Is There a God?

My Answer to the Question of “Is There a God?”

I remember having a crisis of faith when I was in junior high. I grew up in the church and accepted what the church taught as being what I was supposed to believe. I didn’t have any other world view. But at maybe 12 I really began to wonder if there was a God, a Heaven, and if all that the church was doing was the real deal. This led me to rededicating my life to the Lord and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

We have to answer this question for ourselves and, sometimes, we get the opportunity to answer someone else’s question. And, in the modern culture today, it can be very confusing for our kids and others who’ve not yet gained a biblical worldview but more importantly a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We Know the True Answer

It is very likely that everyone in this room this morning has wrestled with the same question and come the same answer, although your path may have been completely different than mine.

We have all heard the story about Moses and his message from God to Pharaoh. “Who is this God” Pharaoh asked? The answer that Moses gave was just 4 words, “I AM that I AM”. There was virtually no explanation. The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As the nation of Israel was being founded, they began to get a lesson in the wilderness about the nature of God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

They were surrounded by nations that worshipped multiple gods and in Egypt, even the Pharaohs were considered to be gods. This was revolutionary.

Although the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are seen working in harmony from the beginning of Genesis, the prophet Isaiah receives a message from God that explains that a Savior would come and that this Savior would be one and the same with the Father.

Isaiah 43:10–11 NIV

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.

The NT confirms the One True God with the visual and auditory evidence at the baptism and Jesus

Luke 3:22 NIV

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

And through the words of Jesus as He shines a light on the Trinity of God in the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Those Scriptures and thoughts are commonly understood within the Church but if we make the assumption that our families, friends, and community will accept these truths we may run into issues. How do we deal with these questions when someone asks even the simplest questions?

Novel Answers to “Is there a God?”

In 1993 two professors within the Assemblies of God wrote that “the Scriptures affirm what is universally experienced by people everywhere: there is a God.” Perhaps they spoke a bit too soon. Whatever the occurrence of atheists in 1993, by the time 10 years had passed, 10% of the American population were either agnostic or atheist. By 2018 that percentage had risen to 21%. While believers in Christ fell 9%, those who were not sure or did not believe in God rose at the fastest rate of all groups.

Frank Turek, a defender of the faith, has recognized that too many young people are talked out of faith. His response is that they were never talked into it. In other words, they were expected to just accept mom and dad’s faith, but the substance of the faith was never discussed. On one occasion, an expert in the Law asked how to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the Law said. He replied,

Luke 10:27 NIV

He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Notice that heart, soul, AND MIND are included. More than ever before we need to love God in ALL 3 of these areas. So, let’s look at a couple of things that will help us answer those who are seeking.

First, “Aren’t All Religions Worshipping the Same God?”

There are numerous religions out there so let’s narrow it down. We can eliminate the eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism because they worship many gods – millions. After eliminating those religions, it leaves just the big 3 – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

The Muslim god – Allah

On December 15, 2015, Wheaton College, [which has a rich Christian heritage], placed one of its professors on administrative leave for “theological statements that seemed inconsistent with [their] doctrinal convictions.” Five days prior, donning a hijab and staking her position on a variety of controversial matters, Larycia Hawkins had stated on Facebook, “I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”

Wheaton’s decision to give Dr. Hawkins “more time to explore theological implications of her recent public statements” ignited a firestorm of controversy.[1]

In Islam the god is distant, unknowable, and unapproachable. A Muslim can only hope for guidance, but never redemption.[2] For the Muslim, reaching Paradise is about following the laws and precepts of Islam. There is no Redeemer to take care of the issue of sin. There is no Heavenly Father and it rejects Jesus as the Son of God.

What About Judaism?

One famous Jewish philosopher recently said, “I have one question to ask the Messiah when He comes, ‘Is this the first time or the second’?” To answer the question of whether Christians and Jews worship the same God we have to acknowledge the similarities between us:

- We are descendants of Abraham. The Jews are naturally, and we are spiritually.

- We both acknowledge the OT and the goodness of the Law.

However, we divide at the person of Christ and the authority of the New Testament. Because of this divide a Jewish man does not have the understanding of Heaven and Hell as the Christian does. And, certainly, he is awaiting a redemption that believers in Christ already celebrate.

