[Peter Eddington] Handouts going around for you here for the sermon. There is enough for every man, woman, and child. The kids can use it for a coloring book if they want to, but there's enough for everyone to have a copy. I did want to mention that something new starting tomorrow, some two-minute Beyond Today mini-programs on the i24 News network across the country. Right now they're in about 20 million U.S. homes and growing, but they're actually a global network available everywhere except Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. And so we've got an opportunity to run two-minute programs. The first one will be about the Middle East and offering a Middle East booklet, so we'd appreciate your prayers for that. They're similar to what we're airing on Newsmax TV, so on i24, something to keep in your prayers this coming week as we try this out with them. And so for the sermon today there is a handout, make sure everybody gets a copy. For those who are watching online, the webcast team has put the link up at the bottom of the screen for you to download the PDF if you want. ftpmedia.ucg.org/sermons. ftpmedia.ucg.org/sermons

And those of you who are here on the very back page I've got the link if you'd want to download a copy when you get home. Because I've got a bunch of stuff in here that was just too much to try and quote, and try and cover without you seeing a copy and having something to take with you I think. Because many of us here today, and those listening online, have serious struggles we face. We're looking for solutions, for healing, for help. And at the highest level of life, ultimately, we want to strengthen our faith and belief in God. We try to make sense of our world and believe in our destiny as children in God's family. But in our troubled world, we so easily lose sight of that goal. And so here today, I plan to help us better understand just how awesome is our God. To see the bigger picture of creation. To put the larger goal of our eternal life into perspective. And I encourage you to look deeper, to strengthen your calling, to have faith that our Father in heaven truly is the all-powerful author of all things.

Probably, the most destructive deception of our modern times, a deception brainwashed into our children at school, and into our young adults at prestigious universities, is that of evolution. The opposite of the Scriptures. It's a theory which has become a curse on our educational systems and society. In the Galápagos Islands, there is a famous rock formation called Darwin's Arch, which stretches over a portion of the ocean. It's like you know, a bridge of rock over the water. On Tuesday, June 15, just a couple of weeks ago, the Center for Science and Culture reported the following. So here's the quote next to the graphic in your handout, "For generations," writes Center for Science and Culture, "Darwin's Arch in the Galápagos Islands stood as an unmovable monument to the life and work of Charles Darwin. A few weeks ago, the Arch collapsed. While the loss of this landmark is sad, it's also fitting, for Darwinism as a scientific and social theory is collapsing as well." And they say, "Just look around. In March, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Brian Josephson, declared that intelligent design is valid science. In April, researchers writing in the journal 'Current Biology' asked whether Darwin's tree of life should be abandoned." So here's biology scientists wondering if it should be abandoned. "In May, it was reported that Sheffield University has stopped hiding Darwin's deadly social views from its students. The university handbook now accurately notes that Darwin 'Believed his theory of natural selection justified the view that the white race was superior to others, and used his theory of sexual selection to justify why women were clearly inferior to men.’"

So now one university is saying, you know, this is garbage. I particularly like the phrase that intelligent design is valid science. Because at its core, I will tell you, intelligent design proponents are scientists, they're not theologians. And they are proving an intelligence behind creation, not using the Bible, but using science. And the theory of evolution is anything but science. So in the sermon, today, we're going to talk about four things. And I want to have this strengthen our understanding of just how exquisite is God's creation. First, the need to believe in God, not evolution. Secondly, the need for foresight. And then the need for intentionality. And then finally, the need for Jesus Christ. So those are the four points I'm going to cover here today. And first of all, the need for belief in God, not evolution. You're reading Psalms 104:30, "You send forth Your Spirit, and they are created, and You renew the face of the earth." Yes, by the power of God's Spirit, everything is created. That's kind of the basis of everything. New York Times bestselling author of Darwin's Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer, just released his latest book, The Return of the God Hypothesis. He actually spent three to four years writing this, and it finally came out earlier this year, after being promised for a long time. The subtitle is "Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe." And this is the latest science. This is not a theological treatise. And I'm actually encouraged that such authors in the scientific world are starting to say what they believe, about creation, about design, about a mind behind the universe, and about the utter ridiculousness of evolution. Some say it shouldn't even be called a theory.

