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It Is Written

John Bradshaw

Prequel of the Bible: The Selfishness Paradigm

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It Is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

There are few things more beautiful, more peaceful, or more relaxing than a place like this.

Botanical gardens are a feature of many major cities, And if you've ever visited somewhere like Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, or the remarkable 300-acre Kew Gardens near Richmond in southwest London in England, you know how spectacular they can be.

And gardens like these are typically kept immaculate.

They're orderly, everything in its place, manicured.

But look closely and you'll see that things are not as they appear.

Things certainly aren't orderly and they're definitely not peaceful, at least not on a biological level.

Take a closer look and you'll see a life and death drama playing out.

Bugs or insects are going about their rather ruthless business, hunting, preying on other insects or spiders, wasps attacking spiders, ants hauling away other bugs or insects.

And often these little things are locked in a battle, the outcome of which isn't always sure And it isn't pretty.

These aren't sanitized battles that are taking place.

You've got little creatures injecting venom, paralyzing their victims, and then taking the victim, still alive, heart still beating but unable to move, back to its nest where it might even lay eggs in the victim.

In some cases, the eggs hatch and the paralyzed victim becomes a living food source.

To advance its own interests, 1 little creature takes the life of another.

Look at a rose bush and you'll often see aphids, which make their living by piercing the tender young bark of the plant and drinking the rich sap.

These aphids are in turn hunted by a voracious creature that we've somewhat romanticized – the ladybug.

A ladybug can eat dozens of aphids in a day and can actually bite humans.

It doesn't feel like much more than a little pinch for us.

Basically she takes their lives in order to advance and further her own life.

That's how she, or he for that matter, goes about his or her business.

And there's no peace in the soil underneath the beautiful bushes.

In a handful of soil are billions of microorganisms, and they're at war with each other.

Opposing armies of different types of microorganisms are almost continually at battle, and the winner eats the loser.

The opposing sides employ some pretty sophisticated strategies and counter-strategies, including mimicry, camouflage and chemical warfare.

In a handful of soil there plays out a hellish scenario of war, strife and death.

And what's happening in the soil under our feet is not so different from what's happening in the grass and the bushes and the trees and the water all around us.

In fact, from the bottom of the oceans to the tops of the mountains, we see the same pattern repeated throughout nature, where creatures survive by taking the lives or the resources of other creatures.

Selfishness is a fundamental part of the planet's operating system.

In fact, the organizing principle of much of the natural world is selfishness.

And that principle isn't confined only to the natural world.

Selfishness is the organizing principle for most human endeavors, our global society, our industry, and our economy.

Economists will tell you that Wall Street can't really operate without it.

In fact, pretty much the entire world, from all of nature to most everything humanity does, operates on a selfishness paradigm, or in other words, on a selfishness-based system.

And for Christians, that's a real problem.

In fact, it's a huge problem, but at the same time, it's a fitting way for us to start to talk about the prequel of the Bible.

Now, like any prequel, the prequel of the Bible is the backstory, the story behind the stories that you know.

But once you know the prequel, it makes everything else you know fuller and deeper and more meaningful.

And in our case, it helps explain a world based on selfishness.

So back to the question of the selfishness paradigm and the way nature and human society operate.

The Bible says that God created the world.

More than that, In the book of Genesis, the Bible gives a detailed account of God's creation, of how He systematically built up the fundamental systems of the world our atmosphere, our hydrosphere, our soil system, and how God added life forms to populate each completed system birds, fish, plants, and animals.

And then when all the systems were complete, he added humans.

The Bible describes creation as a very intentional and systematic process undertaken by God.

It also says he was pleased with each component system as he finished creating it, and that he was very pleased with the final result, where all systems and life forms worked together in 1 flawless, balanced, intermeshed whole.

Either you've asked that question yourself or you know somebody who has, And I've got an answer for you.

I'd like you to get today's free offer, Can God Be Trusted?

To receive it, call 800-253-3000, write to the address on your screen, or visit us at www.iiwoffer.com.

800-253-3000 or visit us at www.iiwoffer.com.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Thanks for joining me today on It is Written.

He is the very definition, the very distillation of love.

He's nurturing, he's caring, he's generous, he's kind, he's supportive, he's creative.

Now thinking about this logically, if God is love, then those things that he creates wouldn't be, in fact I would say couldn't be, in opposition to his character.

But just by observing the world around us, it's obvious the organizing principle of the world is not love but selfishness.

That is, the organizing principle of the world is the exact opposite of what God says He is.

Now a God who would make a world based on selfishness, where the things he made would torture and kill 1 another, is not a God of love but as a monster, and isn't a God that is worthy of our worship." Let me say that again.

A God who would intentionally create a world so that what he made was designed to torture and to kill 1 another, that God is not worthy of our worship.

As we look at who and what God is and grapple with the difference between who God says He is and what we see in the world around us, we can run through several possible reasons for what really is a massive disparity.

1, maybe who God says he is and what we see in the world are different because the Bible is false and God is actually a monster who tortures the things he creates.

Maybe the Bible is just a book of fables.

Perhaps the Bible is true and God is who He says He is.

But something happened to change the world from the way He created it into what it is today.

Maybe God created the world, it actually is right now, but we simply don't understand it or Him.

Now, each 1 of these 4 possibilities touches directly on the character and the existence of God.

As we start talking about the state of the world, we're also thinking about and talking about the character of God.

So we have 4 possible reasons for the disparity between who God says He is and what we see in the world around us.

God says that He is love, but the world around us isn't based on love, but selfishness.

So let's look at those 4 possible reasons and see if we can narrow down that list.

Maybe God actually is a monster who tortures the things he creates.

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Prequel of the Bible: The Selfishness Paradigm

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