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Evidences for the Existence of the God of the Bible.
(1) The universe can’t exist by itself. The universe appears to be both designed and deteriorating. The universe appears to be like a clock that is running down (that could not either make itself or wind itself up). For example, we see stars die but can’t explain their origin. Scientists may speculate (guess) that stars are born in nebulas or by some other natural process, but there are difficulties with getting stars to form by any natural means. Stars are made of gas which has a stronger tendency to expand than gravity has to pull it together. Only if you have tremendous amounts of gas already compacted (into a star) is there enough gravity to hold it together. We see stars that already exist die in such things as supernovas. But, we don’t actually see stars being born. If any scientist claims to see stars being born, I would challenge you to deeply investigate the claim. Almost certainly it is an assumption and not actually science. The universe is not eternal like God, so it can fail or run down. The universe also can’t mold itself into the forms it now has. This evidence matches the Bible’s teaching that God is greater than the universe and that He made it. Hebrews 1:10-12 And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end." (2) By all evidence, physical life does not and did not begin on its own. Life is extremely complex and obviously designed. A computer or car will not occur without intelligent planning, nor will any kind of life form by itself. For example, life is based on encoded information in DNA. All other encoded information that we know (such as writing, software programming) comes from an intelligent source. The most unscientific explanation of life is that it occurred by chance. Science shows that information codes have an intelligent source. The scientific search for intelligent extraterrestrial life was based on trying to identify coded information signals from space because of the certain knowledge that such information would mean an intelligent source. However, scientists try to make an unwarranted exception when it comes to the code found in living things. The suggestion that aliens could produce life as we know it does not help because aliens are normally imagined as limited, natural beings that had not always existed and that would not be able to form without some help outside of themselves. Physical life shows no ability to become alive on its own, yet here it is. An uncreated spiritual life (God) that made physical life is consistent physical evidence. Psalm 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Jeremiah 27:5a “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, (3) The demand for morality, meaning and eternal life. People have some hunger or drive for morality, meaning in life and existence beyond physical death. Some people may focus on one of these more than others, but considered deeply they are interconnected. Real morality can only be found in knowing the meaning (purpose) of life and knowing that one’s life has continuing significance. If our life only matters for a little while, then morality and meaning begin to lose their importance. People usually try to satisfy the hunger for morality, meaning and eternal existence with some kind of religion. For many reasons, people often see that the universe alone isn’t enough to give meaning, morality or eternal life. We are driven to believe in a higher (spiritual) reality since physical reality can’t fully satisfy. The existence of such a hunger or drive points to a reality. People are hungry for food because food is real & they truly need it. Disagreements in religion don’t disprove spiritual reality any more than hungry babies chewing on rocks or sticks disprove there is milk. There is a higher (spiritual) reality that people hunger to connect with. For life to have morality, it has to have meaning or purpose. “Good” is what agrees with the purpose of life. “Evil” is what goes against the purpose of life. But, purpose or meaning always requires an intelligent source. Possibly, an intelligence could write a meaningless letter (but the intelligence would even have a reason for doing that). But, non-intelligence could never write a meaningful letter. It is a contradiction in terms because non-intelligence does not have any intentions or thoughts or purposes to be communicated or carried out. The God of the Bible gives morality, meaning and eternal life to people. Ecclesiastes 2:13-17; 3:11 “Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. … He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 1 Corinthians 15:20, 32b But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. … If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." John 5:28-29 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Mark 12:28-31 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." [Bible quotations from English Standard Version]
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 Isaiah 57:15a For so says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity; (MKJV)
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God. (MKJV) One reason that some people don’t believe in God is that they have a wrong idea of what is meant by the word “God”. When they hear the word “God” they think of someone or something far less than what God is really like. They really shouldn’t believe in a little “God”, because the real God is greater than we can understand. Even though we can’t understand everything about God, we can understand some things about Him, because He created us to be able to understand Him partly. A young child can truly know their parents without understanding them completely. God had no beginning and has no end. God made people, so people have a beginning and have to wait for the future. But, the Bible says God inhabits eternity. In other words, Gods lives in all time and beyond all time as if all infinity were the present (right now). It is impossible for people to know exactly what that would be like, but we can have some understanding. One way to translate God’s special name in the Bible is “I AM”. Among other things, this points to the idea that all time and eternity is “right now” for God. God understands how people have to remember the past, live in the present and wait for the future. But, God doesn’t need to remember the past or wait for the future because He already lives there. Maybe this seems too philosophical for some people, but it is important to know this about God. If we didn’t, we couldn’t really trust God and depend on His promise to give us eternal life in joy. If God doesn’t know all of eternity, then how could He be sure that He will live forever much less promise to make us live forever? He couldn’t unless He already knows forever as if it was now. God has also told us that He is the only God and there is no other God. But if God doesn’t know all eternity, He wouldn’t know for sure that there is no other God because there might be another God whom He hasn’t met yet. If so, what if God met an even greater God? Then God would be servant to that God (and we could go on and on with “What if’s?”). But the true God who knows all eternity knows for certain that He will never end and never meet another God. People are left with a choice. They can trust that God is honest with us and really does know eternity and truly has the ability to guarantee us eternal life. Or they can distrust God and wonder if there is another God or if they are God themselves or if there is no God at all. Actually, the Bible indicates that the origin of evil when created beings rejected the truth of who God really is so that they could try to become their own God. People are still having that problem today. |
Greg SmithThe main writer for the majority of our articles will be Greg Smith. Greg is an elder at Calvary Chapel. He has a passion for the Bible - and especially for writing on the subject of Apologetics. Apologetics Class #1 Pt. 1
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Apologetics Class #1
Pt. 2
Greg Smith
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Apologetics Class #2
Greg Smith
| apologetics_class_02.mp3 |
Apologetics Class #3
Greg Smith
| apologetics_class_03.mp3 |
Apologetics Class #4
Greg Smith
| apologetics_class_04.mp3 |
Apologetics Class #5
Greg Smith
| apologetics_class_05.mp3 |
Apologetics Class #6
Greg Smith
| apologetics_class_06.mp3 |
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