Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

     Satan is a disrupter and destroyer, and his world-system is set up to attack God’s people, the gospel of grace, biblical truths and divine institutions that make for stable and productive individuals and societies. As Christians, we must realize there will be touchpoints where we are at odds with the culture around us, and there we must stand, with absolute clarity on biblical teaching. The purpose of this lesson is to set forth those areas where Satan is currently attacking in America, so that we can stand on the truth of God’s Word and know how we should respond when questioned or pressured to abandon those truths. In this way, we will be a good influence on those whom God places in our path. We will serve as lights in a dark world. To read in full, see Dr. Cook’s book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WXT7NL3

Other recommended sources referenced in this lesson: Making A Biblical Marriage: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y2WSHM0

Steve’s Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/

Steve’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B005FSY6XO

Steve’s Audio Lessons: https://thinkingonscripture.com/audio-video/

      Satan desires that we turn from God and His Word and live independently of Him. He promotes sinful pride, twists God’s Word, uses suffering to pressure God’s people, masquerades as a messenger of light, accuses us before God, and empowers false teachers to perform miracles in order to deceive. Knowledge of God’s Word informs us about Satan’s strategies, and the humble believer who lives by faith will be able to stand when he attacks. To read in full, see Dr. Cook’s book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WXT7NL3

Other recommended sources referenced in this lesson:

The Strategies of Satan by Warren Wiersbe: https://smile.amazon.com/Strategy-Satan-Warren-Wiersbe-ebook/dp/B0066E8WR2

Satan: His Motives and Methods by Lewis S. Chafer: https://smile.amazon.com/Satan-Methods-Lewis-Sperry-Chafer/dp/1548051098

Steve’s Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/

Steve’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B005FSY6XO

Steve’s Audio Lessons: https://thinkingonscripture.com/audio-video/

Deuteronomy 28:15-46 - The Lord’s Cursings

     Having already presented God’s blessings for obedience (Deut 28:1-14), Moses turned to the cursing section of the covenant, saying, “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” (Deut 28:15). The responsibility fell upon Israel to abide by the terms of the covenant. They were to abide by “all His commandments and His statutes”, and failure to do so would bring God’s curses. Earl Radmacher states:

• "A curse is the opposite of a blessing. It wishes or prays for ill or injury on a person or an object. God cursed the serpent and the ground after the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:14, 17). Jeremiah, in despair, cursed the man who brought news of his birth (Jer 20:14, 15). The seriousness of God’s covenant with His people is illustrated by the threat of a curse on any who violate it (Deut 28:60, 61)."[1]

     The curses would reverse all God’s blessings and would overtake His people wherever they were. Moses wrote:

• "Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be when you go out" (Deut 28:16-19).

     What follows in Deuteronomy 28:20-68 spelled out God’s curses in specific detail and were intended to produce a healthy fear in the Israelite who might be tempted to turn away from the Lord and His clear directives. Moses informed his people that the curses would pursue them in stages until they were destroyed (Deut 28:20-22, 24, 45, 48, 51, 61). Daniel Block states, “By means of a seemingly endless catalogue of secondary agents of doom, Moses warns that Yahweh will marshal every conceivable agent of destruction against His people.”[2] God is offering a theological understanding of Israel’s circumstances and experiences should they break their covenant with Yahweh and not abide by His directives.

     Moses gave an overarching summary statement of all God would do to Israel if they pursued evil and forsook Him. Moses said, “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me” (Deut 28:20). The word send translates the Hebrew verb שָׁלַח shalach which in this passage means to “send out, forth, send on a mission.”[3] The form of the verb is intensive (Piel), which means the curse will be relentless in its pursuit. God’s judgment would come because of Israel’s choice to forsake the Lord and to pursue a life of evil deeds. According to Craigie, “The root cause of the disaster would be forgetfulness; the people would forget God, and in forgetting God they would forget his commandments. Having forgotten the commandments of God, the people would inevitably commit evil deeds and bring upon their own heads disaster. God sends the curse (v. 20a), but man invites it by his deeds (v. 20b).”[4]

     At the beginning of the judgments, Moses said, “The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it” (Deut 28:21). The pestilence (דֶּבֶר deber) could be something like bubonic plague, which afflicted both people and animals with fever and delirium. This might explain Moses’ next statement, saying, “The LORD will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish” (Deut 28:22). Blight and mildew refer to attacks on crops, which God brought upon His people during times of judgment (see Amos 4:9; Hag 2:17). Daniel Block states:

• "In verse 22 Moses becomes more specific, listing seven afflictions with which Yahweh will strike his people. The catalogue of seven afflictions expresses Yahweh’s sovereignty over all agents of death and destruction. The first four entries elaborate on deber in verse 21 and specify diseases at Yahweh’s disposal: wasting disease, fever, inflammation, and scorching heat. The fifth refers to the sword (ḥereb), which functions as shorthand for Israel’s defeat by enemy armies (cf. vv. 25–26), and the last two refer to crop diseases."[5]

     The judgments would include a severe drought upon the Land. Moses said, “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed” (Deut 28:23-24). A bronze sky and iron earth is a picture of impenetrable material which would frustrate the farmer. And the Lord, rather than sending rain that would soften the earth, would only send “powder and dust” upon the land. Eugene Merrill states, “As impervious as these metals are to water and tools, so both the heavens and the earth would be in the day of calamity. The rains would not leak through the skies, nor would the earth be able to be broken up to receive the farmer’s seed. Instead, the heavens would rain down dust, which would only exacerbate an already hopeless situation on the earth.”[6]

     Moving to a picture of military defeat, Moses said, “The LORD shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away” (Deut 28:25-26). Israel would always have enemies, but rather than know victory, God would cause them to know only defeat. Israel, going out against their enemy “one way” speaks of a planned attack. Fleeing seven ways meant their efforts would fail, as they would scramble to “flee seven ways” from the battle. Israel’s choice to separate themselves from God meant they forfeited the Lord’s protection against hostile forces. According to Craigie, “Disobedience to the law of God separated the people from him, and in this state of separation they could not expect to experience the presence of God in the midst of their army; without God in the midst of Israel’s army, defeat was inevitable.”[7] Not only would Israel be an example of terror to surrounding kingdoms, but their dead bodies would be food for wild animals. Merrill states, “Israel would, in fact, become a field of corpses, a banquet for winged and four-footed scavengers that would be free to eat their fill (v. 26). The irony of the contrast between Israel’s feeding off the land (vv. 4–5, 8, 11) and being itself a food supply for carnivorous beasts is inescapable.”[8]The wise Israelite understood, “the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge” (Psa 73:28).

     Moving from military defeat, Moses then describes various skin diseases that would inflict the nation. Moses said, “The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed” (Deut 28:27). Concerning the boils, Earl Kalland states, “The ‘boils of Egypt’ are doubtless the boils of the sixth plague, which so discomfited the Egyptian magicians, as well as all other Egyptians, that they could no longer stand before Moses (Ex 9:9–11). This may have been a form of leprosy known in Egypt.”[9] The reference to tumors (עֹפֶל ophel) could mean hemorrhoids, much like what afflicted the Philistines when they took possession of the Ark (1 Sam 5:6). The scab (גָּרָב garab) was something that irritated the skin, perhaps a rash of some sort. Interestingly, such a skin disease would disqualify a priest from service (Lev 21:18-21), as well as an animal from being sacrificed (Lev 22:20-22). The itch (חֶרֶס cheres) referred to some eruptive disease.

     All of this would have great psychological and social impact on the Israelites, as Moses continued, saying, “The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; 29 and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you” (Deut 28:28-29). Their mental, emotional, and social condition would make it impossible to function on a daily basis. They would become like a “blind man” who cannot see his way clearly to do anything, and the result will be that they “will not prosper” in any of their activities. Furthermore, there would be none to help, as those around them would only oppress and rob them, and there would be “none to save” them from their troubles. Eugene Merrill writes:

• "The inclusion of blindness between two states of emotional or psychological disorder suggests that this loss of vision was not physical but metaphorical (cf. Psa 146:8; Isa 29:18; 35:5; 42:7, 16; 43:8; 56:10). The groping about in midday like a blind man (v. 29a) is a simile qualified in the next line, “You will be unsuccessful in everything you do.” The blindness, then, was the incapacity to think clearly or form intelligent judgments. It would lay the ones under the curse open to all kinds of exploitation including oppression…and robbery (v. 29b). Having broken fellowship with the Lord, they would have no one to deliver them from their insanity and its consequences."[10]

