Is there a God?

Offertory Prayer: Our Father, we thank you that you are the great Sovereign of the universe. You are all-powerful,

all-wise, and everywhere present. We stand in awe before you. Today we are grateful that you are a personal God who has revealed yourself through Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, you have made it possible for us to come boldly into your presence. Thank you that you have included us in the redemptive process. May our offerings be used to share the truth of Christ with others in our own area and throughout the world. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Introduction

The Bible begins with one of the most dynamic and controversial. statements ever made: “In the beginning God.”

1. If this statement is not true, Christians might as well burn their Bibles and withdraw membership from churches.

2. Some might say, “I’ll believe in God if you can prove he exists.”

a. Is there anyone who can measure out five yards of love?

b. Can you fill a cup with justice?

c. Yet who will deny the existence of love and justice?

3. We can’t see, taste, touch, or hear, oxygen, but; it’s there and we need it.

You may not be able to see, taste, touch, or hear God, but once you meet him by faith in Christ, you will see the results of that experience. There are many reasons for believing in God.

I. Design in nature.

In Psalm 8 the psalmist exclaimed, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (vv. 3–4).

Romans 1:20 reads, “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (NIV).

1. If I found a watch on a beach and saw that it gave the second of the minute, the minute of the hour, the hour of the day, and the day of the week, I would know that behind this watch there had to be a some body who made it.

a. If someone handed me a copy of the Gettysburg Address and I read it, I would have to believe that it was the product of a mind such as Abraham Lincoln’s rather than the product of a man in a print shop.

2. When I look at our earth, I see that it is just the right size. If it were any smaller, the atmosphere would be unable to support human life.

a. If it were any larger, the atmosphere would contain free hydrogen such as on Jupiter and Saturn.

b. The earth is also exactly the right distance from the sun.

i. If it were any closer, it would be burned to a crisp.

ii. If it were any farther away, it would freeze as if it were in a giant deep freeze.

c. The tilt of the earth is just right to ensure the seasons of summer, winter, spring, and fall.

d. The moon is just right for the earth as it controls the ocean tides.

e. The ocean is just right as it serves as a giant thermostat for the earth.

(The planet Earth contains one giant global ocean. However, it can be divided into five oceans depending on the area it is located in. The five oceans on the planet Earth are the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and Antarctic Ocean. The Antarctic Ocean is also known as the Southern Ocean.)

When I see all these things, I have to say that behind this earth and universe there must be a God.

II. Purpose.

Purpose calls for the existence of God.

1. Listen to atheists of the past and present.

a. Jean-Paul Sartre suggested that humans are a tragic joke in the context of a total comic absurdity.

b. Clarence Darrow said that the outstanding fact that cannot be dodged by thoughtful persons is the futility of life.

c. H. L. Mencken said that life is not worth living. What could be more logical than suicide and more preposterous than remaining alive?

d. B. F. Skinner said that humans are born by chance and die by design.

2. In contrast God’s existence is evidenced by intelligence behind the universe, purpose running through the universe, and a logical outcome for the earth’s destiny.

Purpose calls for the existence of God.

III. Unusable energy.

Unusable energy calls for God’s existence.

1. Although America and the world have been faced with energy crises at various times, experts agree that there are billions of gallons of oil under the ground.

a. Add to that the existence of coal, uranium, and oil shale, and the earth seems to have enough energy for hundreds of years.

2. But what happens then?

a. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is never destroyed though it changes in form from usable energy to unusable energy.

i. Very deep and hard to explain.

