I Am A Perpetual Optimist! - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. That's an amazing thought. And then he says, and in your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

He goes, that's Bill. And because God knows all things, I know when he's going to be born, I know when he's coming home, I have all of his days ordained, I already have the picture. Wow. Almighty God spoke everything into creation, chose me before there was a creation, and then was involved with me since my mother's womb.

I mean, think about that. I hope you come away. It sounds like I'm kind of special, because you are, from God's point of view. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. This past week, I finished a book that my son gave me for Father's Day. It's a book written by Stephen Meyer. The title of the book is The Return of the God Hypothesis. The subtitle is Three Scientific Discoveries that Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. Meyer has his PhD in the philosophy of science from Cambridge. The quote on the jacket of the book says this, Meyer argues that theism with its affirmation of transcendent, intelligent, active creator best explains the evidence he said we have concerning biological and cosmological origins. He provides an evidence-based answer revealing a stunning conclusion.

The data support, not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind, but the existence of a personal God. Now, let me just say this before you try to run out and buy the book. It is unbelievably heavy reading. I don't think I've ever read a book that has more heavy reading than this.

It has 987 footnotes, many of them extended. It quotes countless astrophysicists, evolutionary biologists, existential philosophers, all of which, by the way, affirm the statement there is no God. And then he goes to the scientific discoveries of these last several years to refute them, and he uses all their quotes. He lets them speak for themselves, and what's interesting about it is that when I finished reading the books, something happened to me, in a sense, emotionally.

I was bothered by what I read, not by his book. It's brilliant, but what affected me was how absolutely pessimistic each of those men were. It didn't matter if they were astrophysicists, microbiologists, philosophers, all of them had an extreme pessimism about life. Stephen Hawking, who is a popular, now dead astrophysicist said, no one created the universe and no one directs us our fate.

This leads me to profound realization. There is no heaven, no afterlife either. I think the belief in an afterlife is just wishful thinking. When we die, all we are is dust. Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, wrote this, the more the universe seems to become comprehensible, the more it seems completely pointless. Lawrence Krauss, we're an accident in a remote part of the universe, and the universe doesn't care at all about us. Bertrand Russell, famous English mathematician, existential philosopher, said, the whole temple of man's achievements must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of the universe when it falls into ruin.

Jean-Paul Sartre, a great French philosopher, one of the fathers of existential thought, he sort of gave a good perspective of it. He said, there is no God, simply man. But then he said this, without a transcendent God as an infinite reference point, all you'll leave people with is anguish and despair. He said, no finite point has any meaning at all unless it has an infinite reference point. So, this pessimism covers the book, and I'm thinking, all these brilliant men, and that's their conclusion about everything.

There's no point in life, none at all. Then I learned something about myself as I read the book. I'm an optimist.

I learned that. I just thought, I am an optimist. I am a perpetual optimist, and you should be too. If you're a child of God, you should be a perpetual optimist. And so, what I'd like to do this morning is I'd like to give you ten reasons why I'm so optimistic and that you should be as well. If you want to follow along in the scriptures, you can.

If you say he's moving too fast, don't follow along. Most of the scriptures are pretty familiar to you. And I want to begin in the book of Ephesians, chapter one. The book of Ephesians, chapter one, the first reason for my optimism. Now, Paul writes the letter, and when we get down to verse three, he writes this, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

That would be enough to be optimistic about, but it's not what I'm going to be talking about. From verse three on, he writes the longest Greek sentence in the New Testament. It just goes on and on.

It's one sentence just going on and on in the Greek. But I want to talk about the first thing that he says, just as he chose us before the foundation of the world. I want to know if you ever thought about this. Before there was anything, before there was any material creation, he chose me.

What do you think about that? He chose you. Before there was anything physical, he said, I'm choosing you.

Like, wait, what? And if you read on with it, what's interesting about it, in verse five, he said, he predestined us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will. That's why he did it. He didn't choose me because I'm adorable.

