Current Issues: What Does God Think About Global Issues? Genesis 3:16-19 Rev. Min J. Chung (Large Group, Friday, March 9, 2018)

Transcription

1 Current Issues: What Does God Think About Global Issues? Genesis 3:16-19 Rev. Min J. Chung (Large Group, Friday, March 9, 2018) Genesis 3: To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you. 17 And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Introduction Exegesis is the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of Scripture. As we study the Bible, we understand what it means so that it can guide, lead, and teach us. The foundation of everything that we do at our church is from an exegesis of the Bible. The verb form of exegesis is exegete. In Christian life, you need to learn how to exegete the Bible, people, and culture. This sermon is not to persuade you of my views but to give you examples of world issues to see through the Bible. We must learn how to exegete the Bible so that through it, you will exegete the culture and the world. This is not a comprehensive instruction on the issue, as some of you know more than me, but this is just enough information about the issues so that we can learn to think Biblically. Part of being a kingdom worker is learning how to understand the Bible and the world. Once you see the world through the Word of God, you have wisdom. We need to seek the wisdom of God in our lives.

2 I m going to read the lyrics to a song called Imagine by John Lennon: Imagine there s no heaven It s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today Imagine there s no countries It isn t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace You may say I m a dreamer But I m not the only one I hope some day you ll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people sharing all the world This is a simple, but beautifully written song. The reason why it s popular is not only because of the music but because so many people long for this kind of world. Let s look at the reality of our world, diagnose why it is not like that, and learn how we can get there - Biblically speaking. I. What is wrong with this world? In summary, everything that is wrong in this world is because of the consequences of sin. A. Relational problems [16] Relational problems came because man sinned and the consequences of sin came into the world. God gives consequences so that people can repent of their sins and come back to the Lord. In Genesis, man and woman sinned by eating the fruit that they were not supposed to eat, and God gave them consequences. We call that discipline, not punishment. Punishment is just an end in itself. This is discipline because through the suffering, hardships, and difficulties of pain, they can realize what they have done, repent of their sins, and come back to God. Just as we might respond to seeing injustice in this world, this is the nature of God. He is holy, and He is giving discipline and justice to His people.

3 In verse sixteen, God gave the woman pain in childbearing, her children, and her husband. All relational problems started because of the consequences of sin. B. Nature problems [17] The universe is affected because of sin. Man was supposed to take care of the earth. When man rebelled against God, God allowed man to see their rebellion through the rebellion of the earth against man so they would know what they had done before the Lord. Therefore, problems of nature occurred. Perhaps natural disasters came into the world because of sin. C. Work problems [18] It is hard for man to work. In all that we do, there are hindrances to our accomplishments because we have hindered the plan of God. Work problems allow us to know what we have done before the Lord so that we can come back to the Lord in repentance. D. Sickness and death problems [19] God said that if you sin, you will surely die. They were supposed to die and go to hell immediately, but they did not. Physical death eventually came. They lived for a long time so that during that time, they would suffer and go through hardships so that they could depend on God, and God would give grace. They could come back to the Lord. A question that we often ask is Why do we die?, but Biblically speaking, the real question is Why do we live? We do not deserve this life. God graciously gave us physical death so that as we slowly age and get older, we can know that eternal death is coming. Sickness points to death, and physical death points to eternal death. So, before that happens, we can repent and come back to the Lord. There is grace in that discipline. II. What are some of the problems in the world? A. Politics and Anti-Trump Sentiments Ed Setzer wrote [on Twitter], I prayed, just a few moments ago, that I might live in a nation where presidents and porn stars are not headlining the news. Regardless of your political views and for whom you voted, maybe you d join me in that prayer, for the good of our nation and our kids. This is alluding to the President giving hush money to a porn star. President Trump and U.S. leadership are viewed poorly both in the States and in the world. Trump has the lowest approval rating at the one-year mark of all presidents since According to a survey spanning 37 nations, only 34 respond as having no confidence in Trump s leadership and 39% view the US unfavorably. According to Edelman, the U.S. has moved from the 6 th most trusted country in the world to the 28 th, and they only surveyed 28 nations. Internationally, people still respect American culture, but they do not like the country nor the government. What can we make of

