“Plausible Evidence”
2 Peter 3
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© December 17, 2017
Psalm 136:1–9
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by His understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 Who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:23–26
23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.
25 and who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
Every book, every movie, every story, every religion, every conversation, every business transaction and every gossip, in order to be believed - - Every statement, concept and storyline, in order to be believed, must have, as its underlying concept: “plausible evidence.”
God meant the mind, emotions and will He instilled in each human being to have the ability to perceive plausible evidence of what is being said and what is taking place, in order to give each person ample opportunity to make beneficial, life-improving and life-saving decisions; and, most importantly, to know Him.
Reason: God has created human beings to think and reason so they can determine what is truth and what is the best way for each one to live and die.
Perception: God has created human beings to strongly believe what they perceive to be true.
Choice: God has also created human beings to have the privilege to choose between what they perceive to be true and that which they would prefer to be true.
We make these decisions every day.
Deception: Within the reality of what is true, with that which is perceived to be true, is also the diabolical element of the potential of radical deception. A strong but erroneous belief founded in a diligently planted lie.
Limited Perception
When I graduated from college, astronomers had no idea of the vastness of the universe outside of our own Milky Way Galaxy. We couldn’t see beyond our solar system with great clarity because of the haziness of our own atmosphere. Astronomers had been growing in their understanding of our solar system since the early days of Galileo in the 1600’s, but still with a somewhat blurred picture of our home galaxy.
In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 & 2 (NASA just celebrated Voyagers’ 40th anniversary). Both Voyager space probes transmitted to us a far greater visibility of our solar system’s planets and interplanetary objects. We saw, much closer, for the first time, the formerly fuzzy images of planets in our solar system.
From the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, in 1990, beyond the haze and restrictions of our atmosphere, the immensity of the now visible universe astounded us all by its clarity of billions of galaxies and trillions of stars in its vastness and awesomeness.
Astronomers are now hoping for an even greater insight into the universe through current technology built into the new James Webb Space Telescope scheduled to be launched the spring of 2019.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:4
The universe, beyond our own galaxy, is abounding with an incomprehensible number of galaxies, at incomprehensive distances from our planet. Distances between stars, because they are so vast, are measured in “light years.” (To travel one year at the speed of light you would go almost 6 trillion miles. The circumference of the earth is 24,901 miles. You can travel 186,282 miles [in a vacuum] in one second, at the speed of light…or about 7.5 times around the earth.)
How long would it take you to walk a light-year?
If you hoofed it at a moderate pace of 20 minutes a mile, it would take you 225 million years to complete your journey (not including stops for meals or the restroom). Even if you hitched a ride on NASA's Mach 9.68 X-43A hypersonic scramjet, the fastest aircraft in the world, it would take about 95,000 years to cover the distance.
The journey from Earth to Mars takes about 300 days (at the speed of our current rockets). Every two years Mars is at its closest point, only 33.9 million miles from Earth, and it's the ideal time to send a spacecraft. Travel time depends on the positions of the planets and how much fuel you're willing to burn.
Our Galaxy
Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 100,000 light years across.
Our solar system is only a small part of our galaxy.
To give a more understandable picture of the smallness of our solar system compared to our Milky Way galaxy…think of it this way:
If our Solar System out to Pluto was the size of a US quarter, then the Milky Way Galaxy would be 2,000 km in diameter - a circle centered on Kansas City and touching Canada and Houston at the same time. Once you have that circle in your mind, then imagine a quarter, lost by the side of a two-lane highway, somewhere in central Nebraska. That’s our Solar System in the Milky Way. At that scale, the Sun would be smaller than a grain of sand. Actually, the Sun would be the size of a single bacteria, about ten to a hundred times smaller than a grain of sand.
[https://www.quora.com/How-big-is-our-solar-system-compared-to-our-galaxy]
If our galaxy is 100,000 light years across, just think of the distance to, and size of other galaxies – billion and billions of galaxies!
If you were able look out into the sky through a tiny portal, even the size of a soda straw, to any part even though void of any celestial bodies, with the visual power of the Hubble Telescope, you would see hundreds or thousands of galaxies (each will billions of stars) all within that limited narrow window through which you were looking.
Who by His understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:5
Our limited perception has been gaining greater insight…but it still is very, very “Limited!”
Why are astronomers so interested to know about space?
Why do physicists want to find the ultimate Higgs-bosen “subatomic particle” that is supposed to hold everything together? (CERN)
Why do scientists want to keep sending probes into far reaches of outer space?
When these questions are asked directly to our scientists and astronomers there is often a response that is similar to questions that humankind has been asking since the dawn of time:
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•Where did we come from?
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•Are we alone?
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•What is going to happen to humanity and to each of us in the future?
When God is redacted from the equation of life, then humankind blindly gropes for any answer to quell the gnawing for meaning, in the deepest questions of our souls.
Where did we come from?
Amber’s Plausible Evidence
Often in anthropology news there are insects, birds, plants, fish, animals or bones, etc., which are found encased in ancient (tree resin) amber and designated to be phenomenally old (20-99 million years old). The preserved creatures (that I have seen) never even come close to being weird transitional creatures in evolutionary passage from one specie to another, even though the ancient “age” could imply otherwise. Within the amber, no matter the proposed ancient age, the bird still looks exactly like a bird; the ant, an ant; the spider, a spider, etc. … there is no need for speculation or posturing – just a question regarding age.