Peter Craigie adds:

• "In broad daylight, the cursed blind man gropes around. He cannot see and does not know how to make himself prosperous, but he can be seen by others; his fumbling ineptitude makes him an easy prey for robbers. Having brought about his sad state through disobedience to the law of God, he is now at the mercy of those who live outside the law, and there is no one to offer help. His fellows are equally cursed, and he has gone too far from God to call for his deliverance."[11]

     Having turned away from the Lord, Israel would no longer enjoy His protections, and this meant what was precious to them would be vulnerable to attack and harm. These included attacks on one’s spouse, home, business, children, and safety from one’s enemies. Moses said:

• "You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually; but there will be nothing you can do. 33 A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually. 34 You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see." (Deut 28:30-34)

     Here is a picture of harm by one’s enemies, frustration by helplessness, and eventual despair of soul and madness of mind by the sight of what they will see. They would have no control over their lives but would be perpetual victims of their enemies who take possession of their wives and mistreat them. The fruit of their ground and livestock would be eaten by another, and their children would be forcibly taken and sold into slavery while they looked on in helplessness, and there would be nothing they could do to stop it. The end result was mental madness by what they saw happening to them. All of this was the result of their walking away from the Lord’s protections.

     Revisiting the motif of boils previously mentioned (Deut 28:27), Moses said, “The LORD will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head” (Deut 28:35). This disease would cover the whole body, but emphasis seems to be given to the knees, legs, and soles of one’s feet, which would make normal activities very difficult, thus exacerbating one’s efforts to work.

     The judgments also anticipated a time in the future when Israel would have a king over them. Moses said, “The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the LORD drives you” (Deut 28:36-37). If Israel turned away from God and refused to serve Him, they would fall victim to slavery in godless nations who served dumb idols of wood and stone. Eugene Merrill states, “Deportation does, however, imply submission, a condition contrary to the exaltation of Israel described in the list of blessings. Rather than being a nation set “high above all the nations” (v. 1), God’s people would lose their children to another nation (v. 32) and would themselves go off into ignominious captivity (v. 36).”[12] Israel’s fallen condition would serve as a horror and proverb to other nations.

     Deuteronomy 28:36 describes how God will bring His people and their king into captivity in a foreign land. Because Israel did not have a king until nearly four centuries after Moses gave the law, it is argued by liberal scholars that Deuteronomy is actually a late book, written around the seventh or fifth centuries B.C. These liberal scholars—who operate on antisupernaturalistic presuppositions—reject the Bible as divinely inspired and treat it as a humanistic book and the events described therein as history rather than prophecy (Lat. vaticinium ex eventu = after the event). However, because the Bible is supernaturally inspired by God, these prophetic statements are not a problem, as God had promised Israel would have a king (Gen 17:6, 16; 35:11; Deut 17:14-20).

     Returning to the judgments, Moses stated that all their efforts at labor and production would be met with futility. Moses said:

• "You shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for the locust will consume it. 39 You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 41 You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 42 The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground." (Deut 28:38-42)

     Again, we have a picture of fruitless labor by the Israelite farmer. Frustration would come as locusts and worms would be used by the Lord to destroy their crops. Even their sons and daughters—who often helped with farming—would be taken away into captivity, further exacerbating their ability to farm. Daniel Block states:

• "The catalogue of futility curses involves the entire range of ancient Palestinian agricultural activity: fields of grain (v. 38), vineyards (v. 39), olive groves (v. 40), and fruit trees (v. 41). The crop failures are caused by little creatures that Yahweh will send to devour and despoil the crops before they can be harvested. “Locusts” (v. 38) are grass-eating insects that fly in vast swarms and devour everything in sight. “Worms” (v. 39) refers to fruit grubs that attack the grapes. The meaning of “swarms of locusts” (v. 42) is uncertain, but it probably refers to a species of beetle that kills vegetation by attacking leaves or stems."[13]

     Israel would also experience social and economic decline, as Moses said, “The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail” (Deut 28:43-44). The alien (גֵּר ger) was the one who originally came to Israel to be elevated and blessed, but his low position would become the new standard, not because he was lifted up, but because Israel was brought down to a lower position. Israel would experience economic slavery by being the borrower rather than the lender.

