The Bible And The Existence Of God

Feature 3 – September 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Bible And The Existence Of God

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Gen. 1:1 NKJV

The Creator God
This first sentence of the Bible affixes humanity in the presence of the infinite Creator. There is no argument put forth to prove His existence; creation itself testifies of a Creator (Rom. 1:20). Before there was anything, God eternally existed. God is not creation as some teach, for creation came after the eternal God. If He were created, He would be subject to the cause-and-effect laws of a superior being, and thus changeable and not eternally existing – an illogical premise. But God does permeate all of His creation (Ps. 139:7; Acts 17:27-28) and maintains it in perfect order (Col. 1:17). And the first and second of the Ten Commandments demand that the Creator, not creation, be worshiped.

Understanding God’s overall plan for humanity, as revealed in the whole of Scripture, explains why Genesis 1:1 is quite concise in discussing the origin of time, space and matter. Only a brief creation record is given in Genesis 1 and it focuses on the part which would pertain to man. This brevity was necessary to prevent distraction from the paramount message God wanted to convey to humanity: that man was a unique creature made in God’s own image and likeness so that God might have a personal relationship with him (Gen. 1:26).

Genesis 1 thus reveals the earth as the center stage of the universe, a unique planet among countless others on which God would bring about His plan of redemption to righteously permit a relationship with man. God, foreknowing man’s rebellion and failures, arranged the ministry of His Son on earth, resulting in His substitutional death for humanity’s sin so that He could offer spiritual life to those who would trust Him alone for salvation.

God also created angels, spiritual beings not subject to space and time (the natural order), and they were present and shouting for joy when God laid the foundations of the world (Job 38:4-7). These creatures, who rank higher in creation than humans (Heb. 2:7), long to understand the great work of salvation that God is accomplishing for man (1 Pet. 1:12). Consequently, God continues to use the Church as an object lesson of His grace and wisdom to teach the angels of Himself (Eph. 3:10, 1 Cor. 11:10).

The Triune God
In the beginning, the triune God was already here. God’s tri-unity in creation is distinctly seen in the pronouns “Us,” “Our,” and “Their” employed to describe man’s creation (Gen. 1:26), the events after the fall of mankind (Gen. 3:22), and then again when He confounded mankind’s language (Gen. 11:4-7). God introduces Himself to us as Elohim in Genesis 1:1 and continues to refer to Himself as such throughout the chapter. “Elohim” speaks of God’s majesty, power and omnipotence as the Creator. The “im” suffix is the Hebrew ending to denote plurality (Elohim is plural of Eloah). Nearly 90% of the references to “God” in the Old Testament are Elohim, appearing in the Hebrew text approximately 2700 times.

In Genesis 2:4, God identifies Himself to mankind as Jehovah, the selfexistent, eternal One. “Jehovah” is used over 6850 times in the Old Testament and expresses God’s moral and personal relationship with the intelligent creation bearing His image. Later, God identifies Himself to the patriarchs as El Elyon, the Most High God or Almighty God. As El Elyon, He alone would be their sustaining power through adversity and the only source of hope for their faith.

There is one unique God consisting of three individual Persons, each having the same divine attributes and characteristics. Each is perfect in grace, mercy and love and is all-powerful, all-knowing and present everywhere. The unity of the Godhead in the plan of salvation for mankind is recorded in Isaiah 48:16-17.

Throughout Scripture, their roles are consistent: God the Father declares the will of God, God the Son executes the will of God, and the Holy Spirit enables and ratifies the will of God to be done, usually through the Son. Each Person of the Godhead acts to affect praise of God’s glory (Eph. 1:6,12,14). The fact that the Father chooses does not imply that the Son and the Holy Spirit do not have individual wills – They do – but Their wills always align with the Father’s (Jn. 6:38; 1 Cor. 12:11). The fact that the Holy Spirit issues power to ratify God’s will does not mean that the Son does not have power to invoke miracles – He does. On some occasions the Son did miracles by His own power and not through the direct power of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 5:17; 8:46).

It is by the Son that we know God, for “He has spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:2). One cannot force what is mysterious and beyond comprehension into a formula of operation; yet, Scripture does portray the Trinity in a consistent way and with distinct roles. The roles within the Godhead (Trinity) are seen also in biblical typology – meaning a picture, figure, or pattern that reflects something or someone in reality.

In the Bible, a type of God the Father is seen in father Abraham (Gen. 22), who was willing to offer his only son Isaac for a sacrifice, just as God the Father would in the future offer His Son for a sin sacrifice. Types of Christ in the Old Testament are seen in both people and objects such as the ark, a rock, a rod, a shepherd, a veil, etc. Objects or people are used to accomplish a work, which pictures Christ performing the Father’s will. The Holy Spirit is generally depicted in active things such as flowing olive oil (Zech. 4), blowing wind (Jn. 3), seven flames of fire (Rev. 4), and rushing water (Jn. 7). The Holy Spirit, in these types, is not visibly seen doing the Father’s will, but rather accomplishing the task at hand in a powerful and invisible fashion.

This operation of the Holy Spirit is clearly seen in Genesis 1:2 where “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Here the Holy Spirit is described as moving in the presence of the formless water. The Hebrew word translated “moving” is rachaph. It occurs only two additional times in the Old Testament, as “shakes” (Jer. 23:9) and “hovers” (Dt. 32:11). In today’s scientific terms we might say the Holy Spirit vibrated or energized basic elements to put them into a prescribed order.

A triune God created all that was created. Paul wrote this of the Trinity: “For us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live” (1 Cor. 8:6). And this: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). Paul knew that our existence, salvation and fellowship are connected with a triune God.

In the same way, the Lord Jesus commanded that all those who believed His Gospel message be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19). God is three individuals in one. All three are God, eternal and equal, though distinct in personality and roles. Certainly, God the Father could not be the Eternal Father (Isa. 9:6) without an Eternal Son!

Known By Faith
As science is the study of the natural world, it stands to reason that science is not able to prove what is not natural – the existence of God. God is not natural, though He supernaturally dwells within (and beyond) nature. We turn to science to learn about nature, not to determine if there is anything else but nature. The Bible declares that God exists, the consequences of which flow from deduction. If God chose not to supply a metaphysical proof of Himself in Scripture, why should man attempt to prove His existence?

Though the Bible does not offer “scientific” proof for God’s existence, it does introduce man to God. Thus, a test is supplied to humanity and only those exercising faith in God’s revealed truth will come to know God and to believe that He does exist (Jn. 6:69; Heb. 11:3). God has shown many supernatural evidences of Himself in the natural realm – intelligent design in creation, the human conscience, Scripture, miracles, changed lives, etc. – to draw man to Himself by faith. How life came about and why it did will ultimately be answered by exercising faith in something which cannot be proven. The God of the Bible, the Creator of all, is the best explanation!

By Warren Henderson