You see, lovable, none of that. The only reason that God chose you before there was ever a physical creation at all was on the basis of the kind intention of his will. I mean, just think of that.

Almighty God chose you before he created the universe. That's an overwhelming thought. We sometimes just read words like that and then we just simply don't pay any attention to what we're reading. And we just say, oh, he just did that. It's profound.

It makes me pretty optimistic. But it goes on. Number two, go with me to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. A Psalm of David. So he chose me before the foundation of the world, before there was a physical creation.

And then I want to let you know how quickly he gets involved in my life and yours. It's an amazing thought. Psalm 139, verse 13. For you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. What?

What? Yeah, you formed me. He said in my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. When I was conceived, God was engaged. That's an amazing thought.

See, we think it's like random access. It's just biology. Things just happen. That's not what he says. He said, when you were conceived in your mother's womb, I wove you.

Now, notice what he says then. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The word fearfully means respectfully. I am respectfully made by God. I am wonderfully made.

What's that mean? I am unique. So are you. God's thought of that. We are unique. We are all in that sense, spiritual snowflakes. You see, we are unique as people.

He goes on and he says, wonderful are your works. And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance.

That seems to be pretty much engaged in this. He saw my unformed substance. I'm an embryo. And he said, that's Bill. You see, that's an amazing thought. And then he says, and in your book were written all the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them.

He goes, that's Bill. And because God knows all things, I know when he's going to be born, I know when he's coming home. I have all of his days ordained.

I already have the picture. Wow. Almighty God spoke everything into creation, chose me before there was a creation and then was involved with me since my mother's womb.

I mean, think about that. I hope you come away. It sounds like I'm kind of special because you are from God's point of view. Let's go to a familiar passage now. New Testament. John Chapter three in verse 16. You know the passage.

You see it all the time. But I don't know if we understand it on a personal level like we should. He says, this is Jesus speaking the Nicodemus. He says, For God so loved the world. Now, I want to change that just a minute.

Try it on a more personal level. For God so loved you. For God so loved Bill. You mean God loved God so loved me and understand it's not because I'm lovable or neither are you. We know he's a holy God. We know all of sin and fall short of the glory of God. There's an unrighteous.

No, not one. The wages of sin is death. We know all that. God says, Yeah, I know that, too.

I love you. You see, once Adam fell, once original sin entered mankind, man is separated from God. The day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that day you will surely die.

He died spiritually that day and many years later died physically. So we don't deserve anything in God but his judgment. But God says, No, I have a plan. I know that they're sinners. I know mankind is sinful, but I have a plan.

Here's the plan. For God so loved Bill that he gave his only begotten son that if Bill believes in him, he'll not perish and have eternal life. He gave his son. And he gave his son to be the second Adam.

But this one lives perfectly. And he gave his son to be my substitute on the cross. John the Baptist, behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. For me.

For you. He chose me before there was a physical creation. He was involved with my uniqueness in my mother's womb. I am fearfully, respectfully and wonderfully made by God. Now there's a sin problem between me and God, and God says, I got that. I'll send my son and he'll become your sin bear.

Wow. Why? Because he loves. First one was because the kind intention of his will. Now we find out it's because he loves us.

How do you not become optimistic about who you are? The uniqueness of this. How is he going to pull this off? Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. And here Paul gives us the how.

How do you do this? Paul told the Romans that while we were at enmity with God, he loved us. We're God's enemies and he loves us. In fact, John says, we love God, but only for one reason.

Why? Because he first loved us. You didn't love God and go seeking him. There's none that seek God.

No, not one. He loved you and he sought you. This is amazing truth here. So now he tells us the how. First he describes our condition in verse one. You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world. Everybody's a sinner. According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedient. Among them, he said, we too all formerly lived, he said, in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. All we deserved was God's judgment and condemnation. All mankind. Then two of the best words you'll ever read in the Bible. But God. Not us. I mean, we can't do that on our own. But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us.

There it is again. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive with Christ. By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. It's not of yourselves. It's a gift of God.

