1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,200 The pursuit of Godhood is today's message. 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:06,380 We're gonna ask some important questions 3 00:00:06,380 --> 00:00:10,520 about ourselves though to get started. 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,640 What would the best version of you be like? 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,440 What do you need to do in order to become that version? 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,720 What does best actually mean? 7 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,560 And by what standards are you judging yourself? 8 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,540 Do you mean that it could be any one of this? 9 00:00:31,540 --> 00:00:34,860 Are you the fastest, the strongest, the kindest, 10 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:37,980 the funniest, are you the most intelligent? 11 00:00:37,980 --> 00:00:40,420 How can you be the most artistic 12 00:00:40,420 --> 00:00:44,300 or the most compassionate or the most disciplined? 13 00:00:44,300 --> 00:00:48,440 Does the best version of you mean any of the following? 14 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:49,860 Any of those? 15 00:00:49,860 --> 00:00:54,460 Or are all of your possible values you could embody 16 00:00:54,460 --> 00:00:59,460 are some more important or better than others? 17 00:01:01,460 --> 00:01:02,300 Let's pray. 18 00:01:03,340 --> 00:01:05,460 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. 19 00:01:05,460 --> 00:01:07,580 We thank you for the opportunity 20 00:01:07,580 --> 00:01:10,540 to hear you speaking to us through it. 21 00:01:10,540 --> 00:01:14,100 We pray that that would be our experience this morning. 22 00:01:14,100 --> 00:01:16,180 Lord bless us with the presence of your Holy Spirit. 23 00:01:16,180 --> 00:01:17,700 We pray in your name, amen. 24 00:01:18,700 --> 00:01:19,540 Amen. 25 00:01:19,540 --> 00:01:20,380 Yes. 26 00:01:24,380 --> 00:01:25,700 Yes. 27 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:27,860 God is dead. 28 00:01:29,740 --> 00:01:34,740 God remains dead and we have killed him. 29 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,580 Or so declared 19th century German philosopher 30 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:40,700 Friedrich Nietzsche. 31 00:01:41,580 --> 00:01:44,300 With these words, Nietzsche was presenting 32 00:01:44,300 --> 00:01:47,040 what he believed to be fresh news 33 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,820 in the aftermath of the enlightenment, 34 00:01:49,820 --> 00:01:52,860 a time in which science, math, and philosophy 35 00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:57,380 have displaced Christianity as the guiding authority 36 00:01:57,380 --> 00:02:01,500 in truth and in our existence and in reality. 37 00:02:02,300 --> 00:02:05,100 He goes on to say, the belief in the Christian God 38 00:02:05,100 --> 00:02:09,140 has become unbelievable and that everything, quote, 39 00:02:09,140 --> 00:02:13,300 built upon this faith, propped up by it, grown into it, 40 00:02:13,300 --> 00:02:15,700 including the whole of our European, 41 00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:18,420 and I included our Western morality, 42 00:02:18,420 --> 00:02:22,180 is destined for collapse. 43 00:02:23,620 --> 00:02:26,180 That's what he actually means by the statements 44 00:02:26,180 --> 00:02:29,600 that God is dead and he remains dead. 45 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,780 Well, without the divine underpinnings of our existence 46 00:02:34,780 --> 00:02:39,780 and our moral outlooks, our future becomes rather uncertain. 47 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:44,620 We ask ourselves, how shall we comfort ourselves, 48 00:02:44,620 --> 00:02:47,420 the murderers of all murderers? 49 00:02:49,380 --> 00:02:52,520 Who will wipe this blood off of us, he says. 50 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,700 What water is there for us to clean ourselves? 51 00:02:56,700 --> 00:02:59,500 What festivals of atonement, what sacred games 52 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:01,460 shall we have to invent? 53 00:03:01,460 --> 00:03:05,020 Is not the greatness of this deed, the murder of God, 54 00:03:05,020 --> 00:03:06,900 too great for us? 55 00:03:08,060 --> 00:03:12,960 Well, rather high and lofty and serious questions to ask. 56 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,600 The last one he proposes is, must we ourselves 57 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:22,600 not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? 58 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:25,280 That is worthy of murdering God. 59 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,360 Nietzsche, however, did not argue that the death of God 60 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,840 should be greeted with either jubilation or indifference, 61 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,260 but with a deep disorientation and mourning. 62 00:03:40,260 --> 00:03:43,840 You see, even though Nietzsche was definitely an atheist, 63 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,920 even though Nietzsche definitely didn't have any kind 64 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,080 of positive feelings towards the Christian faith, 65 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,100 he certainly didn't think that it was the right kind 66 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:56,000 of morals for someone to live their life by. 67 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:01,000 He saw the Christian faith as a seticism 68 00:04:01,620 --> 00:04:03,900 and an extreme, basically. 69 00:04:03,900 --> 00:04:07,600 To live with Christian morals was to deny all the good 70 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,240 things that life has to offer. 71 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,160 You're supposed to just deny, deny, deny, deny, deny, 72 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,120 and that's not really living life. 73 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,200 But he didn't say that the death of God was good 74 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,800 or indifferent, but rather disorienting 75 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,480 and we should feel a sense of mourning. 76 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:24,400 Well, why? 77 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,760 Because he saw the Judeo-Christian moral system 78 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,120 as a mechanism for what he called value creation. 79 00:04:35,980 --> 00:04:37,920 What he called value creation. 80 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:42,920 God was not just an innocuous source of faith and worship, 81 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,400 but he was the indubitable authority that lent power 82 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,100 and legitimacy to Judeo-Christian moral values. 83 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,440 He saw this moral system as at least as this mechanism. 84 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,960 This mechanism so embedded in Western culture 85 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,580 that it led to piety, altruism, and compassion 86 00:05:05,580 --> 00:05:09,360 being regarded as commonsensical or even natural. 87 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,420 And he said, those are not bad things. 88 00:05:13,420 --> 00:05:15,400 Those are not bad things. 89 00:05:16,780 --> 00:05:21,780 Which is why if we are to avoid falling into a deep 90 00:05:22,500 --> 00:05:26,840 and despairing nihilism, because his concern was that 91 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:30,660 if we got rid of this mechanism for value creation, 92 00:05:30,660 --> 00:05:34,620 if we got rid of what was embedded in our Western culture, 93 00:05:34,620 --> 00:05:39,440 if we just said God was dead hooray, then what's left? 94 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:44,440 An unshakable uncertainty for humanity and for the future. 95 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,160 Which could lead people into nihilism, 96 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,440 into just live and die and there's nothing else. 97 00:05:52,340 --> 00:05:55,200 And that's why if we are to avoid falling into 98 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,200 this deep and despairing nihilism, 99 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,520 Nietzsche went on to say this, God is dead, 100 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,640 but given the way of men, there may still be caves 101 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,660 for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. 