Hey, this is Pastor Adriel. Welcome to Core Christianity.
We're excited to be together again, waiting for our friend Dr. Bill Meyer. And we're answering your questions about the Christian faith today. We're going to be looking at one question in particular. If God is all-powerful, why did his son have to die?
Did God the Father kill his son? Really an important question. If you want to give us a call, the number is 1-833-843-2673.
That's 1-833-THE-CORE. And why don't we kick off the episode today by going to a voicemail that we received earlier this week. I have a question about Psalm 139. When it says, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, what does it mean when it says fearfully made?
Thank you, goodbye. Yeah, I love getting calls from younger listeners. Psalm 139, a Psalm of David, really focusing on the goodness of God in creation as David meditates upon the way in which the Lord made him. He begins in verse 1, O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Then he goes on to say in verse 13, you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. And that phrase right there in particular, what does it mean to be fearfully and wonderfully made? Just recently, my family and I went camping out in Utah.
I got to just hike around some of the beautiful national parks there. In particular, we went to Zion National Park and it's amazing when you enter into the park, you're just overwhelmed by these great big rock faces. There's this sense of, boy, I'm so small, looking at the beauty of God's creation, but there's also this sort of strange fear that can come upon you. It's the same fear I think when you see some sort of magnificence, looking up at the stars, for example, that sense of smallness that you get, that sense of there's something, someone greater than me who made all of this. I think that's what David is getting at here, is he meditates on the fact that God made him, as he meditates on the way in which the Lord intricately wove him together in his mother's womb. He's overwhelmed by the wonder of God, the splendor of God. In that sense, there's this great awe, this great fear, we might say, as he thinks about what God has done. When we think about God's creation, even him making us, knitting us together in our mother's womb, there is this sense of awe, and I think that's what David is expressing. That's really the idea here with what's said there in verse 14, I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Thank you for that question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Matthew calling in from Arkansas. Matthew, what's your question for Adriel?
Hey, thanks for taking my call. My question was, which parts of evolution, you know, the evolutionary theory in biology, are incompatible with sound Christian doctrine? Hey, Matthew, thank you for that question. Well, I mean, just thinking back to the very beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, I think it really is important that we affirm that God created Adam as a real person from nothing, from the dust of the ground that he created from nothing. I think that this is key, especially when you get into the New Testament, we start thinking about this sort of first Adam, last Adam comparison that we have in places like 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans chapter 5, where it's very clear that Jesus Christ came as the second Adam, the last Adam, to reverse the work done by the first Adam. All of us were born in Adam as this representative of mankind. Sometimes we refer to him as the federal head, the covenant head of humanity, that is the first Adam. In Adam, all of us died. Paul talks about this very clearly in Romans chapter 5. We sinned in Adam. So I think any sort of idea that rejects the idea of the biblical teaching of a real person Adam, I think we would have to reject that as well. Maybe I'll leave it there. Just if people want to follow up, they can ask further. But I would say that's one part of the evolutionary theory that is incompatible with Christianity.
You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. School has started up for a lot of kids, and if it hasn't started up for your kids, it'll be very, very soon. In some areas of the country, kids are going back right after Labor Day. We have a free resource we'd like to offer parents and grandparents that will really help your kids as they kick off the school year. Bill, it's called Six Ways to Help Your Kids as They Go Back to School. We know that many of you are sending your kids back to school. You have grandchildren that are going back to school, and so this is a free resource that you can get a hold of. Again, Six Ways to Help Your Kids as They Go Back to School, free at corechristianity.com. Just go to our website and then click on offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers.
Look for Six Ways to Help Your Kids as They Go Back to School. Well, let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners. This gentleman's name is Josh. My question is, why would God kill his own son? If he's God, all powerful, why would he kill his own son? I don't understand that. That's my question.
