Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000088S
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00:01 - On today's episode of "Authentic,"
00:03 we're going to explore this question, 00:05 Did God actually set up the human race 00:08 for failure at the very beginning? 00:11 I really don't think you're gonna wanna miss this. 00:14 [gentle music] 00:23 [gentle music continues] 00:34 You know, it's pretty rare that we do a long, 00:36 multipart series here on the show. 00:38 I think the last time I did it was a five-parter 00:40 on where the gospels come from. 00:43 But today I'm actually onto part six of a series 00:46 where I'm attempting to answer a bunch of critical questions 00:48 about the Christian faith 00:50 that I accidentally stumbled across on social media. 00:53 Now, normally, I don't waste much time with online debates 00:57 because, let's be honest, there's no end to them. 00:59 I mean, when's the last time you ever saw someone on Twitter 01:03 or some other platform say, 01:04 "Ooh, you know, what, you were right, I guess I'm wrong"? 01:08 That doesn't happen. 01:09 And so I almost never get involved, 01:11 because social media platforms 01:13 are often just a shouting match 01:15 between people trying to play gotcha with clever comebacks. 01:19 So I almost passed on this one. 01:22 But then I reconsidered because the questions, 01:25 well, I've heard these questions a thousand times over 01:27 from all kinds of people 01:29 and I thought that some of them deserved a response. 01:32 Because while they were a little accusatory, 01:34 a little angry, and obviously biased, 01:37 they were intelligent questions. 01:40 So here's the question we're gonna tackle today, 01:42 and remember, these are questions a lady said 01:45 she would ask God if she ever got the chance. 01:48 And she said, "Why would you purposely tempt Adam and Eve? 01:51 Did you want them to fail? 01:53 I mean, when I had children, I babyproofed my house. 01:55 I didn't light a fire in the middle of my living room 01:58 and tell them not to get close to it." 02:00 Now, if you make the rounds of the religious world, 02:03 you'll find all kinds of people 02:04 who insist that this idea is true. 02:07 They'll say, "God set things up 02:09 so that Adam and Eve were guaranteed to fail, 02:13 and that somehow that was gonna be a better situation 02:16 than keeping the innocence and purity 02:18 we were originally created with." 02:21 But that's certainly not a mainstream opinion 02:24 among biblical Christians. 02:26 The "Bible" teaches that while God 02:28 absolutely created the original universe 02:30 and everything in it, 02:32 He's not responsible for the appearance 02:35 of sin and suffering. 02:37 In fact, in some instances, 02:38 the "Bible" attaches the word mystery 02:41 to the concept of sin, 02:42 like it does in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 02:46 where Paul refers to "the mystery of lawlessness." 02:50 And I know that declaring the emergence of sin 02:52 to be a mystery seems like a little bit of a cop out. 02:56 But there really are things surrounding the concept of evil 03:00 that I'm not sure we're ever going to be able to comprehend, 03:03 at least not fully. 03:05 But there is enough data in the "Bible" 03:07 to help me talk about this 03:08 with a reasonable deal of confidence. 03:11 And I think by the time we're done 03:13 that you'll at least see the beginnings of a solid answer 03:17 to this question. 03:18 You might remember, from other shows, 03:20 a quote from a 19th century author 03:22 I've brought up a few times in the past 03:24 because it makes such incredibly good sense. 03:28 And that quote goes like this, 03:30 "it is impossible to explain the origin of sin 03:33 so as to give a reason for its existence. 03:36 Yet enough may be understood 03:37 concerning both the original and final disposition of sin 03:41 to make fully manifest the justice 03:43 and benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil. 03:46 Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture 03:49 than that God was in no wise responsible 03:52 for the entrance of sin, 03:53 that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, 03:56 no deficiency in the divine government, 03:59 that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. 04:02 Sin is an intruder, 04:04 for whose presence no reason can be given. 04:07 It is mysterious, unaccountable. 04:09 To excuse it is to defend it. 04:12 Could excuse for it be found 04:14 or cause be shown for its existence, 04:16 it would cease to be sin." 04:19 So, in other words, there is no good reason 04:23 for the emergence of sin. 04:25 You can search, and search, and search 04:27 until the cows come home, 04:28 but you're not going to find a good reason 04:31 to rebel against God. 04:33 Oh, to be sure, the human brain is really good 04:36 at justifying the things we do. 04:39 But most of us realize 04:41 that if we were asked to present our justifications 04:43 in front of God Himself, 04:46 they would melt like a snowflake on a warm sidewalk. 