And so today, I want us to study a bit of that mind behind the universe. A portion of the dust cover, right here inside, a portion of the dust cover says, and I've got the quote here for you, "Beginning in the late 19th century, many intellectuals began to insist that scientific knowledge conflicts with traditional theistic belief, that science and belief in God are 'at war.' Philosopher of science and Director of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute, Stephen C. Meyers, challenges this view by examining three scientific discoveries with decidedly theistic implications. Meyer demonstrates how discoveries in cosmology and physics coupled with those in biology help to establish the identity of the designing intelligence behind life and the universe. And Meyer argues that theism, with its affirmation of a transcendent, intelligent, and active creator, best explains the evidence we have concerning biological and cosmological origins." And I've read several of his books, and it says here, "Previously Meyer refrained from attempting to answer questions about who might have designed life," he stayed away from that. "Now he provides an evidence-based answer revealing a stunning conclusion. The data support not just the existence of an intelligent designer of some kind, but the existence of a personal God." And it took me several weeks to complete reading this. It's a scientific book at its core, with compelling mathematical and scientific arguments for the existence of the God we see in the Bible.

The reason I'm spending a few minutes here discussing this book, it's not because I have to write a book review beyond for Beyond Today magazine, but because of its importance in laying out scientifically the evidence for the Creator. For the Creator of our universe, and the Creator and sustainer of life. It really is a pivotal volume. In Part One, it's got three parts. In Part One, Meyer examines the rise and fall of theistic science showing that at one time in a not too distant past, religion and science were compatible. It wasn't until the rise of naturalism and materialism spurred on by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, that science and religion became at odds. And in fact, many early scientists were of Christian and Jewish faith. They saw the Bible and science working together. They saw the Bible encouraging science and scientific discovery, whereas materialism does not. That interesting section in the book showing how the theory of evolution actually discourages true science. Meyer points out in Part Two, how light from distant galaxies and the discovery that our universe had a beginning, often explained, of course, as the Big Bang theory, points to a creator of some kind, it points to a cause for this beginning. And then there's the discovery of the curvature of space, which scientifically and mathematically shows the need for an intelligent creator, not blind chance.

Let me quote you what Meyer writes on page 147. I think I have this quote in here. Yeah, bottom of page two. "Physicists have determined that if the matter at the beginning of the universe had been configured even slightly differently, there will be either an extreme clumping of matter resulting in a universe in which only black holes would exist or alternately, a highly diffused arrangement of matter without any large scale structures at all, you know, without any planets, just be spread out." And Meyer writes of Oxford physicist, Sir Roger Penrose, determining quote, which is on page 149, "That getting a universe such as ours with highly ordered configurations of matter required an exquisite degree of fine-tuning." So there's all just random, this matter just coming together in some random way, to end up with what we have now, has been calculated, the chance of that. The number that Penrose calculated, this was from page 150 in the book, is 1 in 10, to the 10, to the 123rd power. He says, "This provides a quantitative measure of the unimaginably precise fine-tuning of the initial conditions of the universe, to result in what we have now from that initial creation moment or Big Bang moment, to what we have now." All the laws, constants, and everything would have to be so finely tuned to have what we have now. And he gives… The chance is 1 in 10, to the 10, to the 123.

