Everyone at some point in life comes to a crossroads with the question, “Is God real?” In fact, you might be wondering this question if you are reading this article now. It is a good thought to ponder and worth the time being explored. Today we are going to go through reasons why we know that God is real.
Logic Tells Us God Is Real
The Bible aside, logic tells us that something cannot come from nothing. When you listen to arguments from atheist scientists, their point of view on why they believe that there is no God. Their theories are crumbling lately because they are beginning to say it was not that there was a “big bang” from nothing. They say that it is a perpetual cycle of other universes causing a big bang. When I think about dominoes, in order for the dominoes to fall, I need to tap one for it to start in motion. Or take a ball, I need to pick it up and throw it for it to be useful. There has to be a starting point, otherwise we are asking ourselves over and over, “Well when did that start?”
Lately, I have pondered the thought that when I see a painting, I know there was a painter. Or when I listen to a song, I know there was a composer. Or when I see a baby, I know that there was a mother and father. Logically, we know that creation around us in nature and even ourselves as people point to a Creator. Creation can be created by the Creator out of nothing, but the Creator is needed for the origin of creation.
Science Tells Us God Is Real
One of the greatest disappointments to my generation was that science professors and teachers tried to remove God out of the classroom. Based on their opinions, many did not recognize the validity of evidence for a Creator. Marilyn Adamson from every student shares, “The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.”
She gives examples such as the earth being the perfect atmosphere for life and in the exact position from the sun. She tells us, “Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of living organisms from nonliving matter.” Marilyn says that the universe operates by uniform laws of nature. Physicists know that there are clear and unchanging laws within science. Why?
Marilyn also points out that there are three billion pairs of DNA nucleotides in every human cell. You are unique. Even a set of identical twins still have their own personalities, interests, and special talents. You are not an accident. I am not an accident. Even though our parents may not have planned us, God did. We breathe on average 12-20 breaths per minute. Our hearts beat 60-100 beats per minute. We do these things without having to think about them because our complex brains signal our bodies to do them for us.
The odds are against us to even exist. It is rare that we would have been conceived and have unique DNA. You and I are literally masterpieces on this earth. It took around 40 weeks for each of us to develop from conception to birth. Now here we are today.
On top of this, we each have unique skills and abilities. We have different passions and special purposes. If there was no intelligent design, that means your life and my life are just a bunch of cells that happened by accident with no intention and when we die, that was it, a purposeless life with no God and no meaning, a random existence for no reason. God is real because we are made so intricately and the world around us is so brilliant that it tells us the answer to our question in the crashing of waves at the ocean, or the detailed design of a butterfly or the thousand year old Red Wood tree, or the first cry of a newborn baby. If we can take time to open our eyes see the world around us, we can have a grander understanding of the God who we want to know better.
A research study done by Lifeway Research in 2015 revealed that 79% of Americans believed that someone created us. This included people of many different faith backgrounds. Years ago Pastor Louis Giglio did a famous talk on seeing God in creation called How Great is Our God. At the end of his talk, He shares about the incredible molecule in the human body called lamanin. This molecule is like the glue that holds us together. As he reveals a picture, laminin is in the shape of a cross. We all have little crosses physically holding us together.
Colossians 1:15-17 says it best, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Jesus Tells Us God Is Real
Jesus is acknowledged historically as a person who walked this earth. People who do not believe in Him as Savior at least accept that He was real. Historians agree based on the validity of the biblical accounts. Dr. William Lane Craig from Biola says, “Historians think they’ve hit historical paydirt when they have two independent sources for some event. If all we had for the empty tomb were just the pre-Markan Passion story and the pre-Pauline formula, that would be enough to convince most scholars of the historicity of Jesus’ burial and empty tomb. But, in fact, we have at least six sources, some of which are among the earliest material in the New Testament. No wonder most scholars are convinced!”
Since Jesus was real and He said that He was God and He rose, it is safe to say that God is real. Jesus refers to Himself as “I Am” seven times in the New Testament. John 1 tells us that Jesus was with God and was God in the beginning. Jesus told His disciples that He would send His Holy Spirit once He ascended. There are many accounts of believers in Jesus, especially in more hostile countries around the world, in which God has moved in supernatural ways to deliver them or save them.
In a story from his biography, The Insanity of God, Nik Ripken shares that a persecuted Christian had finally given in to denying his faith after many days in harsh prison conditions, but that night, God allowed him to hear the prayers of his wife and kids for him who he thought were dead, but were actually praying for him at that moment. This confirmed that they were alive and following Christ. Although he thought that he would be killed for his faith, he was soon released and found out that it was indeed his wife and children’s prayers.
When we look at Jesus, He points to God the Father multiple times. Nathan Busenitz from The Master’s Seminary shares, “Jesus claimed absolute unity with the Father, such that He could tell His disciples, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9-10; cf. 10:30; 12:45).”
Matthew 1:23 says, “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’). Jesus was called “God with us.” Jesus was God. We know God is real because Jesus came to us. God fulfilled His promise to redeem our broken world.
The Bible Tells Us God Is Real
Let’s get down to the fact that the Bible tells us that God exists. It gives a detailed description of how He created the heavens and the earth and everything in them in Genesis 1. The Lord revealed His plan with humanity throughout the accounts of Scripture. Below are just a few Bible verses about the existence of God. Feel free to check out these resources as well: Fritz Chery from Bible Reasons, Creation Museum, Answers in Genesis, and the following Bible passages and a quote:
- Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
- Isaiah 45:18, “For this is what the LORD says– he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited– he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
- Jeremiah 51:15, “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.”
- Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His 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.”
- C.S. Lewis says it well, “Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.”
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