Exploring God's Existence Through Creation and Suffering

### Summary

Welcome, everyone. It's a pleasure to be with you today. I come all the way from Seattle, Washington, and I brought a little bit of my friends with me called Clouts. When Phil asked if I would come and preach, I was excited. The topic is, "Does God exist?" This is a question I often discuss with my friends, many of whom do not yet trust Jesus. Whether you are a follower of Jesus or someone who is still searching, I have good news for you: God exists. If you're wondering about pain and suffering, know that God is not the author of it, but He will use it to reveal the purpose of your life. Let's pray and ask God to guide us today.

Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." This verse uses anthropomorphic language to help us understand that all of creation points to God. Today, we will explore three main points: confirming the glory of God, the problem of pain, and embracing God amidst grief. We will look at these through the lenses of science, creation, and the existence of evil.

Science and creation are not at odds with God; they actually point to Him. Albert Einstein once said, "Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind." The more we understand science, the more we see the intricate design of a divine Creator. When I talk to my friends about God, I ask them four questions: Do you believe in the existence of a God? What is your current worldview and why? How does your worldview handle suffering and pain? Would you consider Jesus and His claims if they could be proven to you?

C.S. Lewis, in his book "The Screwtape Letters," advises against using science to disprove God because real science encourages us to think about realities beyond our senses. Science is God showing us His work. When we look at creation, we see God's handiwork. Miracles are not violations of natural laws but rather glimpses of how things were originally meant to be.

The existence of evil and suffering often leads people to question God's existence. However, the very fact that we can identify evil and suffering points to a moral objective truth, which in turn points to God. The problem is not that God is absent; it's that we often fail to take responsibility for our actions. God is not an absentee Father; He is actively working in the world through His Spirit and through us.

Romans 1:20-23 tells us that God's invisible qualities have been clearly seen since the creation of the world. The vastness of the cosmos is a message pointing to the Creator. Romans 2:14-15 says that the law is written on our hearts, so we know when there is injustice. When we feel that something is wrong, it's an echo of our cry for God's justice. Creation itself is groaning, waiting for Jesus to make all things right.

The cross of Christ is the ultimate demonstration of how God deals with pain and suffering. God bore our judgment in our place. Some may find it harsh that God allowed His Son to die, but this act of justice is also an act of immense love. C.S. Lewis wrote in "The Problem of Pain" that God shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Pain and suffering are not authored by God, but He uses them to bring forth hope.

In the Bible, we see that God is present in every book, from Genesis to Revelation. He is the breath of life, the Passover lamb, our high priest, and so much more. He is not distant; He is near, actively working to redeem all of creation. Jesus steps into our pain and suffering and says, "Hope is here. Love is here. Grace is here."

Friends, if you have been hurt by the church or by people who claim to follow Jesus, know that God is not like that. He is a God of love, grace, and justice. He is actively working to make all things right. Let's pray and invite the worship team to come forth. Remember, Jesus has overcome the world, and He is with us in our pain and suffering.

### Key Takeaways

1. **The Heavens Declare God's Glory**: Psalm 19:1 tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands. This anthropomorphic language helps us understand that all of creation points to God. Science and creation are not at odds with God; they actually reveal His intricate design and divine nature. The more we understand science, the more we see the evidence of a divine Creator. [22:23]

2. **Science as God's Handiwork**: Science is not a tool to disprove God but a means to understand His creation. C.S. Lewis advises against using science to disprove God because real science encourages us to think about realities beyond our senses. When we look at creation, we see God's handiwork. Miracles are not violations of natural laws but glimpses of how things were originally meant to be. [26:57]

3. **The Problem of Evil and Suffering**: The existence of evil and suffering often leads people to question God's existence. However, the very fact that we can identify evil and suffering points to a moral objective truth, which in turn points to God. God is not an absentee Father; He is actively working in the world through His Spirit and through us. The cross of Christ is the ultimate demonstration of how God deals with pain and suffering. [36:38]

4. **God's Presence in Our Pain**: C.S. Lewis wrote in "The Problem of Pain" that God shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Pain and suffering are not authored by God, but He uses them to bring forth hope. Jesus steps into our pain and suffering and says, "Hope is here. Love is here. Grace is here." God is not distant; He is near, actively working to redeem all of creation. [38:19]

