Is there a God?

The crisis we face:

There is a God, or there isn’t.
That God created everything, or He didn’t.
That God wants to have a relationship with us, or He doesn’t.
That God has made promises to mankind and kept them, or He didn’t.
That God communicated with mankind through people and the Bible, or He didn’t.
That God became a man or, He didn’t.
That God came by miracle birth, or He didn’t.
That God, who became a man, did miracles or He didn’t.
That God, who became man, lived a sinless life and became the sacrifice for sinners, or He didn’t.
That God, the one who became a man and died on a cross, arose from the dead or He didn’t.
That God sent the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, God’s righteousness, and the judgment to come. He indwells every Christian and empowers them to be on mission with God, or He doesn’t.
That God continues to give evidence in history that the Bible is His word; (Archeology, non-Christian writers, the number of texts of scripture etc.), or He doesn’t.
That God changes people, or He doesn’t.
We cannot only know there is a God, but we can know Him, or we can’t.

Table of Contents

THERE ARE MANY OPINIONS OF GOD AND THE UNIVERSE

Which of the following best describes you?

I consider myself an Atheist who does not believe in God.
I consider myself an Agnostic who says there is not enough evidence to decide.
When I was a child I believed in God, but now I am not sure.
I used to believe in God, but now I have concluded that “if there is a God” He doesn’t care about me.
I used to believe in God, but I have found it easier to give up my faith in God than to quit my sin.
I want to believe in God, but I have so many doubts and questions.
I have considered the evidence and I believe in God, but I need help with my questions.
I have grown in my faith in God and have come to trust Him and His Word.
I have matured so I am ready and competent to share what and why I believe, with others.
Do you believe in God because you have considered the evidence?

THERE ARE SO MANY CLAIMS ABOUT GOD

“Since the beginning of time, the same mysteries have puzzled people on every continent; the same fears have beset them. They have attempted to explain the mysteries and allay the fears in the same way.” Michael Jordan in his book Encyclopedia of Gods: Over 2,500 Deities of the World 1993 ISBN-10: 0816029091

There are several world views of origins:

There is no god.
There are many gods.
The world is god.
There is no god. Evolution, time, and chance produced from simpler animals over millions of years entirely by natural processes (without God).

There several religious views of origins.

Theistic evolution: There is a God as described in the Bible, but He used thousands or millions of years, of God-directed evolution, to produce the universe.
Creation – the belief that living things were created by God in a short period of time in the relatively recent past.

CONSIDER SOME OF THE EVIDENCE OF IN THE UNIVERSE

Look on the web for HUBBLE IMAGE RESULTS.
Consider the evidence found in the conception and birth of a baby.
1. Look on the web for HOW A BABY DEVELOPS IN THE WOMB and select information on how a baby begins as a single cell when the male sperm combines with the female egg to form one cell
2. Note the progress of that one cell growing, from one cell, to over 30 trillion cells in just nine months, and how each of those cells do exactly what they are designed to do and reproduce themselves.
- Egg and Sperm
- Baby at six weeks
- Baby at five months
- Baby at nine months

CONSIDER THE CLAIMS OF EVOLUTION

The universe came into existence by natural processes.
The first life form began from non-living matter by accident.
All current kinds of living things came from previous different kinds, all the way back to one (or a few) original life form(s).
Men and women are just advanced animals.
Men and women evolved from previously existing animals.
The gradual development of new kinds of life makes it impossible to determine who were the first man and woman.
Man is wholly material like the animals from which he evolved. This implies that man, like the animals, has no life after death.
Death was occurring throughout man’s development and was a necessary part of the process.
New kinds of living things are (or could be) still developing.
The human is the pinnacle of evolution, but may still be evolving.
There is no real purpose in life, but life just exists as a result of a series of accidents in nature.
Man, as the highest evolutionary form, decides for himself what is right and wrong.
As man continues to evolve, he will develop for himself new ways to solve his own problems.
The universe came into existence by natural processes.

CONSIDER THE CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE

The Bible is from God as a historical account of creation except where it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
God created all and was specifically involved in each step of the creative process.
God created everything in “six days”.
All basic kinds of living things were created by God and each reproduces after its kind.
God created man in His image and he is unique from the animals.
God formed man from the dust of the ground and directly placed life into him.
God formed woman from the side (rib) of the man.
Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, having no earthly ancestors (man or animal).
The first man and woman and their children were capable of speech, obedience, reason with the ability to explain and having a conscience with an awareness of what is right and wrong.
The first man and woman were fully developed on the day they were created.
There was no spiritual and physical death until after people committed sin.
When man sinned, both man and the world fell from its created state.
God deliberately and purposefully created man to serve Him and receive His blessings.
God created man to be subject to Him as God.
When God created man, He gave evidence of creation and convicted man that there is a God.

CONSIDER AN ARGUMENT FOR THE NECESSITY OF GOD

William Lane Craig http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-absurdity-of-life-without-god
Why in atheism life has no ultimate meaning, value, or purpose, and why this view is unlivable.

