GOD WITH US : DARKNESS

Father, we ask again that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, gently but deeply

pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

Father, you know the things that we're afraid of, you know the things that we should be

afraid of, you know the things that we're anxious about.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would come upon us, that your Holy Spirit would

still and quiet and calm our mind and heart and will so that we might know more of you

and that your Son Jesus would have a deeper role and place in our lives.

So Father, draw us to Jesus.

In this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

The last I heard, it was 148 people who were killed in Peshawar, I hope I'm pronouncing that

correctly, Pakistan earlier this week.

148 was the number that I heard.

The overwhelming majority of them were children.

And as one person said in the paper the other day, we see in what happened in Pakistan pure

evil.

Whether or not it was pure evil, but it's probably as close to pure evil as we're about to see

on this, on this, on the earth.

Part of what made it such pure evil was that these men who came to the school in Pakistan,

the majority of the children that were shot, were shot by a single gunshot to the head.

So it wasn't just indiscriminate killing, but that as each child probably begging for mercy,

some gunmen would come and look at them and shoot them in the head.

And then we'll go and do another child and another child and another child.

Until almost 140 children and 148 in total were killed.

And I think we all have to agree that if that is not pure evil, it's so close to pure evil,

we don't want to get any closer to pure evil.

It was a completely and utterly horrendous, dark, evil act.

And it happened just this week.

I didn't...

It's also been a week where, I mean, we could...

You know, the events that took place with the woman who killed the nine children and the fellow in Sydney.

You know, we could say in those cases that there maybe was some type of mental illness and instability,

but you can't say that about what happened in Pakistan.

Now, some of you might say, boy, I'm so glad I came to church.

George is talking about pleasant, uplifting things.

You know, George, isn't Christmas time and it's just a few days before Christmas?

Isn't Christmas supposed to be when we talk about things like kindness and generosity

and the good parts of human nature?

And that is, I think, largely how most Canadians understand Christmas.

But, you know, for Christians, the Christmas story,

God, as he tells us the Christmas story through his word,

he wants us to spend some time reflecting on darkness and the darkness in the world.

And so if you have your Bibles, turn in them to John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

If you don't have Bibles with you, there's Bibles up at the front always,

and you're always welcome to take one, to use it, to keep it if you want as a gift.

This Sunday, like the last couple of Sundays, we're actually going to be saying a lot of the scripture over and over and over again,

because we're going to really reflect primarily upon two verses.

But you might have heard me read the gospel text a few moments ago,

and you know that it culminates in John 1, verse 14, which is one of the great Christmas passages.

John 1:14

The word became flesh and dwelt among us.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.

Glory is the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

But before it gets to this great acclamation of Christmas,

it has a profound sentence on darkness and evil.

So God wants us to reflect upon darkness in the context of reflecting upon the birth of his son.

So John 1, verse 1, let's just sort of get the context up until we get to verse 5.

John 1:1

Verse 1,

Here are the two verses which we're going to primarily focus on this morning,

although we'll look at the three verses that follow as well.

But here's the two verses that we're going to really focus on.

Verse 4,

Last week we talked about verses 1 to 3,

and primarily it was a little bit about how God, Jesus, is the word,

and the word has been with God from all eternity,

and God has created all things.

And some of you might have wondered,

if I say that God, if the Bible teaches,

and it's not what it says here, it says it very, you know, verse 3,

all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

All things were made through him,

and without him was not anything made that was made.

Does that mean that God created evil?

In fact, I was going to talk about it last week,

but then I thought, no, I'm going to wait to this week,

because I realize this is the better week to talk about it.

Is the Bible saying that God created evil?

I just had a conversation with somebody this week who said that God created evil,

and we had a bit of a conversation about it.

I don't know if I did a very good job in helping to understand what the Bible teaches,

but when it says here that God makes all things, does that mean he makes evil?

Well, Andrew, if you could put up the first scripture text, verses 4 and 5,

could you read this with me?

Verse 4 and 5,

I should have written down my verse.

I'm going to have trouble reading it.

I'm going to have to say it, and you folks will just have to read it.

So here's the first thing,

and the first point about this passage of scripture,

and all of it we're talking about is this,

something about God.

God is light,

and in him is no darkness at all.

That's the first point,

and if you're wondering if that sounds familiar,

St. George, that's a very clever way to put it.

Andrew, if you could put up the first point.

