Is God Real?

Last Sunday was our first installment of “The God Questions.” We have limited time on Sundays so I don’t always get to answer questions that I receive. In a recent internet forum debate I was in on, the following three assertions were made. I wanted to take a couple of moments to address these frequent myths.

…And Man said, “Let us Make God in Our Own Image”

“Did God create humans in His own image, or did humans invent God in their own image?” Of course, the very question reveals that secularists and atheists don’t believe God created humans.  But the possibility that humans invented God is so illogical that a non-biased intelligent person wouldn’t even mention it. After all, how is it even possible that generations of people of different cultures, different geographical places, different times and centuries continue “inventing” the same God over and over again? And why invent a God in the first place; what is the practical significance of this self-conscious self-deceit of billions of people throughout history?

The answer must be found in the fact that the secularist doesn’t want an answer. He suspects there is an answer to all the metaphysical problems of science and knowledge, but he simply will not accept it for its inconvenience.

Education is the Answer. Really? Are You Serious?

Atheism repeatedly proves itself a complete failure in terms of understanding the world’s problems, let alone solving them. If education is the answer, then why isn’t the “educated” community better? For all their teaching and declaring “truth” they still experience the same problems, make the same painful mistakes, commit the same foolish errors as they always have.

Only Christianity deals with the problem of sin. Only the Christian worldview leads people to higher dignity, despite whatever moral poverty they have experienced. Only Christianity leads its adherents to forgive and love their enemies.

Christianity and Religions Are Destructive to Society

Atheism even seeks many of the same social ideals as Christianity, borrowing from our worldview.  The truth is that a consistent atheistic, natural evolutionist perspective leads to nothing but total despair and chaos.  If the evolutionist is right, nothing matters. Nothing. The human race would be fully entitled to murder, to steal, to rape, to dishonor and shame whomever they wished.  There would be nothing morally wrong with it. It would be “survival of the fittest.” In the evolutionist worldview love and honor and hope are nothing more than mere chemical reactions in the brain.  They mean nothing and therefore have no intrinsic meaning or value. The consistent naturalist recognizes that nature is predatory, violent and chaotic.  Mankind, without a higher guiding morality, would be no different.

Atheistic “enlightenment” only has value in that it serves as a clear teaching tool to show the abject poverty of consistent atheistic philosophy and evolutionary science in terms of its ability to help make us better. On the other hand, the more consistent that Christians become with the teachings of Jesus in the Bible, the more loving, forgiving, patient, kind and generous they become toward others, even our professed enemies…the polar opposite of what nature dictates. Hmm, now which worldview do you really want to embrace?

Jesus Issues A Challenge

I know I over-use this scripture. I mention it frequently in teaching and in personal conversations. It made such a lasting impression on me that it has been indelibly stamped on my life. In John 7.16-18 Jesus throws down the gauntlet regarding His own credibility. There are people whispering about him. Some are saying he’s a good man while others are saying that he deceives people. Listen to the plain answer Jesus gives.

Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” (italics mine)

This is the crux of the matter. Most people don’t really want to know if Jesus is a man of truth and if God and the Bible are real. It’s easy or even fun for them to throw out questions and play “stump the Christian” while playing the devil’s advocate. In those situations, they aren’t asking questions because they want an answer. It is a self-deluding ploy to avoid such a practical challenge as Jesus gives. “Hey, if you want to know the truth – in a real and intellectually honest way — just try it on for size…and see what happens. Then you’ll know.” Most skeptics will never try.

Related Articles: The God Questions, Is The Bible True?

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