04:50 So now let's tackle the question itself. 04:52 Why would God make it possible to do the wrong thing? 04:56 My internet skeptic compared it to bad parenting. 04:59 She said, "Look, when my kids were little, 05:01 I babyproofed the house. 05:03 I didn't build a fire in the living room 05:05 and tell them to stay away." 05:07 Now that seems like a really good point 05:11 until you think it through. 05:13 Her argument really falls apart 05:14 when you come to the word baby, 05:17 because what the "Bible" describes in Eden 05:20 was not a couple of helpless infants. 05:22 It describes fully-developed, self-aware human beings 05:26 with the cognitive ability 05:27 to assess the world they lived in. 05:30 The reason we babyproof our houses 05:32 is because we're dealing with babies, 05:34 and that's not what we're dealing with in Genesis 3. 05:39 So it's really not a fair comparison. 05:41 And what I'd ask this skeptic, if I could, 05:44 is whether or not she wants her children 05:46 to live in a babyproofed world for the rest of their lives. 05:50 Do we really count it a success if we keep our children 05:53 completely sheltered from everything forever? 05:57 Or would we rather train them 05:58 so that they learn to recognize danger when they see it? 06:02 Every parent knows the frustration and pain 06:04 of having a child ignore their advice 06:07 and watching them get hurt precisely the way 06:10 that mom and dad were trying to prevent. 06:12 But, at the end of the day, 06:14 all you can really do is teach your children 06:16 what's right and wrong or what's safe and dangerous, 06:19 and you hope they're listening to you, why? 06:23 Well, it's all you can do 06:25 because they're autonomous people with wills of their own. 06:27 And the best you can do with autonomous individuals 06:30 is give them a warning. 06:33 Anything else would be a violation of liberty, 06:35 and honestly, a form of slavery. 06:38 When we set about having children, 06:40 most of us are hoping they'll move out one day 06:42 as well-adjusted, fully-functioning adults. 06:45 We don't really want them to stay at home forever. 06:48 And if we're good parents, 06:50 we're really not interested in raising mindless slaves. 06:53 And really, parenthood is probably the easiest way 06:57 to illustrate what happened in the story of Genesis. 07:00 You know full well that having children comes with risk. 07:04 Those kids might not love you in return. 07:06 They might ignore your advice and live their lives in a way 07:09 you know is courting disaster. 07:12 They might ultimately reject you, 07:14 and yet you want children. 07:16 You're willing to take that risk, 07:17 because another human being with free will 07:20 has the ability to love you back. 07:23 There's no such thing as a meaningful relationship 07:25 unless both parties actually have a choice. 07:29 And so what God did was create us with the capacity to love, 07:33 to love each other and to love Him. 07:36 And if we didn't have the ability to turn our backs on God, 07:39 then our relationship with Him really wouldn't mean much 07:42 because it's involuntary. 07:45 There had to be a choice. 07:47 There had to be some way that you could say no. 07:50 It was a risk that God was willing to take 07:53 because He thought that the free-will relationship 07:57 would be worth it. 07:59 What God didn't do was light a fire in the living room, 08:02 the way this skeptic put it. 08:04 There was nothing in God's creation 08:06 that was inherently dangerous. 08:08 The only obstacle to a lifelong, 08:10 meaningful relationship with God 08:12 was a matter of your choice, 08:13 and that was it. 08:16 There was nothing inherently dangerous 08:18 about the Tree of Knowledge. 08:19 There is no indication in the text 08:22 that the fruit was actually toxic. 08:24 This was all about the freedom to choose. 08:27 And right now I have the freedom to choose to take a break, 08:31 so I'll be right back after this. 08:33 [gentle music] 08:37 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 08:41 "Bible" prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 08:46 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation 08:48 and come away scratching your head, you're not alone. 08:51 Our free Focus on Prophecy guides 08:54 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the "Bible" 08:56 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 08:59 for you and our world. 09:00 Study online or request them by mail 09:03 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 09:06 - All right, we're talking about the fact 09:08 that God allowed us to fall into sin and rebellion 09:12 and He didn't make it impossible. 