It's not that I thought of it.

It's actually in 1 John.

It's chapter 1, the second part of verse 5.

God is light,

and in him is no darkness at all.

When the text is saying,

in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God,

he was in the beginning with God,

all things were made through him,

and without him was not any other.

Anything made that was made.

In him was life,

and the life was the light of men.

The light shines on in the darkness,

and the darkness has not mastered it.

When the Bible is saying this,

it's making an affirmation

that God is light,

and in him is no darkness at all.

In fact, it's very, very interesting.

When it says in verse 4,

in him was life,

what the text is saying

is it's saying that God,

the Son of God,

the second person of the Trinity,

who we'll see in a moment,

takes on flesh,

that he doesn't have life.

He is life.

He doesn't have life.

You and I have life.

But God,

the Son of God,

is life.

That's who and what he is.

And then when it says that this life

is also light,

you know,

we might have,

you can say that we can see

sort of the light of the intellect,

you know,

the light of conscience

that we might have.

when you talk to somebody,

you can see,

oh, you know,

they have a gleam in their eye,

you know,

they have some joy,

they have some happiness,

they,

you can see the spark of intelligence.

We use these different analogies

for light to talk about things

of conscience or creativity

or goodness,

you know,

or intelligence or wit.

And these are things that we have,

but the Bible is saying

that God doesn't have them.

He is light,

and he is life.

And just as if you have

a room which is completely light,

there can't be any darkness in it.

And if God is life,

there can't really be death in him

in a sense,

where darkness,

if he is life,

then the Bible is making this

very,

very strong claim

that God is light

and in him

is no darkness at all.

So,

the Bible is saying

that if,

there's certain things

you have to understand about God

that,

in fact,

you know,

what the Bible is doing

is it's struggling

with a sort of a thing

that missionaries

have to struggle with.

all of the time

is that if,

you know,

if you go to be a missionary

in a remote part of China,

or if you go to be a missionary

in a place like Kazakhstan,

or you go to be a missionary,

you know,

in some place

that only knows

a particular tribal religion,

you have to use the words

that the culture knows,

but over time,

you have to try to help them

to understand the words

in different ways.

And so,

in our culture,

when people think about God

and his relationship

to good and evil,

there's many people

in our culture

who will say that God

is above good and evil,

that good and evil

don't really apply to God,

that he's above them,

that good and evil

is just something

that we think

or we understand,

but God is neither,

he's above them.

And some believe

that,

in fact,

that there's two principles

at work in the world,

that there's a good principle

and a bad principle,

and that these principles

are always at work,

and you have to choose

which principle it is

that you're following.

And some people say

that God just merely decides

that certain things are good

and certain things are evil,

and he just sort of

makes these decisions up

just out of his head

one day as he's sitting around,

and it's just merely

a matter of God

just declaring

that certain things are good

or certain things are bad.

And there's other people

who think that,

in fact,

good and evil

are both in God,

and that he has to struggle

with these things himself.

And these are the very,

very common views

in our culture.

And so even when people think,

you know,

when you use the word God

to somebody,

and in their mind,

they're thinking,

oh yeah,

God is above good and evil,

or God is beneath good and evil,

or God,

good and evil doesn't apply to God,

or whatever.

And the Bible here

is trying to clarify

that when,

all the way through

the Gospel of John,

when you read

and see the word God,

it wants us to understand

that it's saying

that God is light,

and in him

is no darkness at all,

that he is God of light

who is light,

that he is the God of life

who is life,

that that's who

we are talking about.

So some of you might say,

hey George,

that's very interesting,

but you didn't answer

the question.

You're doing

what politicians do.

Sorry,

I didn't mean to put down

politicians.

Actually,

this is true.

You know,

a few years ago,

I had to be interviewed

in the paper a lot

about a controversial issue,

and I got interviewed

on TV and radio,

and so I had some media training,

and one of the things

they tell you in media training,

so this is how you have

to understand politicians

when they're at their best,

is that what they tell you

in media training

is that you have

two or three or four things

that you want to say,

and whenever the questioner

asks you a question,

you just pick

one of the four things

that you want to say

that's closest to the question,

and you ignore the question,

and you just say

what you want to say

over and over and over again,

and so it's a little bit

of a challenge.

The reporter keeps trying

to break you

from just saying

the four things

that you want to say,

and you're just trying

to just stick

with the four things,

and anyway,

so I'm not doing that.