102 00:06:07,660 --> 00:06:12,540 And we, we still have to vanquish his shadow too. 103 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,280 Now at first reading you might say, 104 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:19,640 well how does that actually help with this conundrum 105 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,760 of not falling into a deep nihilism? 106 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:27,760 No sense of real future, just live and die and be worm food. 107 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,240 How does even getting rid of the shadow of God 108 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,240 in the caves help with that? 109 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,320 Well in other words, mankind should decisively replace 110 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,940 even the shadow of values derived by God. 111 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,600 Again, how does that actually work? 112 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,600 Well what risk is there when you get rid of not only God, 113 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,540 but also his shadow? 114 00:06:57,540 --> 00:06:59,840 Are there risks? 115 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:01,840 Well I think there would certainly be 116 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:04,840 something true to that. 117 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:07,120 Nietzsche laments that we would respond 118 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,840 if we got rid of everything, even up to the shadows. 119 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,840 He laments that we would respond by burying our angst 120 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,060 deep down and we would pick our fates 121 00:07:19,060 --> 00:07:22,480 from one of the three following possible options. 122 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,600 One, we would delude ourselves with false beliefs. 123 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,600 He's saying God is dead and we should even get rid 124 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,760 of his shadow, but there are risks to doing it. 125 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,560 One risk, we might delude ourselves with false beliefs. 126 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,680 Another one, we might become irretrievably depressed. 127 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,920 And then three, we might distract ourselves 128 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:51,640 with vacuous pursuits and meaningless entertainment. 129 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,340 So for all of the ire that he had towards God 130 00:07:56,340 --> 00:08:00,120 and the Christian faith, he still saw a purpose 131 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,740 in that it gave structure, it gave something 132 00:08:03,740 --> 00:08:06,040 that people could guide their lives by, 133 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:10,080 it was a benefit to the Western society at large, 134 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,000 and so on, but he also said God's dead 135 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,540 and we should get rid of even his shadow from the caves. 136 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,700 Well, much like a parable that many of us 137 00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:25,700 might be familiar with where a demon was cast out of a man, 138 00:08:25,700 --> 00:08:27,860 and then the demon traveled around the world 139 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:30,940 for a little bit and found nowhere else to land. 140 00:08:30,940 --> 00:08:33,140 He thought I'll go back to where I once was 141 00:08:33,140 --> 00:08:36,740 and he went back to that man and found that the place 142 00:08:36,740 --> 00:08:39,560 that he had occupied before just been swept clean 143 00:08:39,560 --> 00:08:42,280 and tidied, but it remained empty. 144 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,020 The demon said that there's room for me, 145 00:08:44,020 --> 00:08:46,080 but also I'll bring my friends. 146 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,480 You can't just create a vacuum and have a replacement 147 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,580 not ready for it or not be willing to have something 148 00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:54,580 to fill the vacuum. 149 00:08:54,580 --> 00:08:56,860 Humanity doesn't do well in a vacuum. 150 00:08:56,860 --> 00:08:59,980 Nature doesn't do well in a vacuum with an emptiness. 151 00:08:59,980 --> 00:09:01,480 Something has to be there. 152 00:09:02,820 --> 00:09:06,500 So what was Nietzsche's solution to this new problem? 153 00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:11,120 The Ubermensch, Superman. 154 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:13,500 That's where we get the term from. 155 00:09:13,500 --> 00:09:17,880 We don't get it from life liberty in the American way 156 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,860 or whatever it is, freedom justice in the American way. 157 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:22,580 I think that might be more accurate. 158 00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:24,980 We don't get it from some Kryptonian 159 00:09:24,980 --> 00:09:26,580 who gets his power from the sun. 160 00:09:26,580 --> 00:09:30,380 We don't get any of that, but that idea of a superhero 161 00:09:30,380 --> 00:09:34,480 is built off of Nietzsche's Ubermensch, the Superman. 162 00:09:35,420 --> 00:09:38,740 The idea of the Superman fills the void 163 00:09:38,740 --> 00:09:41,740 left by the death of God. 164 00:09:41,740 --> 00:09:44,740 Defying nihilism, it actually provides 165 00:09:44,740 --> 00:09:46,900 a new basis for value. 166 00:09:47,740 --> 00:09:52,340 See, before we had God or the Judeo-Christian basis 167 00:09:52,340 --> 00:09:56,320 for value, well that's gone and we get rid of the shadow. 168 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:01,320 This is his, I guess, suggestion for a replacement. 169 00:10:03,100 --> 00:10:05,540 First presented in his 1883 book, 170 00:10:05,540 --> 00:10:08,780 Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche argues 171 00:10:08,780 --> 00:10:11,900 that the Superman will not only replace Christian values, 172 00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:14,300 not only, but it will actually provide 173 00:10:14,300 --> 00:10:16,580 a template for radical improvement. 174 00:10:17,780 --> 00:10:21,340 The Superman is a person who has transcended 175 00:10:21,340 --> 00:10:26,160 beyond good and evil by perfecting oneself. 176 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:32,140 Now that by itself, if you've read any number 177 00:10:32,140 --> 00:10:35,360 of self-help books in the last two decades, 178 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,600 that's a common theme. 179 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,660 We're not talking about some late 19th century philosopher 180 00:10:41,660 --> 00:10:44,660 that doesn't have any impact on today's world. 181 00:10:44,660 --> 00:10:47,940 Nietzsche's philosophy is deeply ingrained 182 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:50,420 in what you see all around you. 183 00:10:50,420 --> 00:10:51,640 Really is. 184 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,480 The Superman does this by loving one's fate and destiny 185 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:59,460 with a will strong enough to embrace 186 00:10:59,460 --> 00:11:02,020 everything he encounters in life, 187 00:11:02,020 --> 00:11:06,600 including suffering, pain, and sorrow. 188 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,600 The Superman also embodies the concept of self-creation. 189 00:11:13,580 --> 00:11:14,780 Self-creation. 190 00:11:14,780 --> 00:11:19,780 How do you embody the concept of self-creation? 191 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,220 Well first, you assess the strengths and weaknesses 192 00:11:24,220 --> 00:11:25,820 of your character. 193 00:11:25,820 --> 00:11:27,920 Weaknesses are, they don't need to be hidden, 194 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:29,680 they don't need to be repressed, 195 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:32,200 since your weaknesses are a part of you. 196 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,860 In fact, your weaknesses can appear beautiful 197 00:11:35,860 --> 00:11:39,160 if they are molded according to a particular 198 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,960 artistic plan, he phrased it. 199 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:46,480 Your weaknesses, if molded to an artistic plan, 200 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:48,480 can become beautiful. 