Is There A God

Subject: Existence of God

Scripture: Isaiah 1.18

Sermon: Is there a God?

Scope: This sermon should challenge every believer in their faith and confront every unbeliever in their lost-ness.

Summary: There is a God who has revealed Himself and a personal relationship with His Son Jesus Christ is the only way to have a right relationship with Him.

Segue: Let’s reason together today over the precepts surrounding the existence of God.

Introduction: There are certain truths we hold as basic. These basic truths are accepted universally with little or no proof. For instance, through out the world 2 + 2 = 4 is accepted as a universal truth. Apart from those who are color blind the color of the words of this sentence would be accepted universally as Red. So also, is the statement “It is wrong to kill people for fun” accepted as a basic inherent truth among all peoples.

My question is why? Why does 2 + 2 = 4? Why is red red and not orange? Who determined the standard by which we manage these truths? Most of these basic truths are believed because they were first expressed to us by our parents. We accepted them universally based upon the word of other people primarily.

There are those who hold to the same thought when it comes to belief in God. Many such as John Calvin suggest that inherent within every human being there is a basic truth that tells us there is a God. While there are others who suggest like Nietzsche who boldly proclaim that “God is dead!”

If the present continuing debate about the issue of God is any indication God must exist. However, if you grab the yellow pages and peruse the church section with its many churches and denomination you may come away with the conclusion that if God does exists either He is schizophrenic or we have no clue about who He is or what He wants.

This morning I want to tackle the question, “Is there a God.” And, if there is who He is and what He wants from us.

As St. Thomas Aquinas suggests if we don’t exist then there is no point in going on. This leads to another question; “Can the existence be proven logically or is it merely a matter of the heart and emotions?” The philosopher Pascal said it is a matter of the heart and not reason. However, St. Thomas Aquinas suggests it is an act of the intellect simply conceding to what the heart already knows.

To be intellectually honest I must admit that I come to this question with the premise that God does exist and that and He has revealed Himself to us through His Holy Word the Bible. With that said I believe God answers the heart verses logic question in His Word. I believe His answer is yes to both. I believe that God’s Word bears out that St. Thomas was right. For instance, the Bible says “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10.9-10).” This passage teaches that the heart and the mind work together in the conclusion that God is real and the He came to redeem us from our sin. God makes it even more clearly in Isaiah 1.18 when He says, “come now and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be like wool.” God is inviting every human to come and reason of His existence and His redemptive plan. He states in this text that any reasonable person who works logically through the issues of the reality of God that he will come away with a full understanding that God exist and God came to redeem him from his sin.

So, this morning I want to take you on a journey. This journey will begin with the logical reason through the concept of God’s existence and will hopefully conclude in you having a true heart felt faith in the one true and living God. This journey will take us through several points of interest. We will begin with the reality of God’s existence. Then we will see the revelation of God to man. From there we will see God’s righteous requirement and the reality of sin. And, we will conclude with God’s redemption of man. So, let us start, well, at the beginning by turning to Genesis chapter one.

I. The Reality of God’s Existence (Gen. 1.1ff).

In Genesis Chapter 1 there are 31 verses and in those 31 verses the name of God is used 32 times. It stands to reason that while Genesis one gives a synopsis of the mechanics of creation that the real heart of the text is the person of creation rather than the pattern of creation. As summarized in the first three words of Genesis 1.1 this text is about the Creator. So, it is with the question of God’s existence that we want to start today. Obviously I have come to the conclusion that He does exist and my purpose today is to challenge you to come to this same conclusion. I want to do that by reasoning with you this morning. I want to begin with the most famous logical argument ever posited for the existence of God taken from St. Thomas Aquinas Suma Theologiae. So, we begin with “The Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas”.