Is God for Real?
What's the Proof?
There is no way to prove God exists in the same way that we can prove that the President of the United States exists. In one case, we have a clear, physical appearance that strikes our eyes and ears and cameras and assures us that he is there doing the various things a President does. Proof of God, on the other hand, comes more like our proof of the wind. We cannot see the wind, we can only see its effect; we feel it against our skin, causing the leaves and branches of trees to flutter and sway, or the clouds to move across the sky. We put out scientific instruments that tell us how fast it is moving. We put out a network of pressure sensors to try to figure out where it is coming from and where it will go. Do we have proof of the wind? Certainly. But not the same sort of proof we have of the President. The same is true of "proving" that God exists. Certainly no one can prove He doesn't exist by any method, yet our proof that He does exist is both more obvious, and more hidden, than what we might expect -- which is itself a proof that He is not something made up by man. If He were, we would have made Him like the idols of many pagan cultures; far more tangible and easy to define. What about Jesus Christ? Some atheists have been quoted as saying His life is not even historical, that He never even lived or walked on this earth. Let's think for a moment about the nature of history and belief.
Few people doubt that Abraham Lincoln lived and served as one of the Presidents of the U.S. They believe this because they trust historical witnesses. Plato and Aristotle are regarded as historically valid figures and their works taught throughout our public education system. Yet, when it comes to the works of God, and especially to Jesus Christ, there is a common willingness to reject a far more extensive historical witness, whether of the apostles or others not even associated with Christ (such as the Jewish historian, Josephus). Why the disparity? Is it possible that the litmus test for evidence in this case has been changed because of the nature of the message? Yet there is also a rejection of present evidence:
In the Bible's New Testament, in the first chapter of the book of Romans, beginning verse 18, we read: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world [God's] invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." The Bible argues that the creation of the world itself, the circumstance we find ourselves in, is the great proof of God's existence. The person who watches a bumblebee fly, or explores how it is that a woodpecker can slam his beak into a tree with great force without dislodging his brain or breaking his neck, or thinks about why water acts contrary to nearly all other substances by expanding when it cools and freezes instead of contracting, and the whole myriad of creation that amazes and astounds us, sees the handiwork of Someone far beyond ourselves. Yes, scientific theories have been proposed, often seeming desperate to explain how all this was possible without a God. Yet our greatest science cannot even duplicate life, let alone great design and complexity. The laws of thermodynamics demand that, with time, all things simplify -- grow less complex, not more. No one who found a Swiss watch on the street would attribute its marvelous design and craftsmanship to a random collision and development of molecules. We hide from the Obvious when we seek an impersonal, random-chance answer for the design and craftsmanship of creation.
The greatest proof within the creation, of course, is ourselves. We have the capacity to explore ourselves and our own condition in a way we cannot hope to understand other creatures from the "outside." Here again, we find ourselves confronting very unsettling evidence for the existence and work of God. Whatever academic arguments are made for or against the existence of God, in favor of or against Christianity, what is our inherent, inborn understanding when the chips are down? It has often been said that, in the heat of battle, there are no atheists in foxholes. Why? Our heart of hearts testifies that our existence in this world is no accident and that Someone in a dimension completely beyond our own is there to be appealed to.
There is another powerful proof within our grasp in the present: In simplest terms, Jesus challenged us this way as recorded in the Bible's New Testament, the book of John, chapter 7, verses 16-17: "Jesus therefore answered them, and said: 'My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If any man is willing to do [God's] will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.'" We have great proof of God, and whether or not Jesus Christ was truly His Son and our Savior, by the results of applying His instructions in our lives. If we truly trust Him and submit our lives into His hands, He brings about fruits -- results, changes, blessings -- that prove "He exists and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (The Bible, New Testament, Book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, verse 6). Even without the scripture at all, there are aspects of who we are as humans -- such as morals that are universal to all of us (justice and fair play, for example) -- that testify that there is Someone beyond and above us Who has built those things into the root of our character. We highly recommend a further study of this, available in the opening chapters of Mere Christianity by the late Oxford University professor, C.S. Lewis, available through your public library. A further study of evidences for God and the Bible can be found in the two volumes of Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell, which should also be available through your public library (if you are unable to locate or afford any resources mentioned, be sure to write us and we will provide them for you).
If you have any further questions or need clarification, be sure to write us!
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