Shawn Ryan is my neighbor. I see him with some regularity when I’m near the lake, but I’ve only introduced myself once, as he’s always with his family – and I don’t wish to be “that” neighbor. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, Shawn is a podcaster and former U.S. Navy SEAL and Blackwater contractor for the Global Response Staff, a paramilitary security wing of the CIA. He hosts the Shawn Ryan Show, and founded Vigilance Elite, a tactical training company.
Last Christmas Eve, Shawn hosted Lee Strobel on the show. And he set up the interview with two penetrating questions: “Who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Is it ‘Who is’ or ‘Who was’?”
Once a skeptic of Christianity, Strobel is a bestselling author, including “A Case for Christ.” He is an apologist whom Shawn credits with his own journey into the Christian faith. During the course of the interview, Shawn asked Strobel about evidence for the existence of God. Strobel’s response was (my paraphrase): “When it comes to the existence of God, the single biggest discovery from science has happened within the last century. We now know – from discoveries in science and philosophy – that the universe had a beginning. This was not widely believed prior to recent history.”
Strobel reminded us of the bottom line: “Whatever begins to exist has a cause.” He cited the work of Alexander Vilenkin (Director of the Institute of Cosmology at Tufts), who has concluded that even if our universe is part of a multiverse, that multiverse had a cause.
Strobel asked the question (again, my paraphrase): “If the universe had a cause, what kind of cause must that be?” And then he began to talk about what we know about the “cause” behind the universe. As I share these with you, I challenge you to give this your serious consideration …
1. The cause of our universe must be transcendent. It must stand apart from creation itself, and it must be distinct from creation.
2. The cause of our universe must be immaterial. It must be unconstrained by human nature, existing in some kind of spiritual form.
3. The cause of our universe must be eternal in nature. It must be timeless – completely unlimited by time and space as we are limited.
4. The cause of our universe must be exceptionally powerful. It must be entirely capable of bringing everything into existence from nothing.
5. The cause of our universe must be smart. The precise physical constants of our universe are set perfectly for life – strongly suggesting intelligent design and order.
6. The cause of our universe must be personal. Only a free agent with will, knowledge, and power can – without compulsion – spontaneously initiate something new.
7. The cause of our universe must be caring. Claiming that the impetus of the universe is impersonal and indeterministic is no explanation, and could not be the better explanation.
Spoiler alert: When it comes to identifying this unknown “cause,” the only reasonable answer with which you and I are left is the God of the Bible!
I particularly enjoyed Strobel’s powerful unpacking of the obvious fine tuning of the universe. He graciously reminded us that between 50 and 100 dimensions of physics – gravity included – had to be perfectly calibrated to support human life.
Toward the end of the interview, Shawn asked Strobel a penetrating question: “Why is God so hard to find at times?” Strobel answered with a baseball analogy … God is the pitcher, and we’re the catcher. Theologically, the problem is clear. The problem is with the catcher. The problem is us. We see the evidence for God – it’s undeniable – but we suppress the evidence (Romans 1:20).
I’ll quote my friend, Greg Koukl: “Man, who is separated from God, is so hostile to the notion of bending his knee that he would rather believe absolute absurdities, absolute idiocy, and put his entire eternal future on the line than to accept the idea that a personal God is responsible. Now this is self-destructive and suicidal.”
Strobel reminded us that in history, even when God has revealed Himself in spectacular and obviously miraculous ways – such as the parting of the Red Sea – often the result has been apostasy or idolatry – the very opposite of belief. Again, here’s my paraphrase of his point: “Were God to write in the sky, ‘I am here,’ we would explain it away.”
“Who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God?” Shawn nailed it. It’s the million-dollar question, and it’s very much a present-tense proposition – a question you and I must answer today. In his own BBC talk show, the University of Oxford literary scholar C.S. Lewis gave us our only options: Jesus is either a liar, a legend, or a lunatic.
Or He’s Lord.
Christmas, my friends, is God revealing Himself. On steroids. Better than our wildest dreams! From the virgin to the shepherds to the angels to the bright star in the East. But the best part? “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). God became human …
“Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth;
Born to give them second birth.”
Do we believe it?
On the basis of overwhelmingly compelling evidence, we should. If we humble ourselves before a supernatural and all-powerful God, then the way has been cleared for us to accept the entirely extraordinary! Christmas is a drop in the bucket for a God like ours.
In an unbelieving world, the boisterous claims of Christmas are big and bold. As they should be! From creation to crucifixion, God’s people awaited the fulfillment of the first gospel promise (Genesis 3:15) – that the Lord Himself would provide for our total rescue from sin and shame. While those cloaked in spiritual darkness groaned under the crushing weight of a fallen planet, the faithful serpent-crusher was on His way. Christmas shouts: “He’s here! He’s here!”
Christmas can’t be anything other than “merry” once you settle the question: “Who is Jesus, the Son of God?” Once we know the answer to that question, you and I should be livin’ it up!
Not in a way that is worldly, but in a way that is out of this world.
Pastor Charles
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