09:14 And the reason for that is not that hard to figure out. 09:16 The "Bible" defines God as love, 09:19 and it says that you and I were made in His image. 09:22 But there's no way to love someone 09:24 if you don't actually have any choice. 09:27 So right from the beginning, 09:29 God made choice available. 09:31 And I actually suspect that if Adam and Eve 09:33 had chosen to reject temptation, 09:36 eventually the need for choice would've disappeared. 09:39 Now, I don't have a specific "Bible" verse to support that, 09:42 but given the character of God 09:43 and the content of the rest of the "Bible," 09:46 I believe that probably would've been the case. 09:49 But it's not what happened, 09:50 so that's really kind of a moot point. 09:53 So, again, did God want us to fail? 09:57 Absolutely not. 09:58 That's an idea about God 10:00 that comes from centuries of human tradition 10:03 and not from the pages of the "Bible." 10:06 A lot of people live with this unspoken assumption 10:08 that God is in the business of getting rid of us, 10:11 and the only way He's ever gonna take you into heaven 10:14 is if He has to, 10:15 if you kind of slide in through the judgment 10:17 on some kind of technicality. 10:20 But that's a mindset that came to us courtesy 10:22 of the Medieval Church where Western Christianity 10:25 tragically conflated the teachings of Christ 10:28 with the politics of the Western Roman Empire. 10:31 Where the political Roman Empire had crumbled in the West, 10:35 the church historically stepped in to fill the void, 10:38 and it became perhaps the biggest political authority 10:41 in a lot of people's lives. 10:43 And because Roman emperors and European kings 10:46 often resorted to violence to retain their power, 10:50 the people mentally put God in that same category, 10:53 because, after all, the potentates of the church 10:56 were doing that kind of thing. 10:58 Regular people were just a huge inconvenience 11:00 to the authorities. 11:02 But they were also a key source of revenue, 11:04 and so they could fund the army, 11:05 so kings kind of tolerated the peasants. 11:10 You might remember that old comic strip, "The Wizard of Id," 11:12 where someone shouts, "The peasants are revolting!" 11:15 And the king, without even looking out his window, 11:17 says, "You could say that again." [chuckles] 11:19 The reason it's funny 11:22 is because there's a kernel of truth to it. 11:24 The nobility of Europe barely tolerated the serfs 11:27 because of the advantages that came with being a landowner. 11:31 But loved the serfs? 11:33 That was so rare that we still find a lot of fairytales 11:36 from yesteryear featuring a good king 11:39 who actually cared about people. 11:41 It was so rare it was considered extraordinary. 11:45 I mean, think about it, 11:46 we still sing about "Good King Wenceslas," 11:48 who ventured out on the Feast of Stephen 11:50 out into the cold winter 11:52 where he discovers a poor man trying to find enough firewood 11:55 to keep himself warm. 11:57 And so the king decides that this is unacceptable 12:00 and makes sure a feast is delivered to the peasants hovel. 12:05 It's a really old story about the Duke of Bohemia 12:08 dating back more than 1,000 years. 12:10 And whether or not the story's true, 12:13 it was meant to celebrate a monarch who cared about people. 12:17 So think about that. 12:19 We've been commemorating this guy now 12:21 for more than a thousand years, 12:24 and you'd have to think long and hard 12:26 to find other examples of that kind of royal generosity. 12:30 That's how rare it was. 12:34 So when we began to conflate church and state, 12:37 we started to think that God must be like the tyrants 12:40 who lived on the hill in the castle 12:42 and the bishops who lived sumptuously 12:44 while the rest of us starved. 12:46 Now, that's not the whole picture, not even by a long shot. 12:49 We also have to factor in the pagan ideas 12:52 that made huge inroads during the Medieval period, 12:56 which led many people to think of the God of Abraham 12:59 as if he was one of the gods of Mount Olympus, 13:01 this unpleasant deity who toyed with human beings for fun. 13:06 But you know? 13:06 Whatever the influence, 13:08 we really did come out of that Medieval period 13:11 with this horrible picture of God. 13:13 And so to this day, we have a lot of people 13:16 assuming that God doesn't want us, 13:18 He's trying to keep us out of His kingdom. 13:21 And to be really honest, 13:23 I still hear a lot of 21st century preachers 13:26 saying that kind of stuff 13:28 instead of showing us the God that you actually find 13:31 in the pages of the "Bible." 13:33 So let's slow down now for a moment 13:35 and look at what the authors of this book actually said. 13:39 "For God so loved the world," it says in John 3:16, 13:43 "that He gave His only son, 13:45 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, 13:47 but have eternal life." 13:50 So now ask yourself, 13:52 why in the world would God make that kind of sacrifice 13:56 if He didn't want you? 13:58 Or consider this one, 14:00 it's one of my favorites found in Romans 5. 