VIDEO TEACHING SUMMARY: This is the first in a series of six lectures focused on Biblical wisdom for our dangerous hour.
The Bible is a unique book. Unlike its competitors, the Bible portrays man as inherently wicked and diseased by sin. It describes the plight of mankind as utterly hopeless apart heavenly intervention. It paints man as a desperate created being subject to evil forces. The Bible does not promote mankind’s philosophies or his political systems.
Most of the religious books that fill modern Christian bookstores are written by men in an attempt to increase their understanding of God. However, it is more instructive to read the Bible to discover what God thinks of man.
The Bible’s unflattering portrait of humanity’s achievements and philosophies collides head-on with modern man’s own view of himself. Like the rich young ruler, modern man cannot fathom, let alone admit, his spiritual defects. When faced with a choice of which belief about man to build their future concepts, philosophies, and dreams, they opted for a positive view of man. The depravity of man is largely ignored by modern man. Instead, he operates and functions under a generally optimistic view of man’s achievements, ingenuity, and tower-building prowess.
Early 21st century man is perhaps the first generation that could rightfully rival and, thus replay, of the tragedy of Babel. God’s merciful intervention into early man’s efforts at self-promotion – which is the first way to get humbled by God – spoiled the unification of all men. The Bible predicts that Babel will once again arise just before judgment day. Only this time, God’s merciful intervention is replaced by vengeance. In the ultimate tragedy, man will finally get what he always wanted. Utopia will appear within reach to all of humanity. For it is “when they say peace and safety” that “sudden destruction shall come upon them.”
