Join Jonathan Adkins and Mark Matthews as they discuss week 3 of Doctrine: Rooted in Truth.
The Lesson Plan
Doctrine: Week 3
(upbeat music) - Welcome teachers to week three of this curriculum's lesson plan podcast. Excited to be your host today. My name is Jonathan Atkins, minister to married adults. And joining me is Mark Matthews, minister to single adults. Hey y'all, we're excited to be here again week three. This is truth number one, God exists. So this is week three of our doctrine rooted in truth series. And I'm particularly excited about this week's lesson about God existing. There's so much rich content here, both in the scripture and in the curriculum we've provided you. And the main point today is that God is real. He is creator and sustainer of our universe and our loving father. - Yeah. And I'd like to start this off with Jonathan, the hook that I'm gonna use when I teach found a little fact that 20 years ago, researchers did a study on the common religious beliefs of America's youth. Experts concluded that many American youths who called themselves Christians didn't really believe in the Bible, but in what they termed moral therapeutic deism. And here's what moral therapeutic deism means. It's what I call the feel good God. It believes the following, that there is a God who exists, who created the world and watches over humans from a distance. God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other. And the central goal, this shocks me, the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself. God doesn't need to be intimately involved in our lives, except when we need a problem solved, a problem to be solved. He is our spiritual problem solver. So good people go to heaven when they die. And here's what's scary about this study that they did 20 years ago. In 2024, moral therapeutic deism is the most popular worldview in US culture. And here's what it means. It's vital that we learn sound biblical doctrine so that we know the truth. The greatest threat to biblical Christianity today is not atheism, militant Islam, the sexual revolution or hostile public opinion. The greatest threat to biblical Christianity today is weak, soft, man centered, sin affirming, ear tickling, flesh pleasing, self help theology. So that's why we're studying God exists. - That's a great opening hook alternative. And that actually leads perfectly for later in the lesson 'cause that's talked about that moral therapeutic deism in talking point three of our curriculum. So starting off with the hook related to that, I think it's a great way to start. All right, so let's go ahead and get straight into scripture in talking point one. We're gonna start in Psalm 19, one through six. And that reads out of the ESV, verse one, "The heavens declare the glory of God "in the sky above proclaims his handiwork. "Day to day pours out speech "and night to night reveals knowledge. "There is no speech nor their words "whose voice is not heard. "Their voice goes out through all the earth "and their words to the end of the world. "In them he has set a tent for the sun, "which comes out like a bridegroom, leaving his chamber. "And like a strong man runs its course with joy. "Its rising is from the end of the heavens "and its circuit to the end of them. "And there is nothing hidden from its heat." All right, I'm also gonna read the second verses for this talking point, Romans one, 18 through 20. And Paul writes, again, Romans one, starting verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven "against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. "You by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. "For what can be known about God is plain to them "because God has shown it to them. "For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power "and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, "ever since the creation of the world "in the things that have been made. "So they are without excuse." And so this talking point one is all about general revelation. So the greater theme throughout this lesson is the truth that God exists. So how do we know that God exists? First talking point is general revelation. In other words, we look around and we know through creation, through nature, through the earth and the complexities throughout the human body and so on. Just look at overall creation at all points to an intelligent creator, an intelligent design. And scripture makes it very clear in Romans one that no matter what people's belief are, their stated belief, I should say in God, we all inherently know as humans that there is a creator. It's just impossible for us to be here on earth, to see the majesty of creation and really believe that there is no greater power that's overseen creation that made things, right? That's all of what talking point one is about. Interesting study. There's a recent Gallup poll that found that 81% of Americans, specifically Americans, that 81% of Americans believe there is a God, which is down from 87% in 2017. And that 87% in 2017 is down from earlier in the 20th century as well. And the point is people's stated belief in God is decreasing, however, Romans makes it very clear that people are without excuse. And so you think here as you read through the curriculum, you're gonna see the questions, give examples of how nature shows us there must be an intelligent being who created it. You might consider providing, we do a PowerPoint or slideshow, you might consider providing pictures of creation, think about things like the Grand Canyon, think about our vast ocean system, you could think about the animals that exist, the human body and so forth. There's so many complexities here on Earth. When you think about not just Earth, I should say, but all of creation, the whole universe, that adding some visuals may help as you drive home the point that nature plays into general revelation, the fact that looking around you with your very eyes you see, with your ears you hear the