Church & Culture

1. 004 A Biblical Perspective Church & Culture 004 A Biblical Perspective

2. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. - Ps 111.10 004 A Biblical Perspective

3. Introduction • The Bible’s radical claim: All knowledge depends upon religious truth • The fear of some ‘god’ is the beginning of every proposed system of knowledge • First principles: All truth must begin with God • God is the only self-existent reality • Everything else depends on Him for its origin and continued existence • Nothing exists apart from His will • Nothing falls outside of the scope of the central turning points of history: • Creation, fall and redemption 004 A Biblical Perspective

4. Creation • The Christian Message begins with Ge 1.1 “in the beginning. . . “ • God is the single source of the entire created order • Nothing else competes with Him • No forces exist on their own apart from Him • Nothing receives its nature of existence from another source • God’s word (laws, or creative ordinances) gives the world its order and structure • God’s creative word is the source of the laws of physical nature; The principles of morality (ethics); of justice (politics); of creative enterprise (economics); of aesthetics (the arts); and clear thinking (logic) • Ps 119.91 – tells us that “all things are yours (God)” • There is nothing that exists that does not have God’s fingerprints on it 004 A Biblical Perspective

5. Fall • Universality of creation matched by the universality of the fall • All creation is caught up in the great rebellion against the creator • Including the effect of the fall on our intellect, our mind • The fall’s effect on the mind subverts our ability to understand the world apart from God’s regenerating grace • The Bible warns that idolatry, or willful disobedience of God makes man blind or deaf - 2 Co 4.4; Eph 4.18 • Sin literally darkens our understanding • Nonbelievers are upheld by God’s common grace • Capable of uncovering isolated segments of genuine knowledge • Why? Because “All truth is God’s truth” 004 A Biblical Perspective

6. Using Secular Views • “Plunder the Egyptians (Ex 3.22)” - Appropriate the best of secular scholarship, demonstrate how it fits better in a biblical worldview • Accept we may be mistaken at times and nonbelievers get it right • The overall systems of the nonbeliever are built on false premises • Their systems are not built on biblical truths • It is built on some other “ultimate principle” • Individuals truths are seen through a distorted lens of a false worldview • This is why we cannot simply borrow indiscriminately from the secular world as though “their” knowledge is neutral, as if their knowledge was discovered by people whose minds are open and objective, as if the fall never happened 004 A Biblical Perspective

7. Redemption • God saves our souls and our minds • God redeems the whole person • Conversion gives new direction to our thoughts, will, emotions and habits • The Bible explains sin as first turning away from God, serving other gods; and secondarily as specific immoral behaviors • The first commandment is the first for a reason (Deu 5.7) • The other commandments follow only after we resolve about whom or what it is that we are worshipping • Redemption results in casting out our mental idols and turning back to God • After redemption our entire outlook on life is re-centered on God and re-built on His revealed truth 004 A Biblical Perspective

8. Constructing A Worldview • Key passage is the creation account in Genesis • Ge 1.28 - God’s original purpose for creating man • Redemption is not just being saved from sin but it is also being saved to something – to resume the task for which we were originally created • The first phrase “be fruitful and increase in number” means to develop the social world • Build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws • The second phrase “subdue the earth” means to harness the natural world • Plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music 004 A Biblical Perspective

9. The Cultural Mandate • Ge 1.28 is often called the Cultural Mandate • Tells us our original purpose was to create cultures and build civilizations • Work is not just done to earn a living • Work is a response, it is the high calling for which we were originally created • The way we serve God is to be creative with the talents and gifts that He has given us • Man does not create from nothing, ex nihilo, but from that which God built into creation • Modern social and economic institutions are not specifically mentioned in the creation story, their biblical justification is rooted in the cultural mandate 004 A Biblical Perspective

10. Man • God created the first human couple to have dominion over the earth and govern it in God’s name • Man is not free to do what he wishes but his dominion is a delegated authority • Man is a representative of the Supreme Ruler • Man is to reflect God’s holy and loving care for creation • This was God’s plan for man then and it is God’s plan for man today • Man’s fall did not eliminate God’s plan for man • Sin has infiltrated and corrupted every aspect of our human nature but we are still human • Man still reflects our original nature as God’s image-bearers • Even non-believers carry out the Cultural Mandate • The Cultural Mandate is not distinctively Christian – it is part of our nature, it is the way God has created us to be • Our purpose is to fulfill our God-given nature 004 A Biblical Perspective

11. Results of the Fall • The fall did not destroy our original calling but only made it more difficult • Our work is now marked by sorrow and hard labor • Ge 3.16-17 passage suggest the two central tasks of adulthood • Raising the next generation • Making a living • These will be filled with the pain of living in a fallen and fractured world • All of our efforts will be twisted and misdirected by sin and selfishness 004 A Biblical Perspective

12. Results of Redemption • When God redeems us: • We are released from the guilt and power of sin • We are restored us to our full humanity • Why? So we can again carry out the tasks for which we were created • Because of Christ’s atonement and redemption for us our work takes on a new aspect • It is a means of sharing in the redemptive purposes of God • We recover our original purpose • We bring a redemptive force to reverse the evil and corruption introduced by the Fall • We offer our gifts to God to participate in making His Kingdom come, His will be done • With renewed hearts and minds, our work can now be inspired by love our for God and delight in His service 004 A Biblical Perspective

13. Impact On the Cultural Mandate • Our sense of fulfillment depends on our engaging in creative, constructive work • The ideal human existence is not: • Eternal leisure • Endless vacation • A retreat from the world into prayer and meditation • The ideal human existences is a creative effort expended for the glory of God and the benefit of others • Our calling is not just to get into heaven but to cultivate the earth, not just to save souls but also to serve God through our work • God is engaged in the work of salvation (special grace) but also in preserving and developing His creation (common grace) • By obeying the cultural mandate we participate in the work of God as agents of His common grace 004 A Biblical Perspective

14. Restoration • Redemption is not just a one-time conversion event • Redemption means entering into a lifelong quest to devote our skills and talents to building things beautiful and useful, while fighting the forces of evil and sin that oppress and distort creation • Restoration emphasizes the concept of ongoing vocation • Some think it should be called glorification, to call to mind our final goal of living in the new heaven and earth, for which our work here is preparation • Being a Christian means to enter a lifelong process of growth in grace, in our personal lives (sanctification) and in our vocations (cultural renewal). • C. S. Lewis at the end of the Narnia says that we have started a great adventure story that will never end • It is the “Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before 004 A Biblical Perspective