     Moses continued, “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever” (Deut 28:45-46). The curses would pursue (רָדָף radaph – to pursue, chase, persecute) and overtake (נָשַׂג nasag) Israel like a relentless hunter who is tireless in his pursuit to catch and destroy the hunted animal. All of this would happen because Israel refused to walk with the Lord and to keep His commandments. Peter Craigie states, “Disobedience to the word of God would result inevitably in disaster…For a sign and for a wonder—the disasters that would befall the Israelites, if they were disobedient to God, would serve to illustrate the ways of God to other nations, who would be prompted to ask questions when they saw the plight of the Israelites.”[14]

[1] Earl D. Radmacher, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary, 263.

[2] Daniel I. Block, The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy, ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 652.

[3] Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 1019.

[4] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), 342.

[5] Daniel I. Block, The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy, 653.

[6] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 359.

[7] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 343.

[8] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary, 360.

[9] Earl S. Kalland, “Deuteronomy,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 172.

[10] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary, 361.

[11] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 345.

[12] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary, 362.

[13] Daniel I. Block, The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy, 657.

[14] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 347.

The Despair of Atheism

And the Hope of Christianity

     As we grow and develop mentally, we develop a worldview, which is a biased perspective on life. A worldview is a mental framework of beliefs that guide our understanding of what is. It’s the assumptions we employ to help us make sense of the world, ourselves and our experiences. Early in life—when our perception of the world is being shaped—we are influenced by the worldviews of family, friends, and surrounding culture. As we grow older, we are confronted with different and opposing worldviews via religious and educational institutions, literature, movies, music and art. At some point in our development—it’s different for each person—we choose what we believe and why. Our worldview is important because it’s the basis for our values which influence our relationships, money habits, social and political decisions, and everything we say and do. At its core, there are basically two worldviews a person can have. Either one is a theist or an atheist. Choices have consequences, and the worldview we adopt has far reaching ramifications. The biblical worldview offers value, purpose, and hope. The atheistic worldview—when followed to its logical conclusion—leads to a meaningless and purposeless life that eventuates in despair.

     The atheist’s worldview denies the existence of God and believes the universe and earth happened by a chance explosion billions of years ago. Rather than intelligent design, he believes in unintelligent chaos, that the earth, with all its complexity of life, is merely the product of accidental evolutionary processes over millions of years. His worldview believes everything is merely the product of matter, motion, time and chance; that we are the accidental collection of molecules; that we are nothing more than evolving bags of protoplasm who happen to be able to think, feel, and act. The conclusion is that we came from nothing significant, that we are nothing significant, and we go to nothing significant. Ultimately, there’s no reason for us to exist, and no given purpose to assign meaning to our lives. We are a zero. Some have thought through the logical implications of their atheism and understand this well. Mark Twain wrote:

• "A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle for bread; they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other. Age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; shames and humiliations bring down their prides and their vanities. Those they love are taken from them and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. The burden of pain, care, misery, grows heavier year by year. At length ambition is dead; pride is dead; vanity is dead; longing for release is in their place. It comes at last – the only unpoisoned gift ever had for them – and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence; where they achieved nothing; where they were a mistake and a failure and a foolishness; where they have left no sign that they have existed – a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever. Then another myriad takes their place and copies all they did and goes along the same profitless road and vanishes as they vanished – to make room for another and another and a million other myriads to follow the same arid path through the same desert and accomplish what the first myriad and all the myriads that came after it accomplished - nothing!"[1]

And Bertrand Russell wrote:

• "Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hope and fears, his loves and beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruin – all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy that rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built [bold added for emphasis]."[2]

     No God means we live in a purely materialistic universe. Logically, materialism leads to nihilism which teaches that life is meaningless. If there is no God, then each of us are nothing more than the accidental collection of molecules. All our thoughts, desires, passions and actions can be reduced to electrochemical impulses in the brain and body. We are nothing more than a biochemical machine in an accidental universe, and when we die, our biological life is consumed by the material universe from which we came. But this leaves us in a bad place, for we instinctively search for meaning and purpose, to understand the value of our lives and actions. This tension leads to a sense of anxiety, what the German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, called angst. Angst and fear are different, for fear has a direct object, whereas angst is that innate and unending sense of anxiety or dread one lives with and cannot shake. The French Existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre understood this worldview and the despair connected with it. Sartre proposed that individual purpose could be obtained by the exercise our wills, as we choose to act, even if the act is absurd. Francis Schaeffer wrote:

