God’s Basic Design (Part 2 of 2)

In the beginning God of the Bible starts but what does the Bible tell us about how we were created and how does that relate to things like gender and sexuality today on Truth for Life Alastair big takes us to Psalm 139 help us understand God's basic design were studying verses one through 18 mine by the name of Henry Luna wrote a book entitled the story of mankind, and he began his history of the world with these words, we live under the shadow of a gigantic? Who are we, where did we come from weather are we bound slowly but with persistent courage. We have been pushing this? Farther and farther towards that distant line beyond the horizon where we hope to find out answer. We have not gone very far out whether we are male or female. Today those ultimate questions are the questions do you have marriage from plankton suit because if you do then, frankly, the issues of how well I'm doing in my femininity, how well I'm doing in fulfilling the role of single woman nor maternal provider is marginal at best and probably totally irrelevant. So you see, until we address this most foundational issue about which the psalmist writes in Psalm 139 about the very nature of our creation and what God has done, then the other questions which are very important questions are in need of being left on the sign out.

You don't have to look far to find that there is a difference between the revelation of the Bible and the investigation of that, the New York Times had review entitled on being male, female, neither or both and I can read the article and just use it by way of illustration about anyone quote from it until the turn-of-the-century doctor my out of its rights.

Gender was defined through a binary taxonomy of opposites in 1910, a girl, and physician, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld published a pioneering work on transsexuality and articulated a relatively new modern definition of gender quotes absolute representatives of their sex, are you wrote only abstractions invented extremes. These two notions could not be farther apart you cannot marriage them. Okay which is why I'm saying to you what I'm saying unless you are convinced of the authority of the Bible than when you take your New York Times on I choose the morning and read this you are going to be immediately at sea running down the street saying hello and I what I might wear it on my own. The continuing my mail on my female what in the world but if you have accepted the authority of the Bible and you believe that God gets the last word on every subject, then you don't disengage your brain.

You interact with the material you think it out in light all what you know as having been revealed by the creator God and there's all the difference in the world when our friend Dr. Philip Johnson was here and he too questions from the audience. One of the best questions I think came from a lady, and the question had to do with the identity and the dignity all man as being created in the sequence of thought in Genesis when it says that God created man. It may, he made man and then male and female he created them two components of a single reality. He created man meal and female he made them so that the image of God is revealed in Madden Madden being male and female eyes. Of course, of vital importance. But the lady was asking the question concerning how all that it taken place and Dr. Johnson had tried to speak. I think of the issue that in the notion of creation, God has formed with love and with care. If you like.

With imagination and with dedication man man doesn't just happen that God reads them into being, and that as a result of the activity of God. There's no place in our thinking for the idea that we're just here as a result of the mutation of the gene. Some other animal and the lady stands up remembered. She asked the question well in defense of evolutionary thought.

She says essentially argue prepared to accept sure that there is a close genetic affinity between the man and the chimpanzee request. I don't really remember the answer but I was guilty about how good a question it wants.

I thought how easy it would be for some of us to say oh no no no, there isn't and how long it would be for us to say that because there is clearly a strong genetic affinity between man not your husband. Now man male and female, and the chimpanzee citizens. It is even worse than I thought I was going to be getting worse by the minute.

Notice poses no problem to the Bible's explanation of things. There is a close anatomical affinity between the man and the eight and are close's physiological affinities between man and the pig and man and the dog and you only need to look in your children's bedrooms to understand that if if there was no other indication that you knowing there's a definite physiological damage between man and the pig go back to your teenage sons room and have another look at the fact is we would expect there to be affinities with it when it is better that would be affinities between man and the other creatures to be very wise of God to act in such a way as to make possible animal tests that would be relevant and helpful to human medicine. Do you think it would be wonderful on the part of God's all common statutes. The cardiac structure of the pig as to make possible the use of pink involves in human transplantation. None of the notions of this great anatomical, physiological comparison between one and I mention of living things and the uniqueness of man by creation precludes the Bible see what the Bible precludes is the idea that man male and female exists as a result of evolution and evolution that is being guided by natural selection taking place by minute chance occurrences and variations over millions of years notices the Bible man male and female is the express product of divine activity and the similarities that we find between ourselves and chimpanzees are not there because man is a development from the chimney, but because God as creator is free to duplicate his systems in more than one form of his creation. That makes sense, that he who created can use a gigantic chunk of the process in putting together a chimpanzee that he used it for you and I together because think about it on this actually is my simplistic analysis of the whole business.

