Some may think God is not real because we cannot see Him. As disciples, we need to know what we believe and why believe it. This devotion explores evidence that verifies that God is real and what we can do to prepare to share our beliefs with searchers.
Nuggets
- God — being God, He has no beginning and no end — took time and matter and made the universe.
- God wrote His moral code within all of us by instilling a conscience within us.
- There has been evidence found that biblical stories occurred.
- God wants you to experience His love for you yourself.
Do you know someone — or are you one — who wants to argue or debate if God is real or not? I mean, we can’t see Him, so how can we be sure that He really, truly exists?
The Bible doesn’t really give us evidence that God exists. It starts out, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1: 1 CEV). We just have to take it on faith that He does exist and created the universe — including us.
Still, Paul argues that, “… the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14: 15-17 NKJV).
Let’s see if we can find this evidence of these witnesses. But first, let’s put that last scripture into context.
Let's Put It into Context
“When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they yelled out in the language of Lycaonia, ‘The gods have turned into humans and have come down to us!’ The people then gave Barnabas the name Zeus, and they gave Paul the name Hermes, because he did the talking” (Ac. 14: 11-12 CEV)
Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra. They healed a crippled man who had never been able to walk. The people thought they were gods come to earth and wanted to offer sacrifices to them. They had gone so far as to round up animals to sacrifice.
Paul put a stop to that real fast. However, they had a hard time convincing the people.
We can also have trouble convincing people God is real. They may fall anywhere on the continuum:
- Some just flat out believe there is no God (atheists).
- Others don’t know if there is or isn’t, so they aren’t going to worry about it (agnostics).
- Still others aren’t really sure whether God is real or not but are leaning on the side that He is real.
- Then, there are those that know He is real (disciples).
Now, to the evidence.
Physical Evidence
“They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. God’s eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That’s why those people don’t have any excuse” (Rom. 1: 19-20 CEV).
I know you have to take Wikipedia with a grain of salt, but when I looked up the big bang theory, I thought one sentence was really funny. “Current knowledge is insufficient to determine if the singularity was primordial.” The singularity they are talking about is a period of high density that caused the bang. Primordial means existing at or from the beginning of time.
Excuse me? They can’t tell if the period of density that is supposed to cause the bang existed at or from the beginning of time? They are trying to tell us the bang is the beginning of time.
I personally have trouble believing all this was created by an explosion. The world is too intricate and balanced to be created by chance. An explosion is not controlled enough to knit together all of the different parts that are needed to form the whole.
I can get behind the idea that God — being God, He has no beginning and no end — took time and matter and made the universe. All I need to know is 1) God created the universe and 2) He did it by speaking. It doesn’t really matter to me what happened after He spoke — if it suddenly appeared or if it did a reverse-Avenger snap and floated together. God did it, and God has the power to accomplish it by speaking.
There are many verses that verify God is the creator.
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King (Isa. 43: 15 ESV).
It is I [God] who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me (Jer. 27: 5 ESV).
Moral Evidence
“Some people naturally obey the Law’s commands, even though they don’t have the Law. This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned” (Rom. 2: 14-15 CEV)
Okay, so some people innately obey God’s laws — even if they don’t prescribe to His laws. This is because we all have a conscience. We know what our conscience is. It is that little voice within us guiding us what is right and what is wrong.
To me, Paul is saying that God wrote His moral code within all of us by instilling a conscience within us. The Holy Spirit uses this to convict us to choose God’s ways. It is our choice whether we will follow this code or not.
Let’s look at it this way. Our conscience is God’s watermark that He created us. It is the evidence that we are His.
Historical Evidence
“Jesus did many other things. If they were all written in books, I don’t suppose there would be room enough in the whole world for all the books” (Jn. 21: 25 CEV)
John made a good point. There was no way they could write down every single little thing Jesus did. That holds true for the writers of scripture and the first-century historians.
Still, there has been evidence found that biblical stories occurred. God will give us all proof as needed to show He is real. However, He will usually talk to us individually.
Spiritual Evidence
“Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see” (Heb. 11: 1 CEV)
God calls us to a personal relationship. He doesn’t want you to take my word for it. He wants you to experience His love for you yourself.
You have to make the decision for yourself. You have to search through His Word for Him.
God isn’t going to play Hide and Seek with you when you are seriously seeking Him.
Making the Connections
I’m never going to convince you God is real. But that isn’t my job.
My job is to proclaim the gospel. I am to tell you what God means to me and what He has done in my life.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict you. It is Jesus’ job to redeem you. It is God’s job to save you.
How Do We Apply This?
It is our job to proclaim the gospel. In order to do that, we have to know what we believe — and we have to know what we believe is true.
Have you ever written out a statement of faith? I applied for an assessment job at a faith-based university. That was one of the documents they requested.
When I was developing the website, I revised it and put it as the I Believe page. What would yours look like?
After you write out your beliefs, write out your testimony. We each have defining moments that make us the men and women we have become. What are the defining moments in your faith? (I need to rewrite the About Me page, but this is what I have right now.)
We’ve got to be prepared. We never know when God is going to put us in a searcher’s path. That may be our one chance with that person. We’ve got to make it count.
Father God. Put us in searchers’ paths. Prepare us for those encounters. Help us to identify exactly what we believe. Show us what experiences You want us to share (even those we might want to keep hidden). Help us to proclaim Your gospel — then stand aside and let You work. Amen.
Related Links
The foundation for this post was taken from H. J. Van Dyke’s The Living God.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: What Was the Tabernacle? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Who Is God? – Seeking God with Elaine