14:03 It says, "For while we were still weak, 14:06 at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." 14:09 For who? The ungodly. 14:12 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, 14:15 though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. 14:19 But God shows His love for us 14:21 in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 14:26 Honestly, it's hard to think of God 14:28 as cruel and vindictive when you stop to read 14:30 what the "Bible" actually says. 14:33 I mean, consider what Paul just said. 14:36 God didn't wait until we were good enough to save 14:39 because He knew that was never gonna happen. 14:41 He didn't wait until we proved ourselves 14:43 before He laid down his life. 14:45 He did it while we were still lost in sin 14:48 doing the very things that hurt Him the most. 14:52 I mean, let's just be honest. 14:54 While we know that Christ died to save us, 14:57 we also know that the act of murdering Him 15:00 was the peak of our sin and rebellion. 15:02 And even then, at that moment, we find Christ saying, 15:05 "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 15:10 So now stop for a moment and let's reassess the charge 15:14 that my internet skeptic brought against God. 15:17 "Why would you purposely tempt Adam and Eve? 15:20 Did you want them to fail?" 15:23 The answer is no, absolutely not. 15:27 You don't go to all those incredibly painful lengths 15:29 to save people that you set up to fail. 15:32 It doesn't add up. 15:34 God did not create this world as a painful trial 15:37 that you need to pass through in order to be good with Him. 15:40 In fact, the "Bible" says the day He created us, 15:43 the human race, He stepped back and noticed 15:46 that what He made was, and I quote, "very good." 15:50 At the end of every other day, He said it was good. 15:54 But the day he made us, very good. 15:57 So why in the world would He wanna change that? 16:00 Why would He make this world something less 16:02 than He was capable of making? 16:05 Why would a God whose character is defined by love 16:07 deliberately create a world of pain? 16:10 And the answer is He didn't. 16:13 But He did create us with choice, 16:15 because without it, 16:16 we would never be capable of experiencing love 16:19 the way that God planned. 16:21 There would be no profound relationships, 16:23 no fulfilling interactions with each other, 16:25 no meaning to our existence. 16:29 Without the possibility of choice 16:31 it would've been a completely empty existence, 16:33 nothing more than cosmic slavery. 16:38 And so He took the risk because He thought it was worth it. 16:41 And while I absolutely abhor the choices we made, 16:44 the wreck we made out of God's creation, 16:46 I'm still glad He took the risk. 16:49 Because even though we now have to live in considerable pain 16:52 and we've almost completely eradicated 16:54 the image of God from this world, 16:57 I'm still free to love. 16:59 And I'm still free, thanks to the gift of the cross, 17:01 to build a meaningful relationship with a personal God, 17:05 a God who is willing to give His very life for me. 17:09 And did God babyproof the Garden of Eden? 17:11 Yeah, in a way He did. 17:13 It's not as if He simply set the whole thing in motion 17:15 and let the first people guess what that tree was for. 17:19 He told us point blank, 17:20 "Look, you're free to do what you want. 17:22 But if you go down this path 17:24 and willfully disconnect yourself from the only source 17:27 of life in the universe, 17:29 it's going to lead to pain, and suffering, and death." 17:34 Look, if you read the "Bible" carefully, 17:36 you'll notice that the real issue 17:39 was whether or not God can be trusted. 17:41 And wouldn't you know it, 17:43 the skeptic's question implies that He can't be trusted, 17:46 and that's really the biggest question in the world today. 17:49 With all the pain, with all the disappointment 17:51 that we suffer every single day, 17:53 can we really trust God? 17:56 I'll be right back after this to explore 17:58 that question just a little bit more. 18:00 [gentle music] 18:04 - [Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us. 18:06 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 18:10 but that's where the "Bible" comes in. 18:12 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 18:15 Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 18:17 we've created the Discover "Bible" guides 18:19 to be your guide to the "Bible." 18:20 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 18:23 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 18:26 and they're absolutely free. 18:28 So jump online now or give us a call 18:30 and start your journey of discovery. 