201 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,360 He also suggests that the target of self-discipline 202 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,560 should not be self-castigation, 203 00:11:57,560 --> 00:11:59,280 should not be self-loathing, 204 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,840 should not be repression. 205 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:06,680 Self-discipline is not to deny one of something you want 206 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,400 or you feel you need or what society, 207 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,080 not denial, self-loathing, or repression, 208 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,080 but rather self-stylization and mastery. 209 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:18,960 That's self-discipline. 210 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,200 It's not to repress, but to welcome and master it. 211 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:27,780 It is not the rejection of desires, 212 00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:30,200 it is not the denial of urges and forces 213 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:31,720 that make up our lives. 214 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,800 Rather, it's the sculpting and the channeling of them 215 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:39,040 into a psychologically healthy and beautiful creation. 216 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:40,000 That's the superman. 217 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:43,840 In other words, we are to sculpt and channel 218 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,780 these desires and urges into an aesthetic whole. 219 00:12:48,940 --> 00:12:52,160 An aesthetic whole, your appearance of beauty, 220 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:53,840 how you feel about yourself, 221 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,120 what you present to the world as yourself, 222 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,360 the aesthetic whole. 223 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,080 That's what you should be moving towards, 224 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,160 working hard on, desiring to achieve, 225 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,880 sculpt, and channel in order to attain. 226 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,720 This is the ultimate goal for humanity 227 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:15,960 that Nietzsche at least had in mind. 228 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,780 But how would that be achieved? 229 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,340 How would it? 230 00:13:22,340 --> 00:13:26,040 Well, you have to live up to an independent aesthetic 231 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,780 rather than an external ethical standard. 232 00:13:29,780 --> 00:13:34,780 It's you who decides, not an outside source. 233 00:13:34,780 --> 00:13:39,460 This allows humans to truly fulfill their potential. 234 00:13:39,460 --> 00:13:42,500 And notice, if you're following his train of thought, 235 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:47,420 it's your inherent potential, not your given potential. 236 00:13:48,820 --> 00:13:50,660 That's a very distinct difference 237 00:13:50,660 --> 00:13:54,020 from Christianity and his philosophy. 238 00:13:56,820 --> 00:13:58,420 In other words, we would say this, 239 00:13:58,420 --> 00:14:02,320 that the ubermensch is his own determiner of value. 240 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:07,320 You are your own source of what is valuable. 241 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:13,520 You affirm your own character and you even give it a style. 242 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,000 It's all about self-affirmation. 243 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,080 Do we hear any of that echoing today? 244 00:14:21,020 --> 00:14:26,020 Do we hear being our own determiner of value echoing today? 245 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,280 Well, of course, of course we do. 246 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,260 We hear that left, right, and center, 247 00:14:33,260 --> 00:14:37,620 and I would say especially in this current month. 248 00:14:38,900 --> 00:14:41,980 It's a high and holy month in the secular calendar, 249 00:14:41,980 --> 00:14:43,500 if you will. 250 00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:47,320 Self-affirmation and affirming one's own character 251 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:48,660 is everywhere. 252 00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:53,520 We must each revalue our own values 253 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,260 to become who we really are. 254 00:14:56,260 --> 00:14:57,900 That's what he proposed. 255 00:14:57,900 --> 00:15:02,900 On our own, we revalue our own values 256 00:15:03,900 --> 00:15:06,420 to become who we really are. 257 00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:12,300 He says this quote, you have your way, I have my way. 258 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:15,940 As for the right way, the correct way, the only way, 259 00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:17,980 it does not exist. 260 00:15:17,980 --> 00:15:21,540 Do we hear that echoed today? 261 00:15:21,540 --> 00:15:24,140 Oh, without a doubt, without a doubt. 262 00:15:24,140 --> 00:15:27,940 It is not a new theory. 263 00:15:27,940 --> 00:15:32,940 We like to give the postmodern idea of subjectivity, 264 00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:39,980 we like to think that that is postmodernism. 265 00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:43,660 We like to think that that's very 21st century, 266 00:15:43,660 --> 00:15:46,740 late 1900s, this was 1883. 267 00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:50,580 And I would suggest it even goes before that. 268 00:15:50,580 --> 00:15:52,700 It is not new. 269 00:15:52,700 --> 00:15:54,460 We've just kind of repackaged it 270 00:15:54,460 --> 00:15:56,500 with a different colored bow, if you will. 271 00:15:57,940 --> 00:16:01,060 He's saying that this is a personal project. 272 00:16:01,060 --> 00:16:03,580 We must determine and affirm our own values, 273 00:16:03,580 --> 00:16:06,780 sculpt our own unique inner drives 274 00:16:06,780 --> 00:16:10,360 into something complete in our own authentic way. 275 00:16:11,220 --> 00:16:13,220 Do we hear that language? 276 00:16:13,220 --> 00:16:16,600 There is no one size fits all solution. 277 00:16:18,020 --> 00:16:19,380 None. 278 00:16:19,380 --> 00:16:22,120 What's good for you may not be good for me, 279 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,340 but that's okay, what's good for me is fine for me, 280 00:16:25,340 --> 00:16:26,180 and so on. 281 00:16:28,300 --> 00:16:32,740 But we have to wonder if he is rejecting the idea 282 00:16:32,740 --> 00:16:35,120 of God being alive and he's acknowledging 283 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:36,500 that all those morals are dead 284 00:16:36,500 --> 00:16:37,860 and we have to get rid of the shadow 285 00:16:37,860 --> 00:16:40,060 and we have to build on the Superman 286 00:16:40,060 --> 00:16:42,460 and we have to achieve everything on our own, 287 00:16:42,460 --> 00:16:43,860 et cetera, et cetera. 288 00:16:45,540 --> 00:16:50,540 Well, he's trying to get rid of this idea of nihilism. 289 00:16:50,540 --> 00:16:52,800 Well, how do you do that without asking 290 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,240 about the eternal end to all of these questions? 291 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:57,720 Because nihilism would suggest 292 00:16:57,720 --> 00:16:59,240 that there is no eternal end. 293 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,960 It's the here and the now, you're dead, and that's it. 294 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,760 Go forth, have fun, make what you will of life. 295 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,200 But to what eternal end does Superman lead? 296 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,760 Quote, the ubermensch shall be the meaning of the earth. 297 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,260 I entreat you, my brethren, remain true to the earth 298 00:17:19,260 --> 00:17:22,080 and do not believe those who speak to you 299 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:25,440 of supra-terrestrial hope. 300 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,440 That's a hope outside of this earth. 301 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:34,400 That's a hope from out there coming down here to help us. 302 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,880 That's a hope beyond this third rock from the sun. 303 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,240 I would suggest that we see some of this 304 00:17:44,340 --> 00:17:47,100 as an underlying to some of the more extreme 305 00:17:47,100 --> 00:17:49,880 environmentalism that we have in today's society. 