Before we study Ephesians, we will do a 5 week series on apologetics. Apologetics is the word for defending what you believe. What would you say if you were asked the following questions?
How do you know God really exists?
Why do you trust the Bible as God’s Word?
Why is Jesus Christ God and the only way to heaven?
Why belong to a church?
Are Bible Prophecies believable?
The Apostle Paul instructs Christians in 2 Timothy 4:2,
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
If we are Believers of Jesus Christ, we must be able to defend our beliefs! My prayer for all of us the next few weeks is that we would be ready to correct, rebuke, and encourage many people with God, Jesus Christ, The Bible, and the Right Way to Live! There are people out there like the Professor I told you about.
The professor presented the following logic:
"Has anyone in this class heard God?" Nobody spoke.
"Has anyone in this class touched God?" Again, nobody spoke. "Has anyone in this class seen God?"
When nobody spoke for the third time, he simply stated, "Then there is no God."
One student thought for a second, and then asked for permission to reply. Curious to hear this bold student’s response, the professor granted it, and the student stood up and asked the following questions of his classmates:
"Has anyone in this class heard our professor’s brain?"
Silence. "Has anyone in this class touched our professor’s brain?" Absolute silence.
"Has anyone in this class seen our professor’s brain?" When nobody in the class dared to speak, the student concluded, "Then, according to our professor’s logic, it must be true, our professor has no brain!"
There are many evidences about the existence of God! But let us not forget what God says about people; Romans 1:18-19 tells us, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
And so God Himself tells us that there are evidences of His existence; let’s talk about some of them and be strengthened in our faith and be ready to give an answer to those who are seeking.
How do we know God exists?
1. First of all, away from the Bible, there are general truths to consider:
a. Cosmological – Every known thing has a cause and the cause of great things such as the universe is God!
Have you ever had a simple conversation with a toddler?
Which type of questions do they ask most, What, Who, Where, or Why?
Kids are always asking why, aren’t they? Why is the sky blue? Why is my hair blonde? Why are there mosquitoes? Why do I have to eat broccoli?
Every person has a curiosity about knowing what causes something to happen! Every known thing has a cause! What do you see in the sky on a clear night? The universe is plain to see isn’t it? What caused the great universe? The answer is simple, something greater caused the great universe. Of course people will come up with all sorts of things and events greater than the universe, like the Big Bang. But what caused the Big Bang? You see we can keep asking the cause of something until we get to God!
The cause of such a great universe must be God!
Of course someone smart will ask, “Where did God come from?” We should ask, “Shouldn’t there be a point to stop asking the question?” You see, if you keep asking questions when the answer is already given, you will really never believe in anything; you just keep asking questions and not be convinced of any truths. If you can’t accept God as the cause of everything, you will really never believe in anything, because you just keep on asking questions!
Cosmologically, there is a God!
b. Teleogical – evidence of harmony, order, and design
proves an intelligent Creator God!
Are there evidences of harmony, order, and design?
Close your one eye for a moment and look at me……
Some of you are getting a headache and most of you sense imbalance don’t you?
Why do you have 2 eyes and one nose? Why not have one eye and 2 noses? Think about that one for a moment! Even if that was the norm, would you really need 2 noses to smell and live without balance with just one eye?
If someone found a clock 2000 years from now, would they say that metal pieces just kind of put themselves together or would they say someone designed and created the clock? The amazing harmony, order, and design we experience in life can only come from an amazing Creator!
Teleogical reasoning leads to God!
c. Ontological – there is a being more complex than what we know exists.
What animals amaze you??
Can those animals write a book, invent music, imagine and actually fly in space? There are no creatures greater than human beings when it comes to thinking and creating! It is clear that human beings are more complex that any other creature! Therefore, isn’t it logical to think that there is something more complex than us? Is it really more logical to believe in aliens from outer space than to believe in God?
d. Morality – people have a conscience.
Where does the sense of right and wrong come from?
If people don’t have morality in them, and it is just survival of the fittest, why don’t people just grab whatever they want without thinking about other people? Yes there are bullies in this world; but why isn’t everyone a bully? Why should people care about other people when there is a fight for survival? Morality goes against evolution thinking! Man has a sense of right and wrong because there is a Creator God who knows right and wrong.
And so the next time someone tells you there is no God, ask them the following questions:
1. Which life would you prefer: a life committed to something or a life of questions? Which life would you prefer, a life without real meaning or a life with a purpose? God gives purpose in life!
2. If God isn’t involved in harmony, order, and design, shouldn’t we be experiencing chaos?
3. Do you believe in something more complex than you?
Why can’t it be God?
4. If there is no God, why have right and wrong?
The only logical answer to all these questions is God!
Now of course, if God exists shouldn’t we be hearing from Him? If someone asks you “have you ever heard God?” Our answer should be, God is speaking loud and clear, through Creation, through the Bible, through God being a man, named Jesus Christ, and through the presence of God the Holy Spirit!
a. God speaks through creation.
Close your eyes for a moment, both eyes this time, and picture the earth we live in hanging in space. Now picture a billion other planets and stars around the earth……
When Astronaut John Glenn was in space, he said “To look out at this kind of creation out here and not believe in God is to me impossible.”
The universe declares the majesty of God!
Next time you have questions about God, look up to the sky and ponder the universe!
Now, when you ask people if they believe in God, many of them will actually say yes, but they really don’t know who this God is! You see, God speaks from within people because they are created by God. Every person has an inner sense of God’s existence. Those who say they don’t believe in God are just saying no to God. You know, there are no atheists in foxholes!
b. God speaks through the Bible.
The Bible declares and reveals God. We will explore the validity of the Bible being God’s Word next week.
c. God speaks through a man named Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:27, "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Jesus told the world that He is from heaven sent by God!
In a few weeks, we will talk more about the validity and authenticity of God and Savior Jesus Christ.
d. God speaks through changed lives.
When people believe in Jesus Christ, they are filled with God the Holy Spirit. And the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. How many of you have experienced changes in people’s lives because they became Christians?? God is evident when Christians yield to the Holy Spirit within them!
And so when someone tells you there is no God, here are 4 more evidences of God’s existence:
1. All Creation declares God!
2. God says He exists through His infallible Word!
3. God Jesus Christ lived on earth as a testimony for God!
4. We can experience changed lives because of God!
There are plenty of evidences about God’s existence; we just mentioned 8 of them.
Why doesn’t everyone believe in God? You see, if a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence can be rationalized or explained away. It is like if someone refuses to believe that people have walked on the moon, then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks...all the evidence would be worthless, because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to the moon.
When it comes to the possibility of God’s existence, the Bible says that there are people who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God. People will refuse to believe in God because they don’t want to obey God!
On the other hand, for those who want to know God,
He says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you."
And Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to God the Father except through Me!”
And Jesus said in John 17:1-3 "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
You Creator God wants you to know Him! You have heard the evidences. But the only real way to know God is by believing in Jesus Christ, God who became man, died for your sins, was buried, but rose again from the dead!
God is calling all of us to know Him and have eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ. If you have never done so before, with all your heart, know God today by receiving Jesus Christ as your God and Savior in your life.
