What is Trustworthy?
The Clear Trustworthiness of The Gospel!
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© June 24, 2018
We live in a world where everything which is not socially correct becomes questionable; yet, where everything socially correct is not trustworthy.
In 1879, George W. De Long, a young 37-year-old Lieutenant Commander, a graduate from the US Naval Academy, was hired by the owner of the New York Herald newspaper, also under the auspices of the US Navy, to find a quick way to the North Pole through the Bering Strait, aboard the USS Jeanette, purchased and commissioned for such a voyage.[1]
[1] Trevin Wax, This Is Our Time, Copyright © 2017 by Trevin Wax, (published by B&H Publishing Group Nashville, TN) chapter 3;
also, multiple articles on the USS Jeanette personnel and voyage, were found on the Wikipedia.org site.
For many years it was believed that there were temperate currents in the ocean leading to an Open Polar Sea – an ice-free ocean surrounding the North Pole. Leading map makers and scientist of the day had included this Open Polar Sea “fact” in their “maps of the world” for two and a half centuries. The current well-known cartographer at the time, Dr. August Heinrich Petermann convinced James Gordon Bennet, Jr., owner of the New York Herald, to sponsor the voyage to prove their theory and bolster commerce for all.
An Open Polar Sea (ice free) logic seemed probable to most in that generation… well before anyone had ever observed the real conditions at the North Pole:
· Long-term Speculation by Cartographers: Maps previously drawn up to 250 years previously speculated an Open Polar Sea.
· Land Proximity: They believed (falsely) that sea ice only formed in proximately to land. Since there was no land at the North Pole, there would be no ice.
· Perpetual Sun: The perpetual sun during the Arctic Summer would melt the ice.
· Northern Open Waters: Russian explorers found large areas of open waters north of Spitzbergen, so there must be open water at the North Pole.
· Warm Current Scientific Theories: Scientists who studied ocean currents had concluded warm currents pressing north would rise in waters around the North Pole resulting in an ice-free sea.
· Animal Migration Patterns: Migration patterns of certain animals seemed to suggest that the polar region was a hospitable place for them to live.
· Sub-Polar Temperature Extrapolation: Extrapolation of temperatures taken in subpolar regions indicated that the greatest cold would be at 80 degrees north of the Pole.
~ Immortalized Painting and False Information: A painting by Frederic E. Church, entitled Aurora Borealis immortalized the voyage and expedition of Isaac Hayes – who, it was determined later, had erroneously believed his expedition to be the farthest north ever, and whose sextant observations were inaccurate – maybe even falsified, contributing to inaccurate beliefs regarding the Open Polar Sea theory.
Those involved in promoting and financing the USS Jeanette expedition wanted their theories to be accurate…even when subsequent explorers kept finding ice instead of sea. Without being deterred, those in the expedition kept pressing on, assured their assessments were accurate. They even modified their theory to include the idea of a “thermometric gateway,” all they had to do was to find “the gap” leading to the Open Polar Sea.
Twenty-eight seamen signed up to go with Lt. Cmdr. De Long for the voyage. The vessel left San Francisco, CA to sail to the North Pole. When they reached the arctic they became trapped in the ice pack in the Chukchi Sea, northeast of Wrangel Island and drifted in the ice pack for two years until the shifting ice crushed the ship and sank it. The desperate De Long and crew divided into three parties and dragged the two lifeboats and whaler behind them across the ice toward Siberia. They became separated. Eight survived and were rescued, twenty died. The captain died of starvation and was found by one of the crew’s survivors who had returned to search for his comrades. De Long was covered up by snow, except for one of his arms, which was raised as if to signal toward the sky.[2]
[2]Hampton Sides, In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette(New York: Penguin Random House, 2014), pg. 392 (noted in This Is Our Time)
The world’s opinion at that time was totally different than reality, and those who acted on its opinion, for gain and glory, suffered extreme loss.
Life, Death and Eternity
The stakes for making the wrong choice regarding eternal life leave no room for error. The reality of the dynamic of life, death and eternity reveal an individual journey that is extremely volatile, if on one hand, one accepts the world’s concept of life, death and eternity, compared with those who accept what God has given us regarding what He has established for life, death and eternity. The outcomes of one’s faith in the world’s perceptions; or alternatively, one’s belief in God’s revelation about eternity, are staggeringly profound. Words cannot begin to express the horrible, inexpressible tragedy of the one, and the ecstatic, eternal glory of the other.
Today those who believe and teach the Scriptural Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ often receive a barrage of skepticism and denial, sometimes with abuse and shaming abounding from many “politically and socially correct” domains.
· Belief in the Gospel today, is not politically or socially correct.
· Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ true, or is it a mere appendage of the dark ages?
· Does a Creator God exist, or is He a figment of deluded enculturated religious imaginations?
