How could a loving God allow suffering?

I think this is definitely the number one question that people raise, at least in my experience. And the question is where to begin in answering it.

Genesis 1 and 2 paints a glorious picture of a world without suffering and pain because it is world unmarred and perfectly created by God and which is in relationship with him. The Bible has at its other end the future, the new creation which is a world without suffering and pain again a consequence of being in a right relationship with God. The answer to how could a loving God allow suffering is seen in the Bible between those two bookends.

Genesis 3 is the obvious place to go, suffering is a consequence of our rejection of God and a relationship with him, it ruins the perfect world God made and gave. In the chapters immediately following Adam and Eve's rejection of God sin snowballs and suffering abounds. All a consequence of that decision to determine right and wrong for ourselves.

But why does God allow it? The Bible teaches that God has to judge sin. This is hard for us to take with our postmodern views and cultural norms but it is the truth. God hates sin, it grieves him, and he has to judge it, he is also just in the way he does so. So in the account of the flood we see God judge sin which is the cause of suffering.

Ask yourself who deserves to be judged by God? Hitler? Stalin? Jack the Ripper? How about terrorists? Child abusers? Murderers? Why do they deserve to be judged, because they cause suffering for others, or because they break our shifting moral code. God's standard is perfect, it is total obedience to his standards and we all fall short. If God is going to stop suffering he has to judge every one who has caused suffering to others and that includes me.

How could a loving God allow suffering? Because he is giving me time to repent. But also because it is his megaphone calling me to recognise that there is something wrong with the world in which we live. Leprosy is a horrible disease, it works by deadening the nerves so that sufferers lose sensation, that's why they will be missing a finger or toe or whatever. The nerves were dead so they didn't experience any pain when it was damaged, or when the knife or axe made contact with it. Pain is a warning, it tells us something is wrong and to address that situation. Suffering and pain tell us that something is wrong with the world in which we live, the Bible says God didn't make it this way, we corrupted it this way, and God's future for his people is a world where he will not allow suffering.

And the gospels give us a glimpse of just what that world will be like as Jesus heals the sick, casts out demons, and raises the dead and proves that he can bring it about. Jesus shows us that God is going to do something about suffering for those who will put their trust in him, but he wants to judge sin and suffering without destroying us so he sends Jesus to die on the cross in our place for our sins and the suffering we have caused for others, so that God can justly deal with rebellion and yet graciously save us for the future he has planned.

What about other religions?

I guess we all worry a little about offending the sensibilities of those we are speaking to and when this question gets asked its hard not to offend people. Our cultures big no no is exclusivity, don't make a truth claim, definitely don't question someone elses beliefs and never ever say one religion is the only way.

But that's where we have a problem, Jesus himself said "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." The early years of the church were a battle to the death over just that issue, Christians would not bow the knee and worship the emperor and it led to hundreds being put to death.

However, it is worth pointing out that actually Christianity is not alone in this, every religion makes truth claims, every religion can't therefore be right. Take the issue of God, Islam, Christianity and Judaism say there is one God, Hinduism there are hundreds of gods and Buddhism there are no gods. Now they can't all be right can they because they are contradictory. Like wise in the way they deal with death and with life beyond death, and again they cannot all be right because they are mutually exclusive.

The issue becomes what is true. And we live our lives every minute of every day as if there are absolutes. The challenge is to be prepared to examine the ultimate absolute, what is the truth when it comes to faith. Not religion because religion doesn't save, Christianity is not a call to become religious it is a call to relationship with God through the risen Lord Jesus who died in our place. It is the only religion where sin is dealt with, where God is so holy that he has to solve the problem and me pulling my socks up is not enough because I am so rebellious.

Hasn't science disproved God?

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.”

How can you trust the Bible, it just isn't reliable?

The crux of the issue here is to challenge the person who responds this way to read the Bible with you. Maybe read a couple of chapters a week of a gospel and then meet up. So often people make comments like this and it is based on what their parents or friends or the media have said rather than having examined it for themselves. Before you read it with them, however, it may be worth examining the historical reliability of the documents themselves.

This is the evidence just as it relates to the gospels, let alone the rest of the Bible.