I think chimpanzees were put there as something of a divine joke for when use when you see these things coming down the road to see the tremendous amount like my brother-in-law Bill is an uncanny reason that character. I think that's exactly and I think in part was noticing. Take a look at look at what you would be like if I have not made you in Miami Beach, frankly, are close to that in some of your habits and the way you walk is very similar to and of course my moods are that Mrs. well it's obvious that the reason that we are where we are because I just keep jumping and bumping along no one else is the Bible, God did all of that and yet uniquely, he proves you together. Listen ladies you are not the product of some chance happenstance, says the Bible. Your fingerprints are unique, they are not the same as anyone else in the room. Your DNA is unique. It is not the same as anyone else's in the room.

Indeed in the whole world is unique. As a result of God's explicit design for you as an individual and God. Don't make no junk.

So he has fashioned you intricately in your mother's womb, forming your unseeing substance, putting you together in an awareness of all that would mean for you as an individual in the living of your life in dealing with your physicality in dealing with your sexuality in dealing with your emotions in dealing with your rationality in dealing with your role in life and everything else God has purposefully organized that, and until a woman comes to the awareness of this vast and immense notion then like a man, you will be left looking in the magazines to try and find out who you are and where you're from and why you exist and another 24 reasons from cosmopolitan magazine to give significance to your life and structure to your marriage and hope to everything that goes along with a note if it's not there will go to one of the don't need to be dismissed. Patient with us and what we thought it's all becoming anything on loving your husband's and trying to encourage your children to pick up their vegetables and all that kind of thing wrong as I say as a CM dreadfully sorry to disappoint you. Your thinking people you need to think this out. God said, let us make man in our image, if you like you said, let's make a look-alike. In what sense then we made in the image of God in what way is God's design patterned in our lives whether so that's the stuff of systematic theology and buy a book through in the shop and you can get all this out. Just give your start on our rationality, our ability to think, to reason to think logically sets us apart from the animal world, and I know some limited present tangible you know my I have a Labrador is very smart Labrador.

You know it's a very thoughtful Labrador. I'm not so sure that this rationality thing works. While I have never yet seen a group of Labrador sitting around in Starbucks discussing the doctrine of the Trinity. Your children are able to perform tasks that your Labrador Kent, you may train your Labrador with little bits of meat and cookies and everything else to perform tasks so you can go on the David Letterman show.

But you cannot save your Labrador going to the Gary can bring small red screwdriver.

Your four-year-old can go get a small red screwdriver able to distinguish color, size, shape and function, rationality, creativity, art, music, literature, science, technology, morality, and inner sense of right and wrong, immortality, the awareness that we would seek do is cease to exist for the we will live forever, and so on. I admit to you that the differences between ourselves and animals in some areas are not absolute differences their differences.

A very great degree will be will save you like the dismissive in this way to get a country usually comes by to Labrador our golden retriever live alone retriever and you said that I brother that emotions are part of it will not. I am a very emotional golden retriever.

I mean if I come home and I didn't get home at five got a very long face like this, or if he doesn't get his food just the right time new very miserable for the rest of the evening, and so on. I fully accept that I don't know that for one another to suggest to me that your golden retriever can go through the gamut of psychological interaction such as is represented when you go to hear the Cleveland Orchestra seven and when you sit down you said yourself, oh goodness gracious, I didn't realize it was Moeller is a very dreadful, then that company emotion is but that was very nice of him to invite me and ended Nick's thought, how long till I get out of here and I want to first be able to go for coffee and then starting into the business of the day and all of these multiple processes of thought are going on simultaneously, which is suggesting the difference of degree between your golden retriever feeling a little bit morose because you came home. I have +5 other mouthparts for share quickly. People think is used throughout the golden retriever store on the basis of the goal Regina getting his lunch. Your view of yourself and your dignity and your femininity and everything else cast out to the breeze and the same people are driving around with her golden retriever in the lacquer minivan are reading this on being male-female or whatever they are neither. I'll leave the subject aside, but actually at the end of this line, the, the androgynous differences between male and female are also passed over into the differences between animal and humanity is not a matter of marginal importance. Once you break the link, said Schaefer between an infinite personal creator God and his creation than the doors open to every kind of abuse and there is a huge difference between the doctrine of creation. Psalm 139 and the theory that man that is male and female is the spontaneous result of random variation in organisms over millions of man will think differently, not only about himself but about everything. When we explain our existence in terms of time plus matter questions. If you think this morning man that when you showered and dressed.