18:34 - Let me show you something really interesting 18:35 in the book of 2 Timothy, 18:37 which was addressed to a young preacher 18:39 the Apostle Paul knew and loved, 18:41 and showed a keen interest in helping. 18:44 He's talking about the suffering that he's had to endure 18:47 as a missionary and a preacher, 18:49 suffering that Paul expected 18:51 because the world he preached in is at odds with God. 18:54 And anybody who picks up the cause of Christ 18:56 is bound to experience a little friction. 19:00 Actually, friction is a pretty mild word 19:02 for what Paul had to endure, 19:04 because he was actually left for dead at one point 19:07 by a mob that really hated him. 19:09 So now listen to what he wrote, 19:10 because I find this very interesting, 19:13 he says, "Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony 19:17 about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, 19:20 but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God 19:23 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, 19:26 not because of our works, 19:28 but because of His own purpose and grace, 19:30 which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 19:34 and which now has been manifested 19:36 through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ." 19:40 So let me pause right here and point out something 19:42 that many people miss, 19:44 God intended to save us and bring us into His kingdom, 19:48 Paul says, "Before the ages began." 19:51 In other words, even before He made us, 19:54 He'd already made plans for what to do 19:56 if we made the wrong choice. 19:58 That's why in Revelation 13:8, 20:00 you find mention of the Book of Life 20:02 and the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. 20:07 The plan to save us was already there 20:10 the very moment we were created. 20:13 So it's not really a matter of God wanting us to fail. 20:17 What He did was create us 20:18 with the fullest potential for joy, 20:20 and He had a safety net in place just in case. 20:25 And that was a safety net 20:26 that came at a very high cost to God Himself, 20:29 it meant the life of his only son. 20:31 Now back to 2 Timothy 1, it continues, 20:35 "Which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 20:39 and which now has been manifested 20:41 through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, 20:44 who abolished death and brought life and immortality 20:47 to light through the gospel, 20:49 for which I was appointed a preacher, 20:51 and apostle, and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do." 20:56 Now, here comes the most important part for today, 20:59 "But I am not ashamed," he writes, 21:01 "for I know whom I have believed, 21:03 and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day 21:06 which has been entrusted to me." 21:09 So here's what I want you to notice, 21:12 This was written by a man who had suffered terribly 21:15 and still he trusts the God of the "Bible." 21:18 This was such a profound thought 21:20 that inspired one of the greatest hymns 21:22 of the Christian Church written in 1883. 21:25 You probably know it, it goes like this, 21:27 "I know not why God's wondrous grace 21:31 to me He hath made known, 21:33 nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own. 21:38 But I know whom I have believed 21:41 and am persuaded that He is able 21:43 to keep that which I've committed unto Him 21:47 against that day." 21:49 That is the ultimate expression of trust. 21:53 There was nothing in the Apostle Paul's life 21:55 to suggest that he was headed to anything good. 21:58 His life was hard, and he ended up in prison, 22:00 and then he died when the Roman Empire beheaded him. 22:04 But in spite of all that, 22:06 in spite of the hardship he endured, 22:08 he trusted the God of the "Bible" with his future. 22:12 And that's the universal witness 22:14 of the people who wrote this book. 22:16 Really, it's completely impossible 22:18 to read the "Bible" honestly and come to the conclusion 22:21 that God somehow intended for us to fail. 22:24 That might make good cult theology, 22:26 and I know a cult that teaches that, 22:29 but it doesn't make for good biblical theology. 22:32 In this book, we have page, after page, 22:35 after page of God's incredibly good intentions toward you. 22:38 I mean, just consider what it says 22:40 in my wife's favorite verse, 22:42 and this was written in the context of God's people 22:44 going horribly astray 22:46 and having to live with the consequences 22:48 of some really bad choices. 22:50 In fact, they were told to settle down 22:53 in Babylonian captivity 22:55 because they were gonna be there for a while, 22:57 70 years in fact. 22:59 But then listen to this from Jeremiah 29, 23:03 "For thus says the Lord, 23:05 'When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, 23:09 and I will fulfill to you my promise 23:11 and bring you back to this place. 