Thanks. Hey, Josh, thank you for that question. It seems to me like maybe there's a little bit of a misunderstanding here in terms of how you're thinking about the atonement of Jesus Christ. The first thing I would want to say is the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ was something that was done out of love. You think about what John says in the Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life, have eternal life.
That right there is key. We have to be careful that as we're talking about the atonement of Jesus Christ, we don't view it as God angrily killing his son or something. There are caricatures, I think, of the atonement of Jesus Christ that are not faithful to the text of scripture. Listen to how Peter described it in a discussion he was having while he was preaching actually in Acts chapter 2 beginning in verse 22. He says, Men of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. There's an interesting distinction that's made there by the apostle Peter as he's preaching. He's saying, look, everything that happened with regard to the atoning work of Jesus Christ happened according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. This didn't catch God by surprise.
God sent his son into the world for this very purpose. Yet, listen to where Peter lays the blame. He says, you crucified and killed him.
It was by the hands of lawless men. God was the one who raised him up. I don't know that it's helpful to talk in terms of God the Father killed his son, that kind of a thing. No, God the Father sent his son in love to the world so that he might offer himself up in love for the forgiveness of our sins. That's precisely what we have in the gospel, is the love of God demonstrated towards sinners through the sacrifice of the Son of God.
That's good news that we receive. Thank you for your question. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the number if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. It's 833-THE-CORE.
That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Tony, who's calling in from Auburn, Nebraska. Tony, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, thank you, Pastor Adriel, for taking my call. My wife and I were divorced last year. We're still living together, still love each other, and plan on getting remarried, but we're wondering, are we living in sin?
Hey, Tony. Well, thank you for that question. I'm glad to hear it sounds like there's been some healing, some restoration in your marriage, and reconciliation is taking place. Of course, the apostle Paul, he talks about this in 1 Corinthians 7. To some extent, at least in verse 10, he says, to the married I give this charge, not I but the Lord.
In other words, it is God speaking here. The wife should not separate from her husband, but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband, and the husband should not divorce his wife. It sounds like there was a divorce, as you said, and now you guys are working to reconcile, to be back together.
I'm grateful to hear that. It's a complex question because one of the issues is, what was it that led to the initial divorce? In the eyes of God, in terms of what God's Word says, was the marriage really dissolved, actually, is the real question.
Regardless of all of that, I would say, right now, based on your situation, you ought to be married. I guess the question that I have right now is, are you guys going to church together, Tony? Is this something where you guys have a pastor and you're getting ready to say your vows again?
Where are you guys at with all that? We're not actively in the church. We do listen to church on the radio together almost every day. But like I said, the plan is to get remarried. We've been together for seven months.
Okay. Well, I would say one thing that you guys ought to prioritize is getting into a good church, a solid Bible-believing church where you guys can be encouraged face to face. We need this as believers. The apostle Paul talked about this in numerous places, I think, the 1 Corinthians chapter 12, where he says each of us are individually members of the body of Christ.
So you, as a Christian, as someone who believes in Jesus, need to be plugged into a local church. That's something that you should want for your family. I think it's a part of a healthy marriage. I would say prioritize that and move forward with toward a full restoration of the relationship, which it seems like in this situation would be getting back together, legally back together. And I would say that's something that should be prioritized.
And so I would say keep moving in that direction. With regard to your question, we're not technically married right now, but we're living together. Are we living in sin? Well, I guess I would say in not knowing the entire situation, maybe the wise thing to do would be to abstain from the marital relations. I mean, the right thing would be to abstain from the marital relations that are a part of what it means to be in covenant together as a married couple until you guys are actually married back together.
And so, I mean, obviously this is a big thing here, but this is where you have to exercise wisdom. And if it's not the best situation for you guys to be under the same roof right now, well, then perhaps you're going to have to figure something else out in terms of wanting to honor the Lord, wanting to be faithful to the marriage covenant as it's described in Scripture. And then I would say prioritizing. I don't see any reason for you to wait.
