Living Proof

8/11/02

 

 

What would you say to someone who asks you--”Prove to me that God really does exist.”

 

Maybe you have had the same question.

 

This question requires two responses:

 

1.  God does not expect us to believe anything that doesn’t have any substance to it.  There is no such thing as “blind faith.”

 

2.  The other side of the question is this--the problem is not proving the existence of God, but the blindness of man.

 

Let’s analyze something.  Is the problem really in proving the existence of God or proving that man is so blind he can’t see it?

 

Ps. 19:1  For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

3  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

4  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5  which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6  It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

 

Rom. 1:18  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

19  since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

20  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.

21  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

 

Sin not only separates us from God but also from the ability to understand Him!

 

1 Cor. 2:14  The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

1 Cor. 1:18  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

19  For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

20  Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

21  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

22  Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

23  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

24  but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 

God does not expect us to believe some invented story!

 

2 Pet. 1:16  We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17  For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

18  We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

19  And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

20  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.

21  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

 

The New Testament writers were either a personal companion of Jesus and walked with Him, witnessed what He did, witnessed His death and witnessed His resurrection or knew others who did!

 

·         Matthew - disciple of Jesus Christ.

·         Mark - personally witnessed the works of Jesus.

·         Luke - personally knew the others who walked with Jesus.

·         John - disciple of Jesus Christ.

·         Paul - personally knew others who walked with Jesus plus Jesus revealed Himself to Paul in a very powerful way.

·         James - grew up with Jesus, was a blood brother of Jesus.

·         Peter - disciple of Jesus Christ.

·         Jude - grew up with Jesus, was a blood brother.

 

Luke 1:1  Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

2  just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

3  Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

4  so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

 

Since Jesus proved Himself to the early disciples, we are expected to believe as if we had been there and witnessed what they did!

 

Jo. 17:20  "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

21  that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

 

Mk. 16:14  Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

 

What about all the religions in the world?  Everyone thinks they are right.

 

Jer. 10:1  Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel.

2  This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.

3  For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4  They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.

5  Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good."

6  No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

7  Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

8  They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.

9  Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple-- all made by skilled workers.

10  But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

11  "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'"

12  But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13  When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

14  Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.

15  They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16  He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance-- the LORD Almighty is his name.

 

No religion in the world makes the claims that Jesus made and backs it up with proof!

 

Jesus Christ is not just one of the ways to God--He is the only way!

 

Jo. 14:6  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

What about those who have a love for God (the Jehovah witness for example) but they don’t have the same belief about Jesus?

 

1 Jo. 2:22  Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.

23  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

 

1 Jo. 5:10  Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

11  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

13  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

 

Read Acts 17:22-32

 

So, what is the problem?  Has God failed to give us enough proof or is it that we are too blind to see it?