306 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,040 We have to protect, even at the risk of what it might do 307 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,620 to people just to save the earth. 308 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:59,360 That's in a nutshell what you might hear from someone. 309 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:01,000 According to Nietzsche, there's no life 310 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:02,280 beyond this one on earth. 311 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,160 What he says, what he, he answers the question 312 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,160 about the eternal end by saying that, 313 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,460 rather we live a life of eternal recurrence. 314 00:18:12,460 --> 00:18:17,460 We recur or we occur again and again and again 315 00:18:18,140 --> 00:18:20,040 on this earth for eternity. 316 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,860 You die but then at some point you come back 317 00:18:23,860 --> 00:18:25,380 and then you die and then you come back. 318 00:18:25,380 --> 00:18:27,500 It's his own take on reincarnation. 319 00:18:28,900 --> 00:18:30,980 There's no real ascending in order 320 00:18:30,980 --> 00:18:33,080 like other beliefs in reincarnation. 321 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,500 You just continue to be in a never ending cycle. 322 00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:41,500 As I've studied Nietzsche's Superman 323 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,800 and this future for humanity, 324 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,960 there are several questions worth asking. 325 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,160 There's a lot of questions worth asking 326 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,080 but here are some few pointed ones. 327 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:55,240 One, is humanity even capable of achieving Ubermensch? 328 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,360 Are we even capable of it? 329 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,000 What would that world look like even if we could? 330 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:06,000 Is a happy society filled with independent, 331 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,920 self-determining Ubermensch? 332 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,440 I mean this is, this is, this is that independent spirit 333 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,260 that Americans are known for taken to its logical conclusion. 334 00:19:20,460 --> 00:19:24,440 But is that a happy society filled with people like that? 335 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:29,000 Well what about our drives for cruelty and other evils? 336 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,800 Who here is aware of the natural bent towards evil 337 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,760 and cruelty amongst humanity? 338 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,160 I'm aware of it, I've seen it. 339 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,720 You don't have to look hard or far. 340 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,340 Pick a corner on the globe and it's there. 341 00:19:44,340 --> 00:19:49,340 Little ones, young kids demonstrate the natural bend 342 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,480 towards chaos, disorder, et cetera. 343 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,800 But remember that his philosophy is that 344 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,000 even those weaknesses can be made into something beautiful 345 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,340 when they are accepted and then stylized 346 00:20:03,340 --> 00:20:04,680 into your aesthetic. 347 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,280 Even those evils, but what about them? 348 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,260 Are all human drives actually permissible? 349 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,520 Should we really aspire to live 350 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:23,520 with this idea that all drives can be made beautiful? 351 00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:29,040 Think of the serial killer. 352 00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:35,020 Think of the worst abuser in mind. 353 00:20:35,020 --> 00:20:38,940 Think of the genocidal dictators. 354 00:20:38,940 --> 00:20:43,460 Think of, think of the worst. 355 00:20:45,460 --> 00:20:47,460 Can that become beautiful? 356 00:20:47,460 --> 00:20:49,160 Well according to him it could be. 357 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:55,100 And then should we really aspire to live aesthetically 358 00:20:55,100 --> 00:20:57,540 rather than ethically? 359 00:20:58,860 --> 00:21:02,080 Is hope for the life we have here on earth 360 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,920 the best hope to have? 361 00:21:07,420 --> 00:21:11,980 Is cultivating an aesthetic package more important 362 00:21:11,980 --> 00:21:14,060 than fighting for justice? 363 00:21:14,060 --> 00:21:19,060 These are questions that he does not quite answer 364 00:21:19,060 --> 00:21:20,360 with his proposal. 365 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,040 But before we answer these questions, 366 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:27,040 we have to consider another quote murder if you will. 367 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,080 Two murders today. 368 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,640 One, he proposed it was God and we did it. 369 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,240 Two, the death to self. 370 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:39,960 That's our other consideration this morning. 371 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:44,960 Humanity has tried what Nietzsche proposed. 372 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,280 And not only in recent years, throughout humanity. 373 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,120 Philosophers, wise men and women, 374 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:55,320 cultures in every spot around the planet, 375 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,720 they've tried different variations of this. 376 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,720 I would say that the clearest examples 377 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,760 have been much more recent as secularism, 378 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,360 as this denial of God's impact in society 379 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:12,480 has really taken root. 380 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,680 It is much more common and traditional 381 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:20,240 that a belief in an external source of morality 382 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:23,120 be the case, be what's accepted. 383 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:25,680 Most of human history had that. 384 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:27,760 Even in the most debaucherous cultures, 385 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:29,760 they had gods that told them to be that. 386 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,560 But really from the French Revolution onwards to today, 387 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,360 from the French Revolution onwards to today's present day, 388 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:42,360 that's really where we've seen these kinds of ideas 389 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:43,720 get deeply ingrained. 390 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,980 Well, how has it turned out? 391 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:51,320 I would say it's currently being carried out. 392 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,400 And how has it turned out? 393 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,880 Well, one, Nietzsche worried that these would be 394 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,900 the results of not replacing God. 395 00:22:58,900 --> 00:23:02,360 As we've not replaced God, how has it gone? 396 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:05,720 Have we deluded ourselves with false beliefs? 397 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:10,720 Oh yeah, right now, many prominent people 398 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,440 can't tell you the difference between a man and a woman 399 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,800 and who's got more natural athletic ability 400 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,400 or who naturally has more of a nurturing personality. 