WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.120 I want to welcome you in. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:26.640 If you are new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.079 I'm the lead pastor here at Meta. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.600 And we are starting a brand new series called Investigating Easter. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:37.359 The series will lead us to Easter and beyond on April 7th, where we will celebrate baptisms. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:38.560 I'm very excited. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:40.560 I've been working on this series for a while. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:49.840 We're gonna walk carefully through the life of Jesus leading us up to Easter and try to nail down a deep understanding of what Easter actually means to us. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.479 Now I want you to know I wrote every message in this series with a very particular kind of person in mind. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:11.200 This is someone who probably knows some or even all of the Easter story, that Jesus was miraculously born, he lived a perfect life, he did miracles, he was crucified on a Roman cross and rose again three days later. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:16.560 I wrote this for someone who knows the story but really struggles to believe the story. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:19.040 This is a series for skeptics. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.439 Now, if you are a believer, this series has something to offer you as well. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:28.879 Anytime we revisit the life of Jesus, it's instructive and the Holy Spirit speaks to us. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:39.040 But I'm going to try and model a defense for the faith of Christianity that can help build confidence in you as well as we move forward. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:49.359 If you are a skeptic or an atheist or agnostic, I can't promise that any one of these messages in isolation will completely change your mind. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:02:01.280 What I do hope is that I can kind of crack open a door for you to begin exploring with a newfound curiosity the claims that Christianity makes in a new and exciting way. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:13.120 This is really the series that I could have benefited from years ago when my very pragmatic personality was struggling with the audacious claims that the Easter story makes. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.879 And I do believe in Jesus. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:23.520 And so if you are a skeptic, I believe that God loved you so much that he came down to this earth and expressed his love for you by dying on a cross. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:32.159 And if I'm right and God loves you that much, and you come and genuinely seek him, I believe that he will find you exactly where you are. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:40.639 Now, because we're four weeks from Easter, we're not gonna start at the tomb or even the cross or even the miracles or the ministry of Jesus. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:46.719 Today we are starting at the beginning of the story, like all the way at the beginning. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:55.199 And I think that's important because I'm convinced you can't fully understand Easter until you understand Christmas. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.879 So Merry Christmas, Meta Church. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:35.599 When you say Merry Christmas back, that's fine. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:43.199 Um for some of you, Christmas in March, this is a dream come true, and for some of you, this is an absolute nightmare, right? 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:48.319 Um regardless of where you are, uh, we're going to start at Christmas. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:55.759 And this is like the origin story, the prequel, the narrative before the narrative. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:07.280 I think it's critical because you can't fully understand Easter or fully appreciate Easter until you fully understand Christmas, maybe at the deepest level that you've ever thought about Christmas. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.599 We are gonna be looking in one of the four Gospels in the New Testament. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.159 The Gospels are the historical account of the life of Jesus. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:19.040 Now you may be wondering, what in the world does Christmas have to do with Easter? 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:22.160 Well, many of the writers of the Gospels thought that it was important. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:27.279 As a matter of fact, they started out their gospels with these genealogies. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.240 Now, most of us in today's Western culture aren't too concerned with our genealogies. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.360 We're very individualistic, we don't think a lot about where we came from. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:39.920 But in the ancient world, people thought about this all the time and it was deeply important to them. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:48.240 And so we can see even in the different gospel writers why they thought the birth of Jesus and the lineage of Jesus was important to the Easter story. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:05:03.120 For example, Matthew, who is an eyewitness of the life of Jesus as one of his disciples, Matthew, who was Jewish in writing to a primarily Jewish audience, thought it was really important that people understood the Jewish lineage of Jesus. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:08.480 He traced the genealogy all the way back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:22.959 What this did is across his gospel, he was able to connect Jesus to over 400 fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament, verifying this truly is the Son of God who came to die for our sins. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:24.800 Luke was a Gentile. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.639 He was not Jewish, and he was writing primarily to a non-Jewish audience. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:32.319 His genealogy looks different, it doesn't stop at Abraham. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:37.120 He goes all the way back to Adam, the figurehead of all of humanity. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.279 Why is that important to Easter? 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:45.839 Well, Luke brought Jesus' birth all the way back to Adam because through Adam, sin and death entered the world. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.399 And Luke's point is through Jesus, sin and death have been overcome. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:55.120 And so there are countless ways that the Christmas story and the Easter story intersect. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:57.839 But today we're gonna look at John's gospel. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.759 And John's gospel is very unique. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:07.120 It's the one gospel that tells us at the end, I've written this so that you'll know about Jesus and believe in him. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:15.360 He spends chapters two through 21 trying to get you to an understanding of Jesus where you feel comfortable putting your faith in him. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:22.800 But before those 20 chapters, he starts in chapter one telling the story of Christmas from a very unique angle. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:28.079 You see, John doesn't trace Jesus back to Abraham or even all the way back to Adam. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.800 As a matter of fact, John's gospel doesn't have a genealogy in it at all. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:44.319 This is the epic way that John opens up his gospel, John chapter one, verse one, the first three words in the beginning. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.639 Now, you may see those words as familiar. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:54.079 It's the same phrase that opens the very first line of the very first book of the entire Bible. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.720 Genesis chapter one, verse one. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:02.879 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.439 John does not do this by accident. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:13.680 He's like, okay, I'm gonna tell the story of the life of Jesus, but first I'm gonna start back in the infinite void of eternity past, you know? 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:20.160 Do you have a friend or a spouse who can't tell a short story anybody? 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:22.399 Don't look at them, you don't want to admit it, it's fine. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:26.560 Too many details, too much history in every story that they tell. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:32.560 Some of you saw last month an American journalist interviewed the Russian president and asked a very simple question. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.319 Two years ago you invaded a different country, and why did you do that? 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.480 If you didn't see it, I am not joking. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:39.920 Here was his answer. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.839 The year was 835. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:44.000 That's my Russian, I don't do accents, right? 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:52.399 He asked about a war that started two years ago, and he gave an answer that started 1,200 years ago. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:54.160 Way too much backstory. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:57.439 John does like an extreme version of this. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:05.279 I'm gonna tell you about Jesus, but before I get there, I'm gonna go back in time to literally before the universe existed. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:15.120 John is going to get to the birth, the life, the miracles, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:19.839 Those are the biggest miracles in significance. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:25.120 Like what it actually offers us, the biggest miracles in significance. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:35.440 But before he gets there, he's going to base his claims in his gospel on the biggest miracle in scope. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:39.919 The creation of the heavens and the earth. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:56.639 Here's what I love John is writing his gospel in Greek, in the original text, and he's writing it to a Greek culture, and he's meeting them exactly where they are, where they can wrestle with this theologically, what they believe about God, philosophically, how they think the world works. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:07.039 And even in our modern view, scientifically, and it builds good reasons for our faith in God, and even for our faith in the story of Easter. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:12.720 I want to show you how John is meeting his people that he's writing to in their everyday flow of life. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:16.879 Here's what John says in the beginning was the word. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:23.919 Now, the word word right there is a word that was deeply significant in the Greek culture. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.960 In fact, it was something they talked about all the time and thought about all the time and sought to understand. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:35.519 It was one of the most culturally significant words the Greeks had, and it's the word logos. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:44.799 The first person to teach on the word logos happened hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus and John were even on the earth. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.200 It was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:55.279 He said, the Logos holds always, but humans always prove unable to understand it, both before hearing it and when they have first heard it. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:56.559 Here's the key. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:10.639 For though all things come to be in accordance with this Logos, humans are like the inexperienced when they experience such words and deeds as I set out, distinguishing each in accordance with its nature and saying how it is. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.159 All things come to be in accordance with the Logos. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:35.679 In Greek thought, the Logos referred to both the principle of logic and reason, how you can look at a world and it's intelligible and observable, as well as spiritually, the Logos meant the underlying structure of the cosmos, the thing that creates all and holds all things together. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:42.240 Now, having a term for this substructure of reality is not unique to the ancient Greeks. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:11:01.759 What's fascinating when you look at the philosophy from almost every people group all around the planet, for most of human history, they all came up with some kind of term that referred to an impersonal force that brings logic, reason, that creates all things and holds all things together. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.559 The Hindus and the Buddhists have the Dharma. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.159 Ancient Chinese philosophy points to the concept of qi. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.000 Egyptians had ma'at. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.679 The indigenous islanders had the idea of mana. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:26.480 Even a great 20th-century philosopher described it this way: it's an energy field created by all living things that surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:30.159 That's the philosopher Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:49.919 And the idea of the force in Star Wars was gathered from the reality that across human history, in parts of the world that never had contact with each other, almost everyone observed the world and came up with a term for what brings logic, reason, creation, and structure to reality. