ISAIAH 45:1\u20138<\/b><\/p>\n
I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things<\/i><\/p>\n
(Isa. 45:7).<\/i><\/p>\n
Today we often hear that the universe came into being \u201cby chance.\u201d What does this mean? If it means that something called Chance created the universe, then this Chance is nothing but another name for God\u2019s decree. What it usually means, however, is that the universe \u201cjust happened.\u201d This is a meaningless and nonsensical statement. It means that the universe created itself, which would mean that the universe existed before it existed.<\/p>\n
The word chance<\/i> refers to nothing. There is no such thing as chance. Chance does not exist. We use the word chance to describe cause and effect relationships that involve so many variables that we cannot define them. When we flip a coin, there is a 50 percent chance that it will turn up heads. We say this because we cannot analyze the strength of our flip, the resistance of the air currents, and at what point we catch the coin. But the fact is that when the coin comes up heads, it does so because of causes that are clearly defined and understood. There is no \u201cultimate chance\u201d involved.<\/p>\n
Saying that the universe came into being by chance is the same as saying \u201cI don\u2019t know how the universe came into being, but one thing I insist upon: God did not make it.\u201d Saying that the universe came into being by chance is just a pseudo-sophisticated and very ignorant way of rejecting the notion that God created it. \u201cChance\u201d is a statement of mathematical probability. \u201cChance\u201d is not an entity, and therefore \u201cchance\u201d can \u201cdo\u201d nothing.<\/p>\n
First Samuel 3\u20136 describes the history of the Philistine capture of the ark of the covenant. While in Philistine territory, the ark destroyed the idols of the Philistines and brought plagues wherever it was taken. Yet, when the Philistines decided to do something about their problem, they did not confess that it was the Lord who had done it. Rather, they put the ark on a cart and hitched it up to cows to see what would happen. Of course, the ark drove the cart right back to Israelite territory. The Philistines lost the opportunity to come to faith, because instead of confessing that God had been judging them, they took a neutral position. Maybe, they said, it had all been just \u201cby chance.\u201d Instead of bowing the knee, they set up an experiment and watched to see what would happen.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
John 1\u20134<\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n
John 5\u201311<\/p>\n
God wants us to come to the place in our Christian maturity where we can say in times of adversity as well as in times of peace and happiness, \u201cGod, I don\u2019t understand what You are doing, but I trust You.\u201d What have you learned in today\u2019s lesson that can help you grow toward this stage of maturity?<\/p>\n
For further study: 1 Sam. 6:7\u201312 \u2022 Lam. 3:37\u201338 \u2022 1 Peter 1:3\u20139<\/i><\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISAIAH 45:1\u20138 I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things (Isa. 45:7). Today we often hear that the universe came into being \u201cby chance.\u201d What does this mean? If it means that something called Chance created the universe, then this Chance is nothing … Continue reading “GOD OR CHANCE?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}