(Since pre-flood life-span is recorded as being considerably longer than the average length of life today - according to the Scripture, Methuselah lived almost 1,000 years [Gen. 5:27], this alone may have had considerable impact on carbon and subsequently, the Carbon Dating methods, as understood today.)
Are We Alone?
As the now antiquated Voyager Space Probe quietly continues traveling its lonely orbit around the Milky Way, with a golden record explaining earth neatly packaged, waiting for deciphering of curious alien visitors; and, as a new and powerful space telescope is built to discover even more incredible celestial bodies, humans still fail to see the obvious. The earth is full of overwhelming complexity and abundant life! The heavens echo astounding wonders. How many more billions of unique stars in heaven and incredible diversities of life on earth do we need to observe with our truth-hungry eyes, to know that SomeOne is there – and here?
Everything didn’t materialize from nothing! There is Plausible Evidence for a Creator!
We are not alone!
Romans 1:19–20
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
God is Here
“God’s profound revelation is seen every day in every means possible!”
God is Here.
Evil is also here
How much more devastation, corruption and death do we need to observe or experience to know, first hand, that evil is here, as well.
Evil is also here.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This Eternal, Creator God formed this dynamic world in a universe that we have hitherto not found a copy of the life that we enjoy.
This Eternal, Creator God also infused into His Creation the element of choice, which led to depravity and death for all of His fallen creation.
This Eternal, Creator God provided a sacrificial Lamb, to fulfill the just punishment for sin and subsequent reconciliation with Himself. God provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to be crucified for our sins, and to conquer death and offer eternal life through his resurrection from the dead.
John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
One day, God will surely judge the corruptness of this world, just as He has done in the past, at the time of the Great Flood.
God has told us what is going to happen in the future.
2 Peter 3:3–7
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
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•Scoffers will abound in the Last Days, following their own evil desires, and deny Jesus Christ’s Promised Return. [Are We Alone?]
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•There will be a growing Deliberate Amnesia and denial of God’s Creation of the Heaven and Earth. [Where did we come from?]
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•God did send a Global Flood which destroyed the ancient world. [Are We Alone? – God’s Judgment.]
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•The Present Heaven and Earth are Reserved for Fire, being Kept for the Day of Judgment and Destruction of the Ungodly. [What is Going to Happen in the Future?]
2 Peter 3:8–18
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
What about God’s Instilling in our Hearts and our Human Need for “Plausible Evidence”?
Reason: God has created human beings to think and reason so they can determine what is truth and what is the best way for each one to live and die.
Perception: God has created human beings to strongly believe what they perceive to be true.
Choice: God has also created human beings to have the privilege to choose between what they perceive to be true and that which they would prefer to be true.
We make these decisions every day.
Deception: Within the reality of what is true, with that which is perceived to be true, is also the diabolical element of the potential of radical deception. A strong but erroneous belief founded in a diligently planted lie.
Although the whole world may be deceived to clamor together against God (Psalm 2) and present their case for the rejection of God’s Creation phenomenally displayed all around them and throughout the exhaustless universe; and, though the whole world rejects the standards of His Word and His Kingdom, there will still come a day of reckoning.
The person that elects to “take their chance” against God will come to their end as did the “rich man” in Jesus’ parable.
Do You Remember the Parable Jesus told of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the beggar, in Luke 16:19-31? (see ENDNOTES)
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•Upon death Lazarus was taken by the angels to Abraham’s side.
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•The rich man also died and was plunged into the torments of hell.
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•When the formerly rich man realized nothing could cross over to ease him from the pain of his torment, he asked that Lazarus be allowed to return from the dead and warn his brothers against coming to this place of horrid after-life.
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•What was Abraham’s response to the request of the former rich man, now suffering in hades?
Luke 16:31
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
If those in the world become so utterly deceived and reject the Plausible Evidence of God, seen all around them, then they will not believe though someone rises from the dead to tell them of the disaster awaiting them.
They are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20).
This brings us back to the Christmas Story.
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•God created us.
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•God loves us.
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•God sent His Son to be born a human child, to become our redeeming sacrifice, dying on the cross to cleanse us from our sins and restore our relationship with God, our Creator.
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•God will send His Son to Come back for His Children.
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•God will take those who are His Children, to live with Him forever in His Kingdom.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
Who by His understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:4-5, 36
ENDNOTES
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-31, was spoken by Christ prior to His death and resurrection, evidencing the current state of the departed spirits at that time. Jesus Christ died on the cross, in the fullness of God's time (Gal. 4:4-5). While Jesus was “in the place of the departed dead” He preached to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-23), and upon His resurrection He led "captivity captive" (Eph. 4:8-10) and is the "firstfruits" of those who believe [1 Cor. 15:20-23; and “firstborn from the dead” [Col. 1:18].
Psalm 16:10 “Because you will not abandon me to the grave (sheol), nor will you let your Holy One see decay.”