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:56.960 We are lacking so much creativity that we have this in our secular culture as well, but we don't have a cool name for it. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:58.480 You know what we call it? 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:00.320 The universe. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.960 Oh, the universe and I are just vibing right now. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.240 I think the universe has good things for my future, you know? 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:11.519 It's like this idea of something that brings logic and reason and can explain my future and my past. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:25.679 And Greek thought this was the Logos, the logical structure of the universe, the agent for all that is created, the harmony that brings life, the enlightenment of all reason, that is the Logos. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.279 And so here's what John says in reference to this impersonal force. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.679 He says, In the beginning was the Logos. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.279 That's what he wrote in Greek. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.200 In the beginning was the Logos. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:44.159 Now, if you were an ancient Greek, you would think, so far, so good. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:45.519 I believe that too. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.519 It had to be before us because all was created through it and it holds all things together. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.639 It's the very bedrock of logic and reason and how we understand our world. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.559 Sure, John in the beginning was the Logos, but he wasn't done. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:01.440 He says, in the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:06.559 Now, if you were in ancient Greek, you would be scratching your head. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.639 Because how you think about the Logos is impersonal. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:20.720 And it's almost like John is beginning to personify the Logos, as if it is something that can be with God and in relationship with God. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:34.639 And the gods of the ancient Greek world, there were many of them, the whole pantheon of gods, like Zeus, but those were more mythology than theology, and Logos was a separate concept that could not be personified. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.679 And if that was confusing, this would have blown their minds. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:46.480 The full verse says, In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:52.799 John is dropping an absolute bomb on his audience. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:14:03.200 He's saying this organizing principle of the entire universe is the God of Christianity, the God that is taught in Scripture. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.120 He goes on to make this personification clear. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.759 He says, He was with God in the beginning, and all things were created through him. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:18.159 And apart from him, not one thing was created that has been created, and in him was life. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.879 And that life was the light of men. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:24.240 The Logos has been fully personified now. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.120 It now has its own pronouns. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:28.399 He was with God. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:30.159 All things were created through him. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:33.120 In him was life. 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:41.600 Not only that, but now the Logos, what is thought of as this impersonal force. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:52.080 Now John is saying it is actually what created the entire cosmos, including human life and consciousness. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:54.320 Now this matters greatly. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:15:06.159 Remember, virtually every culture given enough time develops a term to signify that which gives life order and meaning, whether it's the Logos or Mana or the Dharma or Qi. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:12.159 These supposed forces are all impersonal, and John is saying, no. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:18.240 This agent of creation, this bedrock of reason, is a person. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:26.159 This is a wildly different way to think, and he's challenging his audience by meeting them exactly where they are. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:38.799 And this matters to us today, not just theologically what we believe about God, and not just philosophically, the way we think the world operates, but it even matters scientifically. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:49.279 John's gonna spend the rest of his gospel, all the rest of the chapters, making the case for the biggest miracles in significance, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:57.120 But first, he's taking direct aim at the biggest miracle in scope, the creation of the entire universe. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:59.279 Now, this was in the first century. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:03.840 We've obviously learned a lot about the universe since the first century when John wrote this. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:14.240 However, for as much as we have learned, we still have not scientifically answered what is perhaps the biggest question we can ask. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.279 How did the universe get here? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:20.639 How did the universe get here? 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:32.159 Now, if you are a skeptic, agnostic or atheist, here in the room, watching online, you're probably thinking, great, another pastor who doesn't believe in the freaking Big Bang. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.399 Hold on, we will get there. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:45.440 The Big Bang explains the causal element that brought the universe into existence, but science cannot answer where the Big Bang came from. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:47.440 We have no answer to that. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.879 And that matters because it's perhaps the biggest question. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:51.360 G. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:51.600 W. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:58.879 Leibniz, who is the co-discoverer of calculus, I quote him just to quote someone obviously smarter than me, okay? 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.240 This is what he said. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:07.599 The first question, which should rightly be asked, is why is there something rather than nothing? 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:11.680 For most of human history, life was very boring. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.079 You would like watch your crops grow, you know, there's no electricity. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.000 And people had deep thoughts. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.319 They would observe the world and think, why are we here? 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:21.920 And like, what part do I have to play in this? 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.200 And how did this all get here? 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:24.960 And where did it all come from? 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.240 And now we just scroll through TikTok. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.079 You know, we don't think about those things that much. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:31.759 Our culture doesn't have a lot of deep thoughts. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:39.039 So maybe you are a deep thinker and you have thought about this question of why is there something rather than nothing until your mind has like exploded. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:44.720 And maybe you've never really given much thought to this, but this is a question that matters. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:56.400 And so I want to provide you with what I believe is the simplest and most precise and persuasive argument for a personal creator of the cosmos. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:11.440 Not an impersonal force that guides things along like the Logos or Qi, but a personal creator who made a decision to move from a state of nothingness to the world that we observe today. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.200 I'm gonna lay this out as a very simple three-part syllogism. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.759 All that means is that it's an airtight argument. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:19.519 Here's how a syllogism works. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:29.599 If the first premise is true, and the second premise is both true and follows from the first, then the conclusion has to be true. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:31.519 It's an airtight argument. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:36.079 If A and B, then C necessarily is true. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.640 Nod your head if you understand at least a little bit so I can move on. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:39.119 Good. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.720 Here's the three parts. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.880 A everything that begins to exist has a creator. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:49.279 B, the universe began to exist. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:54.079 Let me remind you, if A and B, then C must be true. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.920 C, therefore, the universe has a creator. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:18:59.359 Let me say it like this. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:11.680 If everything that begins to exist has a creator, and the universe began to exist, then necessarily the universe itself must have a creator. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:16.640 And so let's walk through our premises to see if we can actually nail this down. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.319 Let's start with premise A. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.440 Everything that begins to exist has a creator. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:31.039 This is what John is saying when he says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and everything that was created was created by Him, and nothing was created apart from Him. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:32.160 And that's his claim. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:34.559 Everything that begins to exist has a creator. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:41.279 Now, this will almost certainly be the easiest part of agreement for anyone who is sincerely seeking the truth. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:47.359 The premise is simple: something cannot come from nothing. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.359 We live our lives assuming that this is true. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:20:00.640 I guarantee nobody got ready to come to service today, got out of the shower, and just waited for your wardrobe to appear on your body. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:03.599 You know better. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.480 Something does not come from nothing. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:20.400 Now, not only do we observe this and live with this as an assumption, but importantly, it would break the underlying law that even makes science possible if something could come from nothing. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:22.319 It's called the law of uniformity. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:33.839 The law of uniformity states that the natural laws that guide and govern our world act in a uniform way and therefore a predictable way, making science possible. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:46.480 If that were not true, the world would not be predictable, which means it would not be observable because the laws of nature and the laws of physics could change all of the time. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:52.799 The way that the scientific process works relies fully on the law of uniformity. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:21:00.400 And if things begin to exist without a creator, if something can come from nothing, then science has no purpose. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.279 Whatever begins to exist has a cause and a creator. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:11.440 If you're hungry after service, you're gonna go eat, or you're gonna go home and cook something, you're not gonna stay in your seat and just wait for chicken and dumplings, right? 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:13.440 Because you know that's not how it works. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:20.079 You've never in your life been binging a Netflix show and a rhinoceros just appear in the middle of your living room. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:25.119 And if it has, I wanna know what you are smoking, because that sounds amazing, right? 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.119 It never happens. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:32.400 Premise A, everything that begins to exist has a creator. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:34.640 That one should be easy to agree on. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:44.319 Let me remind you, if premise A and premise B, then the conclusion, premise C, is airtight. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.400 And premise B is that the universe began to exist. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.000 Now this one will take a little bit more work. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:57.680 You see, for a lot of human history, it was believed that the universe was static. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.519 This was simply due to our lack of. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:04.720 A static universe means that the universe has existed infinitely. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:06.960 There's always been a universe here. 