I hold a book in my hand, and you see the cover, the pages, the letters, the words, but you do not see the author, the printer, the ink maker, the paper maker, or the bookbinder.
You never did see them, you never will see them, and yet there is not one of you that will think of disputing or denying the being of all these people
I go a step further; you know that they had skill, ideas, beliefs, reason, and memory
if you see a painting, you know there was a painter;
This church, you know there was a builder
in this building you see a room made for a purpose, a door to enter, a window to let in light, a chimney must have fire, you conclude the builder was a person of skill and a plan, who built this church
It did not come about by itself
BUT
Atheists – No, God does not exist
Agnostic – No, because no evidence
Signs For God’s Existence:
- Revelation and Reason
• The Witness of Scripture
• The Witness of Nature
Rom 1:18-20
Ps 14:1; 53:1 “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
Acts 14:17 (AV)
17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
Psalm 19:1–2 (AV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Arguments for God’s Existence
a. The Cosmological Argument
– The structure of the universe
- The argument from nature, creation.
Psalm 8:3–5 (AV)
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
- If we look at the universe, we know that it came from something
b. The Teleological Argument
- The evidences of design or purpose
Psalm 139:14 (AV)
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
- The difference between the Grand Canyon & Mount Rushmore
- A design implies a designer
- There has to be a starting point.
- A place where things were set into motion.
- Something that has purpose
- Someone must have given it one. (The watchmaker)
c. The Ontological Argument
It is based on reason
- Man has an in built belief in God
Isaiah 45:20–21 (AV)
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
- Ontology asks questions like, 'What can we say exists?'
- Like do I exist Does my soul exist
1. Reality is not an illusion.
2. Reality is/was created.
3. Reality was created by something that is self-existent
4. Noting cannot create something
- Gen 1:1
- There is nothing greater than God
- You can’t think of anything bigger/better than God.
d. The Moral Argument
- If God does not exist than morality does not exist
- We use the 10 commandments.
- Israel was judged because of sin
- There are things that are right & wrong
- We have a need for justice.
- Everyone has it, this must have come from somewhere.
Direction Signs
In all this, we have solid evidence that God must exist.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (AV)
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
1 Corinthians 1:21 (AV)
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1 Corinthians 2:5 (AV)
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1. I know there is a Creator because of creation.
2. I know there is a lawgiver because of laws.
3. I know there is a moral absolute because of my conscience.
4. I know there is a God because of the Bible.
5. I know there is salvation because of Jesus the Savior.
Ignorance of God is —
I. CRIMINAL Because every man has the opportunity of knowing
something of Him;
- It is only hindered by his corrupt nature and love of sin.
II. NEVER TOTAL God reveals Himself in all that is around us.
III. A CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. Sin darkens the heart,
IV. PREPERATION FOR JUDGMENT. They are without excuse
