If God Is For Real How Can I Get To Know Him?

SERMON OUTLINE:

• Question #1: ‘If God is for real’ – Does God exist?

• Question #2: ‘How can I get to know him?’- Is God knowable?

• Claim #1: He is “The Way”

• Claim #2: He is “The Truth”.

• Claim #3: He is "The Life."

SERMON BODY:

Our subject this morning is really two topics in one:

• FIRST: ‘If God is for real’ – Does God exist?

• SECOND: ‘How can I get to know him?’ – Is God knowable?

The First part of the title ‘If God is for real’ has been debate many times.

• You can go on Google and watch debate after debate after debate,

• Christian apologists e.g. John Lennox, William Craig, Ravi Zacharias

• Debate that topic in Universities all around the world.

• So, in a few minutes I am not going to attempt to answer that question.

• Because the Bible does not try to answer that question!

• Have you realised that the Bible does not try to prove God,

• It starts with the words, “In the beginning God…” (Genesis chapter 1 verse 1).

• It expects you to take that truth by faith.

Ill:

• Faith is central to all of life.

• For example, you go to a doctor whose name you cannot pronounce;

• And whose degrees you have never verified.

• He gives you a prescription you cannot read.

• You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen before.

• He gives you a chemical compound you do not understand.

• Then you go home and take the pill according to the instructions on the bottle.

• All the time, trusting, having faith in others!

• TRANSITION: The Bible takes for granted that God exists,

• It never tries to prove his existence.

• It does say open your eyes and look at creation

• e.g. Creation screams that there is a creator.

• Quote: Psalm 19 verse 1

• “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.”

In our limited time this morning:

• I am going to follow that line of thought.

• As I said many others and better qualified than me have done it many times before.

• Check out John Lennox, William Craig, Ravi Zacharias etc on YouTube.

• But let me share this true illustration with you.

Ill:

• David Watson, who died in 1984, was an Anglican priest, evangelist, and author,

• On one occasion he was invited to lecture at Cambridge university.

• During his talk, he was rudely interrupted by a student who shouted out.

• “Dr Watson, not only do I not believe in God, I know that there is no God!”

• David Watson was an experienced debater and simple replied:

• “What sum total of the knowledge of universe do you think you know?”

• There was a pause as the student was thinking,

• So, David Watson said, “Let me help you…”

• “…the famous scientist Albert Einstein said he knew 0.5%,

• Of the sum total knowledge of the universe!”

• The student replied,

• “I guess 0.5%”

• David Watson then said,

• “How do you know that God is not in the other 99.5% you don’t know,

• or even in the 5% you claim to know, but as yet is unrecognised?”

• TRANSITION: ‘If God is for real’ and as Christians we say he is!

• Then, ‘How can I know him!’

The Second part of the title ‘How can I get to know him?”

• The answer to that question is found in Jesus Christ!

• Who declared in John chapter 14 verse 6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life,

• No-one comes to the Father except through me!”

• He is the ‘way’ to God if we follow him.

• He is the ‘truth’ about God if we follow him.

• He is the ‘life’ of God if we want to experience him.

Note:

• With that statement Jesus took three of the great basic conceptions of Jewish religion.

• And made a tremendous claim,

• That all three things found their full realisation in him.

Claim #1: He is “The Way”

• To any Jew familiar with their Old Testament,

• They would be familiar with the idea of ‘The Way’.

Ill:

• God once said to Moses in (Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 32-33).

“So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”