The Necessity of God and Immortality
1. “Man,” writes Loren Eiseley, “is the Cosmic Orphan. He is the only creature in the universe who.” – “Why?”
  - Other animals have instincts to guide them, but man has learned to ask questions.
  - “Who am I?” man asks.
  - “Why am I here?
  - “Where am I going?”
2. Since the Enlightenment, when he threw off the shackles of religion, man has tried to answer these questions without reference to God. But the answers that came back were not exhilarating, but dark and terrible.
  - “You are the accidental by-product of nature, a result of matter plus time plus chance.”
  - “There is no reason for your existence. All you face is death.”
3. Modern man thought that when he had gotten rid of God, he had freed himself from all that repressed and stifled him. Instead, he discovered that in killing God, he had also killed himself.
  - For if there is no God, then man’s life becomes absurd.
4. If God does not exist:
  - Then both man and the universe are inevitably doomed to death.
  - Man, like all biological organisms, must die.
  - With no hope of immortality, man’s life leads only to the grave. His life is but a spark in the infinite blackness, a spark that appears, flickers, and dies forever.
5. My life is just a momentary transition out of oblivion into oblivion.
Now I want to make it clear that I have not yet shown biblical Christianity to be true. But what I have done is clearly spell out the alternatives.
1. If God does not exist, then life is futile.
2. If the God of the Bible does exist, then life is meaningful.
3. Only the second of these two alternatives enables us to live happily and consistently.
Therefore, it seems to me that even if the evidence for these two options were absolutely equal:
1. A rational person ought to choose biblical Christianity.
2. It seems to me positively irrational to prefer death, futility, and destruction to life, meaningfulness, and happiness.
3. As Pascal said, we have nothing to lose and infinity to gain.

DISCOVERING WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT GOD AND CREATION

Hebrews 11:3

Colossians 1:16

Revelation 4:11

Genesis 2:7

John 1:1-3

Exodus 20:11

John 3:16-17

Genesis 1:24-25

Job 12:7-9

Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:26

Romans 1:20

2 Peter 3:5

Psalm 33:6

Job 37:5

Revelation 14:6-7

Job 33:4

Genesis 1:20

Hebrews 1:10

Isaiah 42:5

Exodus 20:8-11

Hebrews 1:3

Jeremiah 10:12

Isaiah 45:11-12

Matthew 2:7

Proverbs 8:27-28

Psalm 90:2

Genesis 2:4

Romans 1:18-20

Isaiah 45:18

Proverbs 8:22-23

Ecclesiastes 7:13

Acts 17:24-28

John 1:3

Psalm 24:1-2

Revelation 1:1-20

Psalm 111:2

Genesis 1:1-11:32

Romans 8:22-23

Isaiah 43:7

Isaiah 44:24-25

2 Corinthians 4:18

Amos 4:13

Ezra 3:9

Genesis 1:10-11

WHERE I CAN GO TO LEARN MORE?

Bill Putman – www.answersforreallife.org – Printable data from GODISNOWHERE. – LIFE SURE IS CONFUSING – A free book. – A continuing flow of helps for your faith, life and ministries.
DVD – HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD Louie Giglio.
” A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell, Here’s Life Publishing, Inc., San Bernardino, CA 92402
Answers to Tough Questions about the Christian Faith, Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, 1980, Here’s Life Publishers, Inc., San Bernardino, CA 92402
Is There a God?, Marilyn Adamson, http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/isthere/isthere2.html
Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, Questions and Objections Part 3, http://www.carm.org/40_objections/40-3.htm
Astronomical Evidences for the God of the Bible, Hugh Ross, PhD, http://www.origins.org/articles/ross_astroevidgodbible.html
The Real Issue, Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God, Dr. Walter Bradley, http://www.leaderu.com/real/ri9403/evidence.html
Know What You Believe – Richard Helsby – knowwhatyoubelieve.com
Defending Your Faith: Reliable answers for a new generation of skeptics and seekers, Dan Story, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 49501, 1997
Letters To A Skeptic – Gregory A Boyd and Edward K. Boyd – Chariot Victor Publishing
The blueletterbible.org
Reasons to believe – R.C. Sproul – Zondervan Press
Knowing God – J.I. Packer – Inter Varsity Press
Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis – HarperCollins Publisher
77 FAQ’s – Josh and Sean McDowell – Harvest House
FROM EVOLUTION TO CREATION by Dr. Gary Parker – https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/jesus-is-god/is-jesus-god/aLSO
Evidence That Demands A Verdict Volume 1, Josh McDowell, Here’s Life Publishing, Inc., San Bernardino, CA 92402
Astronomical Evidences for the God of the Bible, Hugh Ross, PhD, http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/astroevid.shtml
The Real Issue, Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God, Dr. Walter Bradley, http://www.leaderu.com/real/ri9403/evidence.html
Defending Your Faith: Reliable answers for a new generation of skeptics and seekers, Dan Story, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 49501, 1997
http://biblehub.com/romans/1-19.htm VARIOUS VERSIONS OF ROMANS 1:19-20
“Building Blocks for Christian Faith, J. P. Holding, http://tektonics.org/jesusexist/jesusexisthub.html
A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell, Here’s Life Publishing, Inc., San Bernardino, CA 92402
Defending You Faith: Reliable answers for a new generation of skeptics and seekers, Dan Story, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 49501, 1997
Letters To A Skeptic – Gregory A Boyd and Edward K. Boyd – Chariot Victor Publishing
The blueletterbible.org
FROM EVOLUTION TO CREATION by Dr. Gary Parker – https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/jesus-is-god/is-jesus-god/aLSO