4 this? Should we join the sarcasm and the attitudes? We need to think about this Biblically. 1. Government is important and we must be concerned about and pray for, those that are in charge for the sake of the gospel Government is very important because it affects the spreading of the gospel. With just one law change, missionaries can be kicked out and prohibited from preaching. - 1 Timothy 2:1-5 - First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, When it says kings in verse 2, that includes presidents because at that time, they did not have presidents. We are to lead a peaceful and godly life. We are not to pray for a happy life but a life that lives out and affect others with the gospel. In verse three, we need to live a life that is pleasing in the sight of God. God, who wants others to be saved, uses us so that other people can be saved through us. That does not mean that the gospel cannot be spread in the midst of a harsh government. There is one God on the throne. We can continue to trust in God to work, but government is very important. 2. We must be respectful and be in a generally submissive attitude towards governing authorities - Romans 13:1 - Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Authorities is the same word that is used for parents. Paul wrote this to Christians under Nero, one of the harshest emperors in the history of mankind. We need to be law-abiding. There might be disagreements under ungodly rulers or parents, but we need to have a generally submissive attitude. 3. We can disobey the governing authorities if what they command will cause us to disobey God. We can, within the confinement of the law, protest and influence to change laws without being rebellious in attitude Can we participate in protests? You can protest if it is for the right cause and through legal means, but you need to consider whether it is edifying to participate. Do not participate in negative talk about Donald Trump he is our

5 president, and you still need to pray for him. You would not say such things about bad parents. However, if you have your disagreements, you can protest to influence change of the law or vote so that he is not re-elected. Such things can be done without having a rebellious attitude. Speaking to a student whose mom had an affair, I would say that you need to be submissive and respect her, but you can talk to her Biblically with the confinement of an attitude of submission, respect, and love. If there were a child whose father had a gambling addiction, I would say the same thing. You do not have to give him money, even if he demands it, but you can still have a loving attitude towards your dad. A great political illustration of this is the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. taught people to be respectful of the government yet quietly and submissively protested the wrong things. That is how we ought to approach the government and our president. B. Gun violence We see so much gun violence on TV in such a way that we are not surprised anymore. That is sad. We should always be shocked and praying for this. But it is hard when it repeats that much. America owns half of civilian owned guns in the world. 67% of gun owners site protection as the reason for owning a gun. 89% of both gun owners and non-gun owners agree that the mentally ill should not be able to purchase guns. 54% of gun owners believe that Americans owning more guns would reduce crime. 47% of non-gun owners say that making it harder to attain guns might reduce mass shootings. There are two camps: absolute control over guns or the right to possess guns, and some people fall in between. The second amendment says, A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Is it biblical or unbiblical? There are two aspects of it in the Bible, and both of them can possibly be Biblically correct. - Romans 13:4 - for he is God s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. In this verse, God s servant is referring to the government, and God has given authority to the government for our protection. Again, Paul is speaking to the Roman Empire under Nero s rule. Even though our leaders might be evil and sinful, having a government still restricts people from sinning. If people could do whatever they wanted to, there would be more problems. So God, in the midst of this evil, uses the existing government to exercise and restrain freedom.