5. **God's Redemptive Plan**: From Genesis to Revelation, God is present in every book of the Bible. He is the breath of life, the Passover lamb, our high priest, and so much more. He is actively working to make all things right. If you have been hurt by the church or by people who claim to follow Jesus, know that God is not like that. He is a God of love, grace, and justice. Jesus has overcome the world, and He is with us in our pain and suffering. [50:37]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[20:47] - Introduction and Prayer
[22:23] - The Heavens Declare God's Glory
[23:54] - Science and Creation
[25:26] - Conversations with Friends
[26:57] - C.S. Lewis on Science and Faith
[28:29] - Miracles and God's Design
[30:16] - The Problem of Evil and Suffering
[31:52] - Moral Objective Truth
[33:31] - God's Active Presence
[35:02] - Our Responsibility
[36:38] - Creation Groaning
[38:19] - The Cross and Justice
[40:16] - Human Responsibility
[41:57] - The Gospel Levels Everyone
[43:31] - Richard Dawkins' View
[45:14] - God's Patience and Justice
[46:59] - Embracing God Amidst Grief
[48:50] - God's Redemptive Plan
[50:37] - God's Presence in Every Book
[52:00] - Jesus in the New Testament
[53:34] - Jesus Steps into Our Pain
[55:46] - Closing Prayer

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Psalm 19:1** - "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands."
2. **Romans 1:20-23** - "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 people are without excuse."
3. **Romans 2:14-15** - "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them."

#### Observation Questions
1. According to Psalm 19:1, what do the heavens and skies do? How is this significant in understanding God's existence?
2. In Romans 1:20-23, what are the "invisible qualities" of God that have been clearly seen since the creation of the world?
3. How does Romans 2:14-15 describe the law being written on our hearts? What does this imply about our understanding of right and wrong?
4. What are the four questions the speaker asks his friends to discuss the existence of God? ([25:26])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the anthropomorphic language in Psalm 19:1 help us understand God's communication through creation? ([22:23])
2. What does the speaker mean when he says, "Science is God showing us His work"? How does this perspective align with the sermon’s message? ([28:29])
3. How does the existence of evil and suffering point to a moral objective truth, according to the sermon? ([31:52])
4. What role does the cross of Christ play in demonstrating how God deals with pain and suffering? ([38:19])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you experienced pain or suffering. How did you see or not see God working in that situation? How does the sermon’s message about God using pain to reveal purpose resonate with your experience? ([20:47])
2. The speaker mentions that science and creation point to God. How can you use your understanding of science or nature to strengthen your faith or share it with others? ([23:54])
3. The sermon discusses the problem of evil and suffering. How do you personally reconcile the existence of a loving God with the presence of evil in the world? ([30:16])
4. C.S. Lewis wrote that "God shouts in our pains." Can you identify a moment in your life where pain led you to a deeper understanding or relationship with God? ([38:19])
5. The speaker talks about the importance of embodying the love, grace, and justice of God. What are some practical ways you can better reflect these attributes in your daily interactions? ([33:31])
6. How can you support someone who is struggling with the question of God's existence due to their experiences with pain and suffering? What specific actions can you take to be a source of hope and love for them? ([45:14])
7. The sermon emphasizes that God is present in every book of the Bible and actively working to redeem all of creation. How can this understanding shape your approach to reading the Bible and living out your faith? ([50:37])

Day 1: The Heavens Declare God's Glory
The heavens and the skies are not just vast expanses of space; they are a testament to the glory of God. Psalm 19:1 uses anthropomorphic language to help us understand that all of creation points to God. Science and creation are not at odds with God; they actually reveal His intricate design and divine nature. The more we understand science, the more we see the evidence of a divine Creator. This understanding can deepen our faith and awe in God, as we see His handiwork in the natural world around us. [22:23]

Psalm 19:1 (ESV): "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."

Reflection: When you look at the natural world, what aspects of creation make you marvel at God's glory? How can you incorporate moments of awe and wonder into your daily routine to remind yourself of God's presence?


Day 2: Science as God's Handiwork
Science is not a tool to disprove God but a means to understand His creation. C.S. Lewis advises against using science to disprove God because real science encourages us to think about realities beyond our senses. When we look at creation, we see God's handiwork. Miracles are not violations of natural laws but glimpses of how things were originally meant to be. This perspective allows us to see science as a way to explore and appreciate the complexity and beauty of God's creation, rather than as a challenge to our faith. [26:57]

Job 12:7-9 (ESV): "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?"

Reflection: How can you use your understanding of science to deepen your appreciation for God's creation? What steps can you take to integrate this appreciation into your worship and daily life?


Day 3: The Problem of Evil and Suffering
The existence of evil and suffering often leads people to question God's existence. However, the very fact that we can identify evil and suffering points to a moral objective truth, which in turn points to God. God is not an absentee Father; He is actively working in the world through His Spirit and through us. The cross of Christ is the ultimate demonstration of how God deals with pain and suffering. This understanding can help us find hope and purpose even in the midst of our struggles, knowing that God is with us and working through us. [36:38]

Romans 8:18-19 (ESV): "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God."