Look at yourself in the matter before leaving, you're looking simply a random collection of molecules thrown together as a result of a change process cast into the great scheme of time without really any meaning whatsoever than I suggest to you that you will think differently about absolutely everything that if you come to the convinced awareness of what the psalmist is saying here in the hundred and 39 S. and one of the X file additions is a fascinating dialogue between Mulder and Scully and Mulder asks when science can offer an explanation. Can we turn to the fantastic school he ever the skeptic replies when I find fantastic is any notion that there is anything beyond science when science doesn't answer.

Can we turn to the fantastic all day was fantastic. Is the idea that there is anything other than beyond science LEDs. This is where you're living your life's this is the basis upon which conversations are taking place concerning human sexuality, femininity, the roles of women.

I'm going to show you in the second session how this works itself out what it actually means in practical terms, there is a net there is a reason for a predilection towards lesbianism that is built into worldview and the worldview gives rise to all kinds of extrapolations. That's why when asked in this first session when you walk out if your you don't walk out of here and what you do next but at whatever you do, you just sit and think for a moment.

Do I have a proper view of God's design. In the first place I might just worthless junk essentially irrelevant. I'm I just a combination of chemicals and suspension a bunch of grown-up genes again until you address that question and get a satisfactory answer how to do the women think how to do the mom thing how to do the wife thing. Seven helpful tips for this in nine wonderful tips for that they will not answer your deepest longing they can. There is not a relationship on the face of God. Z�rich can satisfy you with a there is not a child that can need you enough. There is not a job that can fulfill you enough. There is not a vacation that can enthrall you enough.

There is nothing that can deal with the deep-seated sense of who you are as you until forced to settle the issue of God's design. So that your choice and go to the New York Times and Freud reading over the Bible, you can go with both of them together.

Your sins will be able think this on. We need to understand God's basic design before we can understand his specific time listening to Alistair Begg Horn Truth for Life. Hollister will return to close today's program with prayer in just a minute so keep listening a current series is titled God's design for women if you'd like to supplement what you're learning in the study.

We want to invite you to request the book women and God the author of this book explores God's plan for all women getting in Genesis and examining the role God gave Eve in the book profiles other women in the Bible, including Deborah will judge in the Old Testament and the woman at the well, who interacted with Jesus to gain a clearer understanding of what the Bible teaches about God's purpose for women. Get your copy of the book women and God. It's available to you as our way of saying thanks when you make a donation today to find the book online in the mobile app or@truthforlife.org/donate now today is the first day of the basics, 20, 22 pastors conference. It continues through Wednesday this week. The theme is back to basics.

Alister will be speaking along with guest Tony Marita John Woodhouse. There is a live stream of the conference available would like to tune in. Go to basics conference.org Alister and all the men attending would really appreciate your prayers over the next few days prayed that the basics conference will bring needed refreshment that the men will be recharged and encouraged and that the return to their home churches ready to preach the gospel with boldness that hears Alister to close in prayer.

Father I pray that as we consider these things throughout the remainder of this day that you will guide our thinking. We need your help so desperately be very easy for us Lord to tackle all of the subjects flow from a very superficial perspective. Indeed, one of the great dangers as a man coming to address women is that we because of our own proneness to self assertiveness. I think that somehow or another we should tone it down or change in your put it in the less didactic form.

Maybe some more stories, except forgive me and everybody like me for thinking wrongly about. We pray that you would help us then to take very seriously the question of God. Your word and the implications of what it means for you to be the designer for we would expect then that as in a home where designer leaves their mark that in the form of our lives. There would be all kinds of evidence is reviewed. So we prayed and that is we think these issues through the spirit of God may be our teacher. We pray in Jesus name for his sake on a bubble team join us tomorrow will learn how God's distinct design for men and women includes diversity that is unified and unity that is diversified. Bible teaching of Alistair Begg furnished by Truth for Life with the learning is prolific