6 The government has the right to exercise justice. Not individuals, but governments. The government can corporately decide to exercise justice, or they can give rights privately to people. In the U.S., there is government protection, but they also delegate authority to individuals, which is in alignment with the second amendment. But the assumption of the second amendment was that people are sane and responsible. At the time when the law was made, it took about 30 seconds to shoot once, but now it takes 30 seconds to kill hundreds. If people cannot handle this freedom and are causing evil, the government has to restrain it. Protecting yourself is Biblically backed up according to Scripture. You cannot say whether taking away guns is right or wrong because there is a range of Biblical truth. The reality is that when people cannot handle their hearts and be responsible, there have to be restrictions. At least, that is my opinion. But Biblically speaking, you cannot say that it is unbiblical for people to own weapons. In 2016, the percentage of gun-related murders was highest in the U.S. with 64%, Canada had 30.5%, Australia had 13%, and the United Kingdom had 4.5%. At the rate that these percentages decrease, the strictness on gun control in each country increases. Studies seem to show that stricter gun control results in fewer problems. Gun control is not a right or wrong issue it is a wisdom issue. If people cannot handle responsibilities, the government has to restrain evil. We need to pray for the right laws to be passed. C. Climate change - Genesis 3: And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. The ground is already in rebellion against us, but are we quickening the destruction of the earth due to our selfishness? That is what climate change is about. Climate change occurs when carbon dioxide, air pollutants, and greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth s surface. Normally, this radiation would escape into space, but these pollutants trap heat and can stay in the atmosphere for centuries. Products that we manufacture to make money and ensure comfortable living trap heat and cause the planet to get hotter. This is what is known as the greenhouse effect, and it is the cause of climate change. Here are some of the evidences of global climate changes: global temperature rise, warming of oceans, shrinking of ice sheets, glacial retreat, decreased snow cover, sea level rise, declining arctic sea ice, ocean acidification, more air pockets in the sky - which is a danger for flying.

7 75% of Americans say that they are concerned about the environment but only 20% would say that they would try to protect the environment through how they live. Is it affecting our lives? According to the U.N., we have less than 60 harvests left. In the US, we are losing 4 tons of topsoil per acre per year on crop land. Soil degradation leads to: less nutritious food, reduced water infiltration, loss of biodiversity, smaller farm profits, carbon release, extreme weather events, heat island events, to name a few, In an affluent country like the U.S., losing food does not affect us that much, but around the world, it has tremendous effects. As we contribute to this, basically, we are not loving our neighbors. We are actually killing others in different parts of the world. - Matthew 22: And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Climate change affects the lives of so many people, and we need to be concerned about it. We need to love our neighbors. As Christians, we need to do what we can through our lifestyle so that the earth can be less quickly destroyed. D. Identity crises It is wonderful that people are seeking the essence of who they are because it becomes an opportunity for us to show how we are made in the image of God. However, there is much confusion about our identity when it comes to gender, sexual preference, race, etc. According to the Bible, we know that our primary identity is our spiritual identity, and that is how we look at ourselves. - 1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Paul is saying, I am a hell-deserving sinner, but I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. We need to understand that this is our primary identity. Everything else is a secondary identity. According to the Bible, we need to live according to our primary identity as believers in Jesus Christ. Every other identity must be used for His glory. Sometimes we can be confused with these identities, especially gender or sexual preferences. What is Biblical? What are we born with or not? You can disagree with me but you need to back it up with the Scripture. One way to tell whether something is part of your God-given, born identity is to ask, Is there a command in the Bible concerning it? For example, the Bible doesn t say, You need to become male or You need to become female. Gender is what God has given to us. Even if you change your physical body, you will still have the DNA of a male or female, and that is eternal because we carry our physical body into heaven. This is not dependent on what you think you are. Racial identity is similar.

