I loved the 90s cult TV series the X-files. It was all about the search of its two main characters for truth, indeed the tag line for the series was ‘The truth is out there’. Mulder and Scully duly spent their time investigating; searching for the truth which always seemed elusively just out of their reach. Mulder was a man keen to believe, Scully the cool detached scientific one always seeking quantifiable proof, objective and sceptical to Mulder’s fanciful and hopeful. Scully was there to test Mulder’s theories, his beliefs, to keep him honest in the search for truth. He was the easy believer the one with faith, she the logical seeker of tangible truth. He was maybe slightly gullible, she clinical and needing evidence.It isn’t too much to say that there characters where personifications of the battle between Science and Faith. The series were based on their battles, relationship and struggles. I guess that is how many people view science and Christianity. Christians are the Mulder’s of this world – keen to believe, at the very least suggestible, they have the faith gene they are less logical, they tend not to need concrete proof. Whereas scientists are clinical, logical, relying on, and working with, only hard facts and proven methods. They are the Scully’s of this world who are there to keep the Christians honest, they are searching for proven truth.
These stereotypes have led some people to say science is the only search for truth.
But how do we answer this sort of stereotyping? Where the Bible says we find truth.
Science is an immensely useful field of study. It has helped my two boys be born safely; it has led to me being able to cook food using a microwave, to driving my car, to typing my sermon, to improving my healthcare. Science has brought us many advances and dramatically improved our lives and I am immensely grateful to science and scientists. But there is a limit as to what science can tell us. Science is about the B-Y of the universe, the Bible reveals to us the A and Z, it tells us about it beginning and its end, about its purpose and its destination.
Revelation 1 tells us that: 1. God knows beginning 2. God knows end 3. God reveals himself
1. God knows the beginning
The first letter of the Greek alphabet is Alpha. “God says I am the Alpha” in other words I am the beginning, the origin, the start. Turn back to Genesis 1 here is God the beginning “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” If we want to know about the beginning we should ask the one who created it.
Ah but you say, science has disproved this, what about the Big Bang and evolution. The Big Bang is theory, evolution is a theory. But don’t take my words for it here are the words of possibly the greatest scientist that has ever lived, Albert Einstein: “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of nature, a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.”
The Bible says here is the answer. The Bible tells us why the universe is here – because God made it.
It also tells us why we are here, because God made us and placed us on the earth.
Even Richard Dawkins in a recent article in The Times said: “Well, I’m convinced that future physicists will discover something at least as wonderful as any god you could ever imagine.” Why not call it God? “I don’t think it’s helpful to call it God.” OK, but what would “it” be like?
“I think it’ll be something wonderful and amazing and something difficult to understand. I think that all theological conceptions will be seen as parochial and petty by comparison.” He can even see how “design” by some gigantic intelligence might come into it. “But that gigantic intelligence itself would need an explanation. It’s not enough to call it God, it would need some sort of explanation such as evolution. Maybe it evolved in another universe and created some computer simulation that we are all a part of. These are all science-fiction suggestions but I am trying to overcome the limitations of the 21st-century mind. It’s going to be grander and bigger and more beautiful and more wonderful and it’s going to put theology to shame.” (10th May, The Times)
2. God is the end
“I am the…Omega” the last letter in the Greek alphabet, its final point, its end. God knows the end.
Hollywood has made millions of dollars because of our fascination with how the world will end. From meteor impacts in Armageddon and Deep Impact to the effects of climate change in precipitating another ice age in The Day after Tomorrow. Many of these films are a result of science and papers that have been published by scientists. But how will the world end? Will it be extinction because of a global killer meteor or because of an ice age or a deadly virus? The reality is science cannot tell us.
But the Bible does, this little phrase is there to bring comfort to God’s people the future is secure because it is God’s hands. Take a look at verse 7 – the world will not end with a global killer meteor or an ice age, it will end when Jesus Christ comes again. That is when time will stop; it won’t be a low key incarnation in a back water town attended by a few shepherds and some men from the east. It will be the return of the king.
I don’t know if you have seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy but it ends with Aragon restored to his throne, the king has returned and he is thronged with people. Few knew he was the king, not his friends or those he fought alongside, but finally he is revealed and everyone sees who he really is.
This is a greater image than that – this is the whole earth, every eye seeing and recognising who his. It will be the end, the return of the glorious conqueror to begin his reign and rule. At which point we will all have to face him and give an account of our lives.
3. God reveals himself
So the Bible tells us about the bookends of history, the beginning and end. But how do I get ready for the end? How can I know that when the end comes I will be on the right side? I don’t know if you remember the advert but Polo’s used to be advertised as the mint with a hole in the middle. It was supposed to make it taste better.
God is not the polo God, the God with a hole in the middle. He isn’t like a distant clock maker who makes the universe then winds it up and leaves it until it runs down and he finally comes to wrap everything up.