Reflection: Think about a time when you experienced suffering. How did you see God working in that situation? How can you use your experiences of suffering to help others see God's presence and purpose in their own struggles?


Day 4: God's Presence in Our Pain
C.S. Lewis wrote in "The Problem of Pain" that God shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Pain and suffering are not authored by God, but He uses them to bring forth hope. Jesus steps into our pain and suffering and says, "Hope is here. Love is here. Grace is here." God is not distant; He is near, actively working to redeem all of creation. This understanding can help us find comfort and strength in knowing that God is with us in our pain and is using it for a greater purpose. [38:19]

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV): "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Reflection: How have you experienced God's comfort in your times of pain? How can you extend that same comfort to others who are suffering?


Day 5: God's Redemptive Plan
From Genesis to Revelation, God is present in every book of the Bible. He is the breath of life, the Passover lamb, our high priest, and so much more. He is actively working to make all things right. If you have been hurt by the church or by people who claim to follow Jesus, know that God is not like that. He is a God of love, grace, and justice. Jesus has overcome the world, and He is with us in our pain and suffering. This understanding can help us trust in God's redemptive plan and find hope in His promises. [50:37]

Revelation 21:4-5 (ESV): "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'"

Reflection: How can you hold onto the hope of God's redemptive plan in your daily life? What steps can you take to share this hope with others who may be struggling to see God's presence and purpose?

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. How are you all? If you don't, that means, how are you? That's what the translation is. Man, it's a pleasure to be with you guys today. I come all the way from Seattle, Washington. I brought a little bit of my friends with me called Clouts. Two people clapped, so we know who is getting beat up after service because all the other people are like, no, we want all the sun. Man, but it's a pleasure to be with you.

When Phil asked if I would come and preach, I was like, man, that would be amazing. The topic is, does God exist? I was like, ah, that's easy. It's easy because I have these conversations with my friends all the time. Living in Seattle, a lot of my friends, they don't yet trust Jesus.

Wherever you are at today, if you're a person who calls yourself a follower of Jesus or a person who has trusted Jesus, welcome. If you're a person who's not yet a follower of Jesus and you're wondering, is there a God? I've got good news for you. I've got good news for you. There is. Also, if you're wondering about pain and suffering, I would also like to encourage you to know that because God is real, pain and suffering, God is not the author of it, but he will use it so that you would know more about the purpose of your life. Amen?

Before we do that, I know Phil, he usually kneels when he prays, but I do not have the supernatural and spiritual gift of flexibility, but we're going to pray. Pray and ask that God would guide us here today. Join your hearts with mine.

God, you are so amazing. You are something other than we have ever seen. Your work, your handiwork, your fingerprints of all the things that you have done continue to speak and transcend across time and space and distant galaxies that we can't see or know.

We pray that you today, God, the Holy Spirit, would come invade this place. Would you come and do a work in our hearts so that we may see your truth of who you are and how you've designed the world? We thank you for all these things. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

And I also have another confession. I'm a chocolate preacher, which means this: if you're quiet, it means I need to preach longer. Now, don't get it twisted. There's a clock back there that's counting down on my time. It's like kryptonite to a chocolate preacher. So I'm going to need you to be graceful to me so I can be graceful to you. Can I get an amen? Amen. Okay. I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page.

The topic of the existence of God, does God exist? If you would meet me in Psalm 19, verse 1. Psalm 19, verse 1. This is what the word of the Lord says: "The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Now, God is a spirit, so he does not actually have hands. It's what the author is using to understand how God is communicating. It's called anthropomorphic language, meaning that he's trying to help you understand that he's identifying with you. But basically saying that the heavens, all of the heavens declare and proclaim his works.

The four points that I have for you today are confirming the glory of God, God's existence, the problem of pain, embracing God amidst grief, and lastly, who is God?

Now, off the jump, we're going to talk about three things to answer this question: does God exist? And then if so, what do we do with pain and suffering? We're going to look at it through science, creation, and the existence of evil. Those will be our sign or lampposts that actually point to the reality of God.

And then if so, what do we do with pain and suffering? We're going to look at the reality of God as a creator versus that there is no God. So thank you. I heard that amen right there. See, blessed and highly favored are you. May the Lord bless you with a double portion.

There is an amazing scientist that I love. He had some amazing hair, which I do not anymore, and his name was Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein says this about science and about God: "Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind."

You know why he says that? Because the more science continues to look at all of creation, how could a person not see that there is some kind of divine design? When I talk to my friends about preparing for this sermon, we kind of did one of those DTR ones.