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:21.119 However, with the progression of disciplines like science, astronomy, and cosmology, as well as philosophy, we now know, as much as we know anything scientifically, we now know that the universe did in fact begin to exist. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:25.920 Now I don't have time to go into all of the details, but I'll point out to some of the scientific progressions. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:34.160 We'll start with Einstein, who massively shaped the way that we understand physics and science and mathematics with his law of relativity. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:43.839 On his first pass through the law of relativity, he came to the conclusion that his law only worked with an expanding universe. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:45.599 Einstein didn't like that. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:49.200 Like everyone else, he believed in a static universe that had always been here. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:51.839 So he fudged the numbers. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:57.599 Late in his life, he would call this the most embarrassing blunder of his career. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:02.559 You see, years later, decades later, a man named Edwin Hubble had built a telescope. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.000 It's called the Hubble Telescope. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.559 He invited Einstein out to come and look because what he found blew his mind. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:13.440 Einstein looked, and that was the day that he knew his original theory was correct. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:15.359 The universe was, in fact, expanding. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:21.119 Through the Hubble telescope, you could see that the edge of the universe was expanding at a constant rate. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.480 What does that mean? 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:31.920 The implication is that if you rewind the tape on the expansion of the universe, eventually you run out of tape altogether. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:42.000 That at one point the universe did not exist, which means time did not exist, space did not exist, and matter did not exist. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:48.640 Other scientists soon found they could trace the radiation waves from what they began to call the Big Bang. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:57.759 In other words, they were seeing the afterglow of the event that exploded time, space, and matter into being. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:12.079 Now, because of the radiation mapping, scientists began to hypothesize that they should be able to see small ripples in the radiation that are like a mapping of all the galaxies that have been created, including our own. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:29.519 In the 1980s, the Kobe satellite was put into space to discover that exact phenomena, and what they found was exactly what they hypothesized: that you can actually see in the radiation afterglow of the Big Bang the very mapping of the galaxies that were created, including the galaxy that we inhabit as human beings. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:38.720 The head astronomer on the project said about his finding if you are religious, it is just like looking at God himself. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:43.920 Now, growing up in church, you might have had an experience like I did if you grew up in church. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:46.559 We had a big problem with the Big Bang. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:54.160 In the 90s, we began to talk about the Big Bang in the scientific community as if it was proof that we no longer needed God. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:59.119 And so it seemed to put science and Christianity at odds with one another. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:00.640 Let me tell you something. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:05.759 If you are a believer in God, then you believe God created the universe. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:11.279 And science is the study of observing the universe that God created. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:19.839 You don't have to be afraid of science because if God created the universe and science studies the universe, give it enough time, science will lead you back to God. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.160 You don't have to see it at odds with each other. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:25.359 The Big Bang was like a cuss word in the churches that I grew up in. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.359 Here's what's true. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:34.000 The Big Bang, now we know, is one of the greatest evidences for a creator. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:38.960 In other words, we believe in the Big Bang, we just know who banged it. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.799 And please don't tweet that quote, right? 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:44.240 It doesn't come out great, but it makes my point well, okay? 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:53.680 Because of all of this, it is now as close to scientific fact as you can get that at one point the universe did not exist. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:56.000 Here's what Stephen Hawking said. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:04.799 Almost everyone now believes that the universe and time itself had a beginning at the Big Bang. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.680 Space, time, and material started at the Big Bang. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:14.960 Here's what Stephen Hawking, as well as everyone else, cannot answer. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:17.359 Where did the Big Bang come from? 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:30.880 You probably grew up hearing that it was the collision of two atoms, created it all, blew it all into existence, but remember, science shows us there was no space, no time, and there was no material. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:33.680 Atoms are material. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:40.880 You see, if you are even a strident atheist, you are still left with a question of faith. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.039 How did the universe get here? 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:51.440 If you're going to be intellectually honest, you have to follow the data where it goes, which is to a universe that came into existence out of nothing. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:54.400 No space, no time, no material. 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:55.599 It will require faith. 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:57.440 The question is which one is more reasonable? 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:14.160 Either there is a God, which means someone created something, the whole universe out of nothing, a miracle, or there is no God and no one created the universe out of nothing. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:22.000 One is a miracle and one is more like a magic trick, except there's no hat and there's no rabbit and there's no freaking magician, right? 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:24.400 So which one is more reasonable? 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:26.559 They both require high levels of faith. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:31.759 But the question of cosmology: how did the universe get here and why does it exist? 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:33.359 It's a big question. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:37.039 And it's a question that science cannot answer. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.720 So who would this someone be? 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:44.799 Well, we can deduce several things about whoever the creator was. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:51.680 If our syllogism is correct, everything that begins to exist has a creator, the universe began to exist, therefore the universe has a creator. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:53.279 What's that creator like? 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:56.960 Well, we know there was no space and no time and no matter. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:02.880 So this creator would have to be spaceless and timeless and immaterial. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:14.400 Not only that, but you can look at the expanse of the universe and know that this creator must have been insanely powerful, possibly even all-powerful. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:20.000 There's a fifth characteristic though, one that really matters for our discussion about the Logos. 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:22.880 The Logos is an impersonal force. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:25.279 It guides, but it does not decide. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:30.799 However, whoever the creator was also had to be personal. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:37.039 We were in a state of nothingness, and then creation exploded into existence. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:42.559 To go from a state of nothingness to a state of creation requires a decision. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:45.200 And decisions are personal. 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:46.640 What are we left with? 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.720 The universe began to exist, and everything that begins to exist has a creator. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:55.519 And this creator had to be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, all-powerful, and personal. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:02.720 Exactly the attributes attributed to God from Genesis all the way through revelation. 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:07.359 Here's what Robert Jastrow, who isn't agnostic, he's not convinced about God. 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:11.599 He's the founder of NASA's Institute of Space Studies, he's a world-famous astronomer. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:18.000 Here's what he says: astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.680 This is someone who doesn't believe in God. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:27.839 He says the essential element in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis is the same. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:34.240 You can look at a lot of creation stories from a lot of different religious backgrounds. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:37.279 Most of them are very mythological in nature. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:47.920 The Bible, which our culture paints to be completely anti-logic, anti-science, is actually the closest to the overarching way that the world came into existence. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:56.480 An all-powerful, personal, spaceless, timeless, immaterial being who, in the beginning, out of nothing, created the heavens and the earth. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:04.240 Scientist Rupert Sheldrake absolutely nailed it when he said, it's almost as if science said, give me one free miracle. 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:09.920 And from there, the entire thing will proceed with a seamless causal explanation. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:16.480 In other words, science can explain almost everything once the world and life exists. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:19.039 Here's the one free miracle science needs. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:28.240 The one free miracle was the sudden appearance of all the matter and energy in the universe with all of the laws already built in to govern it. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:32.079 Everyone needs one miracle. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:36.799 The most hardcore atheist you know needs one miracle. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.079 How did the universe get here? 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:48.480 You're probably wondering while I'm standing in front of a massive Christmas stage design, when we're gonna talk about Christmas. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:50.640 And John's getting us there. 00:30:51.279 --> 00:31:01.440 But it was important to John in the gospel that he wrote that before we get to the biggest miracle in significance, he sets the precedent of the biggest miracle in scope. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:05.119 That in the beginning was the word. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:11.440 And the word created all, and nothing that was created was created apart from him. 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:17.680 It's important to acknowledge that whether you're a believer or an atheist, we're both dealing with a miracle here. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:25.680 And so John moves from the biggest miracle in scope, the universe, to the biggest miracle in significance, the birth of Christ. 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:34.960 John 1-1, let me remind you: in the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God, and here's his Christmas story, verse 14. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:40.160 The Logos became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:47.119 And we observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and full of truth. 00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:50.319 This is John's big reveal. 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:55.599 The Logos is not just an impersonal structure to life and reason. 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:06.640 The Logos is a personal God, and if you think that's crazy, he goes on to say that that God came down to earth and put on flesh. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:14.240 If you're a skeptic, then a virgin birth is probably a bit of a hang-up for you. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:23.839 Likewise, a man rolling away his stone three days later and coming back to life is probably a bit of a hurdle. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:34.160 In fact, these are maybe some of the very beliefs that have kept you from putting your faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:45.599 Which is why today we went back to the beginning because you can't fully understand Easter until you understand Christmas, and you can't fully understand Christmas until you understand where the story started. 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:52.160 We have this misconception that Christmas is the celebration of the creation of Jesus. 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:54.720 Like that's when he enters the story. 