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HopeLives365

Chris Holland

The Ultimate Solution for a Collapsing Society

Have all the events in the world that have been going on over the past weeks, months, years, decades, Has it been bothering you?

Have you wondered what will ever bring all of it to an end?

Have you wondered what the real solution is?

Have you wondered at certain points What even is there really to say?

He has the ultimate solution for a society that is in full collapse.

The ultimate solution for a collapsing society is found in the Bible.

And today we'll spend a few moments looking at what God wants to do, is trying to do, and in fact has already done.

We have been left in wanting, trying to understand, trying to come up with a solution, trying to come up with the right words, the right plans, the right actions.

But Lord, you have the ultimate solution and I pray today that each of us would know, understand, accept and be transformed by that ultimate solution.

We pray this in Jesus' We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

On May the 30th, 2020, Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken made history.

They were launched into orbit upon the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

This was monumental because it was the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station.

It was the first crewed launch from American soil in over 9 years.

The company, SpaceX, exists and their mission is to provide a cost-effective and increased reliability of space travel through a reusable launch system.

I am sure that you have seen, like I have seen, the Falcon rockets launching and then landing so they could be reused.

But I want to draw attention to the founder of SpaceX Elon Musk.

In a document entitled Mars and Beyond the road to making humanity multi-planetary, Elon Musk says this, you want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great and that's what being a space-faring civilization is all about.

It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past.

And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.

The first years of my life I spent wanting to be an astronaut.

I remember in my school days when a cart, the technology cart would be wheeled into our classroom and there we would watch the space shuttle launch.

I remember the tragic events of 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded.

So don't misunderstand anything of what I am saying.

I would love even still to fly on a rocket to space.

However, however, I want to illustrate a simple point.

You see, Elon Musk has a goal, and the Space exploration agencies have a goal of developing a civilization on the planet Mars.

Rooted in that is the belief that this planet cannot handle much more.

That this planet is on its way to extinction and by settling on the moon and then settling on Mars, we will have a solution.

It is to a certain extent a bit of escapism.

And I wonder aloud, is escapism the real solutions to the problems that we are facing here on this earth?

Is the solution to racism, hatred, murder, chaos, and lawlessness simply to set up another society on the moon or on Mars?

I believe, friends, even if we did so and we were able to set up such civilizations, then we would make the moon and Mars lawless on civil planets.

You see, the problem with that thinking is that the issue is more systemic than it would be solved by a simple move to another planet.

The issues that we are facing today are more symptoms of that deeply rooted issue.

And my dear friends, I want to take you on a journey.

Not a journey to space, but on a journey to ancient Jerusalem some 2, 000 years ago.

2, 000 years ago, we find in the Gospel of John something fascinating, a dialogue of sorts of someone who is also looking for a solution.

A solution to the temporal problems of their society.

They were looking for a solution of a much more systemic problem.

If you have your Bibles with you, I'd invite you to open them to John the third chapter.

There in John chapter 3, we find an all too familiar story of an individual seeking for something, seeking for something more.

John chapter 3, beginning in verse 1, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God for no 1 can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

What a fascinating development, Nicodemus.

Nicodemus is well attested to, this name is well attested to in ancient civilizations.

In fact, the name Nicodemus was a fairly common name in the first century.

It literally means conqueror of the people or victor over the people.

As we read about Nicodemus, we find that Nicodemus was a wealthy, well-educated and powerful man.

He was well-respected by the people and a descendant of the patriarch, of the patriarch, Abraham.

He was a Pharisee, the Pharisees, a political party in Palestine.

During New Testament times, they were known for insisting that the law of God be observed as the scribes interpreted that law.

1 of the distinctive features was that their commitment to observing the law was so intent that they would look to the scribes and live a pious, disciplined life.

And then they became trained as experts in the law.

They believed that to observe all the laws of God, they needed to observe all 613 laws that they had outlined.

Many of the Pharisees found that many of the Jews themselves were not careful about keeping those laws.

And so they actually felt that they needed to place limits upon their contact, not only with Gentiles, but they needed to limit their contact with those Jews who were not keeping the law as intently as they were.

In fact, they would not eat in the home of a non-Pharisee because they could not be sure that the food had been properly tithed and kept ritually pure.

Despite all of that, the Pharisees and their scribes enjoyed a great deal of popularity among the people.

You see, unlike the Sadducees, who were mostly rich landowners and powerful priests, many of the Pharisees were simply ordinary people.

And even though other Jews couldn't be bothered with observing all the details of the law, they respected the Pharisees because the Pharisees made that effort.

The Pharisees, while doing their best to keep God's laws, while others were not, looked down on others as sinners.

But not only was Nicodemus a Pharisee, he was a part of the Sanhedrin.

I want you to remember this now because it will become very critical in what we discuss in just a few moments.

The Sanhedrin was the highest ruling body of Judaism.

They were considered the court of justice among the Jewish people of the time.

We know by name from the New Testament, several of the members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Annas, Kyphos, and Ananias.

The high priest was always a member of the Sanhedrin.

And the Sanhedrin served as the Supreme Court of the laws of Judaism.

He came as a member of the Sanhedrin, and he wanted to check this man out, this man who was more than a man.

We know that because Nicodemus refers to him as Rabbi, a term of honor that Nicodemus bestowed upon Jesus.

Nicodemus understood that Jesus was more than just an ordinary man.

But the Bible says that Nicodemus came at night, and he most certainly came literally at nighttime.

But the syntax of that word there, night, is that Nicodemus came in a night-timish sort of way.

Nicodemus came under the cover of darkness.

Because Nicodemus was not yet ready to acknowledge that Jesus was the promised coming 1.

In fact, his questions insinuate the idea of Nicodemus wanting to know, are you the promised 1 that is coming?

And as we look at the Jewish expectations of the Messiah, it started in the time of David the belief that the Messiah would be a political figure that would be in the Davidic line and save the nation from any other ruling powers.

It was the belief that the Davidic line would project into the future and last for an eternity.

You see the Jews were expecting the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, they were expecting a Messiah figure that would deliver from the Roman rule and lead individuals into this dominion over all the earth.

You see, the Jews, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, They were looking for a human solution.

They were looking for a political figure.

They were looking for a hero to lead them out of the turmoil that they were now experiencing.

And so Jesus answers Nicodemus back as Nicodemus emphasizes the signs, the miraculous signs of Jesus.

Jesus responds in verse 4 and Onward, excuse me, verse 3 and onward.

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The Ultimate Solution for a Collapsing Society

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