"Hey, I know we're friends. I know we say we love each other, but I want to take our relationship to the next level. I want to have a conversation about four questions. I want to sit down with you and ask you, number one, do you believe in the existence of a God? Number two, what's your current worldview and why did you choose it? Number three, how does your worldview handle suffering and pain and evil? And number four, would you consider Jesus and his claims if it could be proved to you?"

Now, these are my actual friends who helped me prepare for this sermon. The reason why this is a very important question to talk about science is because a lot of answers that I got and some of the answers that I hear a lot is that God in this existence is just like a boogeyman or it's a fairy tale, that there's no way that we can know.

But the reality is, is that science continues to prove one of the arguments that there's a divine designer. Y'all, we in the Bay Area, there's design on design on design. Technology, amazing. But we know it had a programmer. And yet all of creation has been programmed intricately, designed intentionally, showing us who God is.

The author and theologian C.S. Lewis, he is a beast. If you don't know what that means, it means he's dope. He's amazing. C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, writes this amazing book called The Screwtape Letters, where he is like a chief demon, and he's trying to train his young buck nephew, Wormwood. He says, "Hey, fam, if you want to get these people to not believe in God, you can do a lot of things to mess them up, like for real, for real. But don't try to mess them up using science or to disprove God."

This is what he says in his book: "Above all, do not attempt to use science. I mean, the real sciences, as a defense against Christianity; they will positively encourage him to think about the realities that he cannot touch and see."

You see, friends, it's not God versus science. Science speaks to the existence of God. Like, when you think about math, now I know there's probably some beastly and amazing mathematicians. You think about people like John Lennox, who's this amazing mathematician, scientist, and devout follower of Jesus.

Y'all, I got a confession. I would do my math homework, and then, because I would turn it in, my teacher says, "Hey, fam, you got a lot of these questions right." Because what happened was, I found out in the back of the book, all the answers, and that the Lord was my shepherd, I shall not want. He made me lie down with all the answers. He provided them for me.

But my teacher was like, "Hey, you got to show me your work. I see you got the right answer, but I want you to show me your work." You see, friends, when we look at creation, science is God showing us his work. Science shows us his work.

You want to understand how the earth rotates? You want to understand how trees grow and plants get life and energy? How babies develop? How your mind works? How your eye can see? That's, I'm showing you my work. So, friends, science, it's not science versus God. Friends, that is science. Science is the paint of God that allows all of creation for us to see his works.

With each proverbial stroke of the brush of God's creation, it's another insight into how he has made all things. I was once asked by one of my friends, how do you understand and believe in God, and how do you handle miracles? And I was like, oh, fam, that's easy. And he was like, what? I said, watch this. Peep game.

Science is God's design and created order on how all things work. A miracle is God showing us his created order and how it was supposed to originally function. It's not, people who could not walk were not supposed to not be able to walk. They were supposed to be able to walk. People who could not see were not supposed to be blind. They were supposed to be able to see. Natural disasters were not supposed to happen.

But the whole earth and creation was supposed to be full of God's shalom and peace. You see, but when sin enters into the world, all of creation becomes broken. You and I become broken, and creation becomes broken.

You see, oftentimes we find ourselves saying, because evil and pain exist, that means that God doesn't exist. There's no way, there's no way that evil and pain and suffering can exist because God doesn't exist. Well, friends, that's actually even more of a reason why God exists, because you even have a definition of what is evil, and that there's pain, and that there's suffering, versus the God who says, I ain't got nothing to do with those, but I will love you in the midst of those.

That God is not the author of evil, but what the enemy uses for evil to harm and to destroy us in God's good shalom and creation, God says, I will use it for my purposes. Creation speaks to the glory of God. It speaks to the reality of a divine designer. Our creation is meticulously fine-tuned with the blueprint of how it's supposed to work and operate.

But you may say to me, "Javon, but what about natural disasters, when they kill people? How does creation really supposed to glorify God or prove that God exists?" Well, we're going to get to that. You see, and like I said earlier, that evil shows us what right and wrong is, injustice and justice. This shows us that there is such thing as a moral objective truth, and that there is such thing as a morality.

Now, you may not find yourself a person who says, yes, I adhere to the truth. I adhere to the truth. I adhere to the Torah, or the commandments and the invitation of Jesus to follow me, but I definitely hate that one sports team. I just hate them. Or you may say, I really don't like that one political party. God, if you just did away with them, all the world would be fixed.

If you just did away with evil God right now, the whole world will be fixed. You see, but the problem is, is that if he was to do that, it might be you first, and then me, and then everybody else. You see, we are under this weird false assumption that because evil exists, God is somehow absent.