So the question was,

George,

does God,

if God creates all things,

okay,

granted that God

okay,

you're saying

that God is light,

he's only good,

and you're also saying

that God created all things,

and I'm not sure

what that means,

George,

aren't you still,

does God create evil,

or is it a matter

that God sort of

created things,

and then that was

like a long,

long,

long time ago,

you know,

like the Big Bang

was billions of years ago,

and sort of God

is now really distant,

he has other things

on his mind,

he's not preoccupied

with what's going on

on earth,

or he's powerless

to deal with things

on earth,

because God is distant,

is that what you're saying,

George,

is that what the Bible

is saying?

Well,

let's say verses

four and five again,

if you could put them up,

God,

in him was life,

and the life

was life in the night,

and the light

shines on the darkness,

and the darkness

has not mastered it.

That's the text

that we're thinking about,

and what this text

is saying here,

and Andrew,

if you could put up

the next point,

sorry,

the true and living God

created all things good.

He did not create evil.

Evil is a blinding,

breaking,

bending,

hiding,

blurring,

emptying of the good.

That's what the Bible

is telling us.

It's going to maintain,

if you read Genesis,

if you read the Bible,

you're going to see

it's a very,

very consistent understanding

of the biblical worldview,

that God is light,

and in him

is no darkness at all.

God is never evil,

and he never does evil.

That's why anybody

who says that part

of their spiritual growth

means forgiving God,

they haven't understood

who God is,

because God has never

done anything evil to them.

That's what the Bible claims.

And the Bible says

that God has created

all things,

he creates all things good,

he did not create evil,

and therefore,

evil in a sense

is always a breaking

or a misuse

or an emptying

or a blurring

or a hiding

or an exaggerating

or of some good thing,

and by the emptying,

emptying,

removing,

bending,

breaking,

blurring,

darkening

of that which is good,

that is what evil is.

That's what Christians believe.

That's what this text

is saying

when it says,

in him was life

and the life

was the light

of humankind.

The light

shines on

in the darkness,

but the darkness

has not mastered it.

That's what the text

is saying.

It's saying

that evil

is real,

it's not an illusion.

That's another thing

that many people believe

is that evil

is just an illusion.

It's not real.

Peshawar was real,

wasn't it?

Was it,

I think,

it was the president

of Pakistan

said it was a very,

I thought it was

a very, very wise thing.

I hope I get

the quote right.

The lightest casket

is the heaviest burden

to carry.

The lightest casket

is the heaviest burden

to carry.

And I know that

even as I,

as we look at this text

this morning

that there's people

in the congregation

who've been raped,

who have been victims

of sexual abuse,

who've witnessed genocide.

Some of us

might have lived

relatively safe

and protected lives,

but there are

some,

maybe many,

in our congregation

who know that evil

is never an illusion,

that evil is real,

that darkness is real.

And the Bible

affirms that,

but it affirms

that it's always

a bending,

breaking,

distorting,

misuse of that

which is good.

I mean,

even think of this

terrible thing

in Peshawar.

You know,

the fact that the men

had ability to plan

is a good thing.

The fact that men

had strength

and health

and all of those things,

those are good things.

You know,

we pray for those things

in our kids,

don't we?

That they can plan,

that they can be strong

and that they can be healthy

and that they can accomplish

their plans,

that they can have

determination

and will.

And yet,

all these things

that are good

are completely

and utterly misused

and we wonder

what on earth

goes on

in their souls,

in their minds,

in their hearts.

Like,

what did they put

to death?

What did they

cancel out?

What did they exaggerate?

How could they possibly

take the normal,

good human concern

for your group,

which is a good thing

to have a concern

for your family

or your group?

That's not a bad thing

to have a concern

for that,

but how is it

that they so exaggerated

that concern

and put to death

anything to do

with human compassion

and how could they

exaggerate

and darken

and remove

and bend

and misuse

so that the good things

in them

were used

to create something

which is,

if not pure evil,

really close to it.

And that's what

the Bible claims.

That's what the Bible

claims.

In God,

there is no darkness.

In God,

he is only light.

He is only life.

To walk towards

the true and living God

is to walk towards light.

To walk towards

the true and living God

is to walk towards life.

To walk towards Jesus

is to walk towards life.

Always.

