Participants: Pr. John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001206
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00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book. 00:13 The Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:21 It is written sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 Imagine growing up thinking you were someone, and then 00:39 discovering you were someone else. 00:42 And imagine if you found out your own godfather was one of 00:45 the monsters of history. 00:47 Guntram Weber was a 63-year-old teacher living in Berlin, West 00:50 Germany. 00:52 And like many Germans his age, he never knew his father, and 00:55 that was because his dad was killed during the war. 00:58 Or, at least that's what his mother told him. 01:00 "Guntram, your dad was a truck driver for the Luftwaffe in 01:03 Croatia and he died in the fighting." 01:06 And that's all she told him. 01:07 For much of his life, Guntram remained skeptical about what 01:10 his mother had said regarding his father. 01:13 He could never quite bring himself to believe her story. 01:15 It always bothered him that she never talked about his father, 01:19 and when he asked questions, she would say something quickly and 01:22 then change the subject. 01:23 And to make things seem even more suspicious, there were 01:25 never any photos of his dad around the house, and he 01:28 couldn't find any documentation. 01:30 Then one day, following a hint his stepfather gave him, Guntram 01:33 did a little digging into his past, and much to his shock he 01:38 found the truth. 01:40 Guntram was what they called a Lebensborn baby, a term the 01:43 Nazis used to describe their plan to use selective breeding 01:47 to create a Master Aryan race that would eventually rule the 01:50 world. 01:52 They'd pick out what they considered to be the most 01:55 Aryan-looking and racially pure men and women, and under the 01:57 direction of the SS and Heinrich Himmler, they ran a special 02:01 program where those people were essentially sent to breeding 02:04 farms around Europe to give birth to supposedly racially 02:08 pure children. 02:09 And when Guntram went to find the truth about his dad, that's 02:12 what he discovered. 02:14 His dad wasn't a truck driver killed in Croatia. 02:17 He was a Major-General in the SS who had a wife and three 02:21 children of his own when he got Guntram's mother pregnant. 02:24 His mother then went to one of the "Lebensborn" clinics, and 02:28 thus Guntram came into the world. 02:31 His real father was deemed a war criminal and had to flee to 02:33 Argentina after the war, where he lived until his death in 02:37 1970. 02:38 But as bad as that was, it wasn't the only dark secret in 02:41 his life. 02:43 He discovered, to his horror, that Heinrich Himmler, the 02:46 infamous director of the death camps, was his godfather. 02:50 Imagine: thinking one thing about your origins all your 02:54 life, and then discovering the horrible truth: your birth was a 02:59 part of a systematic eugenics program. 03:02 Thousands of Germans, after the war, suffered the trauma of 03:06 making that very discovery. 03:09 Some of the most basic questions people ask during the course of 03:12 their lifetime are things like "Who am I?", and "Why am I 03:15 here?" 03:21 Anybody who lives long enough and gives life even a few 03:24 moments of serious thought is going to ask those kinds of 03:27 questions. 03:39 In his book Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy presents a Russian 03:42 aristocrat by the name of Konstantin Levin who asks three 03:46 essential questions: (1) What am I? 03:49 (2) Where am I?, and (3) Why am I here? 03:59 As the story goes, Konstantin was looking at his estate when 04:02 he suddenly wonders: what does it all mean? 04:06 "When these people are all dead, and I'm dead, too - what will 04:09 all of this mean?" 04:11 I had a conversation once with a philosophy professor in London, 04:14 England who told me that philosophers still wrestle with 04:17 the big questions: I said, "Michael, what are those big 04:20 questions" and he told me: "Here are the big questions that we 04:23 are trying to get to the bottom of: Who am I, and why am I 04:27 here?" 04:28 There's something in the human heart that cries desperately to 04:31 know what life is all about. 04:33 And what a waste to live here without knowing why you're here 04:36 and how you're supposed to spend your time. 04:41 Most people wander through life not knowing what their life 04:44 really means. 04:47 And then, when it's too late they discover what they could 04:50 have done. 04:52 So let me ask you: how, exactly, are you supposed to live your 04:56 life if you don't know why you're here or where you come 04:59 from? 05:01 Richard Dawkins, the famous Oxford zoologist and atheist, 05:04 believes quite strongly that he's got the answer. 05:07 He says that we are cosmic accidents created by chance 05:11 through the unconscious mechanism of random mutation and 05:15 natural selection. 05:17 In other words, more conscious thought and purpose went into 05:20 somebody scribbling some graffiti under a bridge than 05:23 went into the creation of you and me - or the whole universe. 05:27 But look at the world around you: everything seems to have a 05:30 purpose. 