creation because it was made by God. 49:27 The New Ager believes that nature, you're supposed to 49:29 take care of it because it is God! 49:31 Christians should be better ecologists than the New Agers, 49:36 but for a different reason. 49:38 Not because nature is God, but because nature is God's. 49:43 In other words, nature belongs to God. 49:45 Now let me ask you, if I am God, whose law am I supposed to keep? 49:49 Whose? My own! 49:54 After all, what makes your law greater than mine, 49:57 if we're both God in this scheme? 50:01 Are you following me or not? 50:02 So New Agers talk about values clarification. 50:05 They say everybody has values within themselves. 50:08 All they have to do is discover the values 50:11 that they need to live by. 50:12 Therefore they say, It doesn't matter if one wants to 50:15 live a homosexual lifestyle, another wants to live a 50:17 heterosexual lifestyle. 50:19 If we're both God, what makes you think that your lifestyle 50:22 is better than his, or better than hers? 50:25 In other words, man becomes autonomous. 50:28 Do you know what the word autonomous means? 50:31 It comes from two Greek words: altos, which means self, 50:35 and nomos, law, which means that you are 50:38 a law unto yourself. 50:40 Because if you are God, according to this idea, 50:45 then whose law are you accountable to, 50:48 if you're accountable to God's law? 50:50 You're accountable only to whom? 50:53 You're accountable only to yourself. 50:56 Allow me to read you a statement from the book, 51:00 A Crash Course On the New Age, Page 119. 51:04 This is a very good book, by the way. The author says: 51:39 So what happens with the law of God in New Age theology? 51:43 You become a law unto yourself. 51:47 What happens with the personal, loving Creator? 51:50 There is no such thing, because you are what? God. 51:54 What happens with the place where God lives in heaven? 51:58 No such thing, because God is everywhere! 52:01 He is in everything! 52:02 He is in everyone, whether they be good, 52:05 or whether they be evil. 52:06 Therefore in New Age theology, there is no such thing as sin. 52:17 And if there is no sin, there must not be any what? 52:22 any law, but also no what? no death. 52:27 Because if you are God, and God is immortal, you are what? 52:33 You are immortal. 52:34 And then the question comes up. 52:37 Who will you be accountable before? 52:43 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 52:46 Who will you have to render an account to? 52:49 Only to yourself, because according to this idea, 52:54 everything is God. 52:55 You are God, so all you have to do is render 52:58 an account to yourself. 53:00 Now I'll tell you, if I have to judge myself, 53:02 I'm going to come out pretty well. 53:07 Ya, think I'm going to condemn myself? Yeah right! 53:11 By the way, from New Agers, there's no need for 53:15 a Creator God to come to this world, and take the place 53:18 of His creatures; to die the death that they should die. 53:22 After all, death doesn't exist! 53:26 For the New Ager, salvation means to harness that Godhood 53:31 that you have inside, and somehow tap into it, 53:34 so that you can discover your Godhood. 53:36 And they say that whenever humanity discovers the divine 53:40 spark of Godhood within, then society will regenerate 53:44 itself. The world will become perfect. 53:46 The world will become beautiful. 53:48 And we'll enter what is called the Age of Aquarius. 53:54 Are you seeing the difference between these two world views? 53:59 So Christians who say, I'm immortal. 54:04 Christians don't have to keep the law, 54:05 Jesus kept the law in my place, are on very dangerous ground. 54:12 They might not be New Agers, but the end result 54:18 is basically the same. 54:19 By the way, do you know that New Agers say 54:21 that you can heal yourself? 54:23 You know they're much into holistic medicine, so called, 54:26 because they believe that if you're God you can harness 54:29 your energies to heal your own body. 54:31 I guess that we won't need to pray anymore to God to heal us. 54:34 No need for prayer in this scheme. 54:37 There's no need for the second coming of Jesus. 54:39 I mean if humanity is regenerating itself, 54:43 and everybody eventually will discover the Godhood within, 54:46 then society is going to become perfect without Jesus 54:51 coming to this world to destroy those who disobey His law, 54:55 and to establish a perfect society. 55:01 In fact, in New Age theology there's no 55:04 reason for the Sabbath. 55:05 How can you have one day which is holier than the others 55:11 if everything in the universe is God? 55:14 Everything is equally holy. 55:15 There's no difference between the holy and the common. 55:18 So when a person sins it is God who is sinning. 55:20 You're not with me are you? 55:23 You're awful quiet tonight. 55:25 See, there's no sin, there's no death, you're God, 55:32 there's no prayer, there's no redemption, there's no second 55:35 coming, there's no law that you are accountable to. 55:40 These theories totally sweep away Christianity. 55:47 Allow me to read you one statement 55:49 as we bring this to a close. 55:50 This is from the book, Education, pages 227, 228. 55:58 The author is right on target. 56:47 This breathes what Lucifer said in heaven, 56:52 I will be like the Most High. 56:54 You will be like Gods! 56:56 You will not surely die! 56:59 And, of course, it totally obliterates the Sabbath. 57:03 God has given us the Sabbath folks, as a sign to protect 57:07 us from these theories. 57:08 Because it's the one sign that makes a clear distinction 57:13 between the Creator, and His creatures. 57:15 And every time that we keep the Sabbath, we're announcing 57:18 to the world that we are creatures, and we are followers 57:22 of the great Creator God. |
Revised 2014-12-17