What is The Truth regarding our existence in this world, and life after death?
The Duel of “the Truths” – the World’s Truth vs. God’s Truth
What is the “World’s Truth?”
1. “Nothing*” created us – Everything Evolved PERFECTLY on its own, over billions of years given time and chance.
The millions of diverse, intricate, marvelous living species and plant life, atmosphere, water and minerals on this earth, each following numerous, unbreakable precise laws of physics and nature, spontaneously arose from nothing, or from some form of *dark energy or dark matter which we cannot identify or understand. The “nothing” theory also includes the reason for the existence of trillions of galaxies each with billions of stars, enormous planetary objects, unknown quasars, and mysterious “black holes” in the ever-expanding universe. There was no need for an intelligent plan, consistency, or usefulness for this creation, spinning by itself alone, light years from any other potential intelligent life forms in the universe. Everything evolved through its own self-will, without purpose or accountability, for its own glory, self-perpetuation and destruction; and, if any civilization is to survive the potential hazards threatening earth in the future, humankind must find a way to propagate itself to other planets or face a dismal, lonely and terrifying end for all humanity.
2. Alien, Impersonal Powers Planted Life.
We are too perfect, intelligent and complex to have evolved from nothing, so some form of alien, impersonal creature or creatures, to whom we are not accountable, must have “seeded” or implanted life on our somehow perfectly suited but lonely planet, from which the vast multitude of diverse life, minerals, water and atmosphere has risen. The alien entity must have then sped off to hide itself in the enormous array of planetary bodies in the universe – all of which somehow mysteriously came into their own existence, leaving us to fend for ourselves without reason, purpose or future.
What is God’s Truth?
The All-Powerful Personal God (YHWH – Jehovah God) Created Everything according to His Eternal Plan and Purpose.
Nehemiah 9:6
6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.”
o God is Creator and Sustainer of the Earth and all the Universe.
o God Patiently waits and deals with all the dimensions of right and wrong in the world until:
~ The fullness of His Kingdom is completed, and
~ The Cup of His Justice and Wrath is filled and ready to be poured out.
(2 Pet. 3:9-10; Rom. 11:25; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:9-10; Gen. 15:16; Rev. 14:10; 16:1)
The Reality of Truth from God’s Perspective
o Perfect Creation. In the beginning, God created everything, and it was very good.
o Disobedience. The first created humans rejected God’s instruction and plunged us all into sin, rebellion, depravity and skepticism rose against God, into the spiritual rule of Satan and his demonic host.
o Consequences.Sin, Disobedience and Rebellion against God has serious consequences:
~ Broken Relationship with God – Spiritual Death
~ Deterioration, Decay and Physical Death.
o Holy Scripture. God gave us His Word, the Bible, through His Prophets and Spiritually inspired writers, as His Supernatural Authoritative Guide during humankind’s life on earth – essential in understanding and living life now and in preparation for eternal life after death.
o The Messiah. God sent His Son Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior, to redeem fallen mankind and build for Himself an Eternal Kingdom.
o Salvation and Redemption. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
o Eternal Life. God’s Eternal Plan.
Worldly theories about, “Nothing is going to happen after death,” or hopeful expressions like, “It’s all going to be OK,” cannot begin to guess at what truly happens after death. They haven’t been there or know anyone who has been! Just as the science and cartographers of the day proposed an Open Polar Sea Theory from something that had not been seen or comprehended.
The wrong theory in that day caused catastrophe, crushing loss and tragic death. Proposed theories that are wrong about death and afterlife from current, misled and deceived “scholars” or well-meaning friends, will cause you irreparable, eternal sorrow and disaster.
What are the two alternatives to Truth?
· Belief that there is no God, with no accountability and no afterlife
Or,
· Belief in a life-giving, Creator God, to whom we are accountable
The Scripture has announced for millennia what the Judeo-Christian God tells us about Himself, how to live our life, including life after death. I would much rather gain my understanding from the Bible than from those antagonistic to God – a God they refuse to know or even consider.
What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
· All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)
· The wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23a)
· The Free Gift from God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23b)
· Why did God Give His Son? God provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to justly take the punishment of our sin on the cross, to justify us before God. (1 Peter 2:24; Is. 53)
· Belief in Christ. Those who believe in Christ to be their Savior – that He died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day, are cleansed from their sin and transformed by the Holy Spirit. (John 3:16-18, 36; 3:3-5)
· The wrath of God will be poured out on those who do not accept God’s provision for redemption, cleansing, Salvation and eternal life. (John 3:36; Eph. 5:6; Rom. 1:16-20)
· Everlasting Life in God’s Eternal Kingdom! (John 3:16; 18:36; Heb. 11:10; Rev. 21-22)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Now I would remind you of the GospeI preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—
unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures….
1 Corinthians 15:1–4