¤[music ends]¤¤
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>>John Bradshaw:
This is "It Is Written."
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I'm John Bradshaw.
Thanks for joining me.
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In 2007 a 58-year-old Canadian
man, whom I shall not name,
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was convicted of
six counts of murder.
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He confessed to 49 murders, all
of people who were defenseless
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and from the margins of society.
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Convicted of six, sentenced to
life in prison, [gavel strikes]
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the killer is said to have
bragged about his exploits.
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He died in prison after
nearly 17 years behind bars.
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Unsurprisingly, at a press
conference a police official
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described the
man as a "monster."
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The official who
headed the investigation
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into these awful
crimes said that the man
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ultimately convicted
was not the only monster
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flagged as a prime suspect.
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He said, "This file was
full of hideous human beings."
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In all, there were 63 men
considered priority suspects.
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That's a lot of evil.
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But allow me to
ask you this question.
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The man, from metro Vancouver,
killed maybe 49 women.
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Now, now, here's the question.
Are you ready for this?
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About 1,650 years
after God created the world,
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God sent a flood
to destroy the planet.
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Now, depending on who you read,
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there were at least hundreds
of millions of people on earth.
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There may have been billions.
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And only eight
people were saved.
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You can find euphemistic
ways of expressing this,
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but the bottom
line is God killed
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at least hundreds
of millions of people.
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Now, how are we to understand
that? Is God a monster?
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Some people
believe so, and if He is--
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which I don't
believe, by the way--
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but if he is, then
He's the worst monster
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who ever lived.
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So, how in the world do we
understand the character of God?
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The God whose angels destroyed
185,000 Assyrian soldiers
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in a single night.
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When Israel escaped Egypt,
happy days! They were saved.
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But...the firstborn of
every Egyptian family died,
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as did all of the Egyptians
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who pursued Israel
across the Red Sea.
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God intentionally folded
the waters of the Red Sea
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over Pharaoh's armies, and not
one of them survived the deluge.
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That episode was
actually celebrated in song.
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Exodus 15 records "The Song
of Moses," which says in part,
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"Then Moses and the
children of Israel sang...:
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"'I will sing to the Lord,
for He has triumphed gloriously!
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"'The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!...
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"'The depths have covered them;
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they sank to the
bottom like a stone.'"
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Now, on the other
hand, we've got this:
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"He who does not love does
not know God, for God is love."
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That's pretty clear.
And the same sentiment
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is expressed just
a few verses later:
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"And we have known and believed
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"the love that God
has for us. God is love,
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and he who abides in love
abides in God, and God in him."
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"God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son"--
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most famous verse in the Bible.
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Yet we still have
that little matter
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of hundreds of
millions killed, maybe billions,
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by God-is-love.
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So, who is God, then?
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And what is God really like?
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And why in the world did
He do some of these things?
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One person, a writer, a
critic, described God as
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"a petty, unjust, unforgiving
control-freak; a vindictive,
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"bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser;
a misogynistic, homophobic,
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"racist, infanticidal,
genocidal, filicidal,
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"pestilential,
megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic,
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capriciously malevolent bully."
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Now, someone's thesaurus
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got quite the workout while that
little gem was being written.
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But if you isolate events
like the Flood or the Exodus,
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you might be tempted to
think that that kind of synopsis
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of the character of God
could actually be leaning
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in the right direction.
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Many people do.
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So, again, what is God like?
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That's an important question.
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There's a loving God, and
yet Grandma died of cancer.
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A lovely young
couple lost their baby.
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Someone was murdered?
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Murderers are
considered monsters,
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as we discussed a moment ago.
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And you cannot deny that
God hasn't just allowed people
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to die; He has caused
people to die--lots of them.
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Now, in a moment, we're going
to resolve that, and we need to.
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The tension between
the idea of a loving God
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and the reality
of sin and suffering
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causes people all
kinds of problems.
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How do you harmonize
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these two enormously
different pictures of God?
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If they are different.
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Well, in the next few minutes
we will; we'll do just that.
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For now, let's
put aside all of that
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and learn something about God.
