Is there a God?
Is there a God? If so, what is He like? Does He care about us? What does He require of us? These are questions that all men must face. The answer to these will determine the direction and goal of each life.
I. Evidence for God’s Existence
A. Bible Reveals It. The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God. The first statement is: “In the beginning God …” (Gen. 1:1). It assumes it as a fact and asserts that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (Psa. 14:1). The Bible says that only a fool, ignorant of the facts, would deny God, and then not openly, but secretly in his heart. The Bible is written on the premise that the evidence for God is so strong that no informed person would deny His existence.
However, to those who will not accept the Bible's teaching concerning God, it becomes necessary to examine added proof for His existence. A few pieces of evidence will suffice:
B. Reason Teaches It. The law of cause and effect requires that back of every effect there must be a cause. The world is the effect. What is the cause? Did the world and this universe come into being by chance? Did nothing produce something? Or is there a mastermind, which we call God, back of it? Reason would teach the latter. The Bible agrees: “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything” (Heb. 3:4).
C. Supreme Intelligence Indicates It. When we see a great house, we know there was a wise architect. When we hear a beautiful song, we know there was a composer. When we look at this earth, we know there was a creator. The earth is said to weigh about 6,570,000,000,000,000,000,000 (six sextillions, 570 quintillions) tons. Its dimensions are 8,000 miles in diameter and 25,000 miles in circumference. Yet the earth is more accurate in its movements than the finest and most delicate watch. The earth travels over 595,000,000 miles in a year’s time as it circles the sun, yet it does not vary in the length of time it takes for each trip by as much as one second! If it were to vary one-half a second it would make scientific headlines around the world. It has done this for thousands of years! How can this be explained? A wise and powerful God is the most sensible answer.
D. Nature Proves It. The Psalmist declared: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands” (Psa. 19:1). Paul, in Romans 1:20, adds “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.” As we look at the world around us we can be assured there is a God, and that He is powerful and wise. People who reject this evidence are without excuse for their disbelief. Someone has written, “If the word ‘God’ were written upon every blowing leaf, embossed on every passing cloud, engraved on every granite rock, the inductive evidence that God is in the world would be no stronger than it is. When the human intellect thinks in terms of finality with the world as its premise, the ‘therefore’ of every syllogism will be ‘God.’ The universe is a big advertising poster spelling ‘God.’ ”
E. Intuition Requires it. Man intuitively recognizes a higher being and desires to worship it. This is true of most pagan tribes. Paul found this to be true in Athens (Acts 17:23) among the pagan idol worshipers. Where did man obtain this knowledge and concept of a divine being? The animals do not have it. The fact that man alone of all creation is a religious being is evidence that this knowledge was placed within him by his designer, God. The atheist is unable to explain it otherwise.
This sceptical age is rejecting God while wading through an ocean of evidence for Him. It reminds one of the poems by Minot J. Savage:
“Oh, where is the sea?” the fishes cried,
As they swam the crystal clearness through.
“We’ve heard from old of the ocean’s tide,
And we long to look at the water’s blue.
The wise ones speak of the infinite sea;
Oh, who can tell us if such there be!”
II. Names for God
The most common name for God in the Old Testament is “Yahweh” or “Jehovah.” This means the “self-existent one.” The question is often asked, ‘Where did God come from?” The answer is that He didn’t come from anywhere or anyone. He exists within Himself and always has. With our limitations we find this hard to grasp, but this is one indication that God is unlimited. When Moses asked God for His name in Exodus 3:14, He said, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” This is another way of saying Jehovah—“the existing one.” This name clearly implies that God is eternal (Psa. 90:2).
The name “Elohim” is applied to God in Genesis 1:1 and elsewhere in the Old Testament. This means “the strong one.” This refers to His omnipotent “all-powerful” nature. This is especially used in connection with creation.
“Adon”—meaning “Lord, Master” is often applied to God in the Bible. This indicates His authority over a man as well as all creation.
III. The Nature of God
Physical creation can tell us there is a God. But it remains for the Bible—God’s revelation of Himself—to tell us what God is like in His person. We list a few of His many attributes.
A. His Unity—One God. There is but one God (Deut. 6:4). “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” The American Standard Version more accurately translated it: “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” Yet there are three persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The term “God” is applied to each of these (1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:1; Acts 5:3–4). The term “God” is used here as an expression of deity rather than as a proper name.
This idea of three persons but one God did not seem to disturb the writers of the New Testament. They apparently accepted it by faith realizing the inability of finite man to fully understand the nature of an infinite God. In some respects, man is triune like God. Paul describes man as “spirit and soul and body” (1 Thess. 5:23). Man is a spirit with a soul and lives in a body. Yet he considers himself as one. This, however, is not fully understood by anyone. If a man cannot understand his own nature he should not be surprised at not understanding the nature of God. We accept Him by faith as we do the majority of things in this world.
B. His Holiness. This is one of the greatest distinctions between the one true God and gods created by man. The gods that men create are sinful and weak like their creators. A study of Greek mythology which narrates the sinful natures of the gods on Mt. Olympus will confirm this. Presumably, when man creates a god, he does not create one who will condemn him for his sins.