Manuscript evidence - there are more 24,000 early manuscript copies or portions of the New Testament in existence. It enables us to establish that the text we have is very close to the original. Some of these portions date back to 125 AD, the earliest almost complete New Testaments date to about 200AD. Compared to Homer's Iliad (643 copies and 500 years after event) and the works of Caesar (10 copies and 1000 years later) and other works from antiquity the New Testament is reliable.

Sir Frederic Kenyon, former director of the British Museum and a leading expert on ancient manuscripts said this about the New Testament:
"The interval then between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed."

Other sources - There is also corroborating evidence in the works of Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and various Jewish literature of the day. Making references to Jesus, the life of Christians, their beliefs and even Jesus ability to do the miraculous.

Even without using the gospels, relying on these other sources we find out the following about Jesus:

1. He was a Jewish teacher
2. Many believed he performed healings and exorcisms.
3. Some believed he was the Messiah
4. He was rejected by the Jewish leaders.
5. He was crucified by Pilate during Tiberius reign.
6. Despite crucifixion his followers believed he was alive.
7. Belief was widespread both geographically and socially.

Here’s what Clifford Wilson, a prominent archaeologist said: “Those who know the facts now recognise that the New Testament must be accepted as a remarkably accurate source book.”

The Bible is the best place to go to learn about who Jesus is and what he says and its implications. The challenge for us is to get our friends to read it to discover him for themselves.

Wasn't Jesus just a good man/teacher?

There are times when we need to call a question what it really is, and this question is just untenable when you look at the evidence. It is the biggest cop out in history when confronted by the gospel accounts of the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus, and sometimes we need to call people on that. Either accept or reject, there is no fence.

The gospels leave us in no doubt about who Jesus was, he is the immaculately conceived (Luke 1:31), God in flesh (Luke 1:35, 2:11), fulfilment of God's promises(Luke 2:11, 28-32, 38). He is the one whose actions, do not suggest but, declare him to be God made man. Who claims to be able to forgive sin and then proves that he can (Luke 5:17-26), who defeats demons (Luke 8:26-39, 9:37-43), who demonstrates his power over death (Luke 7:11-17, 8:40-56), and who teaches about how to live by faith (Luke 10:25-11:13).

He then goes to the cross exactly as he predicted (Luke 9:21-27, 9:43-50, 18:31-34, 22:13-16) willingly, even as he dies his actions draw a rebel to faith in him (Luke 23:40-43) and his concern is for people (Luke23:28-34) and his relationship with God (23:46). Then there is the resurrection and his ascension (Luke 24) as he is vindicated by God, as his sacrifice in our place is enough and he is declared to be God's beloved son by being raised from the dead.

On the basis of the evidence there is only one conclusion Jesus is the Messiah and I must trust and follow him. This is not a good man this is THE GOD MAN.

Christians are hypocrites and doesn't that prove Christianity is false?

Christians are hypocrites! How many times have you heard that said? It is one of the common arguments raised as to why Christianity is false, why just look at the way some Christians are!

I think we have to hold our hands up and say yep there are Christian's who are hypocrites. But I also think we want to ask what is a Christian? A Christian is a sinner saved by grace. That is what we are working with the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus. Christians are not perfect, but we are following Jesus.

Many people see Christians as being self-righteous, they see us in just the same light that those in Judea in Jesus day saw the Pharisees. We are not called to be self-righteous, in fact Jesus warns against it - "To those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax collector...I tell you this man [the tax collector], rather than the other went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14).

It may be that we need to repent of attitudes like that of the Pharisee, because I am only ever a sinner saved by grace given the undeserved status of a son.

When people see Christians following Jesus, humbling serving others and seeking to share the great news of salvation through Jesus Christ with people then it disarms the objection.

Aren't all good people Christians

This is one of the enduring legacies of Christendom. Is can be expressed as aren't all good people Christians or sometimes as I'm a Christian, I'm British. It is the assumption that a set of moral characteristics or nationalistic ones makes you a Christian.

We need to be probing and getting people to examine that idea. What is a Christian? is the fundamental question to ask. Once people see that actually to be a Christian is to be a follower of Jesus Christ it begins to raise questions about whether they are or not. It also may enable us to talk about who Jesus was and what he did with them.