And the darkness,

which is real,

not an illusion,

is a bending,

breaking,

distorting,

misuse,

emptying,

blurring

of good things.

And that's why it is,

on one hand,

we have this sense

that surely

if there is a God

that does exist,

he must be good.

We have problems

as to why these things happen.

I'm not going to talk about that

very much in the sermon.

But we have these

dual senses

that that is evil

and that there is

this thing which is good

and that to be human

is to choose goodness.

To be human

is to try to move

towards goodness.

And we believe that.

the Bible teaches,

in fact,

I would say that only the Bible,

the biblical worldview,

properly articulates

in both ideas

and grand narrative

that fundamental

human

sense

that,

you know,

many of you,

maybe some of,

maybe only a few of you

know that for me

when I was on my,

in my early,

I became a Christian

in grade 12

and I had many,

I've had times of doubt

throughout the years

but most of my,

my real doubts

were when I was at university

and then in my two different times

in graduate school.

And,

but,

you know,

for me,

as I was struggling

with different things

about whether the Christian faith

was true,

for me there was

sort of always a bit

of a touchstone

early on

and that was a statement

by Dostoevsky

that if God is dead,

all things are permissible.

If God is dead,

all things are permissible.

And I,

I actually think

that outside of the Christian faith

that's unanswerable.

I think it's unanswerable.

And,

um,

if God is dead,

all things are permissible.

And,

um,

and that was always part of the thing

that helped me to frame it

that other systems of thought

weren't really wrestling with this

that amongst other things,

whether,

whether I was just dealing

with the claims of science

or,

because I,

I did sociology,

social science backgrounds,

which as you know

have a,

a leeching effect

of taking away

the Christian faith.

There are far fewer sociologists

or psychologists

who are Christians

than physicists.

Um,

that's a whole other topic

of conversation

as to why that would be.

There's a physicist

in the room.

You might want to talk to him

after,

after the service,

get his thoughts about it.

But,

um,

but if God is dead,

all things are permissible.

But how could what happened

in Peshawar

be permissible?

How can it not be the case

that that is wrong?

How could it not be?

So some of you might say,

okay, George,

so you reject evil

as an illusion.

Um,

and you're really also saying

that the idea

that evil is just an opinion,

that it's a social construct,

that it's just somebody's view.

You think it's evil,

but other people

don't think it's evil.

That things like Peshawar

show that that's not the case.

But, George,

don't you sort of maybe think

that,

um,

you need to have

some evil and darkness

in the world

so that you can understand

what's good?

Um,

a couple of weeks ago

I saw on DVD

the movie The Giver.

And, um,

and part of that,

in fact,

is, uh,

that's actually part of the dialogue

in the movie.

It's a very, very common thing.

I've heard many people

say it to me in coffee shops,

I've seen it in many movies,

that, uh,

the reason there's darkness,

the reason there's evil,

is because you need this

to be able to see

and understand,

uh, the light.

You need it to be able to see

and understand goodness.

Is,

is that sort of what

the Bible is saying here?

Is that why there's sort of

evil in the world?

Well, let's say verses

four and five again,

if you could put that up.

There we go.

Say it with me.

In him was life,

and the life was the light

of humankind.

The light shines on

in the darkness,

but the darkness

has not mastered it.

That's the verse

which we're looking at.

And, um,

so first of all,

um,

you'd see that if God,

if,

if God is good

in and of himself,

then he doesn't need evil

to be able to understand him.

Um,

and if God is light,

like,

you can understand light

without there being darkness.

You can understand that,

but,

but the Bible's gonna actually

say something,

uh,

far more profound.

It's going to say,

and if you could put this up,

Andrew,

evil is real,

but it cannot master

the uncreated light

which shines on.

Evil is real,

but it cannot master

the uncreated light

which shines on.

You know,

you look at verse four,

in him was life,

and the life was the light

of men.

It's saying

that Jesus,

God,

the son of God,

is uncreated life,

and that he is

uncreated light.

Unless some of us

have had some type

of a mystical vision

of God,

all we see

is created light.

But there is

an uncreated light

behind all light,

and an uncreated life

behind all life.

And in Jesus,

that's what we see.

We see

uncreated life

and uncreated light.

And in,

in verse five,

actually,

Andrew,

could you put up

verse four and five again?

Could you say it

with me again?

In him was life,

and the life

was the light

of humankind.