05:31 Ears have purpose, the brain of a dolphin has a purpose, the sun 05:36 has a purpose, the DNA of a flower has purpose, and yet 05:40 we're being asked to believe that everything around us is an 05:43 accident and has no purpose at all? 05:46 After more than a century of evolutionary theory being taught 05:50 in the classroom, millions and millions of Americans still 05:54 don't believe it. 05:56 Most of us still believe that God purposely created us - in 06:00 His image. 06:01 All the hypotheses and speculations out there about 06:05 there being a "the selfish gene," or "natural selection," 06:09 or a primordial soup - just don't make the same kind of 06:12 sense found in the first words of the Bible: Genesis 1, verse 1 06:17 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the 06:22 earth" (Genesis 1:1). 06:23 You know, in those few words, we have a radically different 06:27 perspective on the question of life than the stuff we learned 06:31 in high school biology. 06:33 Are we really just the chance product of cold cosmic forces 06:36 who never even saw us coming? 06:38 Or are we the purposeful creations of a loving God who 06:42 made us, as the Bible says, in His own image? 06:47 There's quite a stark contrast between those two views. 06:50 Guntram Weber thought he had it pretty bad, having Heinrich 06:54 Himmler as his godfather. 06:56 But at least his life had some sort of misguided design to it. 06:59 As bad as the picture was, I think it's even worse to be told 07:03 that your great-great-great-great-grandfat 07:07 her was a single-celled organism coming out of a primordial soup. 07:10 Suddenly, your life has no kind of meaning at all. 07:17 So - can a painting of a water lily suddenly become an actual 07:24 water lily? 07:26 Are you sure you know the answer to that question? 07:30 More in just a moment. 07:48 It's time for today's Bible question. 07:50 Thanks for submitting Bible questions to It Is Written. 07:53 How can a person really believe the Bible is true? 07:58 It was written years ago, it has been copied so many times, it 08:01 was written by a lot of different people and those 08:03 people wrote different parts of the Bible at different times. 08:08 Help me believe the Bible is believable. 08:11 Great question. 08:12 Thank you. 08:13 I'll do my best. 08:14 You know what's funny? 08:16 There are historical books that not many people question when it 08:19 comes to authenticity. 08:22 Let me explain this a little. 08:23 A historian named Tacitus wrote The Annals of Imperial Rome. 08:28 Few people question its accuracy or veracity, even though what is 08:31 available today comes from a copy, not the original, and that 08:34 copy doesn't NEARLY date back to the original. 08:37 I'm not knocking Tacitus and the Annals of Imperial Rome - just 08:42 pointing out that there's a bit of a double standard when it 08:44 comes to considering the accuracy of the Bible. 08:48 There are several reasons you can trust the Bible. 08:50 I'll name just a few. 08:52 Historically it stands up. 08:53 Luke, who wrote Luke and the Book of Acts, is a very accurate 08:57 historian, and the historical details found in what he wrote 09:02 stand the test of thorough scrutiny. 09:05 Archaeology has validated the Bible again and again. 09:09 On numerous occasions it has been said that portions of the 09:12 Bible couldn't be trusted because they couldn't be 09:13 validated by the archaeological record. 09:15 But again and again archaeologists have found 09:19 records of cities or other evidences that show the Bible 09:23 record was accurate after all. 09:24 This has happened many, many times. 09:28 Then there are the manuscripts. 09:30 There are hundreds of old manuscripts or portions of 09:33 manuscripts that show that what has come down to us today is 09:36 consistent with what was written hundreds and hundreds of years 09:40 ago. 09:41 The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the late 1940s and early 09:45 1950s are compelling evidence that the Bible is legitimate. 09:49 They date back as far back as before the time of Christ, and 09:54 they show us that the Bible we read today is fundamentally the 09:55 same as what was written way back then. 09:59 Now the 'differences' that exist in manuscripts are generally so 10:03 small that they're practically irrelevant. 10:05 You don't find a manuscript where Jesus says He isn't the 10:08 Son of God, or where the Christ is teaching something bizarre. 10:13 And consider prophecy. 10:15 Many prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled. 10:17 And this demonstrates, I think, conclusively that the Bible can 10:20 be trusted. 10:22 When you've got predictions made that name a king before he is 10:25 born or that name an a certain invader or conquerer before he 10:30 is born and then these things come to pass... 10:33 When you have all those prophecies about Jesus coming to 10:35 the world - one saying He would be crucified, another saying not 10:39 a bone would be broken, another saying He would be born in 10:42 Bethlehem, another saying He would die in dishonour, another 10:44 saying He would be rejected by the one He came to save, and on 10:49 and on... 10:50 You've got a real problem if you want to argue against the 10:53 inspiration of the Bible. 10:55 What are you going to do with all that evidence? 