23:13 For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 23:16 'plans for welfare and not for evil, 23:18 to give you a future and a hope. 23:21 Then you will call upon me 23:23 and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 23:25 You will seek for me and find me, 23:27 when you seek for me with all your heart.'" 23:31 God wants us to fail? 23:33 No, hardly. 23:35 The only way you could come to that conclusion 23:37 is to build your ideas about God on what people tell you, 23:41 because that's not a picture you'll find in this book. 23:44 I'll be right back after this. 23:46 [gentle music] 23:49 - [Announcer] Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 23:50 we're committed to creating top-quality programming 23:53 for the whole family. 23:54 Like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 23:58 "Discovery Mountain" is a "Bible"-based program 24:00 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 24:02 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories 24:05 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 24:08 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 24:10 and fresh content every week, 24:13 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 24:16 [gentle music] 24:19 - You know, the problem of evil 24:20 is one of the biggest questions in the world. 24:22 In fact, I've seen a lot of modern philosophers, 24:26 people like Susan Neiman, suggest that the problem of evil 24:29 is really the underlying question 24:32 behind every philosophical pursuit of all time. 24:36 So to think that I'm gonna fully satisfy 24:39 a critic's accusations against God in half an hour, 24:43 now that's wishful thinking. 24:45 But I will say this, 24:47 if you're honest with the biblical text 24:50 and you actually take the time to read the whole thing, 24:54 you're gonna find the idea that God set us up for failure 24:57 completely untenable. 24:59 It's just not in here. 25:01 If anything, you're gonna discover that God 25:03 went out of His way to set us up for success, 25:07 and He did that without taking away our right to choose. 25:13 So, again, maybe think of this in terms of parenthood, 25:16 if that's helpful. 25:18 When we first start our families, 25:20 we have all kinds of hopes and dreams for our children. 25:22 In fact, we want the very best for them. 25:26 We create promising situations. 25:28 We take them to soccer practice or to music lessons, 25:31 or to whatever it is they happen to show an interest in, 25:35 sometimes to the point 25:36 of loading our kids down with way too much. 25:40 But the reason we do it, 25:42 we're trying to set them up for success. 25:44 I mean, from the day we bring these babies 25:47 home from the hospital, 25:48 we're out there buying those "Mozart for Babies" albums 25:51 because somewhere we read 25:53 that it helps a baby's mental development. 25:55 Whether or not that's true, I have no idea, 25:58 but I know a lot of you did it just in case it works. 26:03 You help your kids with their homework. 26:05 You help them prepare for their ACTs or the SATs 26:08 because, well, you want them to win scholarships 26:11 and get into good colleges. 26:13 You spend countless, white-knuckled hours in a car 26:16 teaching your kids to drive. 26:18 You invest in teaching them right from wrong 26:21 trying to prepare them for the brutal reality 26:24 of living in this painful and broken world. 26:28 And then, comes the day when they pull away from the house, 26:34 maybe for the last time, 26:35 and you send up a little prayer 26:37 that your kids are gonna be okay. 26:40 You launch them and you want them to succeed. 26:43 But you also know that they're free agents, 26:46 real people with real choices, 26:48 and there's the very distinct possibility 26:51 that they're gonna make some bad decisions 26:53 that cause them pain. 26:55 Yet in spite of that, you don't lock them in your house 26:58 hoping to prevent the pain, 26:59 not if you're a decent and reasonable parent. 27:02 You take that risk and you set them free, 27:06 because that's the only way 27:08 they're gonna find a meaningful existence. 27:11 And that's what we have in the "Bible." 27:13 A heavenly Father setting His full-grown children free. 27:18 The analogy of babyproofing your house just doesn't apply. 27:21 That's a false equivalence. 27:23 And here's the thing, 27:25 even though we made a horrible mess of this world, 27:27 God still protects your right to choose. 27:29 Instead of wiping us out, 27:31 instead of starting all over with a clean slate, 27:34 He waits for us hoping we'll accept the path 27:38 out of this mess, the only path, which is Christ. 27:43 Thanks for joining me today. 27:45 I'm Shawn Boonstra, and you've been watching "Authentic." 27:49 [gentle music] 27:58 [gentle music continues] 28:08 [gentle music continues] 28:18 [gentle music continues] 28:28 [gentle music ending] |
Revised 2023-11-08