It's not a result of works. No one, so that no one could boast. He saves us by his grace.

Charis, the unmerited favor of God. What did you bring to the table? Nothing. How much of it did you earn?

Zero. He said, no, I'm going to give you my unmerited favor. And the word charis, which we have grace, means gift. He said, I'm going to give you the gift. I'll save you by the gift of my son's death. All you have to do is receive the gift. I can't make you take it.

If you don't want to take it, don't. But I'm offering you the gift. That's what faith does. Faith allows me to receive the gift that God provided for me. So he saves us all here by grace and grace alone.

Wow. Now, you might be thinking, but could there be something where we would destroy the gift? Is there something we could do to make the gift not applicable to us? Is there something that we could do to unsave ourselves, to not be a recipient of God's love?

And the answer is categorically, absolutely no. You see, you didn't do anything to get yourself saved. You're not going to do anything to get yourself unsaved. As John MacArthur says often in the past, if you could lose your salvation, you would. And I just love that. If you could, you would.

But you can't. So turn with me now to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 35.

Here's what he says. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Now, remember, the logic would tell you nothing because when were you chosen? Before there was a physical creation.

Wow, that's a long, long time ago. He was right with you when you were being formed in a womb. Then, you see, then he sent his son to die for you.

And one of the reasons he could choose me is he knew I'd receive the gift and he knew you'd receive the gift. So can anything separate? What will separate us from the love of Christ? He said, well, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword, which is death.

Could that separate us? Well, he's going to say emphatically, no. In fact, verse 37, he says, in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer. How? Through him who has loved us. Why are we victorious? Through him.

Not us. The apostle Paul said, I can do all things. How? Through him who strengthens me. It's all God's work, even in my life.

Now, he says, maybe you didn't get my point. Let me explain it further with the word for in verse 38. For I am convinced that neither death nor life. Okay, what else is there? Tell me what's not death or life.

That's everything, right? He said, I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Not death, not life, not the angelic world, not the past, not the future. Nothing can separate us.

Years ago, someone told me why. Someone said that, but we could do it only if you're not a creature. Any created thing, I think we're all created. So, I don't think we could do it.

Nothing could do this. You see, it's all his work. Nothing will ever separate me from the love of God. That's what it means. That means my fate and yours is written in stone.

And it has to be. He chose me before the foundation of the world. In fact, he will use everything in my life and yours to work for the good. What?

Yeah. He said, everything that happens in your life, I'll turn it for the good. Now, that's hard for us to see, but look what he says in Romans 8.28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good. For who?

To those who love God, to those called according to his purpose. He said, I'll take every single bad experience, turn it for good. Now, I will say this, the timing of that is something we often never know. Sometimes we see the good in something that we thought was bad soon. Sometimes much later. Sometimes I don't think we'll see that till we're with the Lord. He didn't say when, but he said, I will. I'll turn everything that you have that's bad for good. That's what I'll do for you. He said, there'll be nothing that'll fall outside of that.

It's an amazing thing. Now, he does give us a hint, though, how he does that now and show some goodness in our difficult experiences. Go with me to James chapter 1. James chapter 1 and verse 2. James 1 verse 2 says this. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when your life stinks.

That's what he says. So when you encounter various trials, and by the way, you will encounter various trials, you will find pain and suffering part of living. And you know why? You're a sinner, everyone you know is a sinner, and the planet is cursed.

Okay, you know what that means? Horrible things happen. They've happened since the garden. They're going to happen until he comes back. They're going to happen. Horrible, terrible things are going to happen.

He calls them trials. You see, that's what's going to happen. So expect that.

He said, that's just the way it's going to be. But notice, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith. What? You see, what God does, he said, I can't even tempt someone to evil or to bad.

I can't even do that. But I can tell you, every terrible trial that comes into your life from God's point of view is what? A test. What's he testing? My faith. He's testing my faith.

With everything that's terrible, it happens. You see, and the test is simply this. Do you trust me or not? At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word, 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.

That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for. Or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online. Or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.