complexity of creation. And you know that there's an intelligent being, this wasn't just by chance. - That's right, and I love if you look in your curriculum, they have several different arguments. You're talking about the cosmological argument, which states that even scientists agree that space, time, and matter had a beginning, so that the cause of the universe had to be spaceless, timeless, and immaterial to be cause, and that sounds exactly like the Bible's description of God. So you've got different arguments, cosmological, the teleological, and the moral law argument, and these aren't really to get into an argument with somebody, but they are simply to have a confidence when you speak with folks about the existence of God. Science and the Bible, the word of God, line up. - That's right, and I'd encourage you, as you talk about these three arguments, the video interview with Sean McDowell that we played at the summit, it is online on our website, probably already seen it at Prestonwood.org/leader in the dull curriculum page. That video was posted, and I mentioned that because Sean McDowell goes over these three arguments, specifically, he dives deeper into this truth about God existing, and an interesting point, just to summarize these three, the cosmological argument, this points to the beginning of the universe because there was a beginning, there has to be someone that was there before it to have created it. The teleological argument points to a fine tuner that gets into the complexity of, you think about the earth and its distance from the sun is very precise for life. You're thinking about the tilt of the earth and so on, so that's the teleological argument, the fine tuner argument of there being a God, and the moral law argument is all about the fact that there is a moral law, this points to the fact that there is a sense of morality. - Right, there's good in evil. - There's differences of course amongst different cultures and so forth, but the fact that there is a good and there is an evil nobody really denies that. And that's what the moral law argument is all about. If there is a standard of morality that we all inherently believe in, there has to have been somebody to set that standard. That's God. One more thing, Mark, before you go on, Sean McDowell makes a great point in a video interview about these three arguments, question was asked by Matt Mullins, which argument might be the most effective and he makes the point just like Jesus did in his ministry, these three arguments are helpful at different times for different people, and so certain people may be more evangelistically affected by the cosmological versus the teleological versus the moral law. So it's important to know the nuance of the person you're witnessing to or evangelizing to or talking to and knowing these arguments well so that you can be effective in that particular context. - That's good, that's right. Okay, point number two on this lesson is that special revelation. God is not just a distant creator. He is a loving father. And we go back to what I was talking about on the hook with the moral therapeutic deism. And what do scriptures say about a feel good type of faith from a distant God? Well, Matthew 16, 24 through 26 says this. "Then Jesus said his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves "and take up their cross and follow me. "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, "but whoever loses their life for me will find it." Proverbs 3.12 tells us this that the Lord disciplines those he loves as a father, the son he delights in. The third passage is Exodus 34, 6 through 7 that tells us that God is a compassionate, gracious God, slow to anger, abounding, which means to be filled in great quantity and love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished which means sin has consequences. And he punishes the children and their children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation. And here's what that means that your sin has consequences on you, your kids, your grandkids and your great-grandkids. It's important for us to learn sound biblical doctrine so we can know so much more than just that God exists so we can understand how to be saved and how to experience him as our loving father who is not distance, who is close. And I'll give you an example of this, Jonathan, as a dad. I wanna say yes to everything my two kids ever ask for, but I realize that's not the healthiest way to parent, giving them whatever they want. I can remember when I was a kid, dad, can I light the dog's tail on fire? No, you can't. Dad, can I jump off the roof? No, you can't, son. Dad, can I ride my bike out in the middle of the street? No, you can't, why? Because I want you to live, son. And here's what I told our kids as they got older. You've gotten everything you needed in life and most of what you've wanted. And yes, there were times when I needed to discipline my children in order to teach them right from wrong, to teach them the consequences of their choices. But I loved my kids and I was close and I wanted what was best for them and that's God. - That's good. And I just love that point here that we don't just believe that God exists, but he wants to know us personally and he loves us as our loving father. And this is opposed to the curriculum gets into this term deism, this idea, this theology that God created the universe and then just set himself apart from it. A classic illustration for deism you might consider is a thought of somebody creating a clock and then just letting it run on its own, totally separate from that. And we don't believe of course at all that God just created us and wants to be distant from us. We believe that God knows every intimate detail of our lives. The Bible says that he knew us from our mother's womb that God had foreknowledge of us and so forth and there's works that he's predestined for us. God is intimately aware of every detail of our life. He is personal, not