The other question to ask is what good is. How do you decide who is good. Romans 3 says "there is no one who does good, not even one." That is quite a stunning statement, and provokes much discussion and debate. Ultimately the question of good is one of relationship to God, whether we have rebelled against God and decided to determine right and wrong for ourselves is the decisive factor in determining whether we are good or not.

However, this question also allows us to ask one back - what do you think grace is? Can a bad person go to heaven?

Does God exist?

I guess that's a pretty fundamental question to answer with our friends, though interestingly enough according to 2005 census about 82% of the population believe in God. However, other people like Richard Dawkins argue that there is no such things as God.

But the Bible says that God reveals himself to us in a number of ways:

1. Through the world around us. It is an incredible world and speaks to us of a loving God who made it.
2. By our desire - we have an innate sense that there is something greater than us - God.
3. Through the moral law - right and wrong are God given that's why we have a common sense of this though from different cultures and backgrounds.
4. By our Conscience - conscience is not a product of evolution, it would be an evolutionary hiccup, so it is a sign that we were made in God's image.

But the Bible says we can choose to ignore those signs, in fact Romans 1:18 onwards says we do choose to deliberately ignore those signs.

But the most convincing proof that God exists is Jesus Christ, someone has said of Jesus that:

‘All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life’

The decision to be made is what you will do with that life and that death?

Prayer - why does it have to be so hard?

Do you struggle praying? I've just finished re-reading an article on prayer, or more correctly on diagnosing a sick prayer life. The conclusion was that we struggle with prayer because we are sinners, not a great surprise but a helpful reminder. But it was also very helpful in suggesting three viruses that infect our thinking be it consciously or subconsciously. Here they are:

1. We doubt God is able
2. We doubt that God is willing
3. We misunderstand our relationship with him.

These three thoughts lead us not to make use of the immense privilege that is ours, the antidote to them is grace as seen in the gospel.

Isn't faith just psychological?

The argument goes something like this. All religious beliefs fulfil a deep psychological need, allaying our fears about nature being out of control, or about death, or other issues. Some people just need the comfort that faith provides to enable them to live life with a sense of purpose. But in reality others find different ways of living so faith is unnecessary.

But this same argument can be used against any belief system, not just faith. The Bible teaches that actually there is a psychological need of God, that we were designed to believe in him and failure to do so leaves a gap. Acts 17 as Paul proclaims Christ to the Athenians he does so by talking of God designing man to "seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him..."

When confronted with death we are confronted with the meaningless of our existence, that is the point made by Solomon in Ecclesiastes and in its sobering, hopeless, repeated refrain "meaningless, meaningless...everything is meaningless." We are made to search for meaning and faith in God provides that meaning, not because it is a psychological placebo but because it is the answer. Genesis 1-3 tells us we were not made for death but for life, that we were made for relationship with God which we have lost because of our rebellion. That loss creates within us a fear of death which is perfectly rational.

These are real needs, you can fill them with many things but not all will satisfy, because our need is God and relationship with him, not just psychologically but in reality. Faith does not just make a difference psychologically but to real life, to real living, to real dying.

Aren't Christians just doormats who use Christianity as a crutch?

Is a question often posed by people who are skeptical about the Christian faith. It is seen as something that is needed by those who can't really cope with what the world throws at them.

However, the Bible sees Christianity as anything but a crutch. Instead of making your life easier it actually makes it more difficult. Here's Jesus is Luke as he explains what discipleship means: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Jesus certainly didn't see Christianity as a crutch, he saw following him as a challenge.

The cross today has become a bit sanitised, it is viewed as a nice clean religious symbol. But in Jesus day it was the ultimate sign of suffering, carrying your cross was not and is not easy, it is not a crutch under your arm it is a burden on your back.

Jesus then goes to on to teach his disciples some of the practical outworking of this, it means going out with the message that the kingdom is come in Jesus and facing rejection, it means being the neighbour to those in need, even those you wouldn't naturally help, and bearing the cost yourself. It means your priorities, aspirations and desires are to be being increasingly conformed not to what I want but to what gives God the glory for his grace.