Well, fam, I got news for you. God, the creator of the universe, is not sitting somewhere in the cosmos on his crazy yacht using stars as ice cubes for a Mai Tai and the Big Dipper for a spoon for a soup. He's not an absentee Father. He's present. He's working now, and he sends his Holy Spirit to indwell us and to go out into the world to partner with him in his work of redeeming all of creation. That's the work of the gospel.

And most oftentimes, friend, I've found that there are two reasons why a lot of people say they don't believe in God. The existence of evil, which we've talked about, and the second. The second is the witnesses who claim to be followers of Jesus.

Imagine if you went to a coffee shop, like Starbucks, and some of you guys are like, no, I know, just get it. Walk with me here. It's an illustration. You order your drink, and then they hand you a tire. That's right, a tire. You'd be like, what are you doing? I ordered a coffee. Yeah, there's a tire. We would see that that's a disconnect, right?

That would be something that doesn't work right. But because if you look on the sign outside, it said it's Starbucks. But if I go in there and you want to give me a tire, that's a problem for me. You see, but how do you think people experience when we're supposed to be the images of God to display God, and yet we're saying that God is filled with love, grace, mercy, and truth, but all they experience from us is judgment, despair, and destruction?

In a lot of ways, we have a problem of how we display the truth. We have a problem of how we display the truth. We have a problem of how we display the truth of God. Those are the two main ones that I kind of felt and heard continuously from a lot of people. Maybe God exists, but his witnesses are whack, and that is a legitimate barrier for people.

But friends, even in our fallenness, God still loves us. But friends, it's also an invitation to be invited to a journey to truly embody and believe and flesh out what we claim we actually believe. We can't say that we love God, but then hate our neighbor. We can't say that we love those people because they agree with us, and we hate these people, or we think they're crazy because they don't agree with us.

Fam, that's the witness. Even in this room, you can help people move one direction and one step closer to believing that God exists as if his people were actually embodied and followed out in his spirit. If you can't say amen, you can say ouch.

Even have our conscience. Romans 1, 20 through 23 says, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, his divine nature have clearly been seen, being understood that what was made so that people could be without excuse."

You see, the vastness of the cosmos is not just for us to marvel. It's a message. It's a cosmic message pointing to the creator. As Romans would say in chapter 2, verses 14 through 15, it says that the law has been written on our hearts. It's been written on our hearts, so we know when there is injustice. We know when there is wrong. We know when something's not right.

And friends, I would say when you feel that angst, when you feel that something's wrong and that something is not right, that's actually an echo of you crying out for help, saying, "How long, Lord, will unrighteousness and injustice be allowed on your creation?" You feel that? Creation feels that too. The natural disasters. Romans says that creation is groaning, that it cannot wait to see Jesus come and to make all things right again.

So when we're saying, why hasn't God delivered and taken away and wiped out all evil? Well, that's assuming that you're not evil. And it's also not understanding that God has already been doing his work. So much so that from the very beginning in the garden, when Adam and Eve forfeited everything, that he started to bring us back into right relationship with him.

Book after book, every piece of the story. And God doesn't just say, "Hey, fam, clean yourself up." He says, "I'm going to cover you. I'm going to cover you. And I'm going to do the work on your behalf."

The cross, the cross of Christ is one of the most amazing ways you can see how God deals with pain and suffering. That God would not allow pain and suffering and sin and evil and wickedness to win, but that he would bear our judgment. He would bear our judgment in our place for our sin.

And for some of us today who may say, well, why would God need to bear judgment? That's mean that God would allow his son to die. Well, hold on. First, we just said that we think that God's unjust because he allows evil to exist, but then we're upset when God actually displays his justice.

You see, because underneath everything, it comes to this. Do you believe that you are in control? Do I believe that I am in control or is God in control? Well, there's a problem with pain. C.S. Lewis writes this in his book, The Problem of Pain: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

You see, pain, suffering, and evil, though they are not authored by God, God uses them as midwives to bring forth hope. When you see despair, when you see evil, only God, who can control all things, can not only give you comfort to say that I will use them for your good, not let them destroy you.

And in fact, I will enter into relationship with you to be present with you. That is a beautiful picture, that God doesn't just leave us to ourselves, but he comes near in the person of his son. The reality of evil and pain and suffering prove that God exists rather than that he does not exist.

We cannot make the mistake, friends, because if we remember every day we choose the same way like Adam and Eve, we may be like, man, if I was in the garden, I would have slapped Adam. I would have slapped the fruit from his hand. Like, nah, fam. But yet every day we partake of our own fruit that we want, and we go another way.