1. The first law of thermodynamics is also known as the law of conservation of energy. Given that the energy can’t be created or destroyed, the total energy of an isolated system will always be constant because, and can only be converted into another form of energy or transferred somewhere else in the system.

b. The second law of thermodynamics states this loss of energy is irreversible.

i. The second law introduces the concept of entropy in thermodynamics. Entropy is a physical property that measures the amount of thermal energy in a system that is unavailable for doing useful work. The energy that can’t do work turns into heat, and the heat increases the molecular disorder of the system. Entropy can also be thought of as a measurement of that disorder.

ii. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy is always increasing. This is because, in any isolated system, there is always a certain amount of energy that is not available to do work. Consequently, heat will always be produced and this naturally increases the disorder (or entropy) of the system.

c. Nature moves in only one direction.

d. Scientists state that

i. The sun is slowly but surely burning out.

ii. The stars are dying embers.

iii. Everywhere in the cosmos heat is turning to cold.

iv. Matter is dissolving into radiation.

v. Energy is being dissipated into empty space.

vi. The universe is moving toward a maximum entropy or ultimate heat death whereby all energy will be unusable.

vii. The world will be like a cold tomb.

e. If the world is moving toward an end, it must have had a beginning.

i. If the universe is running down like a clock, the clock must have been wound up at a point in time.

ii. Nature cannot explain its own existence; therefore, God is the winder of the clock.

He is the first cause of the universe. Genesis 1:1 simply states, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

IV. Observation.

Observation calls for the existence of God.

1. Examine the civilization of humans.

a. From ancient times until now, all peoples who have not been brainwashed have had a seed thought of God.

b. Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Indians—all have believed in some type of a god.

i. Where did this idea come from?

ii. Is it the result of wishful thinking?

iii. Did humans create a universal father image and turn around and worship the figment of their own imagination?

iv. Is it a matter of whistling in the dark?

No. God placed the idea of himself in the minds of humans. Romans 1:19 reads, “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them” Romans 1:19 (NIV).

V. Mercy.

Mercy calls for the existence of God.

1. Romans 5:5 says, “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us”(NIV).

a. Christians, because of the love of God within their hearts, have established educational institutions to educate the minds of humans.

b. Because of this love, they have established hospitals, homes for delinquent teenagers, orphanages, and adult care homes.

i. Ask yourself these questions: Have I ever visited a hospital named the Atheistic Memorial Hospital?

ii. Have I ever heard of anyone who was a member of Atheistic Alcoholics Anonymous?

Mercy calls for the existence of God.

VI. Revelation.

Revelation reveals the existence of God.

1. One hundred years ago Herbert Spencer popularized agnosticism.

a. He observed that a bird could never fly out of space.

b. He concluded by analogy that it was impossible for the finite to break through to the infinite.

c. He was correct in his observations, but he was incorrect in his conclusion.

d. He overlooked two things.

i. First, he failed to foresee a time when astronauts would break out of the atmosphere and fly to all parts of the universe.

ii. He also missed the possibility that while the finite could not break through to the infinite, the infinite could break through to the finite.

Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” (NIV).

Hebrews 1:1–2 says, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (NIV).

e. On one occasion, the B.C. comic strip, which is about cavemen, showed one ant saying to another, “Wouldn’t it be a miracle if we could be transformed into human beings?”

i. It would be a miracle if an ant could become a human being, but a greater miracle happened two thousand years ago when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth in the form of a man to teach us what God is like.

f. If by faith in Christ you meet God, he will reward you with victory over troubles.

i. This is important note that the Bible does not promise that those who accept Christ as personal Savior will receive a bed of roses, easy sailing, and a life free from sickness.

ii. No, God has said that he would give them victory in the midst of the normal struggles of life.

g. Those who come to God by faith in Christ will be rewarded with peace in a world where everyone else lives in chaos.

h. They will receive the companionship of God, who will stand by their side when all others have forsaken them.

i. Those who come to God by faith in Christ will receive power over sin and confidence in a confused world.

Romans 10:17 says (NIV)

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Conclusion

Some time ago a father and son who were atheists devoted their lives to projecting the doctrine that there is no God. At last the father lay on his deathbed and said, “Son, what if we have been wrong all this time? What if there is a God?” The son replied, “Oh, Dad, don’t say that. Hold on. Hold on.”

The father gasped, “That’s just the point, son. There’s nothing to hold on to.”

Faith in Christ brings hope and confidence for the future. Would you come to God today by faith in Christ?