401 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:26,200 That's obvious with our senses and our logic. 402 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,200 You can see it. 403 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,000 You don't need the PhD to tell you otherwise. 404 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Do we have other false beliefs? 405 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,880 Well, you get rid of God, you get rid of an outside creator, 406 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,280 even in other pagan beliefs, they had an outside creator. 407 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,760 Well, now we believe that the tadpoles, our kids, 408 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,600 are fond of talking about this morning. 409 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,440 Those are our greatest grandparents. 410 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,200 I mean, there's many beliefs. 411 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,320 There are many false beliefs that we have deluded ourselves 412 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,240 and then I would say, 413 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,280 that just kind of seems to be getting worse. 414 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:02,280 We now believe that it is good and noble 415 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,120 to end your own life prematurely. 416 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:12,360 We believe it's good and acceptable for people 417 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:14,400 of all various attractions, 418 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,680 including the old to the very young, be permissible. 419 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,040 And some are arguing actionable. 420 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,360 I'm talking illicit relationships. 421 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:30,360 There are many now who think that it's a good thing 422 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:33,840 for society to let criminals out of jail, 423 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:38,360 to allow violence to run rampant without a check, 424 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:41,840 to openly lie and then hide 425 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,080 and get rid of anything that suggests. 426 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,440 They are saying this is good for us. 427 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,000 Is that a false belief and are we deluded by it? 428 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,320 What about our second point that Nietzsche was concerned about? 429 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,600 Becoming irretrievably depressed. 430 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,600 As we have not replaced God, has that gotten better? 431 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,440 No. 432 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,760 My friends, it is a rather worrying state 433 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:06,960 when it comes to depression and anxiety 434 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,760 and suicidality in our country today. 435 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,760 In the last three years, it's skyrocketed. 436 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,520 Skyrocketed. 437 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,520 And the most concerning thing is that 438 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,040 it's skyrocketed and the most concerning numbers 439 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,320 are in the age groups where it historically 440 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,440 has been the least present. 441 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,200 The young adults and the children 442 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,600 at ever increasing younger ages. 443 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,440 We now have, don't quote me on this, 444 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:38,440 but I believe it's somewhere around 20%, 445 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,520 I think it's 20% of Americans are on either 446 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,440 an anti-anxiety or an anti-depressant. 447 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,360 And in terms of like consistent daily use, 448 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:48,840 they're just as needed and then they're off of it, 449 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,280 like regular use. 450 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,760 It's higher amongst women in the United States. 451 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,720 I believe it's one in three. 452 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,640 One in three women are on anti-anxiety 453 00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,360 or anti-depressant medication. 454 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,960 That does not indicate to me that we've done well 455 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,160 with this concern. 456 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,360 Seems to me that we are continuing to become 457 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:14,640 more irretrievably depressed. 458 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:15,480 Well what about this? 459 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,560 We're distracting ourselves with vacuous pursuits 460 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,440 and meaningless entertainment. 461 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,400 How have we done as we've not replaced God? 462 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,240 Have you heard of TikTok? 463 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:33,160 Facebook, Instagram, what about just the never ending 464 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,120 24 hour coverage of just sports? 465 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:38,680 I like sports. 466 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,800 I like to be athletic, I think it's good for your health 467 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,920 and it's kind of fun to watch it. 468 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,040 But how absorbed are we into the ups and downs 469 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,800 of various teams all over the place? 470 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,600 How emotionally invested are we? 471 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,080 And let's just really ask, is it really going to add 472 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,400 to your eternal salvation whether or not your favorite team 473 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:00,800 does well or not? 474 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,880 But how invested do you get in it? 475 00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:08,520 How much money do we spend on vacuous pursuits 476 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,080 and meaningless entertainment? 477 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,720 How much better could that money be spent 478 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:14,560 elsewhere? 479 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,320 We haven't done well with this. 480 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,600 Nietzsche worried that these would be the results 481 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:24,200 and even though he had a proposal 482 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,240 and our society has tried it, that's only gotten worse. 483 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:29,840 It's only gotten worse. 484 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,880 From the beginning, the lie has been told 485 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,920 that to replace God, to kill God, 486 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,320 was to enable us to become God. 487 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:46,320 We read this from the serpent's mouth after Eve had said, 488 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,240 God told us, don't touch the tree, don't eat it or we'll die. 489 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:54,000 He says this, you will not surely die. 490 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,480 For God knows that when you eat of it, 491 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,440 your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. 