Now, physicists have determined that the whole universe contains 10 to the power of 80 elementary particles. Ten to the power of 80 is how many elementary particles there are in the entire universe, which is a tiny number compared to the probability of the universe turning out like it did. On page 151, in fact, if we try to write out this number 10, to the 10, to the 123, with a 1 followed by all the zeros that would be needed to represent it accurately without the use of exponents, there will be more zeros in the number than there are elementary particles in the entire universe. So the chance of this ending up like this, from the initial conditions? And so Penrose's calculation, suggests an incredibly improbable arrangement of mass-energy, a degree of initial fine-tuning, that would be absolutely impossible unless someone actually designed it and arranged it. It had to be designed. It's impossible mathematically to be by chance. And of course, the fine-tuning of the universe is just one of many, many discoveries that Meyer discusses in his book. We have the origin of life, we have the enigma of RNA and DNA, more discoveries which show the need for a designer. We have discoveries which show the mathematical impossibility for life to have happened by chance or at random. And then there's the immense amount of invisible immaterial information contained within life. It's not a physical thing, it's information.

And so then Meyer moves on to Part Three of his book, which is titled, "Inference to the Best Metaphysical Explanation." He shows how to mathematically and scientifically assess a hypothesis, whether it be the theory of evolution or any other hypothesis. How scientists assess the probability of any one particular hypothesis. He shows how scientists can rationally evaluate different worldviews as competing metaphysical hypotheses, and determine which is most likely to be true. You know, on the board, with formulas. And as you've guessed it, by the end of Part Three, we see the mathematical formulas which show the God hypothesis to be a more probable explanation for the origin of the universe and the origin of life than any other competing hypothesis. And he goes through so many worldviews and hypotheses to compare the God hypothesis too. It's called "Inference to the Best Metaphysical Explanation." And then once he gets to that point then he says, "So who could this be in this book?”

It's a very technical book. I have to read each paragraph, you see all the, you know, we've got charts, and graphs, and formulas all throughout, it's like a textbook. And it took me, you know, reading each paragraph two or three times, my yellow highlighter out making notes just to make sure it was grasping what he's saying. I have an engineering background and it was a challenge. Just the bibliography and notes at the end of the book, cover 115 more pages. Every claim, every formula, every scientist quoted, every chart, every graph, every diagram, is carefully documented. It's more of a university textbook. And it's one which ultimately leads the reader to no other mathematical or scientific conclusion, then the best metaphysical explanation to why we are here is the personal God explained in the Scriptures. Not just any religion, but this one gives the best explanation to the science. No other theory or hypothesis, even belief in other gods, or religions other than what we find in the Bible, provides a better inference to why we here. You have to read it, you know if you want to see how he comes to that scientific conclusion. So if you're in for an exciting read, by the need for God, the proof of a need for the God of the Bible, then read Return of the God Hypothesis, by Dr. Stephen Meyer.

But what does the personal God of Scripture tell us? What is the best metaphysical explanation as to why we're here? Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." What could be more simple? Let's just start there, why don't we? Verse 26, "And God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,’" verse 27, "So God," what did He do? "created man in His image; male and female." What could be more plain? What could be more obvious? This is the majesty of what we see in the heavens. This is what Stephen Meyer points to as the best scientific metaphysical explanation as to why we're here. Psalms 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God;” that's right, "and the firmament shows His handiwork." The NIV says, "And the skies show His handiwork." You just look up at the night sky, like the ancient philosophers did, and said, "Wow, I wonder why we're here." Just makes you think. We see the grandeur of the night sky, we see God at work. There is a need for God in the fine-tuning design and sustainability of the universe, not reliance on random, blind chance.

So our first point is the need for belief in God, not evolution. And like I said, I'm encouraged that many scientists are starting to write about this. This is the universe on a grand scale. What about the microscopic? What about the tiniest microbes we can only see with a microscope, like the single-celled amoeba? And this leads us to point two, the need for foresight. The need for foresight. So, foresight is the act or the power of foreseeing. For example, through foresight, you could tell what the outcome would be. Or he had the foresight to invest his money wisely. The definition of foresight is the ability to see or plan ahead. Things that will happen in the future, things that haven't yet happened and predict, to have foresight. For example, Alex had the foresight to have the builders install a gas range. Yeah, so he could cook, right, and not starve, so “I think I'm going to need a stove.” An example of foresight is knowing to save money in an emergency fund in case you lose your job. You know, have a little money set aside for a rainy day just in case, you're thinking ahead. Foresight. Too bad he didn't have the foresight to stay home when the December cold front moved through because then he froze to death. Fortunately, he had the foresight to make it a legal adoption, otherwise, the child would not be his. Thinking ahead.