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The first five
words in the Bible are,
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"In the beginning God created."
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Which means your
existence isn't due to chance.
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You exist because
God wanted you to exist.
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You are not the
result of billions of years
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of random mutations.
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The Big Bang states that
all the matter in the universe
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was densely packed
into a single particle once,
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or just a few particles,
00:06:02.56\00:06:04.03
which then exploded,
[ringing of explosion]
00:06:04.06\00:06:05.93
and two trillion
galaxies are the result.
00:06:05.96\00:06:09.56
The largest
star that we know of?
00:06:09.60\00:06:11.23
UY Scuti, it's 1,500
million miles across,
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1,700 times larger than the sun,
00:06:17.64\00:06:20.94
and 1.3 million earths
can fit inside the sun.
00:06:20.98\00:06:24.95
All from tiny particles
that exploded way back when.
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And where, pray tell, did
those particles come from?
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No one can explain that.
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So, back to Creation: "In
the beginning God created."
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One Hindu creation story
is that "out of loneliness,
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"Brahma split himself into two
to create a male and a female...
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"from this [male and
female] all beings were created.
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"Another story makes reference
to life coming from the cracking
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"of an enormous egg,
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which is the life from
which the universe is born."
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You know, I feel
pretty good sticking with
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"In the beginning God created."
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Now, who did He create?
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Adam and his wife Eve.
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But, but then sin
entered the world. How?
00:07:09.89\00:07:14.46
An angel, Lucifer,
rebelled against God.
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Lucifer, later called
Satan, came to the earth.
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What did God do?
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God warned Adam and Eve
to stay away from the tree
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of the knowledge
of good and evil.
00:07:26.57\00:07:27.91
"Do not eat the fruit
of that tree," God said.
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"In the day that you eat
of it you shall surely die."
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Or it might be better
translated "dying you will die."
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Death will enter the
world, they were warned.
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So what would you
do if you were God?
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What a place to be. The
world you created, in rebellion.
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We'll find out the radical
steps God took in just a moment.
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¤[upbeat music
swells and ends]¤¤
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>>John: Everyone
talks about love.
00:08:06.05\00:08:08.32
We love people,
pets, hobbies, food,
00:08:08.35\00:08:10.72
but there's a
love that goes deeper.
00:08:10.75\00:08:13.79
Find out how to experience
this love by requesting
00:08:13.82\00:08:16.46
today's free offer,
"The Greatest of These."
00:08:16.49\00:08:19.46
To get your copy,
call 800-253-3000.
00:08:19.49\00:08:22.50
Visit us online or
text "freegreat" to 71392.
00:08:22.53\00:08:27.50
Experience God's amazing love.
00:08:27.54\00:08:30.01
Call 800-253-3000
00:08:30.04\00:08:32.41
or visit iiwoffer.com.
00:08:32.44\00:08:36.08
¤[reflective music]¤
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>>John: The Bible is
filled with stories of people
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who took a leap of faith.
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Gideon was asked by God
to lead an army of just 300
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against an innumerable foe, and
he did, and he was triumphant.
00:08:49.36\00:08:54.30
Noah was asked by God
to build an ark, a boat,
00:08:54.36\00:08:57.43
so he and his family
could ride out a storm
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in a world where rain
had never before fallen.
00:08:59.93\00:09:03.30
And he did, and he and his
family and the world was saved.
00:09:03.34\00:09:08.81
Life can be like that.
00:09:08.84\00:09:11.21
Sometimes you have
to take a leap of faith.
00:09:11.25\00:09:14.98
¤[dramatic music]¤
00:09:15.02\00:09:16.92
After you've received all
the necessary instructions,
00:09:16.95\00:09:20.76
after the
equipment has been checked,
00:09:20.79\00:09:23.43
you take a leap of faith.
00:09:23.46\00:09:26.26
Grow your faith in
God and in His Word.
00:09:26.29\00:09:29.80
Don't miss "The Leap of Faith,"
00:09:29.83\00:09:32.90
brought to you
by It Is Written TV.
00:09:32.93\00:09:35.47
¤[music ends]¤¤
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>>John Bradshaw: So, what
would you do if you were God?
