GOD IS AN EGOMANIACAL CHILD-ABUSER

So, what is your story? Well... it is certainly no better. God tells you to love your enemies and to forgive them, but what does it take for him to do the same? Nothing short of a blood sacrifice! And that of his own son! Why not just forgive us?! What kind of father requires something this hideous to happen to his own kid? And why?! Your more astute peers, those in mainline Christianity, admit this is the most heinous example of child abuse imaginable! And you never stop to think about this!

Well we do. And this is the summary of your gospel in the eyes of secular culture: God gives himself to himself to satisfy himself? Can anything be more egomaniacal?!

So let's finish up by addressing this criticism that God is an egomaniacal child-abuser. Why not just forgive us?

Understand, folks, that God is not only the creator of the universe, and the great lover of his creation, but he's also its Chief Justice. And as such, he has an uncompromising position with uncompromising responsibilities. With that in mind, let me lay out a scenario to you.

If I walk into a convenience store and shoplift a candy bar and get caught, I'll face a certain consequence. If I buy a twelve pack, get drunk, and then climb into a car and kill someone, I'll face another consequence altogether. In each case, the punishment fits the crime.

But... If I sin against the infinite holiness of an infinite being, the consequences, to be just, must be infinite. The problem? You and I are finite. We cannot experience infinite consequences in a finite period of time; we can only experience those infinite consequences in an infinite period of time. This is what the Bible calls eternal damnation. Our circumstance were dire. There is but one alternative to this, and that is, if for us - for you and me - an infinite Being, Someone of infinite worth, experiences those infinite consequences in a finite period of time. And this is what Christians call Good Friday.

Jesus had to be human to pick up the tab, but he had to be divine to pay it. No one else could do what he did because no one else was who he was - the God-man. That's why Peter told the Jewish high court that "there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved." As Jesus said, "No one comes to the father but by me."

Back before the world was God decided he wanted to share himself with creatures who could appreciate and relate to him on an emotional and an intellectual basis. He didn't want pets and he didn't want robots. In effect, he was going to have to recreate himself. But he is infinitely moral, and he was going to make a rational, free creature that was going to inhabit his world. He knew where it would go, if he followed through. And that's when the conversation was had and the decision was made that God the Son would come and do what he did. The conversation in the Garden of Gethsemane was simply the culmination of one that started eons before. And that's why Jesus was adamant that it would go the Father's way, and not his own, in the moment.

The scriptures tell us that "For the joy set before Him, he endured the cross, despised the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Why? Why?!! Because he loves us! He loves us!! All he's ever wanted to do is share his inheritance with us and make us joint-heirs with him!

No. This was not egomaniacal child abuse. It was self-giving to the nth degree.

When all is said and done, God is the best explanation for why there is something instead of nothing. He is necessary for creation; He is the uncaused Cause. God is the best explanation for why our universe is the way it is, so precisely engineered, and balanced on settings far thinner than a razor's edge. God is the best and only explanation for why there is life at all, and why it is chock-full of source material - genetic information - that is always recognized as the product of reason. And He's the only answer for the irreducibly complex genetic mechanism that accesses and utilizes that information. And he's the only explanation for why we struggle with moral issues at all. And God has taken all the steps he can to make a way home for us where we belong.

If you've never seen why the Christian worldview is so good, so intellectually robust, I hope this evening has provided some new insights for you. And if, in the process of all of this, you've found your questions about faith have been answered, and that the Christian faith now makes better sense, and if you've never done so, I'd encourage you to give your life to Christ. Let him apply his sacrifice for all our sins to you, and make you a new creature, able to love him and live life purposefully and abundantly, as he intended. Would you do that right now? Let me pray for us.

If that has been your prayer, then I would encourage you to tell someone. And do it soon. If you can't do that, you'll never own this faith. Tell someone. Do it.