Does God exist? Is
there proof of God? The following offers candid, straight-forward reasons to
believe in the existence of God...
By Marilyn Adamson
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Just once wouldn't you
love for someone to simply show you the evidence for God's existence? No
arm-twisting. No statements of, "You just have to believe." Well,
here is an attempt to candidly offer some of the reasons which suggest that God
exists.
But first consider this.
If a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any
evidence can be rationalized or explained away. It is like if someone refuses
to believe that people have walked on the moon, then no amount of information
is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the
moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks...all the evidence would be
worthless, because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to
the moon.
When it comes to the
possibility of God's existence, the Bible says that there are people who have
seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God.1
On the other hand, for those who want to know God if he is there, he says,
"You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I
will be found by you."2 Before you look at the facts
surrounding God's existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would I want
to know him? Here then, are some reasons to consider...
1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a
deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.
Many examples showing
God's design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:
The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and
corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases,
only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller,
an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were
larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.3
Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture
of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.
And our moon is the
perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon
creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and
yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.4
Water...colorless, odorless and without taste, and
yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings
consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll
see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:
It has an unusually high
boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of
fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6
degrees.
Water is also chemically
neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water
enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.
Water has a unique surface
tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing
life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.
Water freezes from the
top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.
Ninety-seven percent of
the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system
designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water
throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and
forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the
land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and
supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused
water.6
2. Does God exist? The human brain's complexity shows a higher
intelligence behind it.
The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of
information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the
temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the
sounds
around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your
brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same
time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your
breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your
hands.
3. Does God exist? "Chance" or "natural
causes" are insufficient explanations.
The alternative to God
existing is that all that exists around us came about by natural cause and random
chance. If someone is rolling dice, the odds of rolling a pair of sixes is one
thing. But the odds of spots appearing on blank dice is something else. What
Pasteur attempted to prove centuries ago, science confirms, that life cannot
arise from non-life. Where did human, animal, plant life come from?
Also, natural causes are
an inadequate explanation for the amount of precise information contained in
human DNA. A person who discounts God is left with the conclusion that all of
this came about without cause, without design, and is merely good fortune. It
is intellectually wanting to observe intricate design and attribute it to luck.
4. Does God exist? To state with certainty that there is no God, a
person has to ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are
convinced that there is a God.
This is not to say that
if enough people believe something it is therefore true. Scientists, for
example, have discovered new truths about the universe which overruled previous
conclusions. But as science has progressed, no scientific discovery has
countered the numerical likelihood of an intelligent mind being behind it all.
In fact, the more science discovers about human life and the universe, the more
complex and precisely designed we realize these to be. Rather than pointing
away from God, evidence mounts further toward an intelligent source. But
objective evidence is not all.
There is a much larger
issue. Throughout history, billions of people in the world have attested to
their firm, core convictions about God's existence--arrived at from their subjective,
personal relationship with God. Millions today could give detailed account of
their experience with God. They would point to answered prayer and specific,
amazing ways God has met their needs, and guided them through important
personal decisions. They would offer, not only a description of their beliefs,
but detailed reports of God's actions in their lives. Many are sure that a
loving God exists and has shown himself to be faithful to them. If you are a
skeptic, can you say with certainty: "I am absolutely right and they all
are wrong about God"?
5. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is
constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.
I was an atheist at one
time. And like most atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me
greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention,
and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes
us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for
those poor, delusional people...to help them realize their hope was completely
ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who
believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me
otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I
could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is
off the table, and I would be free to go about my life.
I am not the only one
who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and philosophical
author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow, besides questing, I was being
pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "...night after night,
feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady,
unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in,
and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the
most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."
Lewis went on to write a
book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. I too had
no expectations other than rightfully admitting God's existence. Yet over the
following several months, I became amazed by his love for me.
6. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus
Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.
Why Jesus? Look
throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad,
Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of
them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what
sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at
him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position
of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said
that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him,
believed in the Father.
He said, "I am the
light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life."8 He claimed attributes belonging only to
God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin,
give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike
other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to
himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth."
He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the
Father but through me."9
What proof did Jesus
give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed
people...blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead.
He had power over objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds
of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature...walked on top
of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere
followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He
said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least
believe in me based on the miracles you're seeing.10
Jesus Christ showed God
to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet
deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views
us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up
with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the
punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many
loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if
they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he
first loved us.
Jesus died in our place
so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through
Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have
a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our
needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he
offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and
genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting
love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."11
This is God, in action.
Does God exist? If you
want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We're told that "God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have eternal life."12
God does not force us to
believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of
his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance
from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA,
the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and
minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through
Jesus Christ. If you need to know more about Jesus and reasons to believe in
him, please see: Beyond Blind Faith.
If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.
This is your decision,
no coercion here. But if you want to be forgiven by God and come into a relationship
with him, you can do so right now by asking him to forgive you and come into
your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and
knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [or
her]."13 If you want to do this, but aren't sure how to put it
into words, this may help: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You
know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now
and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now.
Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."
God views your
relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all those who believe in him,
Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and they follow me; and I give them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of
my hand."14
So, does God exist?
Looking at all these facts, one can conclude that a loving God does exist and
can be known in an intimate, personal way. If you need more information about
Jesus' claim to divinity, or about God's existence, or if you have similar
important questions, please email us.
About the Author: As a former atheist, Marilyn Adamson found it
difficult to refute the continuously answered prayers and quality of life of a
close friend. In challenging the beliefs of her friend, Marilyn was amazed to
learn the wealth of objective evidence pointing to the existence of God. After
about a year of persistent questioning, she responded to God's offer to come
into her life and has found faith in Him to be constantly substantiated and
greatly rewarding.
(1) Romans 1:19-21
(2) Jeremiah 29:13-14
(3) R.E.D. Clark, Creation (London: Tyndale Press, 1946), p. 20
(4) The Wonders of God's Creation, Moody Institute of Science (Chicago, IL)
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
(8) John 8:12
(9) John 14:6
(10) John 14:11
(11) Jeremiah 31:3
(12) John 3:16
(13) Revelation 3:20
(14) John 10:27-29
as of 10-2007