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You create a world;
you create perfect people.
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You warn them; they ignore you.
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Sin happens; death comes.
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Crisis after
crisis is guaranteed
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because now people are selfish.
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What would you do?
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The easy thing
would be to start again.
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Destroy the whole
thing and start over.
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But God chose another route.
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Rather than ending
the lives of Adam and Eve,
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He gave humanity
another shot at this.
00:10:05.73\00:10:09.40
But because sin causes death,
00:10:09.44\00:10:11.04
for God to be just, death
would still have to occur.
00:10:11.07\00:10:14.71
You can't have laws
and then just suspend them
00:10:14.74\00:10:17.68
when they don't suit you.
00:10:17.71\00:10:19.28
So God gave Adam and Eve
life, but He took upon Himself
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the death penalty that
came due to the presence of sin,
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enabling Him to
be just and merciful.
00:10:28.62\00:10:32.39
God would allow
His own Son to die,
00:10:32.43\00:10:35.73
the Son He'd been
joined to from eternity past.
00:10:35.76\00:10:40.20
That ought to
settle the question
00:10:40.24\00:10:41.84
about the
character of God right there,
00:10:41.87\00:10:44.64
but it doesn't because
people still want to make sense
00:10:44.67\00:10:48.28
of the flood in Noah's day
and battles with the Philistines
00:10:48.31\00:10:52.85
and the ground
opening up and swallowing
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Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram and their families.
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But if you have misgivings
about the character of God,
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ask yourself, who
would do what He did?
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There's not another religion
in the world that has God dying
00:11:07.73\00:11:13.17
for the sins of the world--
00:11:13.20\00:11:14.57
God becoming sin for
us, as the Bible puts it.
00:11:14.60\00:11:18.61
Paul said to the Romans, "For
when we were...without strength,
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"in due time Christ
died for the ungodly.
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"For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die;
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"yet perhaps for a good man
someone would even dare to die.
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"But God demonstrates His
own love toward us, in that
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while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us."
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Notice this: Jesus didn't
simply die for the human family,
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He died for His enemies,
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and people wonder
about the character of God?
00:11:49.24\00:11:54.31
We'll come back to
the cross, but first,
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look at other ways you can
understand the character of God.
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Look at God's laws and you learn
00:11:59.28\00:12:02.38
He wants you to be close to Him.
00:12:02.42\00:12:05.32
He doesn't want you
to degrade yourself.
00:12:05.35\00:12:07.29
He wants there to be respect
in your friendship with God.
00:12:07.32\00:12:09.66
His plan is for you to have
time to build your relationship
00:12:09.69\00:12:13.16
with Him and with others.
00:12:13.19\00:12:14.83
It's for strong
families, for respect of life,
00:12:14.83\00:12:17.53
for respect of others,
for respect of property.
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It's for trust and for
controlling runaway desire.
00:12:20.17\00:12:24.61
You can't find
fault with anything
00:12:24.64\00:12:28.24
in the Ten Commandments.
00:12:28.28\00:12:29.74
And that's a commentary
on the character of God.
00:12:29.78\00:12:33.28
His is a just law that
makes sense and works everywhere
00:12:33.31\00:12:39.49
in the world.
00:12:39.52\00:12:41.09
In the
beginning, a loving Creator
00:12:41.12\00:12:44.33
who wants the best
for you, who loves you,
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kicked this whole thing off
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by speaking the
world into existence.
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Look at the intricacy of a
plant or a tree--remarkable.
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Think of the
wonders of an ocean.
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Look at a kitten, a
small child, flowers.
00:13:02.91\00:13:07.52
God clearly loves
beauty. He made lots of it.
00:13:07.55\00:13:12.32
People today
virtually worship nature
00:13:12.35\00:13:14.99
while ignoring the
God who made nature.
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One of the best reasons you
could care about the environment
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is that it lets you see
the magnificence of God.
00:13:22.56\00:13:26.33
Nature speaks to
us about nature's God.
00:13:26.37\00:13:30.71
Satan, however, is
on an absolute mission
00:13:30.74\00:13:32.91
to misrepresent
the character of God.