This is not true of Jehovah. While Israel was surrounded by pagan gods of unholy natures, Jehovah thunders from Mount Sinai, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2). The prophet Isaiah saw in the temple a vision of the Lord with the seraphim crying one to another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3). The first petition for God in the Model Prayer is “Hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9).
It is the holiness of God that causes him to hate everything that is sinful and evil and love everything that is pure and good and holy. The Psalmist sang to God, “You hate all who do wrong” (Psa. 5:5). It is God’s perfect holiness that makes it impossible for Him to be tempted by evil, much less to sin (James 1:13).
A woman dressed in a white satin dress abhors dirt much more than a ditch digger does. The cleaner one becomes in soul, the more he detests sin. Since God is completely holy, He has a burning hatred of all evil. The destruction of the world by the flood, and the final destruction of the earth by fire are expressions of God’s attitude toward sin because of His holiness.
The term “saint” in the New Testament means a “holy one” or one living a holy life. Every child of God who is living a holy life is a saint. As children of a holy God we are called upon to live like Him. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy’ ” (1 Pet. 1:14–16).
C. His Love. This is the supreme attribute of God. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love comes nearer than any other characteristic to describing the nature of God (cf. Isa. 63:7–9). Love is the matchless motive that sent Jesus to save lost humanity (John 3:16).
The love of God is seen first in His sending Christ to earth to save man (1 John 4:9–10). His love is also seen in His adopting into the family of God those who obey the Gospel (1 John 3:1). His love is superior to any love man might have (Rom. 5:6–8).
We see God’s love in His providential care for all men and especially His care for the redeemed (Matt. 5:44–48; Rom. 8:28).
His repeated forgiveness of our sins comes from His love. King Hezekiah said, “In your love, you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back” (Isa. 38:17).
God’s love for us inspires in our love for Him. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). His love also motivates us to love one another. “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11; cf. John 14:15).
D. His Mercy. God’s love is the basis of His mercy as seen in John 3:16. Paul further states: “But because of his great love of us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4–7).
Three great words are closely associated with the Bible: Love, mercy and grace. LOVE is the basis of His MERCY, and God extends GRACE (unmerited favour) because He is merciful.
The greatest expression of God’s love, mercy, and grace was when Jesus came to atone for our sins. “This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). God could have let us die in our sins, and He would have been justified in doing it. But God chose to be merciful and save us even though we in no way deserved it.
God shows His mercy daily when He answers our repentant prayers for forgiveness. Our understanding high priest, Jesus, and the throne of grace are always ours “that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). The Lord is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9, KJV). How wonderful is His mercy!
E. His Power—Omnipotence. God says in Genesis 17:1, “I am God Almighty.” The term “Almighty” means there is no limit to His power. In Revelation 19:6, the heavenly host sang, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.” It is this limitless power that enabled God to create the world in the beginning and maintain it today. The miracles of the Bible were performed because of God’s power. People have difficulty believing the Genesis creation story and the Bible miracles because they have rejected the omnipotent God. Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).
F. His Wisdom—Omniscience. Paul sings a hymn of praise to God’s wisdom in Romans 11:33, “Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” God’s knowledge and understanding are unlimited. “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit” (Psa. 147:5).
God’s knowledge is so great that it extends to little, insignificant things as well as great facts. Jesus says He sees the sparrow fall, and that the very hairs of our head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). John writes, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things” (1 John 3:20, KJV).
He knows all about us, even our thoughts. “You know when I sit down and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD” (Psa. 139:2–4).
G. His Omnipresence. Being spirit God can be everywhere, He is always present. Jehovah declares, “ ‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I can not see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD” (Jer. 23:23–24). David in Psalm 139:7–10 could think of no place where he could go and be beyond the love and care of God. We are never far from God, as Paul told the pagan audience at Mars Hill: “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 ” (Acts 17:27–28).
God is unlimited by time because He is eternal, unlimited in power since he is omnipotent. His omniscience means that he is unlimited in knowledge, and His omnipresence informs us that He is not limited by space. “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God!” (Deut. 10:17).
H. His Faithfulness. “Know therefore that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9, ASV).
In the midst of constant change in every area of life, it seems that nothing is stable. All of life seems built on shifting sand. But not so with God! Humbolt the explorer related his experience with an earthquake in South America. As the earth beneath him rocked like a boat in the water, trees fell, and rocks rolled; he felt that nothing was stable or dependable. Then he looked upward. The sun was still there, the sky was undisturbed. How like life that is! The things of this earth do change—God does not. David says, “In the beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing, you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end” (Psa. 102:25–27).
The faithfulness of God is rooted in His immutability—His unchanging nature. Jehovah says, “I the LORD do not change” (Mal. 3:6). His methods and covenants with men may change, but His principles and character do not. Because He does not change, man can place his trust in every promise He makes. The omnipotence of God further assures His faithfulness. Men may not keep promises because they are unable through weakness to carry them out. God can perform anything He promises to do.
The Hebrew writer therefore could say with confidence, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23, emphasis added).
IV. Knowing and Obeying God
As we consider how great God is, we would agree with God’s words in Jeremiah 9:23–24: “ ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these I delight, declares the LORD.”
Man’s highest aim in life should be to “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13).
Sizemore, D. (1987). 13 Lessons on Christian Doctrine (pp. 10–19). College Press Publishing Company.
