How Do We Know That God Exists?

Feature 2 – September 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

How Do We Know That God Exists?

The Bible Proves It
Not surprisingly, the Bible does not argue, debate or defend God’s existence. What book questions its author’s existence? The book’s existence presupposes an author. It’s a given. The Bible is God’s Word, therefore God exists.

The Bible is a most compelling witness to the existence of God. This book’s survival, through thousands of vicious attacks and repeated attempts to destroy it, proves this. Its consistently popular appeal, and the ongoing worldwide effort to translate it into the languages of every tribe and tongue on earth make it a unique, unparalleled proof to be reckoned with.

This most widely circulated, universally venerated, and abundantly substantiated of all ancient documents, is utterly reliable and continues to tower over history by bearing irrefutable witness to God and truth. The Bible is nothing short of supernatural.

Without display or fanfare, this timeless document claims to be the Word of God – the faithful, authoritative, immutable utterance of the Almighty, who stakes His reputation on it: “You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word” (Ps. 138:2 NIV); “Your word, O LORD, stands firm in the heavens” (Ps. 119:89). Christians rely on the Bible because it is the clear, unequivocal voice of the Almighty. Because it is God’s Word, the Bible is incontrovertible proof of God’s existence.

Creation Proves It
This authoritative book begins its message by proclaiming another proof of God’s existence, the only truly scientific proof: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). These ten words set forth five essential considerations with enough substance for an eternity of exploration.

1. “In the beginning” – Atheistic science has not yet arrived at the starting point of all true discovery, the beginning, and is therefore ill prepared to mount a credible challenge to the biblical account of origins.

2. “God” – Biased atheistic science won’t “discover” Him until it gets back to the basics, back to the beginning, back to where there is only God.

3. “Created” – God brought all things into existence by nothing but the force, the energy of His uttered living Word.

4. “The heavens” – God created the unmeasured expanse of the universe, and its uncounted celestial bodies.

5. “And the earth” – One of the smallest bodies in one of the smallest galaxies became home base of the human race and the stage for God’s greatest works. Earth became the capital of the created universe.

Many scientists persist in their efforts to interpret the evidence of creation through the lens of their atheistic bias, arbitrarily ruling God out of His creation. But their socalled “scientific” presupposition that there is no Creator – that all things exist as the result of a series of unguided, uncoordinated, random, cosmic accidents – offers no rational, supportable alternative theory and thus cannot be considered the least bit scientific. Theirs, in fact, is a “leap of faith” infinitely more reckless than belief in a first Cause, an intelligent Creator!

Someone recently commented on the absurdity of considering a universe made out of nothing by an almighty God, while at the same time he embraced a universe made out of nothing by nothing! Just as a book presupposes an author and a skyscraper presupposes an architect and engineer, so creation presupposes a Creator. Christians continue to rely on the Bible and all of creation as His scientific proof; we need no other.

Science Cannot Disprove It
God is not intimidated by the unbelief of atheistic scientists, nor will their determined resistance compel Him to offer further proof. The evidence is in the Bible and in creation – and that is enough. It speaks clearly of Him. Those who reject or deny it do so at their peril. This might seem arrogant, and it would be for anyone but God. But the arrogance here belongs rather to those who reject the evidence of creation while offering no provable alternative, to those who persistently challenge His existence and blindly continue their futile search for “proofs.”

The oftquoted maxim, “There is none so blind as those that will not see,” seems coined for a “science” that sees the evidence but insists on interpreting it falsely. This maxim comes from 17th century Bible commentator Matthew Henry who wrote it while commenting on Jeremiah 5:21-22, which also seems written to the atheistic scientist: “‘Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear; should you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should you not tremble in My presence?’”

Christians confess that the creation view of origins is indeed a religious one, not because it is in any way unscientific – which it is not – but because it is only “by faith (that) we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Heb. 11:3). Faith then is a far more scientific concept than that of an existence arising out of nothing with no originating cause.

God Is The Creator
“Creator” is God’s first name – as witnessed by these Scriptures: Genesis 1 and 2; Genesis 14:19-22; Deuteronomy 32:6,18; Psalms 19:1-4; 33:6-9; John 1:1-3; Acts 17:24-28. And creation is where we all first meet Him. He cannot be known apart from His creator identity. Even at the end of Scripture God is seen and worshiped as Creator (Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7).

God refers to Himself as a “jealous God” (Ex. 20:5) who tolerates no disrespect. He insists on being taken seriously and holds all of us responsible for this universally understandable evidence: “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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” (Rom. 1:19-20).

A merely intellectual quest for God will never discover Him. He will only be found through a search motivated by belief that He exists and that He is worth seeking, as the Scripture says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). So faith is the honest, openminded approach to God. Such faith enables us to grasp creation, and leads us into a personal relationship with Him. God cannot be known in any other way.

The real issue is ...
not whether God exists. It’s ... why are some still resisting Him? Why is there such a compulsion to disprove, deny or ban God if He doesn’t even exist? This paranoia strongly suggests the atheist’s serious distrust of his own conviction, and argues powerfully against his capacity to perceive truth. How can it be so easy to believe in a universe made out of nothing and by no one, while at the same time tenaciously resisting the idea of a Creator whom they deem to be nonexistent, and thus no threat?

If God does not exist, they need not fear His judgment. But if He does exist, they have a choice: accept His offer of mercy, salvation and eternal well-being; or refuse Him and remain exposed to everlasting condemnation. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ... for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 10:31; 12:29).

Why would they “fall into the hands” of a vengeful God whom they have been defying when they can cast themselves on His mercy and receive His offer of eternal salvation and peace with Him and His Son who already suffered their penalty in His own body on the cross (1 Pet. 3:18; 2:24)? Listen to God’s compassionate appeal: “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them ... Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:19-21).

By Bill Van Ryn