Sunday, January 5, 2014
am
BACK TO BASICS
January – Why I Believe in God
The Case for God
Roughly 15-16% of the world’s population declares themselves
as either atheist or no religion (agnostic, non-believers in God,
humanist, etc.). In the
United States of America, that number is between 3-9% (exact numbers are
difficult to get).[1]
In the United States this group is the 2nd largest
(behind the conglomeration of faiths that follow Jesus at approx.
76.5%). In the world, this group is the 3rd largest (behind
believers in Jesus and Islam)[2].
But this group is also one of the fastest growing groups.
I realize I am “preaching to the choir” today, but we live in
times where the question needs an answer.
We are living in a secular society that makes no apology for
trying to remove God. All
around, secularism is assaulting our beliefs, especially belief in the
Bible as God’s exclusive, inerrant word.
We need to be ready to “give
a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you”.
(1 Pet. 3:15) Furthermore, our
children ARE being introduced to these concepts both in our public
school system and the media, sometimes subtly and at other times
blatantly.
Discussing this with my son Joshua, he gave me a quote from a
gospel preacher - Questions not answered well do NOT go away!
The point is if we sweep something under the carpet or give an
dismissive answer to a question, it will come back.
So let us take some time to address the subject of God.
Today we will examine the question from external evidence
(because until you convince someone that God does exist, a study of the
Bible is meaningless.).
However, we WILL appeal to scriptures to show that the Bible does
address some of these subjects.
Next week we will talk about the God of the Bible.
Next Sunday night, we are going to discuss Theistic evolution
(and the day-age theory).
ON 1/26 we want do briefly examine the character of the God of
the Bible and we might address some criticisms of God.
I could spend much of a year dealing with evidences for the
existence of God and who God is.
This lesson is a simple and brief introduction.
a.
Design
demands a designer
– also known as
the teleological argument.
You know that when you see something with design, there has to be a
designer behind it. For
example, when you see a car you KNOW without question that someone had
to design and make that car and all the parts in it.
It didn’t just appear.
Nor did a natural disaster cause the car to come together (e.g. a
tornado in a junkyard puts a working car together).
The same is true with the universe.
And what is remarkable is that science, as it continues to
improve (shall we say evolve?) rather than disproving a designer, it is
presenting stronger evidence that what exists was NOT by accident.
Consider the simple example of a snowman.
When it snows, does a snowman just appear or is it
assembled?
A
study of DNA reveals a complex system - as we learn more and more
about DNA, we find a complex system that stores code and distributes
information which thereby determines structure and function.
It functions very much like a super-computer which processes
information, error correction, data retrieval and reassembly, and has a
filing system with multiple tiers of files within folders.
As I understand it, DNA processes proteins in much the same way.
And the MORE we learn about DNA which is in every living thing,
the more we see design behind it.
The placement of planet earth – The size of the earth is just
right. If it were larger or
smaller, it could not support our atmosphere which is necessary for
life. If it were any closer
to or further away from the sun, the earth would be too cold or hot.
The earth is tilted at the right angle, if it were not then water
would flow to the poles and stay there – in the middle would be vast
desserts. The earth is
rotating at the right speed (ca. 1000 mph), circulating around the sun
at the right speed (70k mph), etc.
If the rotation of the earth around the sun were halved seasons
would be twice as long and unable to support life.
If the rotation speed were doubled the earth could not grow
enough food to feed its population.
So many more details could be added to this to demonstrate that
our placement here was no mere accident!
Someone had to be behind it!
THOUGHT: Man often
studies nature and learns from it. He CREATES and designs based upon the
laws of nature. For example,
studying the pattern of flight in birds – including movement, skeletal
structure and other things, that information has helps develop the
theory of flight (aerodynamics) and structure of airplanes.
The reason he can do this is because there is DESIGN behind the
laws of nature.[3]
Gen. 1:1 – The Bible
tells us there IS a designer.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
David said, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
(Psalm 139:14)
Romans 1:20 tells us, “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,”
b.
The cosmological argument
– something had to start it all.
There are so many factors that science is discovering that demonstrates
this universe and world had a beginning.
From the
expansion of the universe – which demonstrates at some point it
had to start, to the
laws of thermodynamics (energy) - which state that energy is
constantly being used up and will eventually become exhausted and die,
to the fact that
all material things eventually wear out all point to the fact
that something had to start it all AND that something has to come from
WITHOUT the realm of this natural universe.