10:58 But you know what? 11:00 At the end of the day we accept the Bible by faith. 11:03 The Bible's critics raise fair questions at times - sometimes 11:07 questions that aren't easy to answer, especially to 11:09 everybody's satisfaction. 11:10 But there's enough clear - what I would call - "evidence" for us 11:15 to know the Bible really is the word of God. 11:18 You can accept it by faith. 11:21 Not blind faith, but reasonable, studied faith. 11:25 There are many, many good reasons to trust the Bible. 11:28 So many that I'm not sure how someone can really be confident 11:32 in rejecting the Bible. 11:34 If there's a question you would like answered, please send it to 11:37 me at ItIsWritten.com. 11:39 I'll do my very best to get your Bible question answered. 11:44 If you have a Bible question for Pastor John Bradshaw, please 11:48 write to It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, California 91359 11:53 or visit our website itiswritten.com and send us your 11:56 questions on-line. 11:59 You know, one of the great puzzles of modern science is the 12:02 question of life itself: where exactly, did it come from? 12:07 How did these chemicals products - water, carbon, and protein-how 12:12 did they make the jump from being - well, water, carbon, and 12:16 protein - to a living thing? 12:19 The idea of a painting of a water lily suddenly becoming a 12:22 real water lily seems impossible. 12:26 How would the painting make that kind of jump? 12:29 It's not just a small tweak here and there and suddenly then the 12:31 painting comes to life! 12:33 It just doesn't seem feasible. 12:35 But the old, old story you find the Bible DOES seem feasible. 12:40 God CREATED life with purpose and design - and with human 12:45 beings, He took special steps to make something very special. 12:50 Listen to what the Bible says, in Genesis 2:7 "the LORD God 12:55 formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 13:00 nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" 13:05 (Genesis 2:7). 13:06 I want you to notice the intimacy: it says God breathed 13:10 into our nostrils the breath of life. 13:12 According to the Biblical account, it wasn't an accident. 13:16 Someone who cares deeply about our existence put us here on 13:19 purpose, for a reason. 13:22 Now take that version of human origins and contrast it with 13:25 what the late paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould said about 13:30 human origins: He said "We are here because one odd group of 13:35 fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform 13:40 into legs for terrestrial creatures; because the earth 13:44 never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and 13:48 tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million 13:53 years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. 13:59 We may yearn for a 'higher' answer - but none exists." 14:06 I can't imagine anything more hopeless - and when it comes to 14:10 the really important questions in life, it just doesn't bring 14:14 any lasting satisfaction. 14:16 And with all due respect, how could Dr. Gould be so certain? 14:20 He just wasn't there when it supposedly happened. 14:23 He didn't see any of his hypothesis take place. 14:26 Instead, he took a few bits of scattered data - a little piece 14:30 here, a little piece there - and then building on a whole bunch 14:35 of unproven assumptions, he cooked up a theory of human 14:38 origins that just doesn't really make sense. 14:41 When I listen to people like Dawkins and Gould, and all these 14:44 other people who seem to insist that life is an accident, it 14:46 reminds me of a passage in the book of Job where God asks Job 14:51 some pretty tough questions. 14:55 I'm turning to the book of Job: Job 38:4 and it says this: 15:03 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? 15:07 Tell Me, if you have understanding. 15:11 Who determined its measurements? 15:13 Surely you know! 15:15 Or who stretched the line upon it? 15:19 Just try to imagine standing in front of God, attempting to 15:25 answer questions like this. 15:27 And the rest of the chapter has a lot more questions. 15:30 The point of it is really pretty simple: none of us were there. 15:32 We're building a theory of human origins from scratch, based on a 15:34 tiny bits of information and a whole lot of human arrogance. 15:39 You know, I've heard people say that it's arrogant to suggest 15:44 that human life is special, and that Christians are arrogant to 15:46 suggest that people have a special place on planet earth, 15:49 but sometimes I really have to wonder: when we want to be smart 15:54 enough think we think we hold the key to the universe, and 15:57 we're too proud to think that Someone might just have a claim 16:00 on our lives, where does the real arrogance lie? 16:06 And in the view offered by Dawkins and Darwin and Gould, 16:11 the universe doesn't last. 16:13 Follow these guys' theories to their logical conclusion, and 16:17 you get a pretty hopeless picture. 16:19 Eventually, the universe just collapses - and nothing will 16:22 have meant anything. 16:24 But the story given in the Bible bubles with hope. 16:30 It admits the sad condition of our planet, it explains the pain 16:32 and suffering we're living with, and it holds out a promise that 16:37 answers the toughest questions we can ask. 16:44 To put it simply, God offers us a future. 