Sermon Tone Analysis

Creation Explains Our Purpose

Creation Explains Our Purpose (, ,)

Creation Explains Our Purpose

The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

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“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

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The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

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Created on Purpose

Created on Purpose

Created on Purpose

ii.

Created with Purpose

Created with Purpose

a. ,

1.

Not like other animals, unique, a living soul

Not like other animals, unique, a living soul

Created on Purpose

2.

Not to abuse authority, but to be good stewards of God’s creation

Not to abuse authority, but to be good stewards of God’s creation

Created with Purpose

b.

To glorify God –

To glorify God –

1.

Not like other animals, unique, a living soul

i.

2.

Not to abuse authority, but to be good stewards of God’s creation

ii.

iii.

To glorify God –

c.

To receive blessings from God

To receive blessings from God

i.

i.

To be recipients of God’s Grace – getting what we do not deserve

To be recipients of God’s Grace – getting what we do not deserve

ii.

ii.

To be recipients of God’s mercy – not getting what we do deserve

To be recipients of God’s mercy – not getting what we do deserve

iii.

iii.

To be recipients of God’s forgiveness

To be recipients of God’s forgiveness

iv.

To be recipients of God’s patience

To be recipients of God’s patience

c.

To receive blessings from God

v. To be recipients of God’s joy ()

To be recipients of God’s joy ()

i.

To be recipients of God’s Grace – getting what we do not deserve

d.

The Purpose of God or the Random Chance of Evolution

The Purpose of God or the Random Chance of Evolution

ii.

To be recipients of God’s mercy – not getting what we do deserve

iComments from evolutionists

Comments from evolutionists

iii.

To be recipients of God’s forgiveness

“For evolutionary biologists, the flower of the magnolia has a function but not a purpose.

It was not designed in order to propagate the species, much less to delight us with its beauty, but instead came into existence because magnolias with brightly colored flowers reproduced more prolifically than magnolias with less brightly colored flowers.

The unsettling implication of this purely material explanation is that, except in the case of human behavior, we need not invoke, nor can we find any evidence for, any design, goal, or purpose anywhere in the natural world.”

iv.

To be recipients of God’s patience

“Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life...life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival of DNA...life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”

--Richard Dawkins

v. To be recipients of God’s joy ()

The real difficulty in accepting Darwin's theory has always been that it seems to diminish our significance….

|Evolution| asked us to accept the proposition that, like all other organisms, we too are the products of a random process that, as far as science can show, we are not created for any special purpose or as part of any universal design.

(Curtis, Helena and N. Sue Barnes.

1981.

Invitation to Biology.

Third Edition, New York, NY: Worth, 475)

God’s Word on Purpose

The world…steeped in moral meaning which helped mankind seek out higher goals in life, was not Darwin's.

Darwin's view of nature was dark--black….

Where most men and women generally believed in some kind of design in nature--some kind of plan and order--and felt a deep-seated, mostly inexpressible belief that their existence had meaning, Darwin wanted them to see all life as empty of any divine purpose.

(Browne, Janet.

1995.

Charles Darwin: Voyaging, A Biography.

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 542.)

How widely is this view held by scientists?

One study of 149 leading biologists found that 89.9 percent believed that evolution has no ultimate purpose or goal except survival, and we are just a cosmic accident existing at the whim of time and chance.

A mere six percent believed that evolution has a purpose.

(http://www.icr.org/article/darwinism-survival-without-purpose/)

i. Comments from evolutionists

God knows you ()

ii.

God’s Word on Purpose

God’s Word on Purpose

“For evolutionary biologists, the flower of the magnolia has a function but not a purpose.

It was not designed in order to propagate the species, much less to delight us with its beauty, but instead came into existence because magnolias with brightly colored flowers reproduced more prolifically than magnolias with less brightly colored flowers.

The unsettling implication of this purely material explanation is that, except in the case of human behavior, we need not invoke, nor can we find any evidence for, any design, goal, or purpose anywhere in the natural world.”

1. God knows you ()

God provided salvation for you before the foundation of the world ()

2. God provided salvation for you before the foundation of the world ()

“Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life...life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival of DNA...life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”

--Richard Dawkins

God can give you fulfilment in life ()

3. God can give you fulfilment in life ()