The light

shines on

in the darkness,

and the darkness

has not mastered it.

The Bible here

is saying

that evil is real,

but it cannot

master the uncreated

light which shines on.

And in some

of your Bible

translations,

probably none

of your Bible

translations

uses the word

mastered.

Most of your

Bible translations

probably either use

that the word

can,

that the evil,

darkness,

has not

overcome it,

or it says

that darkness

has not understood it.

And this is a very

interesting thing.

In the original language,

the word that John chose

means one of those

two things.

And it means

both of those

two things.

And most scholars

believe that John

chose the word

precisely,

and phrasing it

in this precise way

to try to communicate

these two ideas

at the same time.

And that's exactly

what John intended

to do.

But because in English,

generally speaking,

you can't do it

until actually

just a translation

just written

a couple of years ago

suggested that

mastered it

captures it better

because you can talk

about mastering

a subject

in terms of

knowing it,

and you talk

about mastering

something in terms

of overcoming it,

you know,

that you mastered

your opponent

or you mastered

your subject.

It's still not

perfect because

the word means

both understand

and overcome.

And the first

thing it's saying

is that darkness

can never

understand light,

that evil

cannot understand

goodness.

It just can't.

Like,

do you think

that those men

who killed

those 148 people,

do you think

they could understand

Mother Teresa?

I mean,

let's be honest,

most of us

couldn't understand

Mother Teresa,

and we're not

nearly as wicked

as them.

You know,

and you just

think about it

in general.

Like,

can a man

who's captivated

and consumed

with lust

in pornography,

while he is

consumed with

the lust

and the pornography,

can he

appreciate

the goodness?

Can he create,

can he at that

moment understand

the goodness

of sex

in its proper

place,

or the goodness

of a woman?

when one

of us

is consumed

with anger,

when we're

just so angry

and maybe

storming around

the house

and yelling,

at those moments

that we are

filled with anger,

do we understand

peace or quiet?

Do we understand

turning the other

cheek?

Do we understand

stillness and

self-possession?

sobriety?

In fact,

you know,

when a person

is completely

drunk,

do they understand

sobriety at that

moment?

Like,

if you think

about it for a

second,

isn't all evil,

isn't all

darkness,

do something

which stops

the human being

from being able

to understand

that which is

virtue or good?

And that's

what the Bible

is saying here.

The light shines

on in the

darkness,

but the darkness

has not understood

it.

And it's also

saying,

and it's here,

scholars think

that John is

in some ways

already pointing

to what's going

to happen at the

end of the

gospel,

the fact that

the God,

the Son of God,

the uncreated

light,

the uncreated

life will come

and walk

amongst us,

he'll die

upon the cross,

and that

that moment

that would

for darkness

seem as if it

was darkness's

greatest victory

with God,

the Son of God

dying upon the

cross,

is in fact

the moment

that darkness

is completely

and utterly

defeated.

It doesn't

understand that

the wrong thing

to do was to

put Jesus on

the cross

to kill him.

And that it's

moment of appearing

to overcome

God,

the Son of God

is the moment

that it's

defeated,

and that

Jesus,

tasting all

there is to

taste of

death,

after he's

tasted all

there is to

taste of

sin and

evil and

hostile

spiritual

powers,

rises

triumphant

over sin

and death

and all

hostile

spiritual

powers in

his

resurrection,

because the

darkness

has not

overcome it.

And that's

why it says

the light

shines on.

I chose

the net

version of

the Bible

because it

emphasizes that

the light

shines and

that it

shines on.

You see,

friends,

this is the

reason that

as texts

like this

enter into

our heads,

that's why

it is,

in confidence

of this text,

that we can

walk towards

darkness.

Not walk

towards darkness

so that the

darkness will

overwhelm us.

The darkness

will claim

that it has

to always

exist.

The darkness

will claim

that it's

necessary for

us to

understand the

good.

darkness

will claim

that we

have to

make our

peace with

it,

that we

have to

make our

peace with

our alcoholism

or with

our addictions

or with

pornography or

we have to

make peace

with prostitution

or all

sorts of other

things that we

need to make

peace with

this because

these things

are somehow

necessary,

that we

need to

make peace

with people

who will

butcher 148

innocent people

and evil

and darkness

will always say

that it is

necessary and

this text

says that the

light shines

on and

that we

are to

walk towards

the darkness

to shine

light,

that the

darkness

will be

no more.