8 The Bible does not say, Do not be Asian, Caucasian, African-American, etc.. Race is God-given and part of our DNA. There are no commands concerning gender or race. It is our permanent identity and part of who we are. God uses gender and race beautifully. In heaven, there will be different kinds of races worshipping and glorifying God in their diversity. When you talk about sexuality, there are commands for that. From a Biblical lens, you are not born heterosexual or homosexual, but you are born with sexual desires that are guided by personal preferences. There are commandments concerning this within the context of marriage because you can use your physical desire to glorify and worship God. If there are commandments for or against a perceived identity, you have choices. It will take time, but you can change your preferences to glorify and worship God. The world views us as physical beings and believes that the object of our desire is because of our bodies and what we are born with. People believe that we are born homosexual and that therefore, they have no choice. Gender identity is interesting because it cannot be explained through this model. Even though you are born as male or female, they talk about internal identity. There has to be something more than just our physical being, but it is hard to explain with this model. What God thinks about man/humanity What the world thinks about man/humanity The Bible says that we are not only physical beings but that we need to use our physical bodies to glorify God. There are physical components, but we choose our objects of desire because of spiritual components, which are our nature, desire, and heart motives. We are much more than just our physical body, and we cannot live for ourselves but for God. By the grace of God, even though we are sinful, our hearts are redeemed, and we are justified in our sin. There is resurrection of our Spirit s nature, and we use our physical body for the glory of God. We can choose to glorify God within the confinement of the law of God. E. Immigrant and Migrant crises - Deuteronomy 10: He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. The word sojourner is referring to people from other nations who were not Israelites. When we use migrant, it is more for global refugees, and immigrant is

9 more related to a nation and how we incorporate them into the nation lawfully. There are millions of refugees all over the world. The U.S. is dealing with whether we should receive more or less immigrants. I see two ways that God is creating opportunities for the gospel to be preached. One is through international students going all over the world. If we were to enter their countries, we would never be able to preach the gospel. Another opportunity is through refugees. God moved certain people so that the gospel would be preached. When the Israelites were sinful, God would move them to a superpower nation and use a few people so the gospel could be preached there. Through that superpower nation, the gospel was preached all over the world. At times, God moves people, and He was doing this constantly in the Bible. Nowadays, people are going all over the world especially people from countries that do not know Christ. We need to see this as an opportunity to preach the gospel. These things will not last, and this is the chance that God is giving us. These are migrant chances and immigration opportunities. We are in support of nations to accept of migrants and immigrants so that we can preach the gospel. From the government s perspective, they want to protect the people, but there is also the principle of loving migrants. Again, it is a wisdom issue. I believe that if our country can welcome migrants and immigrants, we can preach the gospel in so many ways. However, even if the law restricts that from happening, we can still do so for the people around us. F. North Korea Why does evil government and war exist? - James 4:1-2 - What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. Scripture says that it is when two countries, just like two people, want the same thing. There is selfishness and sin that resides within. How should we deal with this? - Romans 12:18 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. First and foremost, peace talk is the best way to do it. Of course, we need to protect the innocent, and if that means war, we can do that within the confinement of Scripture. But that should be the last resort. Kim Jong Un might possibly be the most dangerous person in history. With the push of a button, we do not know how many people can be killed. Everyone is excited about a potential peace meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un because it seems like North Korea might denuclearize. My response to that is doubtful, yet hopeful. The Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administration all had similar meetings, but North Korea still did not get rid of their nuclear bombs. But God can do it. God

10 changed Pharaoh s heart - even temporarily, and God can change the hearts of leaders. He is in control. - Proverbs 21:1 - The king s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. From a long-term perspective, what happens with these kingdoms? In the past, there were much stronger ones, and now they are kingdoms of distant memory. But there is another kingdom that will last forever. Our King is Jesus Christ, and His kingdom will never die. G. Global poverty 10.7% of the world population live with less than $1.90 a day. 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat. More than 750 million people lack access to clean drinking water. In 2011, 165 million children under the age of 5 were stunted with reduced rate of growth due to chronic malnutrition. This year, an estimated 43.1 million Americans live in poverty. There is obvious economic inequality and poverty in our world. Some people try to solve it through the government. Under capitalism, you get what you work for, but people are selfish and abuse that. In order for you to gain, you have to step on others and take away from them. Some people think communism or socialism are the answer, but under those systems, there is an abuse of power. People do not work as hard if they do not get what they work for. There is abuse of power and selfishness shown in different ways. As Christians, we know that the government will never solve this problem. It seems as though the only solution we have in Jesus Christ is for everyone to work with all of their hearts because their work serves somebody. This is how we should live our everyday lives. That is why we teach the principle to live with necessity. As you prayerfully decide what your necessities are, you either give it away or prepare to give it away so that you can love and serve others. You can show the generous hand of God through your giving. If everyone received in order to give, that would solve this problem. - 2 Corinthians 9:11 - You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. What happens when we are generous? We become thankful to God, and others can see God through our generosity. III. What can we do? A. We can pray concerning the issues