16:47 Listen to His promise, it's found at the end of the book of 16:49 Isaiah: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and 16:52 the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind" 16:55 (Isaiah 65:17). 16:59 If life were really meaningless, I don't think so many people - 17:01 for so many years - would have asked so many questions. 17:04 If you and I are just machines that fell together by accident, 17:08 why would we even care about the meaning of life. 17:11 But if our lives are the creation of a loving, caring 17:14 God, who has our best in mind, the questions you've got about 17:17 life begin to make sense. 17:21 They're kind of a homing beacon, steering you back into a 17:25 relationship with God. 17:27 Now in the book of Ephesians, the Bible says this, Ephesians 17:32 1:4, "...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the 17:35 world, that we should be holy and without blame before 17:40 Him...." 17:41 (Eph. 17:42 1:4) You didn't just happen: you were chosen, and you still are. 17:45 Because of what God did for you at the cross of Calvary, you are 17:48 free to answer the call in your heart and rediscover your 17:52 original purpose. 17:54 Here's another passage found in 2 Timothy 1:9, where the Bible 17:57 tells us that you and I have been called, "with a holy 18:03 calling, not according to our works, but according to His own 18:07 purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus 18:10 before time began." 18:14 Over and over again, the Bible says that you were chosen and 18:17 called before the creation of the world. 18:21 There's a reason you wonder about the meaning of your life. 18:24 Dig a little deeper into your past, and you're going to make a 18:29 remarkable discovery: your life really does have purpose. 18:34 You were put here intentionally, and there are forces at work in 18:36 this universe to keep you from discovering the truth. 18:41 In a moment, an incredible story about two men who found out who 18:46 they really were. 18:51 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says "It is written 'Man shall 18:57 not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of 19:00 the mouth of God'." 19:01 Every Word is a one minute Bible-based daily devotional 19:04 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially 19:07 for busy people like you. 19:09 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it on-line 19:12 everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 19:16 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 19:19 Watch Every Word. 19:20 You'll be glad you did. 19:21 Here's a sample: I'm sometimes 19:32 intrigued by people who decide it isn't important 19:34 for God's people to obey Him and keep His commandments. 19:38 Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:8, "But we now that the law is good, if 19:42 a man use it lawfully." 19:43 It is true that the law can be used 'unlawfully' - as a set of 19:46 rules, something to argue about, as a club with which to batter 19:50 someone. 19:51 But when God's law is written in your heart, and when God's 19:53 Spirit is guiding your life, you'll recognize the 19:57 commandments of God to be "perfect" and "truth", as David 19:59 said, and "the perfect law of liberty" as James said. 20:02 You'll be able to say with the Psalmist, "I delight to do your 20:05 will, O my God, [because] your law is written in my heart. 20:09 There are people who'll want to misuse and misapply God's law, 20:11 that's true. 20:12 But the law of God is "good", when it is used lawfully. 20:16 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 20:18 Let's live today by every word. 20:25 Perhaps something in today's program has sparked your 20:27 interest in greater Bible study. 20:29 We invite you to visit our website itiswritten.com where 20:33 you will find a host of inspirational resources 20:36 including free Bible study guides, there's also a complete 20:39 archive of past television programs and special video 20:42 seminars that you can view on-line or download. 20:45 Discover more at itiswritten.com Somebody doesn't want you to 20:52 know who you really are. 20:54 You know, a little while ago, I came across a remarkable story. 20:57 In the state of Maine, there were two men - Gary and Randy - 21:01 working at the same furniture company. 21:03 Customers and coworkers alike couldn't help but notice that 21:05 they two guys looked a lot alike. 21:08 Both of them had light hair, both of them had stocky builds, 21:11 they both wore baseball caps and goatees. 21:15 Their mannerisms and appearance were so much alike that people 21:17 used to ask if they were brothers. 21:19 But of course, they weren't - because if they were brothers, 21:22 they would have grown up together, right? 21:24 Then one day Randy asked Gary if he knew the names of his 21:27 biological parents, and to his surprise, they were the same as 21:32 his biological parents. 21:33 And the fact that they were both adopted really started raising 21:36 some important questions. 21:38 Randy knew that he had a brother out there somewhere, and so he 21:42 asked Gary what his birthday was. 21:45 It was June 10, 1974 - the same year that his brother had been 21:48 born. 21:50 Now think about this very carefully: what are the odds 21:52 that two brothers actually worked together in the same 21:56 company all those years, and didn't realize that they were 22:00 brothers? 