And God's saying, no, hey, here's blessing, here's life, here's shalom, here's peace. Nah, I'm good. I'm going that way. Friends, the earth, our lives, evil, pain, and suffering are not the result of God's doing. They're a result of our doing, of our volition to choose another way.

So when you hear a bad song, when you hear your favorite song and you hear a bad rendition of it, and you're like, man, I love this Mozart song. It's amazing. Playing and playing and playing. And then someone gets up there and it's like angry cat. You would never be like, yo, Mozart, you're trash. Your songs are terrible. You would actually talk to the person who played it terribly, right?

So why is it when the world is broken, we go to attack God versus to take accountability for our own actions? And this is part of the gospel, that it levels everybody. It doesn't matter how good of a person you think you are. It doesn't matter how much bread you have, how famous you are, how not famous you are, what school you go to.

It flattens everybody to say, we are all in need of God. And for us, when we say, nah, I don't need him, that's what leads to brokenness, devastation, and vandalism of God's shalom. The scriptures say there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.

There's an interesting quote from Richard Dawkins. He's a non-Christian philosopher who says, "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction. In all fiction. Jealous and proud of it and pretty unjust, unforgiving, a control freak, a vindictive, bloodthirsty, ethnic cleanser, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infants in title, genocidal, philicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal."

I don't know how to say that word. I'm dyslexic too. The world's broken. Sadomasochist, capriciously malevolent bully. Like that's what he thinks about God. Now, if you have this view, I get it. Because if you believe that God was like this, who would believe, who would follow a God like that? I wouldn't.

Because here's what's also interesting as he says that, but then continues. Remember, he just said God is petty. That's what we say to somebody on the street. He's petty. Saying that God is petty and unjust and an unforgiving control freak. But yet he writes this in his next paragraph: "In the universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt and other people are going to get lucky. And you won't find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. There is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, and no good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is and was, and we dance to its music."

Now that sounds really sad. And the reason why it sounds really sad is because it's a particular belief of no hope, because the view of how you view God is unjust. But the interesting thing that he says that God, this character of God is unjust, but yet he says that the reality is, throw grout away, but yet at the same time, you're just going to find that there's not really any justice in life.

So if we believe what Mr. Dawkins has stated, then yeah, what a pity. We just exist. We're just walking piñatas that get whacked around, and all their pain and suffering, there's nothing good that can come of it, and we just exist.

You see, but Javon, if God does exist, then why does he allow evil? Friends, don't let us make the mistake that God's patience, that he's not willing that any would perish, as that he's okay or condoning injustice. The fact that you know what injustice is right now is God telling you, stop injustice.

Why doesn't you change anything, God? I gave you my spirit. Go make wrong things right. This person is poor. They need help. Give them some money. Don't say to them, "Hey, God bless you and be well." That's what the book of James says.

You see, friends, God is putting the world right because his spirit is here right now, and he has sent his son to die to make all things right, and will one day return and wreck shop and set up his kingdom and show everybody his eternal love, grace, and chesed. That's been his plan. He's been doing it, but even in suffering, and God's redemptive ripples have continued to be seen.

Remember Joseph, he was betrayed, but God, but he told his brothers, "You intended it for evil to harm me, but God intended it for good." You see, friends, God is not the author of evil. He is not the originator of sin, but you see, Jesus in Isaiah calls himself the suffering servant. He is the one who comes to suffer in our place on the world's behalf for sin.

So it is not as if God dipped out on us as a dad or a parent who just leaves. He comes near. He comes near in the incarnation through his son. Job, a man, had personal pains. He cried out, questioning, and he cried out, he cried out, he cried out, he cried out, he cried out, in God after he lost his whole family.

And yet even in his anguish, he affirmed, "I know my Redeemer lives." In church, in our moments of divine distress, we have to remember Hebrews 4:15. We do not have a high priest who was unable to empathize with us in our weakness. We got company.

You know the saying, misery loves company? Well, guess what? You got company in Jesus. If you're downcast, if you're heavy laden, guess what? You got company. If you're broken in need of hope, guess what? You got company. Jesus comes near. He comes near as a suffering servant.

You see, we are to embrace God in the midst of grief. I love what C.S. Lewis again says in the Chronicles of Narnia. He says, "Wrong will be right when Aslan comes back in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bears his teeth, winter meets death. And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

Fam, that's crazy. You don't want to see those teeth of that lion, the lion that doesn't need defending. But when Jesus Christ conquers all Satan, sickness, sin, and death, what a roar. What a beautiful roar that he says, "You will be protected by me."