00:13:32.94\00:13:35.31
He wants you to think God is
uncaring, a tyrant, vindictive.
00:13:35.34\00:13:39.08
Nothing could be
further from the truth.
00:13:39.11\00:13:42.05
Look at what Satan
did in the Garden of Eden.
00:13:42.08\00:13:44.82
Eve, instead of
fleeing from a talking snake,
00:13:44.85\00:13:48.16
hung around long
enough to be fascinated
00:13:48.19\00:13:50.63
by what she heard and saw.
00:13:50.66\00:13:52.59
Satan said to her,
"Has God indeed said,
00:13:52.63\00:13:56.20
'You shall not eat of
every tree of the garden'?"
00:13:56.23\00:14:00.34
Then Satan lied.
00:14:00.37\00:14:02.44
He lied about
the character of God.
00:14:02.47\00:14:04.97
He said, "You
will not surely die.
00:14:05.01\00:14:08.54
"For God knows that
in the day you eat of it
00:14:08.58\00:14:11.01
"your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God,
00:14:11.05\00:14:15.15
knowing good and evil."
00:14:15.18\00:14:17.09
In other words,
00:14:17.12\00:14:19.42
"Eve, God is unfair.
00:14:19.45\00:14:21.92
God is withholding
something special from you."
00:14:21.96\00:14:27.36
Satan lied about
what God was like.
00:14:27.40\00:14:31.03
"He doesn't want the
best for you," he said to Eve.
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Who do you think
first proposed the idea
00:14:37.17\00:14:39.97
that God is
sadomasochistic and malevolent?
00:14:40.01\00:14:44.98
That idea was
first suggested by Satan.
00:14:45.01\00:14:48.18
Notice what the devil has done.
00:14:48.22\00:14:49.88
He's caused people everywhere
00:14:49.92\00:14:51.32
to think that God
is like the devil,
00:14:51.35\00:14:54.32
that the devil is the
good guy while God is evil.
00:14:54.36\00:14:57.66
That's sick.
00:14:57.69\00:14:59.93
But for varying reasons, people
are willing to believe the lie.
00:14:59.96\00:15:05.00
So, why do people
believe that stuff?
00:15:06.00\00:15:10.71
Well, for one, tradition--
you do what your people do.
00:15:10.74\00:15:14.48
Not many people are
willing to think for themselves.
00:15:14.51\00:15:18.45
Groupthink is real.
00:15:18.48\00:15:21.22
Now, there are other reasons
00:15:21.25\00:15:22.58
why people believe lies
about God, and some of them
00:15:22.62\00:15:26.59
have to do with Christians
and Christian pastors.
00:15:26.62\00:15:32.09
More in a moment.
00:15:32.13\00:15:33.43
¤[upbeat music
swells and ends]¤¤
00:15:33.46\00:15:40.44
>>John: It Is Written is
committed to giving people
00:15:43.34\00:15:45.67
the opportunity to
experience the love of Jesus.
00:15:45.71\00:15:48.91
Eyes for India
brings hope and vision
00:15:48.94\00:15:50.88
to thousands of people in
need, and there's much more.
00:15:50.91\00:15:54.12
Through high-impact
international medical ministry
00:15:54.15\00:15:56.69
and other humanitarian projects,
00:15:56.72\00:15:58.65
hearts are being
reached around the globe.
00:15:58.69\00:16:01.66
You can partner
with It Is Written
00:16:01.69\00:16:03.26
in changing lives for eternity.
00:16:03.29\00:16:05.69
Your support now will
bring healing and blessing
00:16:05.73\00:16:08.26
to people in desperate need,
enabling them to experience
00:16:08.30\00:16:11.50
the power of God
for the very first time.
00:16:11.53\00:16:14.70
Call now: 800-253-3000.
00:16:14.74\00:16:17.44
That's 800-253-3000.
00:16:17.47\00:16:21.08
Visit us online at iiwworld.com
00:16:21.11\00:16:25.11
or text "world" to 71392.
