The psalmist says, "The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’" (Ps. 14:1a). According to the Bible, belief in God is a matter of common sense. Why? Because of the evidence that exists.
The atheist is not convinced there is any evidence that God exists. To be sure, it is difficult for anyone to provide direct evidence. The Bible acknowledges this: "No one has ever seen God," (Jn. 1:18). However, there is ample indirect evidence which is very compelling.
We need to be reminded, however, that no figure of history can be experienced through sight, sound, or touch. The existence of any historical figure has to be authenticated indirectly, not directly. Yet hardly anyone doubts, say, that Abraham Lincoln once lived. In fact, we would think the person who had doubts to be a fool. Well, on the same type of evidence that convinces us that Abraham Lincoln once lived, we can be convinced that God exists.
Why you should believe in God -
There are five basic arguments referred to in Scripture that provide evidence for the existence of God.
A. The Cosmological argument - How could there be anything if there wasn’t a Cause (God) who was Uncaused?
"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." ~ Rom. 1:20
You see, every effect must have a cause. Each of those causes must itself have a prior cause. If we follow this line of logic back far enough, we reach a point where we have two choices. Either there is an unending chain of causes that goes back forever, or there must have been a "first cause" that was not caused by something prior. It is more reasonable to say there was a first cause (God) who started the whole chain of cause and effect.
Skeptics ask, "Who caused God?" The answer must be "No one." Why? Because if God had a cause, He would not be the "first cause," but would be at least second in line. This means He wouldn’t then be God, for by definition, God is the SUPREME BEING! He wouldn’t be very supreme if He wasn’t the first cause.
B. The Teleological argument - How could there be design in the world if there was no Designer (God)?
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." ~ Ps. 19:1-4
Suppose I show you a car. Four tires made of rubber, nylon, and steel cords connected to two axles and a steering column. It has a steel body with four doors, glass windows, and comfortable seats. There’s a heater, an air conditioner and an AM/FM radio. Under the hood, there’s a six cylinder engine. It has a beautiful paint job and chrome trim..
You ask me where it came from and I tell you, "People say the Ford Motor Company built it, but I have my own idea. It came out of the garbage dump. One night during an electrical storm, pieces of metal, plastic, rubber and glass were hit by lightning. The molecules were changed and molded together, and in a billion to one chance, when the storm was over, this car was just sitting there."
I would make as much sense as those who say, "The universe happened by chance."
C. The Ontological argument - Where would people get the idea of a Perfect Being (God) except from God Himself?
"God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ’We are his offspring.’" ~ Acts 17:27-28
Paul said the Athenians had an innate concept of God. This is the ontological argument. Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury (1033-1109) put it this way:
1. The idea of a perfect being exists.
2. To be "perfect," God must be greater than any other being we could conceive.
3. A real God would be greater than an imaginary one.
4. God cannot exist only in imagination, for then He would not be a perfect being.
5. Therefore, God must exist in reality.
To believe that God exists only in our imagination is a logical contradiction.
Mankind has always had the desire to worship something higher than himself. Every culture has some innate desire to connect with the Divine. Why? Could it be that a higher being exists in reality? Think about it. All our physical needs are met by things that exist in reality. For example, we get hungry - there is food. We get thirsty - there is water. We need oxygen to breathe - oxygen exists in the air. The contention is that since this is true in the physical, it is also true in the spiritual.
D. The Moral argument - Why would people recognize right and wrong if there was no moral Law Giver (God)?
"Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." ~ Rom. 2:14-15
The logic of this argument is as follows:
1. We have moral values in the world.
2. For these values to have any kind of meaning they must be based on something.
3. That something is God since he is the perfect moral being.
E. The Bible argument - "All Scripture is God-breathed." ~ 2 Tim. 3:16
There is no book that has been subjected to the rigorous scrutiny of its friends and, at the same time, to the contemptuous attacks of its enemies as has the Bible. Yet, again and again, it has been proven to be historically and geographically accurate. As the Bible is being proven more and more to be a book of truth, it stands to reason that the message of the Bible about God is also true. The more that the accuracy of the Bible is substantiated, the more convinced one should be about the existence of God.
But not only should you understand why you should believe in God; you need to understand that God believes in you.
We referred earlier to the first part of John 1:18 which tells us, "No one has ever seen God." The rest of the verse tells us, "but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known."
Through Jesus Christ, God has given the ultimate revelation of Himself. In the person of Jesus Christ, He has revealed Himself as a God who wants us to know Him intimately.
Have you come to personally know Jesus Christ, the God of the universe? Has there ever been a time when you have made the personal decision to acknowledge Him as God and place your life and your eternity in His hands? Why not choose today to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the God who believes in you and desires to give you life abundant and everlasting?
