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For those who want to know God if is
there, he says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all
your heart, I will be found by you." Before you look at the facts
surrounding God's existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would do I
want to know about him? Here then, are some reasons to consider...
Does
God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer
who not only created our universe, but also sustains it today.
Many examples showing God's design could be given, possibly with no end.
But here are a few:
The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding
gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only
extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were
smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If
Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like
Jupiter. The Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere
of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.
The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the
temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If
the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any
closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's
position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth
remains at this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around
the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its
axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and
cooled every day.
Furthermore, our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth
for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and
movements so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans
are restrained from spilling over across the continents.
Water is colorless, odorless and without taste, and yet no living thing
can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly
of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). Consider why the
characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:
It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows
us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while
keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees.
Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that
thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout
our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.5
Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the
substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be
absorbed and used by the body.
Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow
upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the
top of even the tallest trees.
Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the
winter.
Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our
Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and
then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the
ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved
by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and
people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on
this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.
Does
God exist? The complexity of the human brain shows a higher intelligence
behind it.
The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of
information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the
temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the
sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your
keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and
memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing
functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement,
hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands. This amazing process
is called Homeostasis.
The human brain processes more than a million messages a second. Your
brain analyses the importance of all this data, filtering out the
relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to
focus and operate effectively in your world. A brain that deals with
more than a million pieces of information every second, while evaluating
its importance and allowing you to act on the most pertinent
information... did it come about just by chance? Was it merely
biological causes, perfectly forming the right tissue, blood flow,
neurons, structure? The brain functions differently than other organs.
There is intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings,
to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people. How does
one explain the human brain?
Does
God exist? "Chance" or "natural causes" are insufficient explanations.
The alternative to God existing is that all that exists around us came
about by natural cause and random chance. It someone is rolling dice,
the odds of rolling a pair of sixes is one thing. But the odds of spots
appearing on blank dice are something else. What Pasteur attempted to
prove centuries ago, science confirms, that life cannot arise from
non-life. From where did human, animal, plant life come?
Also, natural causes are an inadequate explanation for the amount of
precise information contained in human DNA. A person who discounts God
is left with the conclusion that all of this came about without cause,
without design, and is merely good fortune. It is intellectually naive
to observe intricate design and attribute it to luck.
Does
God exist? To state with certainty that there is no God, a person has to
ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are
convinced that there is a God.
This is not to say that if enough people believe something it is
therefore true. Science, for example, has discovered new truths about
the universe, which overruled previous conclusions. But as science has
progressed, no scientific discovery has countered the numerical
likelihood of an intelligent mind being behind it all. In fact, the more
science discovers about human life and the universe, the more complex
and precisely designed we realize these to be. Rather than pointing away
from God, evidence mounts further toward an intelligent source. But
objective evidence is not all.
There is a much larger issue. Throughout history, billions of people in
the world have attested to their firm, core convictions about God's
existence--arrived at from their subjective, personal relationship with
God. Millions today could give detailed account of their experience with
God. They would point to answered prayer and specific, amazing ways God
has met their needs, and guided them through important personal
decisions. They would offer, not only a description of their beliefs,
but detailed reports of God's actions in their lives. Many are sure that
a loving God exists and has shown himself to be faithful to them. If you
are a skeptic, can you say with certainty: "I am absolutely right and
they all are wrong about God"?
Does
God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly
initiating and seeking for us to come to him.
I was an atheist at one time. And like most atheists, the issue of
people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists
that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting
something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that?
When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those
poor, disillusioned people...to help them realize their hope was
completely ill founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I
challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if
they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free
from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers
that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be
free to go about my life.
I didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on
my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out
that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we
would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he
keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I
couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day
I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you
win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by
people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them.
I am not the only one who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge,
socialist and philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow,
besides questing, I was being pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered,
"...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second
from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so
earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God,
and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and
reluctant convert in all of England."
Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of
knowing God. I too had no expectations other than rightfully admitting
God's existence. Yet over the following several months, I became amazed
by his love for me.
Does
God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the
clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.
Why Jesus? Consider all the world religions and you'll find that Buddha,
Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or
prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly,
Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said
God exists and you're looking at him. Though he talked about his Father
in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close
union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him
had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.
He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk
in darkness, but will have the light of life." He claimed attributes
belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free
them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them
eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on
their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, "follow my
words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and
the life, no one comes to the Father but through me."
What
proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't
do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people...blind, crippled, deaf,
even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over
objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several
thousand people. He performed miracles over nature...walked on top of a
lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People
everywhere followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs, doing
the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling
you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you're
seeing.
Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our
self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship
with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of
his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different
plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment
for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving
fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if
they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because
he first loved us.
Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions
known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward
humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus
proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself.
Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today.
We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He
says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have
continued my faithfulness to you." This is God, in action.
Does
God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We're told
that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
"God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he
has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly
respond to him. "The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique
chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people
who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to
determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through
Jesus Christ. If you need to know more about Jesus and reasons to
believe in him, please see: Beyond Blind Faith.
If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.
This is your decision, no coercion here. But if you want to be forgiven
by God and come into a relationship with him, you can do so right now by
asking him to forgive you and come into your life. Jesus said, "Behold,
I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come into him [or her]." If you want to do this,
but aren't sure how to put it into words, this may help: "Jesus, thank
you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be
forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I
want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that
you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."
God views your relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all
those who believe in him, Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and
they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never
perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand."
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