Planning and foresight can eliminate the last-minute crisis of an unfinished project for an unhappy client. Reminds me of Romans 1:20. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that He made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that without excuse." And so sometimes it becomes obvious. Our God has built foresight into His creation, and had the foresight to see the need for it. When a builder builds a home, he thinks ahead of time of all that will be needed to make the home function. The plumbing, the electrical, the sewage. Let me introduce to you, Marcos Eberlin. Marcos Eberlin is a Brazilian chemist, a former professor at the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Campinas. He's a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and received the Brazilian National Order Scientific Merit in 2005, and the Thomson Medal in 2016. He is a brilliant chemist, considered one of the foremost chemists on the planet. He's Brazilian, so maybe Jorge de Campos can go say hi. One of his most recent books is titled Foresight: How the Chemistry of Life Reveals Planning and Purpose. So we look at chemistry, and we see foresight.

So in his video on YouTube, you can find it, it's titled "How the Chemistry of Life Reveals Planning and Purpose." In the interview, Dr. Eberlin explains why the idea of foresight is so important in the study of origins of life, you know, why we're here? How we got here? In the video, I typed some parts out from the video, he says, "In studying life in the universe, we see solutions that solve really big problems. When we see these solutions we wonder, could evolution have provided those solutions?" He continues, "As you look at the solutions, and look for mechanisms that could provide these solutions, we see that foresight is so important, but we study those solutions at the molecular level. We see those solutions have to be there from the very beginning." And so to put it in our own words, there's no way life or the universe could wait for millions or billions of years for these solutions to develop and appear. The problems demand these solutions be there right away, at the very beginning. There's no way the emergence of life could wait for these solutions to gradually evolve, to gradually start to solve the problems.

And this brings us to the animal cell. Each animal cell can be thought of as a large factory, with many departments such as manufacturing, packaging, shipping, accounting. Each of these departments is represented by different what are called organelles. And what you have here on this handout is a 3D representation of the simplest, smallest piece of known life, the cell, all right? Those online that may not have yet, you know, downloaded the file, an example would be the single-celled amoeba. And a plant cell is surprisingly similar to an animal cell. But someone, someone, had to look at the system of the cell and predict in the future, foresight remember, this system would face some big problems that will demand solutions, not in a billion years, but will demand solutions immediately. This is why design foresight is so important. A mind is able to predict those problems, and also provide solutions at the very moment of first life.

And so for us today, guess what? Designers put brakes on our cars, figuring that at some point we'll have to stop. Thinking a little bit ahead here, right? Foresight. Seatbelts, in case we have an accident so we don't go right through the windscreen. Windshield is, we like to say here, foresight. We look ahead to the winter months, don't we? Knowing we have to heat our homes and have signed up for Duke Energy. Random chance evolution would not foresee the first cold winter. And so early life would have died at the first freeze without fur or a layer of blubber. First, I wouldn't have survived without foresight. Once problems appear, there's no way for a gradual evolution of solutions to solve them. This has to be one of the easiest, simplest arguments against evolution. Come on. Why don’t scientists see this? Why don’t evolutionists see this? You know, a creative mind is essential for life, and for the universe to work and function properly.