• "[Sartre] held that in the area of reason everything is absurd, but nonetheless a person can authenticate himself by an act of the will; everyone should abandon the pose of spectator and act in a purposeless world. But because, as Sartre saw it, reason is separated from this authenticating, the will can act in any direction. On the basis of his teaching, you could authenticate yourself either by helping a poor old lady along the road at night or by speeding up your auto and running her down. Reason is not involved, and nothing can show you the direction which your will should take."[3]

     I would argue that most atheists really don’t want to talk about the logical conclusion of their position, and choose to go about their daily lives ignoring the issue altogether, as it’s too painful to consider. This is why Sartre abandoned reason and advocated that we seek for meaning in the choices we make, even if those choices are irrational. Aldous Huxley proposed using psychedelic drugs with the idea that one might be able to find truth and meaning inside his own head. Schaeffer states, “He held this view up to the time of his death. He made his wife promise to give him LSD when he was ready to die so that he would die in the midst of a trip. All that was left for Aldous Huxley and those who followed him was truth inside a person’s own head.”[4]

     But there is another implication to an atheistic worldview, and that’s in the area of morals. If there is no God, then there is no moral Lawgiver outside of mankind, and no moral absolutes by which to declare anything ethically right or wrong. There is only subjective opinion, which fluctuates from person to person and group to group. We’re left to conclude that if there are no moral absolutes, then what is, is right, and the conversation is over. Morality becomes a matter of what the majority wants, or what an elite, or individual, can impose on others. Francis Schaeffer wrote: 

• "If there is no absolute moral standard, then one cannot say in a final sense that anything is right or wrong. By absolute we mean that which always applies, that which provides a final or ultimate standard. There must be an absolute if there are to be morals, and there must be an absolute if there are to be real values. If there is no absolute beyond man’s ideas, then there is no final appeal to judge between individuals and groups whose moral judgments conflict. We are merely left with conflicting opinions."[5]

     Ironically, when the atheist states “there is no truth”, he is making a truth claim. And when he says “there are no absolutes”, he is stating an absolute. Logically, he cannot escape truth and absolutes, without which, reasoning and discussion are impossible. The biblically minded Christian celebrates both truth and absolutes which derive from God Himself, in which He declares some things right and other things wrong (e.g., Ex 20:1-17), and this according to His righteousness (Psa 11:7).

     The atheistic view regards mankind as merely a part of the animal kingdom. But if people are just another form of animal—a naked ape as someone once described—then there’s really no reason to get upset if we behave like animals. A pack of wild lions in the Serengeti suffer no pangs of conscience when they gang up on a helpless baby deer and rip it to shreds in order to satisfy their hunger pains. They would certainly not be concerned if they drove a species to extinction; after all, it’s survival of the fittest. Let the strong survive and the weak die off. Evolution could also logically lead to racism, which is implied in Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species, which original subtitle mentions the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life. Ironically, we teach evolution in public schools, telling children they are just another animal species, but then get upset when they act like animals toward each other. We can’t have it both ways. We can’t logically teach atheistic evolution and simultaneously advocate for morality. It’s a non sequitur. If there are no moral absolutes, then one cannot describe as evil the behavior of Nazis who murdered millions of Jews in World War II. Neither can one speak against the murder of tens of millions of people under the materialistic communistic regimes of Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, or Pol Pot.

     It’s interesting that people cry out for personal and social justice because they’re naturally wired that way. But for the atheist, such inclinations are either a learned behavior based on arbitrary social norms, or a biological quirk that developed from accidental evolutionary processes. Again, we’re left with no moral absolutes and no meaning for life. Naturally, for the thinking person, this leads to despair. For this reason, some seek pleasure in drugs, or alcohol, partying and/or sexual promiscuity in order to deaden the pain of an empty heart. Others might move into irrational areas of mysticism and the occult. The Burning Man events are a good example of this. The few honest atheists such as Twain, Russell and others accept their place of despair and seek to get along in this world as best they can. But they have no lasting hope for humanity. None whatsoever.

