[This sermon is contributed by Hal Seed of New Song Church in Oceanside, California and of www.PastorMentor.com. Hal is the author of numerous books including The God Questions and The Bible Questions. If you are interested in The Bible Questions Church-wide Campaign, please visit and watch Hal’s video at www.PastorMentor.com.]
Author’s notes:
1) This message requires props: a Pepsi can, a banana, and a hula-hoop. I recommend you give every attendee a banana on the way in the door. It adds to the realness of the message.
2) Each of the phrases in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS was made into a PowerPoint slide.
Good morning everybody!
I want to welcome all of you who have joined us for this series called, “The God Questions.” Over these next 6 weeks we’re going to provide you with some real answers about the central questions people ask about God. These answers will be simple, straightforward, based on facts and logic, packaged in a form you can take with you. I think this series will be very helpful for all of us and I’m looking forward to the mental and spiritual muscles we’re going to put on as a result of it.
So, pull out your message notes and let’s get to work on the God questions.
Of course, the first question and great question is, “IS GOD REAL?” Because if the answer to that question is, “no,” then there’s really not much sense in asking any other questions about Him, is there?
OPEN A BIBLE TO PSALM 19, ON PAGE 541.
This is a poem, a song lyric written by King David of Israel, around 1000 B.C. David may have lived a long time ago, but he was one of the smartest men who ever lived. He was a victorious general, a king who led his country to economic prosperity, he moved his country from the stone age to the bronze age. He was an innovator. And a man’s man.
David writes this – would you read it out loud with me?
THE HEAVENS DECLARED THE GLORY OF GOD; THE SKIES PROCLAIM THE WORK OF HIS HANDS. PSALM 19:1
If you continue reading, he continues on the same thread. What he’s saying is, “Look around you. The universe is stocked with pointers to the existence of God.
But if it’s any encouragement to you, I want to say that EVERYONE WONDERS ABOUT GOD FROM TIME TO TIME. IT’S THE NATURE OF FAITH.
See, the Bible says, WHAT IS FAITH?... IT IS THE EXISTENCE OF THINGS WE CANNOT YET SEE. HEBREWS 11:1
If we could see it, it wouldn’t be faith.
All of life is built on faith.
You put money in the stock marketing, expressing faith that you won’t get burned. You join a company, expressing faith that they’ll pay you every month. You get married, believing you’ll live happily ever after. You got up this morning, believing that there would be enough air to breathe for you to make it through the day.
There are no guarantees in life, only expressions of faith.
But that doesn’t mean that we have to express faith blindly. We invest in the market after reading a company’s prospectus. We accept a job after interviewing the boss. We get married after meeting our intended’s family. We believe they’ll be enough air to breathe because there was enough air yesterday and the day before and the day before that.
Our faith is based on reasoning and facts and prior experience.
God set it up that way.
Which is why He says, “Look at the stars.” The heavens declare the glory of God. They are telling you that God is real.
How?
Well, pointer number 1 to the existence of God is,
1. THE EXISTENCE OF “STUFF.”
See, stuff not only happens, stuff exists. Which creates a huge problem for the atheist.
Because if nothing exists, then we don’t have to explain it. But the minute we acknowledge that something is real, then we have to come up with an explanation for it.
The universe exists. It’s real. We live in it. We see it, hear it, feel it, and breathe its air.
We did all this stuff we feel, hear, breath, smell come from?
Here’s principle we all understand intuitively:
THE NATURE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT:
FOR EVERY EFFECT, THERE HAS TO BE A CAUSE.
I’m wearing a watch. How did that get there? I put it on my wrist this morning. It says, “M-O-V-A-D-O” on it. How did those little letters get there? Someone must have inscribed them on it.
Cause, and effect. For every effect, every thing, there has to be something that caused it.
Now, here’s a second pointer.
2. THE NATURE OF “STUFF.”
Or, more specifically, the nature of the universe. The universe is a huge, complex, marvelously well-ordered place. Since it existence, you have to explain where it came from.