I would say prioritizing, getting married, and fully restoring that relationship, and getting into a good church. So hey, thanks for your question, brother, and may the Lord bless you and bring everything back together again. Tony, thanks so much for your call, for being a regular listener here to Core Christianity. Well, let's go to John from Butler, Missouri. John, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?
Yes, sir. On the BC and AD, I don't think that means before Christ and after death. I was wondering what those meant, and I was wanting to know on the time of going from one to the other, was that at the birth of Christ, or was that at the resurrection of Christ?
Hey, John, thank you for that question. Well, I mean, obviously, so this is a way in which people have historically divided up human history, if you will. But of course, this is not necessarily something that the Bible talks about or that Scripture speaks of. I think that the interesting thing for us to note is, and maybe this is just something we can marvel at, is how essentially Christ and His coming was a shifting point in humanity, in the world, if you will. That's something that even, I guess, the secular world around us notes, that there was this definitive shift that took place with the coming of Christ so that history, even human history, we might say, has never been the same since. Now, of course, there are a lot of people today who will say, well, that was a sort of religious way of looking at it, but we don't have to think of that anymore. People would talk about BC and AD, and sometimes folks would say before Christ or after death, really taken from the Latin, which means in the year of our Lord. But again, the Scriptures don't necessarily talk about that in particular, but they do emphasize the fact that it was through the coming of Christ that there was this seismic shift in human history.
Why? Because the eternal Son of God assumed humanity, because the work of the first Adam, the sin that he had done in breaking God's covenant, God's law, God's word, was restored through the work of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who came and perfectly obeyed the law of God, suffered, died, and rose again for us. So I think that's the thing to focus on. So when people have these kinds of discussions, when we talk about these things, I think there's actually kind of a cool segue into talking about the gospel. It's sort of an evangelistic tool as well to be able to say, hey, we use this language in our sort of everyday talk, everyday speak, but what are we getting at?
Well, we're getting at the fact that God has done something monumental that has forever changed human history. And so I think in so far as that's the focus, it's fine to talk like this. So hey, God bless, brother. Thanks, Jon. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, we want to say thank you to a very special group of people who make this program possible. They're called our inner Core, and they are people who say, you know what, we really believe in what Core Christianity does, and we want to make a monthly contribution to keep you on the air. And if you're one of those folks, thank you so much. And if you'd like to find out more about joining the inner Core, just go to corechristianity.com forward slash inner Core.
There's some real special benefits that go along with being a member of the inner Core. Well, let's go to Austin calling in from Kentucky. Austin, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, guys, my question is, what does the Bible say about profanity? And in particular, I know a lot of Christians like to use like, sort of alternative profanity words. And you know, we didn't have the words we use today, back then. So I wouldn't imagine that using alternative profanity would be any better morality or scripturally than using the real one. So I guess what does it say about that?
Hey, Austin. Well, thank you for that question. You know, my mind first goes to Paul's exhortation in Ephesians chapter four. In verse 29, he said, Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. And of course, Jesus himself said that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You can read that in Luke chapter six, verse 45. And so we're called not to use corrupting speech.
Now, the real question is, what does that mean? There is some really harsh language in the Bible. You see it out of the mouth of John the Baptist. You see it out of the mouth of the apostle Paul when he's writing to the Galatians. I mean, he basically, you know, he curses them in one sense.
He says, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Now, I wouldn't say that that's potty talk, you know, that's profanity that's being used. But there is a place, I would say, for strong language, for language that's going to get an individual's attention.
And that's what you see in the New Testament. But there is no place for the Christian for corrupting talk. And that's not, I don't think that what Paul has in mind there is, you know, the sort of four letter curse words. I think he's talking about the kind of speech that brings other people down. It could be gossip. You know, and sometimes there are really pious ways that people go about gossiping. But nevertheless, it is corrupting speech. And so I think it's important for us to ask ourselves, Austin, as we think about our words and how we're using our words, are we speaking in such a way that is going to build the people around us up? Are we, as Paul says, again, in the book of Ephesians a little bit earlier there, are we speaking the truth in love to each other? Or are we just talking in a way to get attention, to cause people to look at us? And sometimes I think with the way in which people use profanity, that might be part of the reason.