00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:56.400 And John says, No. 00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:06.240 He was with God in the beginning, and he was God in the beginning, and he was the agent for everything that has been created. 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:18.640 And the story of Christmas is not Jesus being created, it's the story of the creator stepping down into his creation in order to bring us back into relationship with God. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:24.640 The Christmas story didn't start with Mary getting pregnant or the journey to Bethlehem or the visit from the Magi. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:29.359 Christmas started in the beginning. 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:35.759 The first miracle that set the stage for all subsequent miracles. 00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:47.599 If we're gonna live an intellectually consistent life, we have to acknowledge that the best data from 600 years of the scientific process has led us to a universe that started from nothing. 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:53.440 No space, no time, no matter, and yet here we are. 00:33:53.759 --> 00:34:03.599 And whatever brought us from nothing into something has to be, by definition, timeless, spaceless, immaterial, all-powerful, and personal. 00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:09.280 The same attributes that we ascribe to our God. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:12.480 Now, I want you to go on a hypothetical with me. 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:17.039 If you are a skeptic, agnostic, atheist, this is a hypothetical. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:29.840 If that God exists, and if that God loved you and wanted to draw you to himself, what would be the best way for him to do that? 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.239 John chapter 1, verse 18. 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:34.960 John acknowledges no one has ever seen God. 00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:38.159 It's a huge obstacle to our faith, if we're honest. 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:45.760 The one and only Son who is himself God and is at the Father's side, Jesus Christ, has revealed him. 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:49.519 We haven't seen God, and we're called to put our faith in him. 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:54.400 So if you want to know what God is like, John says, look at the life of Jesus. 00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:57.519 And scripture says that God is love. 00:34:57.679 --> 00:34:58.480 So what does that mean? 00:34:58.559 --> 00:34:59.599 And how much does he love? 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:07.039 And does he love someone like me who's jacked up and broken and has a lot of skeletons in my closet and has been very far from God? 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:11.760 If you want to know that answer of how God loves you, then look at how Jesus loved. 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:17.760 And you say, Maybe I can buy all of it, and maybe he really did die, maybe he's even God. 00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:28.320 But he probably died for, you know, the church people, put together people, got their marriages right, no addictions, no bad habits. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:35.519 If you want to know who God wanted to save, then you look at Jesus. 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:50.000 And you look to Easter and you find him on a cross, bearing the sin of the entire world, paying the price for lost sons and daughters to come back to their heavenly father. 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:51.760 Here's how Paul said it in Romans. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:56.559 He said, For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:03.440 Rarely will someone die for a just person, though for a good person, perhaps someone might dare to die. 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:10.800 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:14.559 How did the universe get here? 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:18.639 Regardless of your answer, it will require faith. 00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:30.320 Either God, the all-powerful personal creator, created the universe out of nothing, or nothing created the universe out of nothing. 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:35.519 Here's why John takes us back to the biggest scope of miracle. 00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:47.360 If you can acknowledge that there's even a chance that someone was behind the creation of our intricately fine-tuned universe, it cracks open the door to the possibility of a miracle. 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:54.960 Sheldrake said, give me one free miracle, and science can explain the rest, but you need one miracle. 00:36:55.119 --> 00:37:07.599 And if one miracle is possible, if Jesus spoke the universe into creation, then becoming incarnate, putting on flesh is child's play in comparison. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:18.880 If Jesus existed in eternity past and was the agent through which all human life and consciousness has come, raising to life three days later. 00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:21.840 Seems small in comparison. 00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:30.320 John very intentionally set up the biggest miracle in scope so you would have a chance to believe in the biggest miracle in significance. 00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:36.400 Because if it was in the beginning, there was Jesus. 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:39.280 And Jesus was with God. 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:41.840 And Jesus was God. 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:44.800 And all things that were created were created through him. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:48.400 And not one thing that was created was created apart from him. 00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:57.199 And Jesus became flesh, dwelt among us, revealed the Father, died for our sins, and rose again. 00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:02.800 Then the biggest question in your life no longer is where did the universe come from? 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:07.360 The biggest question in your life is what happens after I die? 00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:12.079 And it all comes back to what happened in the beginning. 00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:13.760 Would you pray with me? 00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:16.480 Right where you're at, you can bow your head and close your eyes. 00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:17.840 There's nothing magic about it. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:22.639 Just create some space for yourself and for the people who are in the room with you. 00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:30.960 The resurrection may have happened in the first century, but the story of Jesus started in the beginning. 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:43.760 We believe in a God who loves you so much that he was not content to stay distant like other gods, demanding that you climb a ladder and make your way to him. 00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:56.400