One possible explanation for how something got here is that it was self-created. It came from itself. But that doesn’t follow logically. You know why? Because scientists who study this sort of thing tell us that just about EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE IS CONTINGENT.
Which means, it’s dependent on other things in order to exist.
Take trees for example. They need air to exist, air to survive, air to have been created in the first place. Trees are contingent on air.
Or the Chargers. The Chargers need players to exist. They need a league to play in, and an owner to pay them. And ravenous fans who will cheer them on, even though they break our hearts almost every year. The Chargers are contingent.
Or the earth. The earth needs the sun. The sun needs the solar system, and gravity, and a whole host of photo and electrochemical reactions to be able to exist.
Nothing we observe around us seems to be absolutely self-caused or self-reliant. In fact, it’s easy to conclude that everything we can see around us did not exist at one time, and probably will not continue to exist forever.
So, if everything we observe is dependent on something else, and not independent or self-caused, the principle of dependency leads us to ask, IF ALL THAT EXISTS I DEPENDENT, FRAGILE, AND TEMPORARY, WHO OR WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THESE DEPENDENT OBJECTS AND BEINGS?
Philosophers go through all sorts of mental gymnastics to try and answer this question with large-sounding words. But let me just dummy it down to our level by asking you to do this for a minute: In your mind, get way, way away from the universe, zoom out from it, and then take everything in the universe and draw a circle around it. A circle like this. (Hold up hula hoop.) All the galaxies, solar systems, planets, black holes. Shrink the whole thing down to fit inside this circle.
Now, as we’ve already concluded, all that is inside the circle is dependent. It relies on something besides itself for existence, and because of the second law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy, it’s slowly headed towards non-existence.
Okay?
So the big question is, Where might the thing that caused all this dependent stuff to exist in the first place be located? Inside the circle, or outside of it?
What explanation makes most sense?
If everything inside the circle is fragile and dependent and reliant on other objects inside the circle, how likely is it that that the cause of all the we see originated inside the circle of contingency?
Doesn’t a thinking person have to conclude that everything that exists inside the circle must have been created by something outside the circle?
And by definition, whatever is outside that circle must be independent, absolutely self-caused and self-reliant.
Which would make it eternal. Unlimited. All powerful.
Which is why the Bible says in Psalm 19:1, THE HEAVENS DECLARED THE GLORY OF GOD; THE SKIES PROCLAIM THE WORK OF HIS HANDS. PSALM 19:1
See what God is saying here? “Open your eyes and see. I am all around you. I have left pointers to my existence all over the universe!”
Let’s take this one step further.
Instead of looking at the big picture of the universe as a whole, let’s look at a couple of small pictures, and the way they fit together.
Let’s start with one of these. (Pepsi can.)
Have you ever wondered how this got to be the way it is? Where it came from, or how it was formed?
Let me tell you about it.
Millennia ago, an incredible big bang came out of nothing and no where, and sent a massive rock spinning through space. As it cooled, a brown, sweet, bubbly liquid formed on its surface. As time passed, aluminum crept out of the water and shaped itself into just these dimensions. –Which just happened to be the right shape and size for a human hand, which would develop a few million years later.
Over time, this thing formed itself a one-time retractable lid, then a crease started to appear a bit off center on the top of the lid, and out of it grew a pull-tab.
Centuries later, red, white, and blue paint fell from the sky and clung to this thing, forming the letters P-e-p-s-i on its surface. Obviously, these five letters have a deeper meaning to them, because you see them everywhere. (In fact, if you think about it, you’ll realize that this logo is one of the primordial resonance frequencies of the universe. After all, it’s everywhere. Some have even described it as “The right one, baby.” Others have called it the choice of a new generation, but it’s been around for ages.)
The really cool part is that the primordial force that generated this pattern even thought to put a little trademark symbol next to it.
Question: how many scientific explanations about the nature of matter and the origins of the universe would I have to give to convince you that this can happened by chance? What are the odds that something this complex and this coincidentally-useful and comfortable and attractive came about as a result of a random collision of molecules?
It’s too carefully designed to be chance or coincidence, wouldn’t you agree?
And this is just a Pepsi can.