22:02 What twists of fate had to happen to bring them both 22:05 together on the same payroll - and how many days - weeks - 22:09 years - had actually been lost because they didn't realize just 22:14 how close their family really was? 22:17 And now think about yourself here on planet earth. 22:25 Your heart tells you that your life is important. 22:29 You've got this overwhelming sense that you were put here for 22:31 a reason. 22:32 You might struggle to know what that reason is, but you just 22:36 can't shake the feeling. 22:40 Maybe at night, you look up at the stars, wondering if Somebody 22:43 is really out there. 22:47 Maybe, in the quiet moments of your life, you find yourself 22:50 wanting to talk to Someone - wanting to have a relationship. 22:55 In every human heart, there's this feeling that we've been 22:58 disconnected - that we're missing out on the most 23:01 important relationship in the world. 23:03 Some people describe it as feeling a little bit homesick - 23:07 as if we recognize that we really belong somewhere else, in 23:10 a different set of circumstances. 23:13 That feeling, according to the Bible, is universal. 23:16 In Ecclesiastes 3:11, the Bible says that God has put "eternity 23:21 in the heart." 23:27 In the last century and a half, there have been a lot of voices 23:29 telling us that our existence doesn't mean anything. 23:33 But after all this time, they're failing to convince us. 23:38 The call in your heart just won't go away. 23:41 New theories of human origins have failed to kill the cry of 23:44 our hearts to know who we really are. 23:47 And who are we? 23:49 We are beings made in the image of God, who promised us eternal 23:54 life with Him long before the world even began. 23:59 So right now, only one more question remains: Are you going 24:03 to claim your meaningful life with God? 24:08 According to the Bible, it's yours for the asking - and when 24:11 you ask, you're going to discover that He's been there 24:15 all along. 24:16 It's just that maybe you didn't recognize Him. 24:20 But will you recognize Him right now? 24:22 Let's pray. 24:23 We will thank God that he made us for a purpose. 24:27 He made us in his image and he made both you and me so that we 24:32 might spend eternity with him. 24:33 Let's pray. 24:37 Our father in heaven, we thank you that we are not just 24:39 accidents. 24:40 We thank you that life not meaningless but that its full of 24:43 purpose and we pray claiming your purpose for our life right 24:47 now. 24:49 You made us, and not just to live and die, but you made us to 24:53 live on this earth and then, die or not, live eternally with you 24:59 forever, in a place where it is good, where the flowers don't 25:04 ever fade. 25:05 And where we will enjoy meaning and purpose beyond our ability 25:12 right now to comprehend and so we thank you that you are our 25:17 Father and that we are yours. 25:18 We belong to you and we are glad. 25:21 And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 25:54 Perhaps our program today has touched your heart and impressed 25:58 you with a personal need for deeper Bible study. 26:00 Do you desire to listen to God and follow where he leads? 26:03 We've got a wonderful resource that can help you do that in a 26:07 systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides. 26:10 These study guides will take you through the essential truths 26:12 taught in Scripture. 26:13 They give you the big picture showing how it all fits 26:16 together. 26:18 The Discover Bible Guides are a wonderful way for you to become 26:21 grounded in the Word of God and to see how Jesus Christ relates 26:24 to all areas of our lives. 26:26 So please call or write us and the Discover Bible Guides will 26:30 be on their way to you and the entire course is absolutely 26:33 free. 26:34 For even easier access, you can obtain these wonderful Bible 26:38 lessons on-line on our website. 26:39 Here's the information you need. 26:44 You may request today's offer, The Discover Bible Guides, by 26:47 calling our toll free number 1 800 253 3000. 26:51 Call right now. 26:52 The operator needs only your name, address and phone number, 26:54 plus the name of today's offer, The Discover Bible Guides. 26:58 Lines are open 24 hours daily. 26:59 They may be busy so keep trying. 27:02 You may also request today's offer by writing to It Is 27:04 Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. 27:09 Our free offer is for an address in North America only. 27:14 The Discover Bible Guides are also available on the Internet. 27:16 Just visit our website itiswritten.com. 27:19 Also on line is a complete script of today's program. 27:22 If you wish to help the worldwide outreach of It is 27:25 Written, your tax deductible gift may be sent to the same 27:28 address or you may make a gift on line at itiswritten.com. 27:32 Thank you for your letters and continued support. 27:35 Our toll free number is 1800 253 3000 and 27:40 our web address itiswritten.com Thanks for joining me today. 27:47 And remember - It Is Written: man shall not live by bread 27:52 alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-05