We understand

that the

darkness,

that that final

overcoming the

darkness will

only happen

when Jesus

returns in

his second

coming and

the new

heaven and

the new

earth are

brought in,

but on

this side

of the

grave still

we walk

towards the

darkness in

our own

life.

No,

I do not

have to

make peace

with my

addiction.

No,

I do not

have to

make peace

with these

memories

that completely

torment me.

No,

I do not

have to

make peace

with the

voice of

accusation

in my

head.

No,

we do not

have to

make peace

with darkness

in the

world.

We can

walk

towards it

because the

light shines

on and the

darkness has

not mastered

it and never

will.

It is the

basis to

walk towards

evil,

evil,

to humbly

walk towards

evil,

to resist

it,

to say

no,

to shine

light,

the light

of life,

the light

of truth,

the light

of goodness,

the light

of mercy,

the light

of peace,

the light

of justice.

So some

of you

might say,

oh,

George,

now you

just all

of a sudden,

George,

I thought

you said

that you

were a

marsh wiggle.

All of a

sudden,

you sound

like some

blind

optimist.

Good grief,

George.

What happened

to George,

my marsh wiggle

puddle glum

friend at the

front?

All of a

sudden,

the evil

is not the

final word

and the

words of

Winston

Churchill.

We will

fight it

on the

beaches.

We will

fight it

in the

fields.

We will

fight it

street to

street.

We will

fight it

in our

hearts.

Well,

you see,

the fact

is,

let's look

at the

text and

then let's

look at

what happens

just after

verses 4

and 5.

I wonder

if you

could put

verses 4

to 8

up there

on the

screen

and let's

read it

together.

There we

go.

Please read

it with

me.

In him

was life

and the

life was

the light

of humankind.

The light

shines on

in the

darkness,

but the

darkness

has not

mastered it.

There was

a man sent

from God

whose name

was John.

He came

as a witness

to bear witness

about the

light that

all might

believe through

him.

He was not

the light,

but came

to bear

witness about

the light.

all of

a sudden

it goes

in verses

1 to 5

of these

profound

philosophical,

theological,

spiritual

categories and

ideas,

and all of

a sudden

it shifts

to history.

Notice that?

There was a

man sent

from God

whose name

was John.

John.

There was

a man sent

from God

whose name

was John.

And now

John is

starting to

narrow it,

the gospel

is starting

to narrow

it as

he's

introducing

Jesus to

talk about

Jesus of

Nazareth.

In fact,

if you could

put up

verse 14,

Andrew,

you folks

could say

that with

me.

And the

word became

flesh and

dwelt among

us,

and we have

seen his

glory,

glory as of

the only son

from the

father,

full of

grace and

truth.

See, the

Bible is

saying a

most profound

thing.

John wants

to introduce

Jesus.

He wants

to say,

here's

Jesus.

Who's

Jesus?

And John

chooses to

introduce

Jesus in

these grand

narrative,

in these

grand

philosophical,

theological,

spiritual ideas,

and he's

saying,

if you could

put up the

point,

Andrew,

that Jesus,

Jesus of

Nazareth,

in a sense,

is the

uncreated

light made

flesh.

He walked

among us

where darkness

is.

That's what

the Bible

is saying.

That's how

John is

introducing

Jesus.

Who is

Jesus?

How should

I talk

about

Jesus?

Jesus is

real.

He was a

person in

history.

He had an

adopted father,

he had

mother,

he had

brothers and

sisters.

brothers.

We don't

know,

but if

you went

back in

time,

you'd be

able to

find out

that he

probably

thought his

mom's

homus was

the best

homus in

the world.

Just like

probably most

Jewish boys

thought their

mother's

homus was

the best

homus in

the world

back then.

I don't

know,

maybe still,

I don't

know.

And all

of a sudden

it comes to

history.

But this

person,

born in

Bethlehem,

but known

as Jesus

of Nazareth,

he really

is the

uncreated

light made

flesh,

and he

walked among

us where

darkness is.

I mean,

we remember

the Roman

Empire for

its many

great things,

but we also

have to

remember that

it was a

place that

one-third

of the people

who lived

in the

Roman Empire

were slaves.

One-third.

One-third.

Isn't that

mind-boggling?

One-third.

And he

walked among

us.