492 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,160 Genesis three, verses four and five. 493 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,680 The serpent is saying, God did not create everything good 494 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:08,600 and very good. 495 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,480 He withheld something from you and God is jealous of you 496 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,560 so he kept it back. 497 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,280 Now you can have what God doesn't want you to have 498 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,880 and as in partaking, you will become God yourself. 499 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,240 You will elevate yourself way high above your current status 500 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,840 and you will know things and experience things. 501 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,240 You will be a superman. 502 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:35,320 Just don't trust God's word. 503 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:37,520 Just desire to usurp him. 504 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,000 Our verse from Isaiah that Elena read for us, 505 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,000 that was Lucifer in heaven thinking these very things. 506 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,200 I'm gonna ascend high above the stars of the north. 507 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,360 I'm going to sit in God's throne. 508 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,560 I'm going to be like him and here he's sending it 509 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,800 right on to humans. 510 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,240 This is an old, old, old lie. 511 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,640 Nietzsche is again just repackaging it. 512 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:08,640 God withheld one thing from humanity. 513 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:11,280 What did he withhold? 514 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:13,600 Evil. 515 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,760 He said you can have everything else. 516 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,880 You can have it all. 517 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,960 Eternal life, presence with me, 518 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,960 a beautiful relationship where no one's fighting, 519 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,760 trees and animals and everything in harmony 520 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:29,600 and it's working. 521 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:30,440 It's working. 522 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:31,280 It's working. 523 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,680 Animals and everything in harmony and it's working well. 524 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,840 I'm gonna keep one thing from you. 525 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:38,840 And that's evil. 526 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,360 That's wickedness. 527 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:46,080 I don't even want you to know about it, 528 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:47,920 much less experience it. 529 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:54,680 And the long sad history of what believing this lie 530 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,040 has brought is well known. 531 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:02,040 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 532 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:04,920 and the wages of sin is death, 533 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,840 Paul writes to the church in Rome. 534 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,160 We know the results of this. 535 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,040 We know what it is when we try to do it ourselves 536 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,000 or when we've tried to ascend to Godhood, 537 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,640 when we've tried to pursue Godhood, 538 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,960 when we think that we are inherently better than we are 539 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,080 and we just develop that and turn it into 540 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:28,920 some artistic style, 541 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:33,280 what happens? 542 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,800 Immorality, debauchery, pain, suffering, 543 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,960 lies, deceit, murder, war and the list goes on. 544 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,000 We've seen death occur and even though some 545 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,760 some faiths profess this recurrence, 546 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,360 this eternal recurrence, 547 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,040 I have yet to meet someone who I actually knew 548 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:01,520 that died before me. 549 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,920 Seems to be not the case. 550 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,600 But we have good news because as Christians, 551 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,440 we don't believe that we are just stuck 552 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,360 in a nihilistic cycle here on this earth. 553 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,560 We don't believe that our sinful condition 554 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,440 brought on by Adam and Eve is all that we have 555 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,440 and we certainly don't believe or accept this idea 556 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,120 that to take a sinful condition and mold it like putty 557 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:37,040 and maybe paint a little picture on it 558 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,560 or give it some lipstick makes it any better. 559 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:41,840 I think there's an old saying, 560 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,760 even if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. 561 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:46,760 Well, even if a pig rolls around in mud 562 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,640 and you hose it off, it's still a pig. 563 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:51,920 Now you can take humanity and you can take sin 564 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,200 and you can take all of the evil wicked desires 565 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,080 and urges that we naturally have. 566 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,200 You can try to paint it with something rosy. 567 00:31:58,200 --> 00:31:59,720 You can try to wash it off. 568 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:01,920 You can try to just give it new names and say, 569 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,840 ah, it's not exactly what we ever thought that it was. 570 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,600 It still is. 571 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:09,840 And it still leads to the same results 572 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,840 because by their fruits, you'll know it. 573 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:14,720 And we just know it. 574 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,160 We also, as Christians know that the wages of sin is death 575 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,520 is not the end of it all because it goes on, 576 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,520 but the free gift of God is eternal life 577 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,320 and Christ Jesus, our Lord. 578 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,440 The Christians have to hang on to this hope. 579 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,080 We've seen the other option fail miserably. 580 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,760 Nietzsche and others that have proposed something 581 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:38,960 like his Superman have always failed 582 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:41,320 in rather glorious fashion. 583 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,440 So what do we declare this morning? 