It fits perfectly in the palm of the normal-sized human hand. Its volume is just about right for satisfying one person’s desire for something sweet and liquid. It has just enough caffeine to pep you up a bit, but not so much that you realize you’re in a drug-induced high. Its contents are always the same. Its quality never varies.
My conclusion? Some very smart people who knew what they were doing did some thinking to come up with this. How did I conclude that? It is only reasonable to be able to reconstruct certain attributes of the designer by studying his design.
Now, let’s look at a banana.
Check this out. The far side of a banana has three ridges, and the close side has two ridges. (Usually this is so, but not always, because, unlike the Pepsi can designer, the banana-designer is innovative and creative and loves variety and didn’t want to settle for factory or cookie-cutter replicas. So every banana is unique, but they’re all the same in the ways that really matter.)
Notice how neatly the banana fits in your hand. Kind of like it was made for it, wasn’t it?
Feel how it’s been thoughtfully made with a non-slip surface.
It comes with a time-sensitive indicator on the outside to let you know the condition of the contents before you even open it. Green means, keep going, yellow means slow down and eat it, black means too late friend.
The top contains a thoughtfully-made pull-tab for convenient opening.
Pull firmly on the tab and see how there are perforations on the wrapper, so that it will peel into four pieces and hang gracefully over the hand. This wrapper is environmentally sound, being made completely of bio-degradable substances that in time enrich the soil it nestles in. If left uneaten, this, like every other fruit, has pre-programmed orders to reproduce itself into a whole new fruit-bearing plant so that it is a virtually inexhaustible food-producing source.
The fruit is the perfect size and shape for the human mouth, with a point on the top, for easy entry.
The banana is full of body-building calories, and is easy for the stomach to digest. And the Maker of the Banana has even curved it towards the face to make the whole eating process easier.
Remember how Psalm 19 said that the heavens declare the glory of God? I would argue that the tropical jungles do too.
They not only declare that God exists, but they give us hints of what he must be like.
Do design something so intricate and delicate and beautiful and superior as this, whoever created the banana must be smart and thoughtful and creative and superior. He must be loving, because He designed His creature around the needs of His creatures.
How smart do you suppose you’d have to be to design and create one of these from scratch? Friends, this banana tells us something about God’s power and prowess.
And if you want a verse to share with a friend, should they ever ask you how you know there is a God, you can turn them to Romans 1:20, where the Bible says, FROM THE TIME THE WORLD WAS CREATED, PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THE EARTH AND SKY AND ALL THAT GOD MADE. THEY CAN CLEARLY SEE HIS INVISIBLE QUALITIES – HIS ETERNAL POWER AND DIVINE NATURE. – ROMANS 1:20.
If they just stop and think.
Here’s a third pointer to the existence of God:
3. MY SENSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG.
How many of you have been watching the hearings for Judge Alito?
Why are people so worked up about who does and doesn’t get on the Supreme Court?
One reason is because we all carry within us a sense of right and wrong. A sense that certain things are right and should be done, and certain things are wrong, and shouldn’t be done.
Anthropologists tell us that that is a universal phenomenon. Morals vary from person to person and culture to culture, but every person has them.
Now, here’s the interesting part: how many of you have ever done what you believed was wrong? You betrayed your own sense of morals?
Anthropologists tell us that that is a universal phenomenon as well; that all people admit that they have within them a moral standard, and that they haven’t lived up to their moral standard. Because their moral standard is actually higher than they are.
How do you explain that?
How do you explain that all of us have within us a sense of morals that are beyond us?
Most who have thought about it eventually conclude that the most reasonable explanation is that our morals were not self-invented, but came from a higher moral source.
And, if you want a verse to demonstrate this with, Romans 2:14-15 says EVEN WHEN GENTILES, WHO DO NOT HAVE GOD’S WRITTEN LAW, INSTINCTIVELY FOLLOW WHAT THE LAW SAYS, THEY SHOWS THAT IN THEIR HEARTS THEY KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG. THEY DEMONSTRATE THAT GOD’S LAW IS WRITTEN WITHIN THEM, FOR THEIR OWN CONSCIENCES EITHER ACCUSE THEM OR TELL THEM THEY ARE DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. – ROMANS 2:14-15
Now, let’s put a few things together.