     But the Christian worldview is different. The biblically minded Christian has an answer in the Bible which gives lasting meaning and hope; and this allows us to use our reasoning abilities as God intended. The Bible presents the reality of God (Gen 1:1; Ex 3:14; Rev 1:8), who has revealed Himself to all people (Psa 19:1-2). The apostle Paul argued this point when he wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20). This is called general revelation in which God reveals Himself through nature. God has also revealed Himself to the heart of every person, for “that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Rom 1:19). John Calvin referred to this as the sensus divinitatis, which is an innate sense of divinity, an intuitive knowledge that God exists. Calvin wrote, “there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity.”[6] He further states, “All men of sound judgment will therefore hold, that a sense of Deity is indelibly engraved on the human heart.”[7] Part of Calvin’s argument is based on God’s special revelation in Scripture. But part of his observation is also based on human experience. Calvin wrote, “there never has been, from the very first, any quarter of the globe, any city, any household even, without religion, [which] amounts to a tacit confession, that a sense of Deity is inscribed on every heart.”[8] The problem is not with God’s clear revelation, but with the human heart which is negative to Him. For those possessed with negative volition have, as their habit, to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). The problem lies in the sinful heart that suppresses that revelation from God in order to pursue one’s sinful passions. The apostle Paul wrote:

• "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." (Rom 1:21-23)

     However, God is a perfect gentleman and never forces Himself on anyone. People are free to choose whether to accept Him or not. But if they reject what light God gives of Himself, He is not obligated to give them further light, as they will only continue to reject it. Of those who are negative to God, three times it is written that He “gave them over” to “the lusts of their hearts” (Rom 1:24), and “to degrading passions” (Rom 1:26), and “to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper” (Rom 1:28). Once God permits a person to operate by his sinful passions, he is given a measure of freedom to live as he wants, but not without consequence.

     God does not render final judgment upon the rebellious right away. Rather, God extends to them a common grace, which refers to the undeserved kindness or goodness He extends to everyone, regardless of whether they are righteous or unrighteous, good or evil. God’s common grace is seen in His provision of the necessities of life (i.e., sun, rain, air, food, water, clothing, etc.). This grace depends totally on God and not the attitude or actions of others. Jesus said of His Father, that “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt 5:45). Paul affirmed this grace, saying, “In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways [in rebellion]; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:16-17). Here, God’s grace is most obvious, in that He provides the necessities of life and even blesses those who are unsaved and hostile toward Him. His love and open-handedness toward the undeserving springs completely out of the bounty of His own goodness. Part of the reason God is gracious and patient is that He “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). However, grace ends when the unbeliever dies, and if he has spent his life rejecting Christ as Savior, then afterward, he will stand before God’s judgment seat, and if his name is “not found written in the book of life”, then he will be “thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15), where he will be for eternity. This final judgment is avoidable, if Jesus is accepted as one’s Savior. The Bible reveals:

• "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)