00:16:25.15\00:16:29.12
Designating your gift to
"missions" will directly support
00:16:29.15\00:16:32.59
these life-changing projects.
00:16:32.62\00:16:34.59
Thank you for partnering with
It Is Written in opening eyes
00:16:34.62\00:16:37.76
to the goodness of God and
offering hope to the world.
00:16:37.79\00:16:44.03
>>John: Why else are
people believing the lie
00:16:44.07\00:16:46.63
that God is evil?
00:16:46.67\00:16:48.30
Atheism and skepticism
have become fashionable.
00:16:48.34\00:16:51.64
They've taken over
institutions of higher learning
00:16:51.67\00:16:54.08
all over the world.
00:16:54.11\00:16:55.28
People are being
educated to hate God.
00:16:55.31\00:16:58.91
I'll give you another reason
00:16:58.95\00:16:59.95
why people believe
God is the bad guy:
00:17:00.05\00:17:02.82
Christian ministers and
Christians who misrepresent God.
00:17:02.85\00:17:08.69
When Christian ministers
get embroiled in scandal,
00:17:08.72\00:17:11.76
it gives Christianity,
as a whole, a black eye--
00:17:11.79\00:17:15.96
moral scandals, or, or
they're perceived as greedy,
00:17:16.00\00:17:19.80
or they get sent to prison.
00:17:19.83\00:17:22.20
If you're not a Christian,
what are you going to think
00:17:22.24\00:17:24.91
of Christianity when you
read about the pastor in Texas
00:17:24.94\00:17:27.84
who was incarcerated
because he stole three churches.
00:17:27.88\00:17:32.78
Oh, I know, people are
faulty. They're imperfect.
00:17:32.81\00:17:37.22
But people outside the
church expect Christians
00:17:37.25\00:17:39.82
to represent their faith, and
you can't fault them for having
00:17:39.85\00:17:42.56
some minimum expectations,
00:17:42.59\00:17:43.96
like, say, pastors
not stealing churches--
00:17:43.99\00:17:47.60
or the pastor in New York
who was sentenced to nine years
00:17:47.66\00:17:51.10
for wire fraud.
00:17:51.13\00:17:53.03
I have no comment
on guilt or otherwise.
00:17:53.07\00:17:55.10
I don't know about that.
00:17:55.14\00:17:56.50
But at the very
least, that's a bad look.
00:17:56.54\00:17:59.91
And God looks bad when
pastors and church members live
00:17:59.94\00:18:04.61
in a way that doesn't represent
God, and it turns people away.
00:18:04.65\00:18:09.08
And let's be honest, some
of the teachings of the church
00:18:10.09\00:18:12.85
over the years have resulted in
people looking sideways at God.
00:18:12.89\00:18:17.29
A lot of people
have a very hard time
00:18:17.33\00:18:19.19
with the
evangelism approach that says,
00:18:19.23\00:18:21.40
"Get saved, or
you'll burn in hell."
00:18:21.43\00:18:24.17
Not that many
people have ever said,
00:18:24.20\00:18:27.47
"Well, I was scared into
giving my life to Jesus."
00:18:27.50\00:18:30.81
To see the character
of God in full display,
00:18:30.84\00:18:33.38
look at the life of Jesus.
00:18:33.41\00:18:35.44
Jesus came to this world to
reveal the character of God.
00:18:35.48\00:18:38.91
In John 14, where Philip said
to Jesus, "Show us the Father,"
00:18:38.95\00:18:42.72
Jesus replied, "He who has
seen me has seen the Father."
00:18:42.75\00:18:47.62
Jesus revealed to the
world what God was really like.
00:18:47.66\00:18:50.93
What did He do?
00:18:50.96\00:18:52.63
He healed the sick. He
showed mercy to the fallen.
00:18:52.66\00:18:56.56
He fed the hungry, walked on
water, was patient and gentle.
00:18:56.60\00:19:00.40
He wept tears of sadness,
brought the dead back to life,
00:19:00.44\00:19:04.21
loved and blessed little
children, drove away disease.
00:19:04.24\00:19:08.38
He lived with integrity.
