Consider God

Intro:

Guess the Rocks Game

Today, we are unpacking the question of the existence of God. I want to begin by taking you back to 2006. This was the year that I was in third grade, and my family had just moved to a new place where my dad was starting up a church. In 2006, a movement began that would sweep the United States and Europe called the New Atheist movement. This was a time where famous books where coming out that aggressively attacked the existence of God. People like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett where coming out with best selling books telling people that God was not real and sometimes even telling people to ridicule those who were religious. Now I was in 3rd grade, and I did not know that this movement was taking place. Let me read you a quote from Richard Dawkins that truly changed my life.

“If you were born in Arkansas and you think Christianity is true and Islam false, knowing full well that you would think the opposite if you had been born in Afghanistan, you are the victim of childhood indoctrination.” - Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

This quote basically asks the question, are you a Christian because you were born to Christian parents in a Christian nation? Because wouldn’t you be a Muslim in the middle east or a hindu if in India? Now I did not read the God delusion or even know that this book existed when I was in elementary and middle school. But I certainly heard from fellow students and teachers things like this. The question that I was confronted with was: “Is God actually real?” “Am I just blindly believing what I had been taught?” or “Has God really revealed Himself to the world?” Let’s turn to Psalm 19 where we will be looking at the answer to this question.

How can we know that God exists

Creation

The Bible

Psalm 19 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Verses 1-6

These verses speak of the general revelation of God in creation

General Revelation means something that God has revealed generally to anyone

You do not have to be a Christian to understand what a stick is or how ocean currents work or how the earth orbits the sun. These are things that the atheist and the Christian can both understand and appreciate

Verse 1 points to the heavens

These verses talk about creation but more specifically the sky or the stars

David says that the stars or the heavens show the work of God

This chapter is not just arguing for God’s existence but His awesomeness as well. Its not just shown that He exist but that He is the best possible being.

One of the coolest things about camp is the ability to be in creation. When you are surrounded by nature, it is harder to ignore God. This week, it would be so helpful for you to look around at the skies, the woods, the animals, the ocean, and see the clues that God has given us of His existence.

These verses are simple

Vs. 2-3 talk about speech

This is simply saying that the stars are talking

David is not having a weird dream

He is saying that the stars show that there is God and a pretty awesome God at that

Verses 4-6

This message is available for everyone

Practical: Can I suggest for you today, tonight. Look at the stars and ask yourself, does God exist? Does the universe seem like the result of an explosion or does it seem designed.

Argument from Design

Did you all know that through the study of stars we have discovered pretty extensive proof for God

Gravitational constant varied by 1/10^60 parts, stars would either collapse into themselves or fly apart not allowing any possible life

To put that in perspective, there are around 7x10^17 grains of sand in the world

Based on these numbers do you think that you exist by random chance, or do you think that something outside of nature is holding these things together

Argument Summary

My friends, I am not here to tell you that God probably exists. I am here to tell you that there is nothing in your life more certain that the existence of God. And this is available for all to see.

My homework for you today is this, look up at the stars sometime during this week and ask yourself the honest question is there a God?

Psalm 19:7–14 ESV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Adjectives for the Law of the Lord

Perfect

Reviving the soul

Sure

Making Wise

Right

Rejoicing the Heart

Pure

Enlightening the Eyes

Clean

Enduring forever

true

righteous

Even more amazing than the stars is what is called special revelation, which is the Word of God. There is nothing that is as reliable as the Word of God. This passage describes it as both true and life changing. And we thank the Lord that we have this book translated for us in our hands.

So why do people not believe in God. The evidence is so strong. I am not exaggerating when I say that there are conservatively 10 more similar math arguments, 100 more scientific arguments, and major historical arguments that the smartest atheists cannot respond to. So why would people ignore the data? Very smart people ignore this.

Romans 1:18–20 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

My friends, sin does not just corrupt your life but it corrupts your mind from seeing the truth.

There are people that are so much smarter than myself in things like math and science and yet when the topic is God, because of there sin they have no knowledge

These verses clearly show that all have been given proof of God through creation, yet most suppress this knowledge like a bad memory.

These verses speak of the wrath or anger of God on those who ignore the truth

It says that they are without excuse because they ignore the general revelation of God

In this passage we see that people you reject God do not have a knowledge problem but a moral problem.

They do not want to serve God, and they do not want a God to be real.

My friends, let me say something very serious to you. If you reject God, then looking at creation should not be amazing for you but it should be scary. It should cause fear. Imagine seeing the work and awesomeness and goodness of God, and then saying: “I have no interest in you.” Do you see the seriousness of these verse.

Conclusion:

Earlier I mentioned the New Atheist movement which Richard Dawkins who we talked about and a similar man Daniel Dennett. Daniel Dennett was also in the New Atheist movement, and was famous for saying that God was not real. He was an incredibly smart man, and incredibly well known for telling Christians that God is just in your imagination. I have been thinking about him a lot recently because he died this last April with that as his legacy.

Today, you have a decision to make. Either God is real, or you have no reason to follow the Bible at all. If God is not real, then you have no reason to follow the Bible or Christianity at all. But if God is real, then everything changes.

So why did the quote I mentioned at the beginning change my life? Because I made the decision to consider God. I considered the creation around us, the detail and wonder of all the world, and I asked is there a God. I looked at Scripture and saw the perfection and the beauty of it. It became incredibly clear to me that God is not just real, but amazing and awesome and loving. And so I decided that following God with my life was the only way I could possibly respond. I hope you feel the same way today. Let’s pray.