And so we have to be careful. Again, the Bible doesn't speak specifically to, you know, how do we deal with these four letter words, that kind of a thing. But I think each of us, we need to ask ourselves, is the speech that I use corrupting or is it life giving? Is it encouraging?
And as you examine your own heart with that, I think, you know, may the Lord encourage you and bless you and be with you to speak in a way that's going to build up the people around you as you speak the truth in love. You know, Adriel, I was just thinking of that proverb that says that bad company corrupts good character. And when we start hanging around people who have speech that is corrupting or laced with profanity, you know, a lot of times we start to fall into that ourselves.
And that's why it's so important to, you know, choose the company we keep wisely. Yeah. The Apostle Paul quotes that in 1 Corinthians 15. Yeah. I think just another good piece of encouragement, Bill, is we want to make sure that we are surrounding ourselves with people who are also going to speak the truth in love to us and who are going to build us up with their speech.
You know, this is really important. It's one of the ways that we encourage one another within the body of Christ. And so surround yourselves with people who are going to encourage you in the word of God. You know, as Paul says again in Ephesians just a little bit later in verse 19 of chapter 5, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know in talking to friends and even people in the church, you know, like when you surround yourself with people who are just always negative, who are upset, ungrateful, that begins to wear off. And so again, Paul saying there, you know, surround yourself and be the kinds of people who are singing and praising the Lord, thanking God for all things. Boy, doesn't that just build you up. Doesn't that just encourage you in your faith. That's what we should pursue. And so yeah, thanks for that encouragement, Bill.
Amen. Well, here's an email we received at Core Christianity. By the way, if you have a question you'd like to email us, you can email us anytime at questioncorechristianity.com. That's questions at corechristianity.com. Nancy wants to know, has the church replaced Israel as God's chosen people?
Thank you for that question. And this is one that we've gotten before. There is, you know, sometimes people will talk about a theology out there that they'll call replacement theology, the idea that the church has just sort of replaced Israel, God has done with Israel. And there are a number of ways in which people have sort of parsed this out. One thing that is clear, I think, in scripture is that Israel in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant is a type of the church, if you will, the people of God. Now, the way in which God governed the Israelites under the Old Covenant and the way in which he governs his church today are distinct. There are these different, we might say, covenant administrations, but there is one people of God throughout human history. There aren't two distinct people of God. It's not like Israel and the Jews are God's people and then, you know, the church is God's people and it's got these two different peoples with these two different plans for them. No, there is one people of God and we know God and have a relationship with God through the true Israelite, Jesus Christ, by being grafted in to that one people of God. And this is what the apostle Paul talks about in particular in the book of Romans, in Romans chapters 9 through 11.
And so I don't know that the best way of looking at it would be to say that the church has replaced Israel in the sense that God is, you know, doesn't care about Israel or that kind of thing. In fact, in Romans chapter 11, it seems like the apostle Paul talks about this great revival among the Hebrew people, among the Israelites, that they're going to return to the Lord Jesus Christ and be restored, if you will, but there is no salvation apart from Jesus and there aren't two peoples of God. There is one people of God throughout the history of humanity and we, even Gentiles, are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. In particular, Paul in Galatians calls us the children of Abraham in Galatians chapter 3 by faith. And so when we read the Old Testament stories about the Hebrews, the Jews, that's our family history through faith in Jesus Christ. And so we can say, look, we've been grafted into the vine, if you will, through Jesus by faith in his name and we are a part of that one people of God. We're no longer strangers and aliens, Paul says in the book of Ephesians, but we are a part now of the family of God grafted in and what a wonderful thing that is, what a wonderful promise for us to be a part of that forever family through Jesus. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.
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