00:19:08.41\00:19:10.81
He forgave the
man who denied Him,
00:19:10.85\00:19:12.65
washed the feet of the
man who would betray Him.
00:19:12.68\00:19:16.52
And He healed one of
the men who arrested Him.
00:19:16.55\00:19:20.22
And "Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever."
00:19:20.26\00:19:26.19
The Bible says, "God is love."
00:19:26.23\00:19:28.33
It says that twice in the same
chapter just eight verses apart.
00:19:28.36\00:19:32.40
God is love.
00:19:32.43\00:19:34.30
So why did God bring punishment
on people in Bible times?
00:19:34.34\00:19:40.31
Let me show you some
things. I'm glad you asked.
00:19:40.34\00:19:42.98
God's overarching motivation
is love for the human family
00:19:43.98\00:19:49.15
and a will to give
people an eternal future.
00:19:49.18\00:19:53.99
What God knows, though,
00:19:54.02\00:19:55.82
is that if that
future isn't on His terms,
00:19:55.86\00:19:59.43
it isn't a future because
God's future is without sin.
00:19:59.46\00:20:04.60
You'll hear people
say, often flippantly,
00:20:04.63\00:20:06.27
although not always,
that God is a spoilsport,
00:20:06.30\00:20:08.80
that God doesn't
want people to have fun,
00:20:08.84\00:20:10.81
that there's nothing
wrong with their lifestyle.
00:20:10.84\00:20:13.51
But God is trying to lead
you in the direction of heaven,
00:20:13.54\00:20:16.31
and He knows what's best.
00:20:16.34\00:20:18.48
Which is why Jesus said, "Come
unto me, all ye that labour
00:20:18.51\00:20:22.52
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest."
00:20:22.55\00:20:26.45
Jesus pointed us to
the Bible again and again
00:20:26.49\00:20:28.99
so we could
understand God's goodness.
00:20:29.02\00:20:32.33
Look, everything
God did was redemptive,
00:20:32.36\00:20:36.00
to lead us to eternal life.
00:20:36.03\00:20:38.40
But at the same time God did
some things that seem severe,
00:20:38.43\00:20:42.37
so why? Well,
for the same reason.
00:20:42.40\00:20:46.64
Even when it seems God was
tough, God was being redemptive.
00:20:46.68\00:20:50.81
It's easy to see that.
00:20:50.85\00:20:52.65
Look, while it may seem extreme
that God would take a life--
00:20:52.68\00:20:56.45
or, in the case of the flood
in Noah's day, many lives--
00:20:56.48\00:21:00.16
this was a last resort for God.
00:21:00.19\00:21:03.69
Look at some verses with me.
00:21:03.73\00:21:05.03
There's one key
verse in particular
00:21:05.06\00:21:07.20
I hope you will not miss.
00:21:07.23\00:21:08.86
We'll start with
Jeremiah 5, verse 3:
00:21:08.90\00:21:10.93
"You have stricken them,
but they have not grieved;
00:21:10.97\00:21:13.94
"You have consumed them,
00:21:13.97\00:21:15.44
"but they have
refused to receive correction.
00:21:15.47\00:21:18.04
"They have made their
faces harder than rock;
00:21:18.07\00:21:20.54
they have refused to return."
00:21:20.58\00:21:22.88
God had sent
judges and prophets.
00:21:22.91\00:21:24.91
He'd sent message after message.
He'd revealed His power to them:
00:21:24.95\00:21:28.58
feeding them manna and
bringing water out of a rock
00:21:28.62\00:21:31.42
and being present in a pillar
of cloud and a pillar of fire.
00:21:31.45\00:21:35.66
He did everything He
could to convince His people
00:21:35.69\00:21:37.59
that He was
real, that He was good,
00:21:37.63\00:21:39.73
that He had their very
best interests at heart,
00:21:39.76\00:21:42.86
and that His plans for them were
better than their own plans,
00:21:42.90\00:21:46.87
their own selfish
plans for themselves.
00:21:46.90\00:21:49.64
God was trying to get His people
to return to faith in Him,
00:21:49.67\00:21:52.51
but as Jeremiah said,
"They refused to return."