Its worth reading Acts posing the question - is Christianity a crutch for the early church? Acts 4 Peter and John are hauled before the Sanhedrin and threatened, Acts 5 the Apostles are flogged for preaching. Acts 7 Stephen is stoned, Acts 8 persecution breaks out against the church, and from Acts 13 onwards as the gospel is proclaimed you see persecution, riots, threats, arrests, and trials. In the rest of the New Testament much of the teaching is encouragment live out the scandal of the cross in light of the rejection and persecution it brings. A crutch? I don't think so, a cross? Most definitely.

In many places today (China, Philippians, Saudi Arabia, Iraq to name but a few) Christians are persecuted for their faith yet still they stand and proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord. The history of England shows that for all our freedoms we enjoy now hundreds, if not thousands, before us died for their faith. Even in what seems to be a multicultural Britain persecution exists, Christians are derided for their beliefs.

Christianity is not a crutch it is a cross, not just a cause of persecution but a life of self denial to glorify God who has worked in us so great a salvation.

Why isn't being good, good enough?

How do you know what is good? What is the standard for goodness? Is being good a little like marmite all a matter of taste? What does a good child look like? Is it one who eats their greens, does her homework, is polite, washes without being frog marched to the sink, helps out around the house, and writes his thank you letters? Is that a good child? You may think that is more than a good child, that such a child would be a miracle but I may just consider that normal behaviour and not especially good.

Or how about a good employee, what does a good employee look like? Is it someone who is punctual? Always meets deadlines? Uses their initiative? Obeys instructions without question? Works long hours? Buys into the company ethos? Makes the coffee without being asked? What does a good employee look like? My hunch is if you asked 10 managers you’d get 10 different answers.

So what does a good person look like? Is it someone who is law abiding, no criminal convictions, well apart from a few speeding tickets? Do they give to charity? Are they animal lovers? Do they have to be religious?

How do you know who is good? Is a terrorist a good person? Someone who sets out to kill others to highlight a cause he or she believes in. Those who share his or her beliefs might say they are good, his victims’ families would no doubt say otherwise. Who is right? Who decides?

How do you know who is good, how do you decide? Surely there has to be a standard. In industry there are kite marks that can only be used if your product passes certain standards of goodness. If it isn’t good enough, if it fails to meet the pass mark it cannot have the stamp to say it has met the standard.

Who decides what is good? God does. Why? Because “In the beginning God created…” God designed the world, he created us therefore he has set the standard. Just as in industry it is a manufacturer’s agreed standard that sets the pass mark for goodness, so God, the creator sets the standard for goodness.

So who does God say is good? The startling thing is that according to Romans 3 God says “No-one”. There is no one who passes the test for being good, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Why isn’t being good, good enough? because although I may be good in my eyes, I may pass my standard of goodness, I may award myself pass status. My verdict doesn’t matter, it is God’s standard that counts. There are two reasons why we are not good?

1. Because God says so.
(Romans 3:10-18) are a collection of Old Testament quotations that emphasize God’s standard, and our utter failure to meet it. God’s standard is not some shifting idea of goodness, like ours where the standard changes as societies values change. God’s standard is righteousness. God’s standard is not comparative, it is not about how good you are compared to so and so down the road. God’s standard is an absolute - righteousness -living a life that pleases God, living in line with God’s priorities, not mine, living a life that acknowledges God’s right to rule.

What is God’s judgement – there is no-one who seeks God, no one living in fear of him, no-one living with that continual awareness that God rules, is watching and is relevant.

In Genesis 3 we see that God has made the world and it is good and God has placed Adam and Eve in the midst of that world to enjoy it and to rule it on his behalf. The whole of God’s perfect creation is theirs to enjoy, they can eat of every tree bar one. The question is will they ‘fear the Lord’, can they live righteously, and can they accept the creator’s word and rule? Will they give God the respect he is due? Will they follow the maker’s instructions?