Friends, God, he is actively working in the world and he's pulling back the curtain, showing us his kingdom and how creation was supposed to be. Or as New Testament writer N.T. Wright would say, he, God, has drastically launched this project through Jesus. Through who belonging to Jesus are called here and now in the power of the spirit and to be agents of putting to right purpose.

We are called to put the world right. God puts us right to put the world right. So when we see wickedness and injustice, because there is a God, we know that there is righteousness. We know that there is justice. We are to follow in him and his invited plan to make wrong things right.

Friends, you may never get the answer to all of your pain for your loss of your loved one, to the loss of your loved one, to the loss of your loved one, to the loss of your friends, to the loss of the trauma of your job or what was done to you. The enemy will always seek to make you think that God hates you and that his character is bad.

You see, but friends, God is not hating you. His character and who he is comes near. He is present with us, never to leave us, never to forsake us.

Well, who is this God? Who is this God? Who is this God? Who is this God? There is a song by Jack Richards and Richard Mullins. It says this, because the reason why this is important is because we may be thinking that God is, he's chilling, he's kicking it. He ain't coming back. Like I said, he's on vacation.

Who is God? This is what the song says: "In Genesis, he is the breath of life. In Exodus, he is the Passover lamb. In Leviticus, he is our high priest. In Numbers, he is the fire by night. In Deuteronomy, he's Moses's voice. In Joshua, he's salvation's choice. In Judges, the lawgiver. In Ruth, the kinsman redeemer. In First and Second Samuel, our trusted prophet. In Kings and Chronicles, he's our sovereign.

In Ezra, he is the true and faithful scribe. In Nehemiah, he is the rebuilder of broken walls and our lives. In Esther, he's Mordecai's courage. In Job, the timeless redeemer. In Psalms, he is our morning song. In Proverbs, he is our wisdom's cry. Ecclesiastes, he is our time and season.

In the Song of Solomon, he is the lover's dream. He is. He is. He is. In Isaiah, he is the prince of peace. Jeremiah, he is the weeping prophet. In Lamentations, he is the cry for Israel. In Ezekiel, he is the call from sin. In Daniel, there is another in the fire. We know the song about that, right?

In Hosea, he is forever faithful. In Joel, he is the spirit's power. In Amos, he is the arms that carry us. In Obadiah, he is the Lord, our Savior. In Jonah, he's the great missionary. In the book of Micah, he's our promise and peace. In Nahum, he is our strength and our shield.

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, he's pleading for our revival. In Haggai, he restores the lost heritage. In Zechariah, our fountain. In Malachi, he is the son of righteousness, rising with healing in his wings. He is. He is.

In Matthew, in Mark, in Luke, in John, he is God. He is man. He is Messiah. In the book of Acts, he is the fire from heaven. In Romans, he is the grace of God. In Corinthians, he is the power of love. In Galatians, he is the freedom from the curse of sin. In Ephesians, he is our glorious treasure.

In Philippians, he is our servant's heart. In Colossians, he is the Godhead, the Trinity, his supreme bossness. That was what I added into it. In Thessalonians, our coming king. In Timothy, Titus, Philemon, he is our mediator between our father and our faithful pastor. In Hebrews, he is the everlasting covenant. In James, in First and Second Peter, he is our shepherd.

In Jude and John, he is the lover coming for his bride. In Revelation, he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Guess what, y'all? I'm not done. He is the prince of peace, the son of man, the lamb of God, the great I am. He is alpha and omega. He is God. He is our savior. He is Jesus Christ, the Lord. He does exist. He is faithful. He is present. He's here now.

He has seen the brokenness of all creation. He has seen the brokenness of your life. He has seen the pain and trauma that you've gone through. And he said, guess what? I'm going to come near and be with you, my people. That is God.

So friends, if you today have said, I cannot accept this God because of trauma and evil and pain and suffering, friends, I tell you today that God is not down with those either. You may have never heard that, but I want you to know he's not about that life.

He's not about people worshiping a political party versus worshiping him first. He's not about that. He is not for their side or their side. He's for himself. And all of creation testifies of him.

Like Muhammad Ali would walk into the ring and say, "The champ is here." Jesus steps in onto the scene of sin and death and pain and trauma. And he says, "Hope is here. Love is here. Grace is here. Shalom is here. Chesed is here. Purpose is here."

The purpose for you and I in our life is to know Jesus. And we can know that God because he ain't out there kicking it. He came near and he's here today. Amen. Amen.

Let's pray. As I invite the worship team to come forth, I want to encourage us in this. That there will be pain. There will be trauma. There will be hardship and there will be difficulty. But Jesus says, "Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world."