And that's

why you see

that John

is going to

actually,

as all of

the gospel

writers and

all of the

gospel witnesses,

they'll make

claims that

Jesus really

did exist,

that you

read the

gospels and

you read the

other early

Christian witnesses

and they get

the historical

details.

They try to

get them

right and

they do

get them

right.

And they

get the

details right

and they

tell the

story right

and they

want to

communicate

that this

guy actually

did walk

amongst us

and he had

a three-year

ministry and

that he

really did

perform these

miracles and

that here

we're giving

you a copy

of the things

that he

actually said

and they're

going to

culminate with

this other

massive historical

claim that he

really did die

upon the cross,

that he was

sentenced upon

death,

that he died

upon the cross,

that he was

buried in a

particular tomb

on the outskirts

of Jerusalem on

a particular day

of the week and

that on another

particular day of

the week that

there were women

who went to go

and anoint the

body as a sign

of respect and

the body was

gone and other

people went and

the body was

gone and the

stone was rolled

away and many

people could have

gone to see that

the body was

gone and then

people claim that

they'd seen him

alive and not

alive as a person

who'd been

crucified.

In fact, in all

of Roman history,

in all of Roman

history, there were

thousands and

thousands, hundreds

of thousands of

crucifixions in all

of human history.

There is only one

record, one record

of one man who

ever survived

crucifixion and

that was with

crucifixion

interrupted and

medical help

immediately there to

try to care for

him and he

barely survived.

all of history,

one survival of

crucifixion and

it is undeniably

historically the

case.

Mentioned in Roman

and other

historians that

Jesus died upon

the cross and

John and others

want you to say

and understand that

this same Jesus of

Nazareth predicted

that he would die

upon the cross,

predicted that he

would rise from

the dead, that the

tomb was empty, that

the historical records

show it, that there's

historical records that

he appeared alive,

fully, completely,

massively alive to

many people in many

locations in over

40 days and that the

resurrection of

Jesus vindicates the

person and the

message of Jesus,

that Jesus was

uncreated light,

made flesh, who

walked among us

where darkness is.

Now, this week I've

had two conversations

about God and

evil.

The first one was

with a person, I

won't say anything

more, but she

shared with me that

any time she starts

to feel getting a

little bit drawn

towards the

Christian faith or

some other religion,

she goes to

Netflix and she

watches the movie

Frailty.

I haven't seen it

yet, it's on my

to-do list, but I

read the Wikipedia

summary, it's about

a man who comes and

tells his two boys

that God has told

him to start

murdering people.

And the movie then

is about the man,

with or without the

help of his sons,

murdering people

because that's what

God has told him to

do.

And my friend said

that any time she

starts to feel that

she's getting close to

accepting something

to do with

spirituality or

religion, to

cleanse her mind,

she watches that

movie.

And a fellow just

told me, we had a

long talk in a

coffee shop just

yesterday, just

before I started to

work on this, finish

up the sermon, and

he was talking about

what just went on in

Peshawar, and he

was saying, George,

that's what religion

and that's what

spirituality does.

It creates within

you that I'm right,

that we're right,

that our tribe is

right, everybody

else is wrong,

therefore we can

go and kill and

do whatever we

want because we

have some divine

special place.

And he said it

justifies evil, it

justifies cruelty, it

justifies wickedness,

it's justified in

Christianity, it

justifies in Islam,

in Buddhism, in

every religion.

That's what it does,

George.

Let's read the

text again, if you

could put up verses

four to eight.

Could you read this

with me?

In him was life, and

the life was the

light of humankind.

The light shines on

in the darkness, but

the darkness has not

mastered it.

There was a man sent

from God whose name

was John.

He came as a

witness to bear

witness about the

light, that all

might believe through

him.

He was not the

light, but came to

bear witness about

the light.

What I said to my

friends are a

little bit different

than what this text

is similar, but I

said to the first

one that Christians

should never feel

that they're special,

and Christians should

never feel that

somehow their ideas

or their sacred

text,

text,

or their poetry

or their

philosophy,

that if a

Christian doesn't

understand that

they're a beggar

who's received

something from God

completely undeserved,

they haven't

understood the

Christian faith.

I told her, I am

one beggar telling

another beggar where

to find bread.

people who are a

Christian faith in the

world.

I said to my

other friend that

the problem of evil

and the problem of

murder is not a

religious problem, it's

a human problem, and