According to Dr. Eberlin, again, in his video, "How the Chemistry of Life Reveals Planning and Purpose”, "For example, at the simplest level of biology, we have the membrane that encloses the cell." So that's number 14, on our diagram, the membrane that encloses the whole cell. Remember, this is that tiny, tiny little thing, right? The cell. He says, "Obviously, cells can't exist without membranes to enclose them.” So who figured out to enclose all these parts in a membrane? Did it just suddenly evolve all at once the whole thing altogether? He says, "When we look at the membranes when we start to study the way they function, we discover those simple membranes are not so simple after all. The molecules that make up those membranes make a barrier to the outside world." Yes, right? "That barrier though must prevent some tons of molecules from entering, but also let other molecules escape. For example, water must both go in and out through the cell membrane."

So Eberlin says, "To let some molecules in and out, you need gates right from the very beginning of the cell membranes being formed. The cell needs gates, doors to open and close." He says, "This is the most crucial problem for cell membranes. It's called the permeation problem, which needs foresight to solve before the first cell is formed." And he says, "The membranes that evolutionists have proposed are not able to provide for those gates instantly. This is a really important factor," he says. "No, first an intelligent being must look at those membranes, see the explicit need for permeation, see the need for gates, and also see the need for mechanical resistance for those gates open-close, and all at the same time, everything must be there from the very first time the cell membrane starts to work as a cell membrane.”

And in his video, Dr. Eberlin then goes on to explain why a mind is required to design the cell and its isolating membrane. "Why foresight is needed," he says, "from the very beginning. And the task of building those membranes is extraordinary. It takes a lot of mechanical engineering and complex chemistry. The right molecules have to be selected, not just any molecule, not just randomly chosen molecules. You need ones like that love water and others that hate water." And then Dr. Eberlin explains, "These molecules must be stable as a function of pH in temperature. So a sensor is needed to monitor the pH and the temperature of the cell. Then the information coming from those sensors determines the change of the composition of what are called phospholipids." So I looked it up, and I decided not to try and explain it here. Phospholipids. "And so we come to see there are a lot of chemical and mechanical properties that have to be in balance, fine-tuned at once, to get a stable membrane. A mechanically and chemically resistant membrane. Only a very, shall we say, very intelligent mind could plan everything in advance to have the foresight to see into the future, this all will be put just right.”

So quoting from his video again, "A true definition of science is not restricted by natural causes." He says, "True science is not restricted by a materialistic or naturalistic view of our universe, where there are no outside influences on a universe, you know, no other God or anything overseeing things. Science should consider causes which are supported by the evidence, causes that are supported by the data," which is what Meyer does in his book, he looks at the evidence and comes to a conclusion, there is a force outside of the universe that is making things happen. Because when scientists open their minds to the possibility that there's more than just a natural or material explanation for everything when they open their minds for causes that are supported by the evidence, they're not then limited in their exploration, when they start to see the need for foresight. You start to think beyond… This is one reason why early scientists did so well because they were Christians or Jews, because they believed that there was a God behind all this, and actually it made things make sense. And added to their scientific discovery, it didn't take away from it. So a whole chapter about that in there, which is fascinating, about the origins of true science. And so, when you don't restrict yourself to a materialistic or naturalistic approach, then you're free to look for the truth of the causes that started life on our planet. And that's true science. Scientists have to allow for the alternative of foresight, for the solutions they see built into the big problems that would otherwise challenge the existence of life.

And a final quote from Dr. Eberlin, "When we consider foresight, we see it is by far the best explanation for many solutions in life in the universe. Scientists should follow the evidence wherever it leads, and when they do, foresight is clear and is evident. We are forced to accept it as the best evidence for design in the universe." So, this is all they need for foresight in the design of a single cell, a microscopic little living organism. How many cells do you think we have in our bodies? How many of these do you think are in our bodies? A million? A billion? No, there are 30,000 billion, 30 trillion cells in our body, that will have to work together. That takes, not just a single-celled amoeba, that takes an incredible amount of foresight and planning and design, to have all of you sitting here looking at me like this. Glazing over, you know. Psalms 139:13-14, "For You formed my inward parts, You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." You can come to no other conclusion, but that we are wonderfully made. Think of the design. The foresight that goes into this. "Marvelous are Your works and my soul knows it." Yeah, my soul knows very well that this didn't just happen by chance, okay? My soul knows it. If you're honest, if the scientists are honest.

