Is Our Faith Blind ? Part 2 Series

IS OUR FAITH BLIND – PART 2

Atheists Question: Isn’t our faith in God blind. After all, what evidence is there that a God you cannot touch or see actually exists?

We began by examining the veracity of the Bible (a personal love letter from God in which our history, intimate details of how God created the world and our relation to Him) and concluded based on the evidence found it to be the absolute truth. We now turn to other evidence that God exists such as: our conversion stories, answered prayers, creation and the ongoing existence of the church.

Conversion Stories

The way in which people’s lives are radically changed when they give their heart to Christ is truly a miracle! Acts 4:13 tells us of the story of Peter and John’s encounter with the Sanhedrin. Peter and John were preaching the Gospel message to the Jewish people. The captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them and had them thrown into prison for having preach Jesus and His resurrection. When questioned by the Sanhedrin the next day they stood their ground and boldly proclaimed the Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead. The people were astonished by their courage and wisdom! How could two unschooled men take on the Sadducees or the priests and yet still make more sense than they did concerning Christ? Schooling does not mean we are wise. It is not until we take what we have learned, allow the Spirit of God to examine and approve that learning, and put it into action does it become true wisdom. The point is simply that when God says “if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new is here” He is stating being born again is the most radical transformation process one can ever go through! It is this radical transformation process that is proof that God exists.

Some of the most insignificant, lost and broken people have defied all odds and have done great things in God’s kingdom. This is why Scripture says: After all, 1 Corinthians 1:26–29 (NIV) - 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. Let us look at some of these exciting people that God chose to demonstrate His power.

Paul is one of those radical conversion stories that is a true miracle! Paul’s reaction to hearing about Jesus Christ initially was one of indignation and violence. He got letters from the high priests to take anyone who belonged to the Way and have them imprisoned at Jerusalem. Paul spoke murderous threats to Christians and he was present for the stoning of Stephen with full approval even though sentencing someone to death was illegal for the Jewish people to carry out. Then, on the road to Damascus Paul meets Jesus Christ and he does a 180 decree turn and instead of persecuting Christians he proclaimed the Gospel message while others persecuted him: 2 Corinthians 11:23–28 (NIV) - 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

When God touched Moses he was radically changed. When Moses first met God at the burning bush he was full of excuses! First, he said he was not qualified (Exodus 3:11). How could this be when he was second in command of Egypt so he had the leadership skills. He was trained by the very best Egypt had to offer so he was well equipped to run a nation. The second excuse was that he did not have enough theological training (Exodus 3:13). Who shall I tell them sent me? Moses who had received one of the best educations Egypt had to offer was afraid he was not educated enough? Moses then said what if they will not believe me (Exodus 4:1). God told Moses that he would perform miracles in the name of God and then they would believe. Finally, Moses says he is not an eloquent speaker so send someone else (Exodus 4:10). God then told him Aaron could speak for him, which of course we find out later this was unnecessary because Moses was an eloquent speaker. All of these excuses point to the fact that Moses started out very timid and unwilling to lead Israel. After the burning bush, we find Moses is one of the boldest leaders that God ever chose. After all, it was Moses who asked Pharaoh to let his people go and then through the power of God issued in 10 plagues on Egypt!