The circle of contingency leads us to conclude that the universe was created by an uncreated creator. An unlimited, eternal, all-powerful being.
The banana shows us that that creator is very smart, creative, thoughtful, and cares about his creation, or he could have just made rough and bland and harsh taste and feel. But he didn’t. He put great beauty and care into His creation. So He must be smart and beautiful and creative and caring.
Our own hearts demonstrate to us that the creator surpasses us in morals, or He wouldn’t have been able to create morals that were higher than we are.
Put all those together and you have an eternal, powerful, smart, beautiful, loving, moral creator. And that comes very close to a working definition of God, doesn’t it, friends?
And really, what are the alternatives? Random chance and circumstance? Which takes more faith?
Which is more intellectually honest?
I would argue that it takes more faith to believe that there is no God than to believe that there is one.
The Bible claims that this God who exists revealed Himself in two ways: He told us about Himself in the Bible – we’ll get into that next week – and He showed us Himself by coming to earth in the form of a man named Jesus of Nazareth.
Why would He do that?
Because He’s crazy in love with us.
When I was 13 years old, my parents divorced and my dad moved out. He moved away from me. But he loved me so much that he made a special point of taking me out to dinner every Tuesday night. Tuesday night was our night. Every Tuesday night we’d find a great steak house and have steak together.
The Bible says that the distance between us and God didn’t come because He moved. It came because we did. We moved away from God. We said, “I don’t want to live under your roof, under your rules, under your guidance. I want to live life my way.”
And God says, “I’d like you under my roof again. I’d like to be your Father again. And since you won’t come home, I’ll write you letters (the Bible), and I’ll come visit.” So He did that, 2000 years ago.
Why? So that you would want to come under His roof again.
Maybe this morning, what I’ve said has made sense to you. Maybe you’d be willing to admit that God really does exist – and by the way, if He exists, then He must have created you. And if He created you, than you belong to Him. So when He asks you to come under His roof, He’s only asking you to return errant property.
Would you like to do that? Would you like to come under God’s roof today? God says that in order to do that, you only need to do 2 things: believe, and receive.
Believe that He exists, and is your God, and receive the love and forgiveness and leadership that He offers you. Come under His roof.
Alright. Let me ask you a few questions, starting with the very simplest.
How many of you are capable of raising your hand?
Okay. How many of you would say that the evidence I’ve presented makes sense? That God probably does exist based on the existence of the universe, etc?
How many of you would be willing to admit that, if God exists, He probably knows a lot more than you do?
And how many of you would be willing to admit that if God exists and knows more than you do, He would undoubtedly be better at directing your life than you are?
Alright, so what would keep you from inviting Him to direct your life? Pride? Fear? Lack of control?
See, I think the pivotal issue is not, “Is God real?” The pivotal issue is, “Can I trust Him?” Because if I can, it just makes logical sense that I would invite Him to direct me. To be my Lord, or leader.
So think with me about this for a minute: What if God is NOT trustworthy? What if He’s got a hidden agenda, like say, He wants to trick us into following Him because He wants to mess up our lives?
What if all the beauty He created is just a mirage designed to deceive us into thinking that He actually cares about us, when in reality, He really doesn’t?
Then, we’re in real trouble, friends, because we live in a universe that holds an all-powerful being that does not have our best interests at heart, and there is no where we can run or hide.
See, I would argue that all of us know in our hearts that God exists and that He is trustworthy, otherwise, we are living in a diabolical universe, where God created us and plans to manipulate and deceive us for His own ends. And there is no evidence of that.
So final question: Why not trust Him? Why not trust Him today?
Take out your Welcome Card for a minute. (Back side, explain salvation, check box if you prayed the prayer.)
Prayer.
Assignments:
1. Meet with a small group this week.
2. Read chapters 1-6 of THE GOD QUESTIONS.
3. Memorize Psalm 19:1
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