00:21:52.54\00:21:55.64
Look again. Verse 19:
00:21:55.68\00:21:57.71
"And it will be when you say,
00:21:57.75\00:21:59.08
"'Why does the Lord our
God do all these things to us?'
00:21:59.11\00:22:02.68
"then you shall answer them,
'Just as you have forsaken me
00:22:02.72\00:22:06.42
"'and served
foreign gods in your land,
00:22:06.45\00:22:09.12
so you shall serve aliens
in a land that is not yours.'"
00:22:09.16\00:22:13.06
They'd forsaken God.
00:22:13.09\00:22:15.06
God was trying to win them back.
00:22:15.10\00:22:17.47
God said, "In vain I
have chastened your children;
00:22:17.50\00:22:21.14
they received no correction."
00:22:21.17\00:22:23.81
Why was God chastening them?
00:22:23.84\00:22:25.71
To correct them. He
tried everything He could.
00:22:25.74\00:22:31.08
And because He desperately
wanted to save people He loved,
00:22:31.11\00:22:36.85
desperate measures were needed.
00:22:36.89\00:22:39.69
Isaiah 26:16,
00:22:39.72\00:22:41.52
"Lord, in trouble
they have visited You,
00:22:41.56\00:22:44.73
they poured out a prayer when
Your chastening was upon them."
00:22:44.76\00:22:50.93
Notice that?
00:22:50.97\00:22:52.13
When God's chastening was
upon them, they turned to God.
00:22:52.17\00:22:57.31
Now, here's that verse
I really want you to see.
00:22:57.34\00:23:01.31
It's Psalm 78:34. Mark it
in your Bible. Write it down.
00:23:01.34\00:23:08.22
"When He slew them,
then they sought Him;
00:23:08.25\00:23:13.99
and they returned and
sought earnestly for God."
00:23:14.02\00:23:18.03
And that was the
reason for God's judgments.
00:23:18.99\00:23:22.70
In this case, God sent warnings,
and they did not repent.
00:23:22.73\00:23:26.27
He gave them signs,
and they did not repent.
00:23:26.30\00:23:29.54
Finally, when
extreme measures were taken,
00:23:29.57\00:23:33.14
"They returned and
sought earnestly for God."
00:23:33.17\00:23:38.45
But God never
wanted it to come to that.
00:23:38.48\00:23:42.38
The best
motivation for turning to God
00:23:43.72\00:23:46.22
is Jesus' great
sacrifice on the cross.
00:23:46.25\00:23:49.69
Imagine for a moment the divine
Son of God choosing to take
00:23:50.69\00:23:54.00
your sin and the sin
of all of His enemies,
00:23:54.00\00:23:57.80
choosing to die for those sins
00:23:57.83\00:24:00.47
so that people, so that you,
might have everlasting life.
00:24:00.50\00:24:06.68
Jesus "made
Himself of no reputation,
00:24:06.71\00:24:09.38
"and took upon
Him[self] the form of a servant,
00:24:09.41\00:24:11.81
"and was made in
the likeness of men:
00:24:11.85\00:24:14.05
"and being found
in fashion as a man,
00:24:14.08\00:24:17.55
"He humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death,
00:24:17.59\00:24:22.49
even the death of the cross."
00:24:22.52\00:24:25.39
Isaiah wrote, "He is
despised and rejected of men;
00:24:25.43\00:24:30.17
"a Man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief:
00:24:30.20\00:24:32.53
"and we hid as it
were our faces from Him;
00:24:32.57\00:24:35.64
"He was despised,
00:24:35.67\00:24:36.81
"and we esteemed Him not.
00:24:36.84\00:24:38.34
"Surely He hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows;
00:24:38.37\00:24:41.54
"yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
00:24:41.58\00:24:45.91
"But He was wounded
for our transgressions,
00:24:45.95\00:24:48.32
"He was bruised
for our iniquities:
00:24:48.35\00:24:50.95
"the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him;
00:24:50.99\00:24:54.32
and with His
stripes we are healed."
00:24:54.36\00:24:58.53
What's God really like?