The phrase ““I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God Almighty” encompasses not just those two letters but everything in between. In other words in so describing himself God is saying he is the beginning and end but he is also working in between. That is emphasised by the phrase “who is, and who was, and who is to come” that appears in (v4, 8)
(5-6) Show us God active and present in history, in fact it shows us more than that it tells us that God has chosen to reveal himself in his Son Jesus Christ.
Science is about discovery, the pursuit of knowledge, the search for truth. The gospel is about truth revealed. God chooses to make known reality supremely by sending his Son. God tells us not just the beginning and the end but how to be prepared for it.
Science can tell me what I am molecule by molecule; it can diagnose what is wrong with me physically and in most cases heal me. But it cannot tell me where I stand before God, why I struggle with guilt, why I have this nagging sensation that there must be more to life.
Jesus is God answering those questions. Here are the answers
a. Our need
“has freed us from our sins” – Jesus as he lived on earth dealt with people who had guilty consciences.
Here is a woman stood by a well about to draw water, she is there in the full heat of the day, why? To avoid the stares, the whispered conversations, the pointed fingers, the confrontations. She has been married 5 times and now lives with someone who isn’t her husband. What would you expect Jesus to say to her?
Jesus explains to her that he has come for the guilty and outcasts to forgive them. Or the woman dragged before Jesus caught in the act of adultery, the crowd are baying for blood, for justice. What do you expect Jesus to say? He sends her away with these words ringing in her ears “neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”
What does Jesus reveal? We are all trapped in a web of sin. We are born enslaved to it. Jesus comes to free us. Do you live with guilt? Do you recognise that you have lived life as you wanted and that as you survey the wreckage it has caused there must be a better way?
b. the answer
“has freed us from our sins by his blood”. Not only does Jesus reveal our need but he is also the means of rescue.
Have you ever had to go to a scrap yard? I once spent a great afternoon at the scrap yard salvaging bits for my old mini. A badge here, some door seals there, second hand windscreen wipers etc… What was their future well if I hadn’t rummaged around to find them, if I hadn’t bought them they would have been destroyed.
That is the image of our salvation. We are heading for destruction – we have to face God and his anger at how we have lived but Jesus salvages us. He searches us out and he has paid the price- his death on the cross - to redeem us for his purposes, to be put to use in his kingdom.
c. The decision
All through the gospel Jesus gives people two options. Accept or reject. There is no third way; there is no sitting on the fence. How do I prepare for this end that is certain? I accept who I am a rebel who has rejected God and lived my own way, I accept who Jesus is and that he had to die to pay the price for my rebellion, and I decide to follow him.
d. A purpose (6)
But we are not just saved for nothing. God give us something science cannot, he gives us a purpose.
“and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father”
We are saved at a cost and we are to live our lives in the light of that cost. Jesus died to redeem us to live the way God intended, to enjoy life in all its fullness and that means to be his people to live with him as king and to worship him as he requires. A life lived in service to God is the only fitting worship in the light of such an offering.
Has science disproved the bible? No, science has not disproved the Bible, nor does it set out to do so. While science shows us the B-Y, God reveals to us the A-Z and how to be prepared for it.
Are you prepared for it this evening? Science is all about discovery, about a genuine search to prove a hypothesis. Jesus Christ died and rose again to save you – will you undertake the search to prove it is true. If you have found it is true live a life of worship that proves it is true.
The poster in Mulder and Scully’s office – declared “The truth is out there”. There was a challenge in those words that they took up. The Bible says the truth is in here – will you take up the challenge to look. It may be you want some help to do so, speak to someone who will happily study the Bible with you, you may want to explore it in a group again speak to someone.
“”I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God Almighty.”
“I think it’ll be something wonderful and amazing and something difficult to understand. I think that all theological conceptions will be seen as parochial and petty by comparison.” He can even see how “design” by some gigantic intelligence might come into it. “But that gigantic intelligence itself would need an explanation. It’s not enough to call it God, it would need some sort of explanation such as evolution. Maybe it evolved in another universe and created some computer simulation that we are all a part of. These are all science-fiction suggestions but I am trying to overcome the limitations of the 21st-century mind. It’s going to be grander and bigger and more beautiful and more wonderful and it’s going to put theology to shame.” (10th May, The Times)
2. God is the end
“I am the…Omega” the last letter in the Greek alphabet, its final point, its end. God knows the end.
Hollywood has made millions of dollars because of our fascination with how the world will end. From meteor impacts in Armageddon and Deep Impact to the effects of climate change in precipitating another ice age in The Day after Tomorrow. Many of these films are a result of science and papers that have been published by scientists. But how will the world end? Will it be extinction because of a global killer meteor or because of an ice age or a deadly virus? The reality is science cannot tell us.