Here's another piece of foresight in the design of the cell membrane. This is an article titled “Zip It: How Cells Repair Leaking Membranes." It's from Evolution News, May 27, 2021. So just a month and a half ago, right? “Zip It.” "Membrane repair would have been necessary with the first cell." So apparently, number 14 here can tear very easily, and it'll pop like a bubble. The article says, "If by a most fantastic miracle scenario, against all probability," they say by the way, "A protocell emerged from the primordial soup, it would be all over quickly if the membrane sprang a leak." So, "Membranes need channels for active transport to control what goes in and out." That's the gates, remember? "They also need repair mechanisms if they break. Along with code, machinery must be present to translate the code into other machines to know what to do when a membrane breaks. Unwatched membranes are vulnerable to leaks, and they don't care. Without foresight and oversight, protocells will be like bubbles that pop in due time. Too bad for those hard-won living ingredients inside." You know, that popped out of the swamp. Pop, sorry, life's over.

So then follows a very scientific explanation in this article about how a cell detects a tear. A little amoeba can detect a tear in itself, a breach, or a leak, and spring into motion to repair it. That comes to the engineers, you know, that's stitching it, so the article is called “Zip It”, "The cell must have ways to know that a leak has begun. A rapid influx of calcium 2+ ions triggers a simple yet powerful mechanism for detection of membrane integrity. This, however, requires the presence of proteins that bind to the calcium ions so that they can trigger mechanisms that promote membrane sealing by membrane fusion, fission, or tension reduction. At least 16 proteins and protein families promote membrane sealing in four categories of damage." I'll just finish a bit of this quote. "Membrane repair is a key emergency operation for a cell. Just like countries with different military branches for external threats and police agencies for internal threats, cells come well equipped to handle breaches to their security. Saying these systems have evolved explains nothing. Something had the foresight to know these systems will be necessary for life and health. Something has the oversight to ensure their successful operation. The incredible complexity of membrane repair provides additional and powerful evidence for intelligent design." And so a second point is a critical need for foresight in creation. Otherwise, nothing would have survived.

Okay, the need for intentionality. What is intentionality? So a coffee mug. This is actually a lump of clay that was fired in an oven and made into the shape. Why? Why did someone take a piece of clay and make a mug, well make the shape that they call a mug? It's intended to hold a hot drink. So this is one of the best coffee mugs I've ever had, I'll just say, Gerald Seelig bought for me 25 years ago, and I use it every single day in the office. It's even got a cork bottom, that is like a built-in coaster. I'd have to put a coaster on my desk. It's got a built-in coaster. This is intended specifically for being a great coffee mug to hold a hot liquid. Intentionality is the fact of being deliberate or purposive. In philosophy, it is having thoughts, beliefs, desires, and hopes that consist in their being directed towards some object or state of affairs. Intentionality is thinking outside of yourself. We can decide intentionality, or intentionally we're going to take a vacation, we're going to bake a cake. We can look at artwork and other objects and appreciate them, they're things outside of ourselves. Intentionality is in our thoughts. It's not a physical thing, intentionality. Intentionality is not made up of matter. Intentionality is in the mind. Think of that, intentionality is in a mind.

As Wikipedia states, "The earliest theory of intentionality is associated with ontological argument for the existence of God. And this distinguishes between objects that exist in the understanding and objects that exist in reality. A common dispute is between naturalism," right, people that don't believe in God about intentionality, "And the phenomenal intentionality theory, the view that intentionality is grounded in consciousness." And so yes, we would believe that intentionality is grounded in our mind, in our consciousness. Intentionality cannot exist in an inanimate, materialistic, or natural object. It has to be thought of. So, is there any intentionality in the universe that had to be thought of by a mind ahead of time, by a great mind?

