Does God exist? This is the greatest question you will ever
face in life.
If God does not exist; then we must explain why we are here, where we came
from, and what life is all about. We are faced with some great difficulties.
If we admit His existence; then we must acknowledge some great things about
Him.
That He is the very source of our life. (Acts 17:28) ""for in Him we live
and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For
we are also His offspring.'"
He is the Father of our spirits. (Hebrews 12:9) "Furthermore, we have had
human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much
more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" (Isaiah
64:8) "But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our
potter; And all we are the work of Your hand."
All Truth comes from Him. (Romans 11:33) "Oh, the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and
His ways past finding out!" (James 1:17) "Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow of turning."
The greatest thing we can do is to attain a knowledge of God and His Will to man.
(John 17:3) "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (Jeremiah 9:23) "Thus says
the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man
glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;"
As young Christians we must be ready to meet and answer the skeptic.
(1 Peter 3:15) "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be
ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that
is in you, with meekness and fear;" (Jude 1:3) "Beloved, while I was very
diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it
necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Philippians 1:17) "but the
latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the
gospel."
Here are the three prominent views about God.
Theism. That there is one God, He is the Creator of heaven and earth, the
Father of our spirits, the spring of all righteousness and Truth and is
worthy of our worship and reverence.
Atheism. That there is no God and tries to prove it. I believe it is
impossible to sustain this position.
Agnosticism. That there may be a God or there may not be a God. Doesn’t
believe it can be proved either way and just dismisses it by saying, “I
don’t know.”
Three things we must remember.
God is a matter of Divine Revelation. (1 Corinthians 1:21) "For since, in
the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
The Bible does not argue the existence of God. It starts with, “In the
beginning God...” A person, through nature and revelation, either accepts
the idea or rejects it.
The best we can do with one who doesn’t believe the Bible is to try to get
him to see that it is more reasonable to believe in God than not believe in
God
The validity of such an argument is recognized in these passages. (Romans
1:18) "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it
to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they
knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became
futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing
to be wise, they became fools,"
CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THE
UNIVERSE DOES EXIST
THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: “The Cosmological Argument is the argument that
the cosmos is an effect produced by a Primal Cause, which, from the nature
of the case, must be a Person. Sometimes it is called the argument from
causality, or from cause and effect”
-- L. S. Keyser
The fact that the universe exist is so self-evident that it needs no proof.
If you denied it you would be denying your own senses and consciousness.
Consider this; something cannot come from nothing.
Every effect has to have a cause.
Every plant came from a seed, which came from another seed.
Every man or animal came from parent stock, who also came from their
parents.
Every effect we see in the universe had a cause, something or someone who
caused the effect to happen.
Even the Atheist will not deny this obvious fact.
The question resolves itself into this proposition; Since the Universe
exists, and something cannot come from nothing, then something (or someone)
has always existed.
The Atheist and the Materialist say that it is matter that is eternal, that
from some unexplained and supposed explosion of dead matter, the fragments
that form this universe were formed and that by some unproven spontaneous
generation and evolutionary development, plants, animals, and men came into
being.
The Christian, on the other hand, affirms that Mind (God) has always existed
and that He originated and was the designer and planner of the Universe.
(Psalms 90:2) "Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had
formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You
are God."
This is why I believe that Mind (God) is eternal, as opposed to the materialistic view.
Mind is greater than matter.
Mind knows, matter is the object which is known.
Mind moves, it directs and changes matter.
By Mind, lightning is chained. Electric plant.
By Mind, the power of steam is controlled.
By Mind, a strong animal is controlled.
Surely the tree is not greater than the workman who turns it into a
beautiful piece of furniture.
Surely the oil is not greater than the chemist who turn it into many
products.
Think about this; if dead matter produced the universe and man who has
intelligence, then it produced something greater than itself.
Matter has no intelligence.
The tree cannot turn itself into a chair.
Iron ore cannot turn itself into an automobile.
Conclusion; it takes mind (intelligence) to direct, control, and shape dead
materials of the universe into useful products.
Matter is not eternal.
Not only does the Bible teach that
the material creation had a beginning and
will come to an end, but science has now come to the same conclusion.
(Genesis 1:1) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
(2 Peter 3:10) "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements
will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it
will be burned up."
Observe the following statement from (Modern Science and the Christian
Faith, pg. 11)
“Science formerly taught the ‘conservation of matter’ i.e. that matter was
indestructible, that we could change its state but we could neither add to
nor subtract from this total amount of matter. Today, science teaches that
matter can be changed into radiant energy such as light or heat and cease to
exist as matter. In this day of atomic bombs and atomic energy, it is not
necessary to pile up evidence that matter can be changed to energy.” (pg.
21)
These all indicate a beginning or a creation of the Universe. Every star is
losing energy and mass. They must, therefore, have had a beginning.
It is certainly more reasonable and logical, then, to accept the Biblical
truth that “In the beginning God (Eternal Intelligence) created the heavens
and the earth, than to accept the alternative view that “In the beginning,
matter (dead, senseless, passive) created the heavens and the earth.”