584 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:44,760 God did die. 585 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:47,120 He did. 586 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:49,560 But he's not dead. 587 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,560 That's the rest of the story. 588 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:57,560 That's where Nietzsche should have kept going. 589 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,000 If you actually read about his life, it's rather sad. 590 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,920 He had some really devout Christians in his life, 591 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:07,000 but apparently his upbringing affected him differently. 592 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,040 It's a very traditional, very traditional story. 593 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,720 It's a very traditional siblings 594 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:15,960 and so on in the Christian faith. 595 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,160 God did die, but he is not dead. 596 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,200 I've heard it recently described this way 597 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,680 that if you hear a professed Christian 598 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,480 describe Jesus as was, 599 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,440 then they've missed the mark 600 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:38,520 because we serve a risen savior. 601 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:43,080 We can describe Jesus as is. 602 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,320 He did walk this earth, but he is alive. 603 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:51,080 He was here, but he not was. 604 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:53,480 He's not only in the past. 605 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:58,480 So what is our solution to the problems that we see? 606 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:02,240 What are the solutions? 607 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,000 What is the solution? 608 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,400 I would suggest that the solution is not to pursue Godhood, 609 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,240 but to pursue God. 610 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,440 Not Godhood, but God. 611 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,640 Jesus says as the crowds were gathering 612 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:22,080 more and more around him early in his ministry, 613 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:23,920 this from Mark chapter eight, 614 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:25,840 if anyone would come after me, 615 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:30,840 let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. 616 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,000 For whoever would save his life will lose it, 617 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,200 but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels 618 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:38,920 will save it. 619 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:40,960 Pursue me, he says. 620 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,960 You have to get rid of the dirt. 621 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,040 You have to get rid of the ugly. 622 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:50,800 Look at your weaknesses and say, 623 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,520 okay, maybe that's a real part of me, 624 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,560 but I don't have to be that weak for eternity. 625 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,720 My weaknesses don't have to define me 626 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:03,400 and I can't take my weaknesses and make them pretty. 627 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:08,120 I need to deny myself, take up my cross, 628 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,480 follow after Jesus. 629 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:15,600 Because if we lose that life for his sake, 630 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,840 then we will ultimately save our life. 631 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:24,440 I would also suggest that the solution is not Superman, 632 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:27,200 but a renewal of self in Christ. 633 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,240 Not the development of you on your own 634 00:35:32,240 --> 00:35:34,720 through your own efforts by your own means 635 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,720 in your own individualistic way. 636 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:41,000 That's not it, that's not the solution. 637 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:45,360 All of those hypothetical questions that we asked, 638 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:46,680 could we even achieve it? 639 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:47,520 The answer is no. 640 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,800 How good would society look even if we could? 641 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:51,520 Not good. 642 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,480 All of those questions can be answered in a negative. 643 00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:58,880 Because the solution is not Superman, 644 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,200 but a renewal of self in Christ. 645 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:08,000 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death 646 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,600 in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead 647 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,240 by the glory of the Father, 648 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:15,720 we too might walk in newness of life. 649 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:21,400 We have to talk about two different kinds of deaths. 650 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:24,000 God died, but he's not dead. 651 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,200 But we do need to die. 652 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,280 There are parts of us that do need to die. 653 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,200 There are parts of us that are not good to hang on to 654 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:36,000 and they are not good for society to champion. 655 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:38,000 They need to die. 656 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,440 They need to be put on that cross right with our Savior 657 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:47,440 where he took our place and all of those sins need to die. 658 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:55,040 The good news is that even though we might die, 659 00:36:55,040 --> 00:37:00,040 Christ was victorious over the grave. 660 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:05,360 And so just like God died, but he's not dead. 661 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,480 That's because you and I need parts of ourselves to die. 662 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,480 That doesn't mean that we're dead. 663 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:12,880 We can live. 664 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,440 We have to live in Christ. 665 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,800 We can have a better life, but it has to be in him. 666 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:24,800 We can have hope in something outside of this earth 667 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:28,680 better than anything we've ever seen. 668 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,960 But our hope has to rely on him. 669 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:37,600 It has to because everything else has failed. 670 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,560 This is a reoccurring theme in the New Testament. 671 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:42,320 Quote, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 672 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:43,640 he's a new creation. 673 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,200 The old is passed away, behold, the new has come. 674 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:48,200 Second Corinthians 517. 675 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,600 Galatians 220, I have been crucified with Christ. 