Well you know the story don’t you, they grasp for autonomy, they try to knock God off his throne, they reach for self rule, they want to decide for themselves how to live. They reject the creator and that in a nut shell is the problem, why can’t I be good because I reject the creator.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” God says do not lie but if I don’t lie I’ll look silly, or be found out, so I decide what is right and wrong. God says love your neighbour as yourself, but well he doesn’t know what they are like, I’ll make do with ignoring them – again I decide what is right and wrong. God says love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, but I love my work, I love the money it brings in, I love the things I can buy with it, I love my family, I love my hobbies. What is it I spend most energy and time on in the week? That is what I worship, that is what my idol is and again I decide what is right and wrong and push God’s standard away.

Why isn’t being good, good enough? Because it is not what I think that counts, I may measure up to my standard of goodness, may be you even measure up to my standard, but we fall way short of God’s. God says “no-one is righteous”, no-one measures up. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, we all miss the target. God’s standard is a life lived with God’s glory in mind, with God’s priorities in place and God’s rule established.

I’ve never played rugby except in PE at school. What would happen if I suddenly found myself playing for England against the Springboks in a few weeks time? I guess it wouldn’t be pleasant to find out, and would involve a substantial period of time taking food through a straw. Why? Because I am just not up to their standard, I could not stand the pace, the sheer intensity would find me out and leave me broken. To even be on the same field would place me in danger because I am just not good enough.

One day we will stand before God and we can bring our coupons of goodness with us, but we will realise that they are worthless that we do not know what goodness is. That our definition of good is not on the same plane as God’s standard.
Why isn’t being good, good enough? Because God says so. But also because

2. God shows so (24-6)
If your death would secure world peace would you willingly die? What about if it would end the conflict in Iraq? What about if it would save the life of a child who is stood in front of a bus? Is the sacrifice worth it?

We only make a sacrifice if we consider it worth doing. If the benefits outweigh the cost, that’s true in every small sacrifice, like giving up chocolate to lose weight, or going out jogging to keep fit, let alone in the big decisions. I wouldn’t be prepared to sacrifice my life unless I had to, unless it was absolutely necessary, unless I was convinced it was the only way to save somebody.

Well if being good is good enough then why did God sacrifice his son? Surely God only paid such a high price because it was the only way to save us. The cross is such a radical rescue package that it screams out you can never be good enough. It is the only way to make us good in God’s eyes, otherwise why would Jesus go through it. That is why God’s Son veils himself in humanity, that’s why the creator submits himself to the blows and indignities rained down upon him by the creation, that’s why God’s Son experiences his Father’s just anger against all rebellion against him.

Every blow, every insult, every second of bearing God’s judgement, says there is no other way. Jesus atones for us – he does what we can’t do, he meets God’s standard on our behalf.

John 18:1-11 shows us Jesus arrest, what stands out as you read the account is that Jesus is in control. He is not being swept along by events, merely reacting to circumstances, he is orchestrating them. He identifies himself to his would be captors not once but twice, he secures the safety of his followers, he prevents his disciples fighting for him. Why? Why doesn’t he escape when he can? Why doesn’t he fight his way heroically to freedom?

Because he must drink the cup the Father has given him. He must face the cross and God’s anger against sin as God’s obedient son because we cannot do face it. Only Jesus death can pay the bill, I can never be good enough; I need Jesus righteousness – Jesus total obedience to God to be credited to my account.

If being good is good enough then Jesus death is pointless. The cross stands over history and God points to it and says look at the lengths to which I will go because I love you and you could never be right with me. You can never make yourself good enough but look at the price I am prepared to pay.

Why isn’t being good, good enough? Because God says so, and because God shows so in sending his only Son to die for us to make us right before him.

This brings with it implications:
1. I had better understand God’s standards.
If what the Bible says is right then there is no point trying to live up to our own standards of right and wrong, no matter how high you set the bar it falls short. God’s standard is the only one that counts. If God’s verdict is “all have sinned and fall short” “There is no-one righteous” If I fail to meet those standards I had better find out if it is possible to meet God’s standard.

2. I better examine God’s solution
Jesus is the only way to be made good enough, we fall far short of God’s standard and he has met that standard for us.

3. I better warn others
There are millions of people who will go to sleep tonight thinking that even if, on the off chance, there is a God they are OK. If they were to be face to face with him they have a back up plan, they lead pretty good lives and that’s good enough isn’t it?