Does the Jewish woman worship the same God that we do? In the rejection of Jesus Christ as God’s son I would say that God hears but is waiting for belief by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul expresses it best

Colossians 2:2–3 NIV

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Second Argument, “Does God Even Exist?”

The hallways of our schools, the internet, and social media are filled with voices making statements like these:

- If you can’t know everything for sure, you can’t know anything for sure

- Religion is child abuse

- Man is not just equal to God; he’s better.

- Belief in God is some sort of wish-fulfillment, akin to believing in Santa Claus

- Religion keeps people from asking questions

Much of what is common in our culture is a result of early atheists and a more recent wave of atheists. These atheists have an incredible impact on our children and our society. Just one example is the word meme. It was coined by probably the most vocal atheist in the US, Richard Dawkins. Spell it out m.e….m.e.[3]

The Bible makes no attempt to convince people of God’s existence before it begins. Genesis recognizes that He is:

Genesis 1:1 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Psalm 14:1 declares,

Psalm 14:1 NIV

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

So, How Do You Explain the Existence of God?

We certainly don’t have time to get into all the possible ways that we can answer the atheist. Just to whet your appetite let me mention a couple logical arguments:

Dallas Willard: 3 Arguments for the existence of God

Nothing physical explains its own existence -

The apple cannot exist without the tree but neither does the tree explain its own existence. This goes on and on. It must be explained by one self-existent cause.

To design, not from design –

the raw ‘materials’ that have resulted in this universe as we have it have been brought together simultaneously in the most amazing combinations – combinations too amazing to have just happened by accident.

The course of human events

– how does the human heart get persuaded to do, and want to do, that which is true, good, and beautiful. Technological advance without virtue in the technician is the nuclear button in the hands of a madman.

Ravi Zacharias

- No other philosophy or religion answers these questions so completely: origin, morality, meaning, destiny

Dr. William Menzies says,

Hebrews 11:6 states emphatically that “anyone who comes to him [God] must believe that he exists.” The Scriptures affirm what is universally experienced by people everywhere: There is a God. To say there is no Supreme Being—or to live that way—is to deny what is intuitively known by all (see John 1:9; Rom. 1:19). The existence of God is so fundamental to human thinking that to abandon this conception is to embark upon a wild sea of irrationality that leaves us without meaning or purpose.[4]

Frank Turek

Design argument

– Every design has a designer (Willard’s apple tree)

Genesis 1:1

Moral argument

– without the existence of God there can be no good or evil. Richard Dawkins concludes that since there is no morality there can be no evil. Imagine the repercussions of this.

Romans 2:14–15 NIV

(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)

Cosmological

– although we don’t physically see God because He is not a material Being, we know He exists by His effects. Romans 1:17 makes the same argument:

Romans 1:20 NIV

For 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 people are without excuse.

Let Love Lead the Way

“God has put enough into this world to make faith in him a most reasonable thing; but he has left enough out to make it impossible to live by reason alone” – Ravi Zacharias

On the trip back from Tennessee I heard one of Ravi Zacharias’ speakers sharing about the kindness of Ravi. He said that they went into hostile crowds and nations, but Ravi had a way of demonstrating the love of Christ regardless of the situation. In a personal meeting, Ravi told his new speaker at RZIM that before he begins a response during Q&A, he always imagines himself giving the questioner a warm embrace. I think that this is very wise advice for us, even more so as we deal with family, friends, and community members. Let love lead the way.

Problems if God Doesn’t Exist

(1) Morality – Dawkins concludes that there can be no evil

(2) No Meaning

(3) No Hope

Know God as we know Him completes us in a full way. We are able to know God in body, soul, strength, and mind and delight in Him in all of these ways. Our lives become the salt and light that Jesus talks about because we of the personal relationship that we have with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[1] Qureshi, Nabeel. “Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?”. https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-global/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god. Accessed May 28, 2020.

[2] Brink, Mark. Influence. “What is Islam”. May 10, 2019. https://influencemagazine.com/Practice/What-Is-Islam

[3] Ferrer, Hillary Morgan (2019). Mama Bear Apologetics. (pp. 123-126). Eugene, OR. Harvest House Publishers.

[4] Menzies, W. W. (1993). Bible Doctrines: A Pentecostal Perspective. (S. M. Horton, Ed.) (pp. 46–47). Springfield, MO: Logion Press.