only that, he loves us. - I'll try it. - All right, so transitioning on to point three, this is out of going back to Romans 1, 18 through 32, which was referenced a little bit in talking point one. This is the fact that those who don't believe in God are suppressing the truth. All right, so going back to Romans 1, 18, it says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all in godliness and unrighteousness of men. You by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." That's a key point here. Verse 19 says, "For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world. In the things that have been made, they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools in exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Verse 24, it says, "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who was blessed forever, Amen." Verse 26, "For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those who are contrary to nature, those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the dew penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil covetousness, malice, their full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, their gossip, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless." Verse 32, "Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them to give approval to those who practice them." So let me ask you Mark. Do you see these verses playing out in culture today? - Absolutely. And when I look at these, Jonathan, they're like a list. How do I know if I'm starting to worship and serve the creation versus the creator? How do I know that I'm starting to suppress the truth? Right here, it gives us a list. Hey, if I'm doing these things and I'm worshiping these things and that's really what I'm focusing on, I can know that I'm suppressing truth. - That's right. It gets into all sorts of idol worship from verse 23, exchange the glory of immortal God for images, resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things to idolizing sex to other things as well. And what's very interesting to me as I read through these verses is, scripture makes it very clear that man knows the truth about God, but in unrighteousness, people suppress it. They suppress it for their own desires. And so first question in this talking point is why does not believing in God require suppressing the truth? You may ask a follow-up question to that. Why would people do that? Why do you think people intentionally suppress the truth? And why do people have a desire to suppress the truth? Why do you suppose people have that desire? They just going back to what you were talking about Mark, they worship themselves or anything else other than God. And they perhaps don't want to have anybody telling them what to do and so forth. - It goes back to that concept of moral therapeutic deism. Hey, God exists so that I can feel good about myself and so that I can be happy. And in fact, in here in the curriculum, it talks about we've kind of developed this combination of a divine butler and a cosmic therapist in God. He's here to make me happy. And that's not what life is about. That's not what scripture has to say. But a lot of times that's how we treat God. - That's right. And our curriculum makes it very clear that these views of God are self-serving. Either God doesn't exist at all or He only exists to meet our needs and make us happy. And so all of these things point back to us, points back to original sin. When you think about it, Adam and Eve and Satan as well wanted to be like God. That's the crux of the matter. - That's right. And I want to give a word of encouragement. We are called the plant, the seed of truth. We are not called to convict. Only God can convict hearts and change hearts. But that's why we teach the truth so we can plant that seed and God can do the conviction, the changing, the transformation of the heart. And so when I think about this as well and that thought about culture, you see a praising of sin. You see people encouraging sin and sinful choices, sinful lifestyle and so forth. It's perhaps easy to get discouraged. But as I read this scripture, I think it's an encouragement to know that the culture we live in was anticipated. Scripture calls out about it. But we know also that God will eventually bring total judgment to sin and provide believers with an eternity apart from sin. And so we have something great to look forward to. And so I want to get so caught up in the life group lesson time on the negativity of where culture is headed, although it's important to talk about. But I would also spend time focusing on the future promises we have in the Bible about a culture apart from sin at some point in the future. - Right, that's good, that's good word. - All right, just another thought as well, thinking about this topic. You know, on September 22nd, we are having the kickoff to our Biblical World View Conference. And Lee Strobel is our featured speaker in worship and one of the guest speakers at the Biblical World View Conference. Again, that's September 22nd, starting on September 22nd for BWC. And he's a great illustration of somebody earlier our curriculum references, Albert Einstein is somebody who, the further he delved into science, the more he believed, or believed, I should say, that there was a creator. Lee Strobel was somebody who desired to prove that God did not exist, but the more Lee Strobel got into science, the more he saw that everything points to a divine creator, a God, a personal God. And he became a believer. It has a very interesting story. And so I'd encourage y'all to perhaps mention that and promote the Biblical World View Conference at the same time. - That's good. - Any closing thoughts, Mark? - No, that's great. Man, I love the lesson. - All right, well, thank you teachers for joining us for week three of the lesson plan on our doctrine, rooted in truth series. We'll see you next time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]