There are others who believe in God but think that being good is the key to heaven. That if they can show their giving, their being nice, their kindness, their goodness that will get them in. That God will accept them. If being good isn’t good enough someone needs to tell them.

Why isn’t being good, good enough? Because God says so and because God shows us so.

Barriers

Lots of people have questions about Christianity, some are genuine, some are things that they have heard others say. But regardless, we need to be answering these questions or knocking down the barriers that those around us have before they can listen to the gospel and come to faith.


Its a shame no one has done any research into the most common questions people have, but here are some suggestions:

1. How could a loving God allow suffering?
   
2. What about other religions?
   
3. Hasn't science disproved God?
   
4. How can you trust the Bible, it just isn't reliable?
   
5. Wasn't Jesus just a good man/teacher?
   
6. Christians are hypocrites and doesn't that prove Christianity is false?
   
7. Aren't all good people Christians?
   
8. How can I know God exists?
   
9. Isn't faith just psychological?
   
10. Isn't being good, good enough?
    

If you can think of any others you have come across send them in and we'll try and look at them in the coming weeks.

Priorities

Been looking at Luke 10:38-42 for Sunday and it raises the issue of priorities and of choosing what is best over what is good.

Discipleship involves listening to what Jesus teaches and Mary places herself in the position of listening despite the busyness around her. The temptation is to think that Mary didn't face the same pressures as we do that life then was more sedate. But I can't help but think that the pressures then were greater, when your daily bread was your means of living it has to be more pressured than when it is just one option along with pasta, rice noodles, and whatever else. We don't work to live, so much of our work is to consume.

The challenge is to reorder our priorities to be those of the disciple rather than just absorbing those around us that we are bombarded with by advertisers, producers, and the like. The antidote is to sit in the place of the disciple and hear what Jesus says our priorities should be.

A Church built around discipleship?

Back to thinking about what it means to try and build a church around discipleship. What would it look like? How do you facilitate it? Does it always have to be formalised?

Home groups are a fantastic start, it is a place where you get to know people, where you study the Bible together and seek to apply it to one anothers lives. It is also a place where you can respond to each other in ways you cannot in the larger body of the church, home groups are a place where we should be more aware of each others needs and struggles. But is a home group enough?

We were studying Acts 2:42-47 on Tuesday in home group and it is striking that it talks about them meeting together every day, about them being in and out of each others homes. This is somewhat alien to us and our culture, but I don't think these were organised meetings, I think this was genuine fellowship. I know we are very British and that our home is our castle but I think the gospel should set dynamite at the base and blow the drawbridge off its hinges.

We are to be involved in one anothers lives, in fact fellowship only happens when we are. It is these ad hoc meetings to encourage one another that I think we miss today. When was the last time someone just dropped in for a chat with you? Or when was the last time you just dropped in one someone else?

Discipleship happens as we live life alongside each other and encourage each other to do so for Christ. As someone pops in for a coffee and we talk about our day, our struggles, our joys. The challenge is to rediscover this level of fellowship.

What the church needs is you?

Discipleship is not something you can do on your own, you need someone to follow. Discipleship is always following Jesus - that is the call he makes to his disciples in Luke 5 and they are given in turn in Matthew 28. But we need to catch a glimpse of what it means fleshed out to live like that, we need godly, Christlike examples of discipleship to model ourselves on and we also need accountability relationships.

In many ways we are our own worst enemies. Jesus was often brutally honest, in Luke 6 Jesus is teaching his disciples about not judging others and he says this "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Jesus is exhorting his disciples not to judge others, an attitude common among the hypocritical religious leaders of Jesus day.

But how do I know I have a plank in my own eye? So often we need someone else to point out the plank because we just can't see it. As Jesus teaches his disciples he points out planks and shows them how to live differently. As Paul writes his letters he points out planks (e.g. returning to Judaism, a man having his father's wife and so on).

We are called not to judge others, but we are also called to build one another up in our faith. We do this as we lovingly point out planks and teach the truth, as we hold each other accountable for living lives worthy of the gospel.