NOTE: In all 3 of these examples – if matter is eternal why
has it not been used up yet?
The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, “In
the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth.”
The word for “created” is the Hebrew, BARA which means “to make
something that has not been in existence before.”
[4]
c.
The
creation of life.
You cannot create life from inorganic (non-living) matter.
Where did life come from?
Evolution generally teaches that life originated from inorganic matter.
But can they prove it?
NOT at all! Man has
tried to create life and has failed.
With all our technology and understanding of nature and science,
man still cannot figure out how to create life.
Also consider this:
Let’s suppose that one day, man is able to create a simple living
organism in a test tube.
Would it have been created WITH or without intelligence?
Furthermore, considering the creation of life from inorganic matter, we
are talking about a very simple life form (e.g. an amoeba – a single
celled organism OR maybe a protein – a component of life).
How does that explain the complexity of the various forms of life
on earth?
The Bible says, Gen. 2:7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living being.”
a.
The
concept of eternity
– Eternity calls
for something outside of the natural realm that is greater.
We know that SOMETHING has to be eternal and it CANNOT be the
natural realm.
Eternity makes a case for an all-powerful, intelligent being.
Apologist Charlie Campbell, in dealing with this subject of eternity and
whether or not God is eternal said: “If
nothing cannot produce something, and yet something exists, then it
follows necessarily that something has always existed (in order to bring
the something into existence). Think of it this way: If there ever was a
time that absolutely nothing existed, nothing would exist now. Something
exists now therefore, there was never a time in which nothing existed.
So to answer the question, Who made God? No one. God is eternal and does
not need a maker. The universe is not eternal and does require a
maker.”[5]
Eccl. 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also
He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the
work that God does from beginning to end.”
b.
Our sense of “ought”
– How does man explain our sense of morality and the
conscience? It is a quality
that is exclusive to humans as well.
This includes our conscience, our sense of morality, our ability
to appreciate beauty, our concern for others, our ability to learn,
communicate and reason, etc.
The extent of animal behavior
outside of humanity is driven by survival, primitive behavior and
trained responses. According to evolution, the survival of the fittest
is the rule. IF that is
nature, how do you explain the development of these attributes of
mankind? They truly are
unnatural! The general
theory of evolution or the lack of God cannot explain this.
But the Bible does!
Genesis 1:27 says “So God created man in His own image; in the image
of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
1 Corinthians 15:19 tells us, “If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”
Consider this:
The very fact that we are discussing morality means there is
understanding of the need for a standard of morality.
Debating it proves there is a standard.
The debate really is about - WHAT is that standard?
And that standard calls for something greater than us who gives
us that standard.
a.
Genesis 1:1, as we have
noted, “In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
b.
Heb. 11:3, 6,
“By faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are
seen were not made of things which are visible.”
“But without faith it
is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
(Hebrews 11:6, NKJV)
a.
Psalm 19:1–3, “The
heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.”
b.
Psa. 33:6-9, “By the
word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the
breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a
heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the
Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He
spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”
Conclusion: Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool has said in his heart, there is
no God.” What makes him so is
his wager with eternity. The
atheist will often mock the Christian for his faith in that which cannot
be proven with the 5 senses.
But I ask you to consider the faith required of an atheist as we
conclude this lesson.
By
faith the atheist must:
·
Deny the existence of
God, even though the majority of people believe in a divine being.
·
Believe that matter is
eternal, even though laws of science say differently.
·
Believe that life came
from inorganic matter and then evolved in ways that cannot be explained.
·
Believe that man
invented the concept of God because he wanted to worship.
·
Live life with the HOPE
that there is nothing after it to which he must answer.
There are too many questions the atheist cannot answer to deny
the existence of God with certainty.
The truth is, the atheist doesn’t like what he hears about God
and doesn’t want to be accountable to him.
But that does NOT change that one day he will have to give an
accounting for himself to the very God he denied – 2 Cor. 5:10.
Let us not be guilty of that!
Having presented some basic ideas to make a case for the
existence of God, in our next lesson we will discuss WHO this God is.
[1]
Adherents.com
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html
[4] Swanson,
James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains
: Hebrew (Old Testament) 1997 : n. pag. Print.
[5] Campbell,
Charlie; Quick
Responses to Skeptics, “What Evidence Do You Have That There
Is A God?”
http://www.alwaysbeready.com/