676 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:55,600 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 677 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:57,480 And the life I now live in the flesh, 678 00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,720 I live by faith in the Son of God, 679 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:03,280 who loved me and gave himself for me. 680 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,720 From the beginning, it was God's intent 681 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:11,800 that mankind would live in harmony with him. 682 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,840 From the beginning, God created men and women 683 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,600 to live without the knowledge and the experience 684 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:18,760 of sin. 685 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,920 From the beginning, God said, 686 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,920 I only desire the best for him, for them. 687 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,560 They just need to rely on me and live with me 688 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,760 and abide with me and I with them. 689 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,000 That was God's plan all along. 690 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:39,880 We messed it up because we accepted the lie of the Superman 691 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:44,000 and we still accept the lie today. 692 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,400 We need to reject that idea. 693 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:50,240 We need to reject the idea that self-affirmation 694 00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:51,080 is all it takes. 695 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,800 God did not come to affirm you in your sin. 696 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,040 He came to save you from your sin. 697 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:02,560 God did not come to affirm you in the worst things of you. 698 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,520 He came to save you from the worst. 699 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,640 God did not come to say, Jesus did not come to say 700 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:15,640 that the best you have right now is the best you'll ever have. 701 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,840 He came to say, I have something better for you 702 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,040 and I've had it in mind from the beginning. 703 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:25,360 That's what Jesus is saying. 704 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:31,000 Are we willing, I shouldn't phrase it that way, 705 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:34,120 are we willing to let part of ourselves die today? 706 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:39,320 Are we willing to say that we need that outside 707 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,960 ethical and moral standard that comes from a perfect 708 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,160 and holy and beautiful God who loves us infinitely? 709 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,720 Are we willing to say, yes, we need that 710 00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:54,280 or are we going to cling desperately to the serpent's lie 711 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:57,160 repeated through Nietzsche and onward to today? 712 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:00,480 Which one do you choose? 713 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:06,960 We talked about the last message for Vacation Bible Day 714 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:10,920 and the last message for Vacation Bible School annually 715 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,160 has to do with the gospel message. 716 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:14,840 It has to do with salvation. 717 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:18,760 It has to do with, it's fun to learn these stories 718 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:20,720 and it's great to play these games 719 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:22,600 but really do you know Jesus? 720 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,480 That's how Becky puts the capstone on BDS every year. 721 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,400 That's how we need to put a capstone on all of this. 722 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,520 It's good to have some games and it's good 723 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:36,760 to do all of these other things 724 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:39,440 and there's a lot of, it's a lot of good things 725 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,400 when it comes to living life on this planet 726 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:43,880 but is that enough? 727 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:46,260 Do you want more? 728 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,680 You need to grasp hold of what God is offering 729 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:53,240 and pursue God. 730 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:55,720 Don't pursue Godhood. 731 00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:59,800 You will always fail as you pursue Godhood 732 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:04,600 and I would encourage you from today moving forward, 733 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:05,560 pursue God. 734 00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:06,400 Let's pray. 735 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,800 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your loving kindness. 736 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:11,880 We thank you that you've revealed yourself to us 737 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:15,400 in many meaningful and powerful ways, 738 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:17,200 not least of which through your word 739 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:20,040 and through the person, Jesus Christ. 740 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:22,320 Lord, I pray that we would not be distracted 741 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,600 by other failing options out there 742 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,880 but we would look to you, the giver and sustainer of life. 743 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,720 We would look to you who is our past, 744 00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:32,080 our present and our future. 745 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,640 We would look to you who fails not 746 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:38,720 but lifts us up by your right arm. 747 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:40,400 Lord, I know each one of us here 748 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:42,560 has fallen and fallen multiple times 749 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:46,040 and I do pray that you would let us 750 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,560 through the power and the presence of your Holy Spirit 751 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,080 discern those areas that drag us down. 752 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,720 Not so we can try and turn them into something beautiful 753 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:58,240 but so we can reject it 754 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:02,400 and rather look to you to fill us with your presence 755 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:06,120 and a love that is beautiful, a mercy that is beautiful 756 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:09,000 and a character modeled after Christ. 757 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,720 Lord, we thank you for hearing our prayer. 758 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:13,680 We thank you that you are ever faithful 759 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:16,680 and you will never leave us nor forsake us. 760 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:18,240 Lord, we claim this not today 761 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:20,280 but we claim it each day moving forward 762 00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:22,360 all the way until Christ returns. 763 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:24,720 We thank you for being with us 764 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:39,720 while we pray in Christ's name, Amen.