Let me introduce to you, Michael Egnor. Mr. Egnor is a pediatric neurosurgeon, and he is an intelligent design advocate and blogger at the Discovery Institute. He is a professor at the Department of Neurological Surgery at Stony Brook University since 1991. In his video on YouTube, the evidence against materialism, Dr. Egnor explains several ways in which materialism is not a viable theory of the origin of life. Evolution is not a viable theory of the origin of life. And his final point in the video is about intentionality. And that's what I want to draw your attention to. Remember materialists believe nothing exists except matter, matter, and energy. Even our thoughts they say are made of matter. Here's some excerpts from quotes from Dr. Egnor. He says, "Intentionality is the ability for something to be about something else. For example, if I'm thinking now that Washington, D.C., my thought is intentional in the sense that I'm thinking about something that's not me. I'm thinking about a city, or I'm thinking about a doorway or thinking about my wife.

So the ability for thought to be about something is unique to the mind because no physical object is about anything." He says, "A rock sitting on a beach isn't about anything. A tree isn't about anything, only a thought can be about something. So someone had to think what they wanted to make." He says, "You cannot explain intentionality using materialistic beliefs," you know, like evolution or naturalism. He says, "You can't explain a living thing without explaining what the purpose of the parts of that living thing are. You can't explain the heart unless you explain that the purpose is to pump blood. You can't explain the eye unless you understand the purpose is to see. Where do those purposes come from?" Well, he says, "Those purposes are kind of like intentionality. They're kind of like a mind. And the implication is that behind the universe, there's a mind, a grand mind. A mind that is reflected in the way the universe works.”

It's like my coffee mug. Well, you know, it's not quite like my coffee mug. But it's intentionally designed to hold a hot drink. It's not for anything else. It's not to sit in and drive somewhere, it's meant to hold a hot drink. In our understanding, in our faith here today, we see the creation shows a purpose, a goal. We see intentionality in the creation. What we see all around us is a reflection of a much higher mind. It's a reflection of God. To quote Dr. Egnor in his video again, he says, "Materialism," he's really blunt here. He says, "Materialism in my viewpoint is not even really a philosophical perspective." So you're talking naturalism, materialism, evolution, he says, "It's not really even a philosophical perspective. It's just a mistake. It's just like claiming that two plus two is five is mathematics. It's not really mathematics, it's just an error. And materialism isn't even sufficiently coherent, in my view, to qualify as a philosophical perspective. So for example in biology, we need to focus on the purposes of biological structures, not just on the details of the structure itself. We need to know why they're doing what they're doing."

Now, why do I have this organ in my chest? Well, it's pumping, why do I have a pump? Well, it's to pump blood. Why do you need to pump blood? Well, so I can stay alive. What was it intended for? He says, "You need to know why they're doing what they're doing. And once you start looking for purposes, you start looking at immaterial aspects of nature and form, and that leads you out of materialism." He says, "The best science is the science that looks for deep conceptual principles that underlie the natural world, and that's inherently not a materialistic perspective.”

The famous passage in Jeremiah 29, that shows the intentionality of God. Got it here in your hands out. Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," that's intentionality. God's thinking outside of himself towards us. That's intentionality. "I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you," here's what I intend for you, "to give you a future and a hope." So even in our faith, there's intentionality. God has intentionality, planning, purpose, and hope for each of us. There is obvious intentionality in life all around us. God has a future for us. It all points to a mastermind, a master designer, a master of intentionality. And the ultimate intention is, as we know, and it's in a vision statement for the church, to bring many sons to glory, as children in God's family. Hebrews 2:10, "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." He's talking about Jesus Christ and His role to bring many sons to glory. Talk about intentionality and purpose for the creation, for us. So, a third point is the need for intentionality.