11 We need to know what is going on in the world. We are so concerned about our own lives and are so selfish. We need to be concerned with a kingdom perspective. Watch the news and exegete the Bible, people, and culture. As we watch, we pray. You do not know what power prayer has. That is the minimum thing we should be doing. All of these issues are related to people coming to know Christ so that they can glorify God. We should pray because we are concerned with the kingdom of God. B. We need to do what we can to help temporary help Temporary help is anything apart from preaching of the gospel. When you feed the hungry, they get hungry again. When you alleviate suffering, people live a little longer and eventually die. What we do is temporary, but we need serve others in this way because we can prolong their lives so they can know Christ. Also, through our giving, we become illustrations of Jesus Christ. People can sense what is happening because we are spiritually giving what we have received from the Lord. But do not just think about extraordinary things we need to live out our daily callings. Obviously, we cannot solve all of these global issues, but you can prayerfully choose and specialize in one or two of them as your heart burns towards certain issues. But do not neglect living out your daily callings. Just like the poor, the affluent need Christ because they are in spiritual poverty. Time and money management is temporary help that sustains lives and becomes an illustration of the gospel. We need to do what we can to help. C. We must make Christ known to the world eternal help If you choose to give financially, I would suggest supporting Christian organizations because as they help people physically, they still preach the gospel. They are trying to eternally help as they attempt to lead others to Christ. You cannot just give bread you also need to give the Bread of Life. If they are freed from poverty, they still need to be freed from their sin. If hearts were to change, one heart at a time, look at all the issues again. If President Trump were to become a man of character and we had that kind of leadership in the country If hearts changed with people who owned guns, in which they protect people or would not even need guns If hearts changed and we become good stewards of the earth, slowing down the process of decay so that other people can live longer to spread the gospel If people knew their primary identity If people loved immigrants and migrants If Kim Jung Un loved Christ If one heart at a time, we become so generous to fight to give The solution to all the problems is the gospel of Jesus Christ, one heart at a time. Conclusion

12 We will end with a video about Moira Kelly, an Australian humanitarian worker. She was inspired by Mother Teresa and became a humanitarian all over the world. She is also the adoptive mother of Iraqi-born brothers Emmanuel and Ahmed Kelly. The brothers were born with severely underdeveloped limbs due to chemical warfare in Iraq. They were discovered by Kelly in 1998 in the Mother Teresa Orphanage in Iraq. One of the brothers Ahmed was a quadruple amputee and swimmer, representing Australia in the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Emmanuel was a contestant in the 2011 season of The X Factor. In this video, Coldplay and Emmanuel honored the mother without her knowing. [The link can be found here at: _. Video description: Cold Play is nearing the end of their concert. However, instead of going to the back to rest before doing an encore, they say they are going to honor Moira Kelly. She is stunned as Cold Play also announces that her adoptive son, Emmanuel Kelly, is there to sing with them as well. As Moira Kelly is led to the stage, Emmanuel Kelly comes onto the stage and performs Imagine by John Lennon.] So many agree we want this kind of world, but it is not going to happen without Jesus Christ. The world needs to receive Jesus Christ. Can a world like this exist? Yes, it is coming. The world may say we are dreamers, but I am not the only one. All of us can dream for this day one heart at a time. Woman like this they honor because she is generous. We need to live like this. Through our giving and generosity, we need to show Jesus Christ. Let s keep dreaming. Let s pray. YouTube Sermon Link: Current Issues What does God think about global issues? Genesis 3:16-19