00:25:00.06\00:25:04.23
He's like that. God is love.
00:25:04.27\00:25:07.50
He gave His only begotten
Son, that if you believe in Him,
00:25:07.54\00:25:12.51
whatever your past,
whatever your present,
00:25:12.54\00:25:15.51
whatever you're going
through, however weak you feel,
00:25:15.54\00:25:19.08
however many times you've
failed, if you believe in Him,
00:25:19.11\00:25:24.69
you will not perish, but
you will have everlasting life.
00:25:24.72\00:25:29.56
>>John: Everyone
talks about love.
00:25:31.13\00:25:33.50
We love people,
pets, hobbies, food,
00:25:33.53\00:25:35.90
but there's a
love that goes deeper.
00:25:35.93\00:25:38.93
Find out how to experience
this love by requesting
00:25:38.97\00:25:41.60
today's free offer,
"The Greatest of These."
00:25:41.64\00:25:44.64
To get your copy,
call 800-253-3000.
00:25:44.67\00:25:47.81
Visit us online or
text "freegreat" to 71392.
00:25:47.84\00:25:52.65
Experience God's amazing love.
00:25:52.68\00:25:55.22
Call 800-253-3000
00:25:55.25\00:25:57.69
or visit iiwoffer.com.
00:25:57.72\00:26:00.36
>>John: It's as clear as clear
00:26:02.52\00:26:04.96
that God...is...love.
00:26:04.99\00:26:10.60
Would you give
Him your heart today?
00:26:10.63\00:26:12.97
Could you choose to
be a Christian today?
00:26:13.00\00:26:16.97
Would you accept Jesus
into your heart right now,
00:26:17.01\00:26:20.51
knowing what God is really like?
00:26:20.54\00:26:23.78
He's good, He's
love, and He loves you.
00:26:23.81\00:26:29.15
Let me pray with you.
00:26:29.18\00:26:30.82
Our Father in
heaven, we thank You
00:26:30.85\00:26:32.39
that You are not the
monster some say You are.
00:26:32.42\00:26:36.99
We thank You that You are love,
and that Your love towards us
00:26:37.03\00:26:41.06
is just as real as
the air we breathe.
00:26:41.10\00:26:44.40
And I'm thankful that
the Bible makes very clear
00:26:44.43\00:26:47.27
that the
desperate measures You took
00:26:47.30\00:26:49.97
were because desperate
measures were required.
00:26:50.01\00:26:52.04
You were doing all You
could to win to Your heart
00:26:52.07\00:26:54.64
a very stubborn,
hardhearted people.
00:26:54.68\00:26:59.31
And then we
thank You that You did
00:26:59.35\00:27:00.58
the most desperate thing of
all, if I can put it that way:
00:27:00.62\00:27:04.32
You demonstrated Your love by
allowing Your Son Jesus to die
00:27:04.35\00:27:08.82
for the sins of the
world-- even for mine.
00:27:08.86\00:27:12.93
Friend, would you
respond to that God?
00:27:12.96\00:27:14.56
Would you let
Him into your heart?
00:27:14.56\00:27:16.93
Would you say,
"Jesus, live Your life in me"?
00:27:16.97\00:27:19.53
Would you say, "God, take
my heart and make it Yours"?
00:27:19.57\00:27:21.54
Would you say that? Would
you pray that prayer right now?
00:27:21.57\00:27:24.41
God, take our
hearts and make them Yours.
00:27:24.44\00:27:27.34
We thank You that You
are good, that You are God,
00:27:27.38\00:27:32.25
that You are love.
00:27:32.28\00:27:33.78
And we pray in
Jesus' name, amen.
00:27:33.82\00:27:38.65
Thank you so
much for joining me.
00:27:38.69\00:27:39.99
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:40.02\00:27:42.62
Until then, remember:
00:27:42.66\00:27:44.79
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:27:44.83\00:27:49.00
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:27:49.03\00:27:54.10
¤[dramatic,
triumphant theme music]¤
00:27:54.14\00:27:58.14
¤[music ends]¤¤
00:28:26.33\00:28:28.34