My First Project

A Day of Learning at the Museum

Denver Museum of Nature and Science Photo

 
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.  My mother-in-law needed “the boys” out of the house while “the girls” engaged in a very elegant and sophisticated tea party.  Gnarly-toothed t-rex’s and screeching pterodactyls were a welcome alternative to hot tea and crumpets, pink bows and curls.

Let’s face it—boys love dinosaurs.  The forty and sixty-year-old boys kind of like them too.   So it was Grandpa, Dad and two boys aged 10 and 5 off to see some cool stuff.

Our day began at the exhibit named Prehistoric Journey and I immediately knew it would be an intellectually long journey to reach the eagerly anticipated dinosaurs—billions of years long in fact. 

A very entertaining movie played at the entrance to the exhibit.  A clock, measuring billions of years ticked away rapidly in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  A planet devoid of any geological features hovered proudly in the center of the movie.  We watched as the years spiraled down and gigantic asteroids pummeled the face of the earth.  Each time an asteroid hit the earth, the face of the earth would change and develop new features.  The movie even showed how an asteroid struck the earth so hard that a chunk of the earth was removed and formed the moon.  As the clock ticked down the face of the earth became more and more recognizable.  After a few minutes of astrological mayhem and billions of years of “history,” the movie ended with a fully formed and recognizable majestic earth.  

“Daddy, that didn’t really happen, did it?” said my 10 year old as I realized how long of a day this would really be. 

“Come here buddy; let me tell you something.”

I knew this was a big moment in his life as well as mine.  How I responded to that question and how I reacted the rest of the day would make a profound impression on my boys and their Grandpa.  As a student of God’s infallible word and a literal creationist I wholeheartedly disagree with an old-earth model and an evolutionary worldview.  But I also believe my first priority is to honor God in all that I do. 

So I told my son—People who don’t believe in God, who reject the love that God has for us, will seek out anything to help them understand why they exist.  Anything, that is, except God.

I snapped this photo.  That's my sister Lucy on the left. 

“Son, It takes billions of years for man to create what God did in 6 days.  But it is important that we don’t act silly and make fun of these exhibits because we want to show respect to people and honor God, right?”

“Yeah Dad, It’s cool.”

And we enjoyed the rest of our day, exchanging only the occasional rolling of eyes and raising of eyebrows when no one was looking.   After all boys will be boys.

What should be our response?

It wasn’t the time or the place to argue a literal creationist view in the middle of an evolution exhibit.  But what is our responsibility as Christians to present our beliefs?

Peter gives us a very good model to answer this question.

The words of 1^st Peter 3:15:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.  (KJV)

Sanctify

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” 
This is the first priority.  I have no business defending any biblical belief if I haven’t set the holy, sacred God as the priority in my heart.  Sanctify means to set apart or to make sacred.  I must remove the selfish desires that often motivate me to win an argument—pride, boastfulness, arrogance, selfishness.  Let Christ be the reigning occupier of my heart—not me!  As my professor Dr. James Johnson said in a lecture, this first attitude is also very freeing.  “If your highest goal is to honor God by the way in which you try to reach out to [someone] and try to share truth in a Christ-like way with him, you have honored God, you have succeeded in your highest goal.”  You can’t lose if you succeed first in honoring God.

Be Ready

Most of us will never be equipped to answer every question about the Bible.   A lifetime of study would still not produce this result.  God’s word is amazing and wonderfully complex.  My 10 year old can read the bible and know that God loves him and has a plan for him.  As he grows in his faith and peels off a layer of understanding in the bible, God replaces it with even greater revelations and Godly truth.  This is how it will go for the rest of his life and how it goes for me as well.  But we are to “Be Ready.”  We must continue the pursuit of understanding the word through the discernment of the Holy Spirit.  Be ready and be sharp—God will use you where you are. 

Give an Answer

The word “answer” in this verse is the Greek apologia.  We get “apologetics” from this word.   Dr. Henry M. Morris defines apologetics as “the careful, logical defense of the Christian faith against the attacks of its adversaries and showing its validity as the true saving gospel of God, our Creator and Savior.”  Why do I believe what I believe?  My life has changed because of my faith in Christ but why?  Is the change in my life all that matters? Or are there basic truths that we can all agree upon?  The book Many Infallible Proofs by Henry M. Morris objectively looks at the thruths of our faith that we can have great confidence in defending.  Chapters in the book include:

·        The Authenticity of the New Testament

·        The Authenticity of the Old Testament

·        The Unique Birth of Christ

·        The Miraculous Life of Christ

·        The Death and Resurrection of Christ

·        The Fact of God

·        The Plan of God

·        The Bible and Science

·        Creation and the Flood

Your faith is more than just faith—it is truth that has stood the test of time for 6000 years!  Find a topic that interests you, learn as much as you can about it, and become an apologetic!  You will solidify your faith with absolute truth. 

Every Man that Asketh

The greek word for Asketh is aiteo.  It is used 71 times in the bible.  More than a quarter of those references are translated—to desire, beg or crave.  It is not our job to go out, armed with information looking for a fight.  The man that asketh is craving an understanding of your hope.  Think back to your conversion to Christianity.  Did you crave an understanding of God?  Did you beg for information on how you could find “this peace” only found in Jesus Christ?  God will present to you the opportunities to share your answer for your hope—the Holy Spirit is doing mighty works in the hearts of those around you.   Be ready!

 The Hope that is in You

Simply put—Jesus Christ.  From the creation of the universe in Genesis to His Revelation, our hope is in Him.  Without Christ we have no hope.  Look at John’s reaction in Revelation 5 to a brief moment when he had no hope. 

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”  But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.  I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.”

John’s hope in Jesus left him for a brief moment and he “wept and wept.”  John had seen Christ die willingly on a cross to save those who would follow Him.  John witnessed Christ rise from the dead but if Christ was not present in Heaven and worthy to open the scroll—all hope was lost. 

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.  He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Jesus is worthy!  That is our hope.

With Meekness and Fear

Our answer should be a soft whisper presented with fear that we would take any credit for our knowledge.  Anything good that is in me or that comes out of me is from Jesus Christ.  I should be extremely careful to resist boasting, pride and arrogance.  Christ did not choose me because of who I am; He chose me because of who He is. 

What is your response?

God created us to love us and that we might love Him.  God did it in 6 days to show us that all he has created is for us and because of His love.  On the 6^th day, God gave Adam the keys to the planet and said be fruitful and multiply; all that I have created is yours.  What will you do with the knowledge that God has given you?  What will you do with the keys to the planet?  Will you learn all that you can about your creator God?  Will you gain an increasing knowledge of His power and His love?  Will you be ready always to give an answer to the man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you?