     To the heart that is positive to God and turns to Christ as Savior, He has revealed Himself in special ways in His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-3), and in Scripture (1 Th 2:13; 2 Tim 3:16-17). God’s special revelation gives us insights into realities we could never know on our own, except that God has revealed them to us in His Word in propositional terms. As we read the Bible in a plain manner, we come to realize that God exists as a trinity (or triunity), as God the Father (Gal 1:1; Eph 6:23; Phil 2:11), God the Son (Isa 7:14; 9:6; John 1:1, 8:58; 20:28; Col 2:9; Heb 1:8), and God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 2:11-12; 2 Cor 13:14). And that all three persons of the trinity are co-equal, co-infinite, and co-eternal, and worthy of all praise and honor and glory. The Bible also reveals that God personally created His universe and earth in six literal days (Gen 1:1-31; Ex 20:8-11). That He created the first humans, Adam and Eve, in His image, with value and purpose to serve as theocratic administrators over the earth (Gen 1:26-28). We have the ability to reason because we are made in the image of God, who also gave us language as a means of communicating with Him and each other (Gen 2:15-17, 23). God also created a host of spirit beings called angels, but one of them, Lucifer, rebelled against God and convinced other angels to do the same (Isa 14:12-14; Ezek 28:12-17). Fallen angels are called demons and belong to Satan’s ranks (Matt 25:41; Rev 12:7-9), and they influence the world of people in many ways in their thinking, values and behavior (1 Tim 4:1; Rev 16:13-14). Lucifer came to earth and convinced the first humans to rebel against God (Gen 3:1-7), took rulership over the earth (Luke 4:5-7; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2 1 John 5:19), and expanded his kingdom of darkness to include all unbelievers (Matt 13:36-40; John 8:44; Acts 26:18; Col 1:13-14). Adam and Eve’s sin brought about spiritual death (i.e., separation from God) and God cursed the earth as a judgment upon them (Gen 3:14-19). God’s judgment also explains why everything moves toward decay and physical death (i.e., the second law of thermodynamics). But God, because of His great mercy and love toward us, provided a solution to the problem of sin and spiritual death, and this through a Redeemer who would come and bear the penalty for our sins (Gen 3:15; Isa 7:14; 9:6; Matt 1:23; Luke 1:26-35; Gal 4:4; Heb 10:10, 14; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:18; Rev 1:5). This Redeemer was Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity who became human (John 1:1, 14), who lived a sinless life (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 John 3:5), willingly died on a cross (John 10:17-18), was judged for all our sin (Heb 10:10, 14), and was buried and raised to life on the third day (1 Cor 15:3-4, 20), never to die again (Rom 6:9). After His redeeming work, Jesus ascended to heaven, where He awaits His return (Acts 1:9-11; cf. John 14:1-3; 1 Th 4:13-18). Jesus’ work on the cross opens the way for us to have forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7), and spiritual life (Eph 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3, 23), if we’ll trust in Him as our Savior (John 3:16; 20:31).

     When a Philippian jailer asked the apostle Paul, “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30), Paul gave the simple answer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Act 16:31). Believing in Christ means we turn from trusting in anyone or anything as having any saving value (which is the meaning of repentance) and place our complete confidence in Christ to save, accepting Him and His work on the cross as all that is needed to have eternal life. Salvation comes to us by grace alone (it’s an undeserved gift), through faith alone (adding no works), in Christ alone (as the only One who saves). Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). God also promises us an eternal existence with Him in Heaven (John 14:1-3), who will eventually create a new heavens and earth, which will be marked by perfect righteousness (2 Pet 3:13), and be free from sin and death (Rev 21:1-5). God has already begun this restoration process, and this starts with the restoration of lost sinners to Himself, and progressing toward the complete and perfect restoration of the universe and earth.

     If we accept God and His offer of salvation, we have a new relationship with Him, and this means we are part of His royal family. God also gives meaning to our lives and calls us to serve as His representatives in a fallen world. To reject God and His offer is to choose an eternal existence away from Him in the Lake of Fire. This is avoidable, if one turns to Christ as Savior, believing the good news that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and raised again on the third day (1 Cor 15:3-4). Won’t you trust in Christ as your Savior and begin this new and wonderful life? I pray you do.

Other recommended sources referenced in this lesson:

Francis Schaeffer: Trilogy: https://smile.amazon.com/Francis-Schaeffer-Trilogy-Three-Essential/dp/0891075615

Francis Schaeffer: How Should Then Live - https://smile.amazon.com/Should-Then-Live-LAbri-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B00IFG0AD8 Francis Schaeffer:

How Should Then Live Ten Part Video Series - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpPMMb50QcE&list=PLP0lSOp9RORx7W0REI8SVK2CNIrMjhS_T

James Sire: The Universe Next Door - https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Next-Door-Worldview-Catalog-ebook/dp/B084L3SQDY

Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism and Human Emotions - https://www.amazon.com/Existentialism-Human-Emotion-Philosophical-Library/dp/0806509023

The Humanist Manifesto - https://smile.amazon.com/Humanist-Manifesto-2000-Planetary-Humanism/dp/157392783X

Steve’s Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/

Steve’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B005FSY6XO

Steve’s Audio Lessons: https://thinkingonscripture.com/audio-video/

[1] Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain, edited by Michael J. Kiskis (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, WI, 2013), 28.

[2] Bertrand Russell, “A Free Man’s Worship” from Mysticism and Logic (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1917).

[3] Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture, 50th L’Abri Anniversary Edition. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 167.

[4] Ibid., 170.

[5] Ibid., 145.

[6] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 1997), 1.3.1

[7] Ibid., 1.3.3

[8] Ibid., 1.3.1