And now, number four, the need for Jesus Christ. There's a giant billboard along the side of the freeway here in Cincinnati, near downtown. It's got big, bright, red letters. And it says, "In Science Lives Hope." It's a billboard for UC Health for the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. That's their slogan, "In Science Lives Hope." Here's what their website says, "Because UC Health trains one out of every three doctors in the region, we are the teachers others look to. We are the authors of healthcare's greatest breakthroughs. And we are always showing the world has science can win. UC Health, In Science Lives Hope." All right, into seeing them saying it. Well, since our world is in the middle of a pandemic, probably caused by scientists in a lab, this doesn't raise your confidence a whole lot, does it? If this is our only hope, is science. Yes, science has brought wonderful things to our society. Air travel, cars, refrigeration, clean drinking water, but scientists become like a god to summon our society, you know, follow the science, never changes the next day. Think of some of the things science is responsible for. The nuclear bombs that could exterminate all life. Hey, way to go. The World War II scientists, they performed gruesome experiments on children to improve their scientific understanding. Then there was a scientist who wanted to protect us from global warming. And get this, more than one of the global warming experts would like to change the orbit of the earth to move us further away from the sun. Yeah, let's try that.

When Job questioned the wisdom of God, he was called to answer for his arrogance. The same response God gave Job could be given to many evolutionists and scientists today. Job 38:1-11, I'll read them for you here, you've got them in the handout. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 'Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?'" Who's the not here? Who's the idiot that's questioning me? Who is this? "Now prepare yourself like a man." You know, stand up, pull up your britches, "I'll question you, and you shall answer Me, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, Job if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it." Who had the giant tape measure? "To what were its foundations fastened?" To see if you hanging in space. "Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars, the angels, sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds it's garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; when I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors;” kind of like reminds me of the cell, right? The bars and doors. "But I said to the ocean, 'This far you may come, but no farther, and here you're proud waves must stop!” I guess we could add a new verse today, Job 38:12, where were you when I designed the cell membranes to repair itself from tears, and give them gates so that nutrients didn't waste out. Where were you, Job, when I did that? Of course, they didn't know about such tiny things back in those days. God is telling Job here about very intentional things.

Is there hope for our future? Yes, but not in science. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, not science. When the Israelites were fleeing from Egyptian soldiers, it wasn't science that parted the waters or closed the waters to drown the soldiers. God was their Savior, not science. Science cannot change the heart of a person. Science has never saved a marriage. Science has never turned a pacifist or terrorist into a pacifist or caused a criminal to repent. But God has done all those things millions of times over. Science hasn't. And think of this, science has never forgiven a man of sin or a woman of sin. The freeway billboard should read, and our personal slogan should be, "In Jesus Christ Lives Hope." 1 Peter 2:24, "Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died because of our sins, might now live in righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." Jesus Christ made it possible.

1 Peter 1:13-16, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." That's our hope, to rest our hope fully on Jesus Christ. And of course, at His revelation is when we'll be resurrected. "As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" So then we're told how to live our life, be holy because of this hope we have in Jesus Christ, and Him dying for our sins. So our final point is the need for Jesus Christ.

So what we see here today is the need for belief in God, not evolution, the need for foresight, the need for intentionality, and the need for Jesus Christ. I want to just read a final passage from Isaiah 40:28-31, that talks about our Creator and the strength that He gives each of us every day when we search for Him. Isaiah 40:28, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall be faint and weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord… those who wait on the Eternal shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

And as I said at the beginning, many of us here today are facing serious struggles. We need solutions, we need healing, we need help. And we may be weary and faint. We need to be lifted up with wings like eagles. And at the highest level, we ultimately need the strongest of faith and belief in our Creator, our Creator God. We have to make sense of our world and believe in our destiny. Our destiny as children in God's family, as spirit beings, right? We must not lose sight of that goal. We must appreciate and understand just how awesome is our God. To believe in what He has promised us. To always keep the larger goal of our eternal life in perspective as we live each day. And so today, I pray that you even more clearly see that our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ truly are the author of all things, with foresight, intentionality, and purpose for each of us, including our very own life, and our salvation.