But the Bible does, this little phrase is there to bring comfort to God’s people the future is secure because it is God’s hands. Take a look at verse 7 – the world will not end with a global killer meteor or an ice age, it will end when Jesus Christ comes again. That is when time will stop; it won’t be a low key incarnation in a back water town attended by a few shepherds and some men from the east. It will be the return of the king.
I don’t know if you have seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy but it ends with Aragon restored to his throne, the king has returned and he is thronged with people. Few knew he was the king, not his friends or those he fought alongside, but finally he is revealed and everyone sees who he really is.
This is a greater image than that – this is the whole earth, every eye seeing and recognising who his. It will be the end, the return of the glorious conqueror to begin his reign and rule. At which point we will all have to face him and give an account of our lives.
3. God reveals himself
So the Bible tells us about the bookends of history, the beginning and end. But how do I get ready for the end? How can I know that when the end comes I will be on the right side? I don’t know if you remember the advert but Polo’s used to be advertised as the mint with a hole in the middle. It was supposed to make it taste better.
God is not the polo God, the God with a hole in the middle. He isn’t like a distant clock maker who makes the universe then winds it up and leaves it until it runs down and he finally comes to wrap everything up.
The phrase ““I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God Almighty” encompasses not just those two letters but everything in between. In other words in so describing himself God is saying he is the beginning and end but he is also working in between. That is emphasised by the phrase “who is, and who was, and who is to come” that appears in (v4, 8)
(5-6) Show us God active and present in history, in fact it shows us more than that it tells us that God has chosen to reveal himself in his Son Jesus Christ.
Science is about discovery, the pursuit of knowledge, the search for truth. The gospel is about truth revealed. God chooses to make known reality supremely by sending his Son. God tells us not just the beginning and the end but how to be prepared for it.
Science can tell me what I am molecule by molecule; it can diagnose what is wrong with me physically and in most cases heal me. But it cannot tell me where I stand before God, why I struggle with guilt, why I have this nagging sensation that there must be more to life.
Jesus is God answering those questions. Here are the answers
a. Our need
“has freed us from our sins” – Jesus as he lived on earth dealt with people who had guilty consciences.
Here is a woman stood by a well about to draw water, she is there in the full heat of the day, why? To avoid the stares, the whispered conversations, the pointed fingers, the confrontations. She has been married 5 times and now lives with someone who isn’t her husband. What would you expect Jesus to say to her?
Jesus explains to her that he has come for the guilty and outcasts to forgive them. Or the woman dragged before Jesus caught in the act of adultery, the crowd are baying for blood, for justice. What do you expect Jesus to say? He sends her away with these words ringing in her ears “neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”
What does Jesus reveal? We are all trapped in a web of sin. We are born enslaved to it. Jesus comes to free us. Do you live with guilt? Do you recognise that you have lived life as you wanted and that as you survey the wreckage it has caused there must be a better way?
b. the answer
“has freed us from our sins by his blood”. Not only does Jesus reveal our need but he is also the means of rescue.
Have you ever had to go to a scrap yard? I once spent a great afternoon at the scrap yard salvaging bits for my old mini. A badge here, some door seals there, second hand windscreen wipers etc… What was their future well if I hadn’t rummaged around to find them, if I hadn’t bought them they would have been destroyed.
That is the image of our salvation. We are heading for destruction – we have to face God and his anger at how we have lived but Jesus salvages us. He searches us out and he has paid the price- his death on the cross - to redeem us for his purposes, to be put to use in his kingdom.
c. The decision
All through the gospel Jesus gives people two options. Accept or reject. There is no third way; there is no sitting on the fence. How do I prepare for this end that is certain? I accept who I am a rebel who has rejected God and lived my own way, I accept who Jesus is and that he had to die to pay the price for my rebellion, and I decide to follow him.
d. A purpose (6)
But we are not just saved for nothing. God give us something science cannot, he gives us a purpose.
“and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father”
We are saved at a cost and we are to live our lives in the light of that cost. Jesus died to redeem us to live the way God intended, to enjoy life in all its fullness and that means to be his people to live with him as king and to worship him as he requires. A life lived in service to God is the only fitting worship in the light of such an offering.
Has science disproved the bible? No, science has not disproved the Bible, nor does it set out to do so. While science shows us the B-Y, God reveals to us the A-Z and how to be prepared for it.
Are you prepared for it this evening? Science is all about discovery, about a genuine search to prove a hypothesis. Jesus Christ died and rose again to save you – will you undertake the search to prove it is true. If you have found it is true live a life of worship that proves it is true.
The poster in Mulder and Scully’s office – declared “The truth is out there”. There was a challenge in those words that they took up. The Bible says the truth is in here – will you take up the challenge to look. It may be you want some help to do so, speak to someone who will happily study the Bible with you, you may want to explore it in a group again speak to someone.
“”I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God Almighty.”
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