As the beaver would say in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, "Aslan is on the move." And when he roars, winter will be no more.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this time. We thank you that you alone show us who you are in that sin, wickedness, evil, pain, and suffering. They can't take away from your glory. Your glory is that of love, shalom, care, and grace.

So God, if there is someone here today who does not know you, I pray that they would get to know you today. That this is an invitation for them to get to know the true God, the God of love, grace, and mercy and of justice. That when there is injustice, because he is righteous and he is just, he will fix those things because that is who he is.

We thank you for all of these things. In Jesus's good name, we pray. Amen.

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "If you're a person who's not yet a follower of Jesus and you're wondering, is there a God? I've got good news for you. I've got good news for you. There is. Also, if you're wondering about pain and suffering, I would also like to encourage you to know that because God is real, pain and suffering, God is not the author of it, but he will use it so that you would know more about the purpose of your life." [20:47](Making raw clip | Making vertical clip | Making vertical captioned clip)

2. "Friends, God is putting the world right because his spirit is here right now, and he has sent his son to die to make all things right, and will one day return and wreck shop and set up his kingdom and show everybody his eternal love, grace, and chesed. That's been his plan. He's been doing it, but even in suffering, and God's redemptive ripples have continued to be seen." [45:14](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

3. "Friends, God, he is actively working in the world and he's pulling back the curtain, showing us his kingdom and how creation was supposed to be. Or as New Testament writer N.T. Wright would say, he, God, has drastically launched this project through Jesus. Through who belonging to Jesus are called here and now in the power of the spirit and to be agents, of putting to right purpose. We are called to put the world right. God puts us right to put the world right." [48:50](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

4. "Jesus steps in onto the scene of sin and death and pain and trauma. And he says, hope is here. Love is here. Grace is here. Shalom is here. Chesed is here. Purpose is here. The purpose for you and I in our life is to know Jesus. And we can know that God because he ain't out there kicking it. He came near and he's here today." [53:34](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

### Quotes for Members

1. "The cross, the cross of Christ is one of the most amazing ways you can see how God deals with pain and suffering. That God would not allow pain and suffering and sin and evil and wickedness to win, but that he would bear our judgment. He would bear our judgment in our place for our sin. And for some of us today who may say, well, why would God need to bear judgment? That's mean that God would allow his son to die. Well, hold on. First, we just said that we think that God's unjust because he allows evil to exist, but then we're upset when God actually displays his justice." [38:19](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

2. "Friends, the earth, our lives, evil, pain, and suffering are not the result of God's doing. They're a result of our doing, of our volition to choose another way. So when you hear a bad song, when you hear your favorite song and you hear a bad rendition of it, and you're like, man, I love this Mozart song. It's amazing. Playing and playing and playing. And then someone gets up there and it's like angry cat. You would never be like, yo, Mozart, you're trash. Your songs are terrible. You would actually talk to the person who played it terribly, right? So why is it when the world is broken, we go to attack God versus to take accountability for our own actions?" [41:57](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

3. "You see, friends, God, it's not God versus science. Science speaks to the existence of God. Like, when you think about math, now I know there's probably some beastly and amazing mathematicians. You think about people like John Lennox, who's this amazing mathematician, scientist, and devout follower of Jesus. Y'all, I got a confession. I would do my math homework, and then, because I would turn it in, and my teacher says, hey, fam, you got a lot of these questions right. Because what happened was, I found out in the back of the book, all the answers, and that the Lord was my shepherd, I shall not want. He made me lie down with all the answers. He provided them for me. But my teacher was like, hey, you got to show me your work. I see you got the right answer, but I want you to show me your work. You see, friends, when we look at creation, science is God showing us his work. Science shows us his work." [28:29](Making raw clip | Making vertical clip | Making vertical captioned clip)

4. "Friends, you may never get the answer to all of your pain for your loss of your loved one, to the loss of your loved one, to the loss of your friends, to the loss of the trauma of your job or what was done to you. The enemy will always seek to make you think that God hates you and that his character is bad. You see, but friends, God is not hating you. His character and who he is comes near. He is present with us, never to leave us, never to forsake us." [48:50](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

5. "The reality of evil and pain and suffering prove that God exists rather than that he does not exist. We cannot make the mistake, friends, because if we remember every day we choose the same way like Adam and Eve, we may be like, man, if I was in the garden, I would have slapped Adam. I would have slapped the fruit from his hand. Like, nah, fam. But yet every day we partake of our own fruit that we want, and we go another way. And God's saying, no, hey, here's blessing, here's life, here's shalom, here's peace. Nah, I'm good. I'm going that way." [40:16](Making raw clip | Making vertical clip | Making vertical captioned clip)