EVIDENCE FOR GOD’S EXISTENCE

Romans 1:18-25

 

 

BLIND FAITH?                                                          

 

If you ask any rational person above the age of twelve whether they believe in the Tooth Fairy, Easter bunny, or Santa Claus you’ll probably get a strange look or lighthearted laugh.  Mature people know these characters are just myths made up to entertain children.

 

However, if you asked the same group of people whether they believe in Bigfoot, UFO’s, or the Loch Ness Monster, you’ll get a wider variety of answers.  In this case, many people aren’t as sure of their beliefs.  After all, plenty of adults claim to be eyewitnesses, and there are even small amounts of evidence these mysteries may be real. 

 

When asked whether they believe in God, some people believe He is just a myth invented by weak people.  Some believe that it is unreasonable to believe in God because He cannot be seen.  In a world where decision making is so dependant upon our senses it is hard to put faith in something that doesn’t pass the test of taste, hearing, touch, smell, or sight. 

 

Although some things pass the test of our senses more than others, not everything we believe in does.  There are many things we cannot see, yet we know they exist because of their effects.  We cannot see love, but we know it exists because of what we feel inside and how we see people act.  We cannot see wind, but we hear the sound it makes and can feel it against our faces.  We cannot shake hands with George Washington, but we can read what others have said about his accomplishments in books.

 

            If it is reasonable to believe in unseen things based upon evidence of what they have done, then it is reasonable to believe in God. 

 

            God doesn’t need to be seen in order to be believed.  However, even though as Christians, we walk by faith and not by sight, there is plenty of evidence that He exists.  It isn’t evidence that has been planted, or made up, or so complicated that we need to be policemen, scientists or biologists to interpret.  Romans 1:18 says that the truth about whether God exists isn’t foggy or questionable, it is clearly seen.  Psalm 111:2 says that the works of the Lord are great and they can be studied if you want to.

 

 

 


PROVE IT

 

            Before believing in anything - demand evidence.

 

Imagine being on trial for murder when the only evidence against you was someone’s claim that you were guilty.  During your trial, the prosecution produced no eye witnesses, no DNA evidence, no videotape of the crime, no fingerprints, and no murder weapon.  Based upon the time the murder was committed, you know that you were hundreds of miles away at the movie theater. 

 

            Even though you confidently proclaimed your innocence, the jury decided to find you guilty anyway.  Before sentencing, the judge asked the jurors how confident they were that you committed the murder.  Answering for the jury, the lead juror replied, “We have the same amount of confidence this person committed the crime as we would in flipping a coin one million times and having it come up heads each time.”  After hearing the jury’s verdict, the judge agreed, “Sounds good enough to me!”

 

·         What would your reaction be if a story like this were true?

           

            Everyone recognizes it isn’t right to send a person to prison without enough proof.  In order for a jury to convict someone of a crime, evidence must be presented, and the jury must believe it proves the person is guilty.  Jury members are told it is normal to have a small amount of doubt in their minds since they didn’t witness the event personally.  In the United States court system, this is called, “reasonable doubt”.  On the other hand, if the jury has a significant amount of doubt, they are obligated to declare the accused, “Not guilty”.

 

You already have a pretty good sense as to what is reasonable and what isn’t.  You recognize there is a reasonable chance a coin could come up heads ten times in a row, but know it is foolish to believe the coin could come up heads one million times in a row (unless it was using a two-headed coin). 

 

When it comes to questions like, “Does God exist”, or “How did life begin”, you shouldn’t merely believe the word of a teacher, scientist, or pastor – you should use evidence to make a good decision.  If you want to find evidence for the existence of God you can do it by looking around.  You don’t need to be a brilliant scientist, private investigator or religious person - anyone can observe characteristics of things on the earth, then, come to a reasonable verdict.

 

 


GO BACK TO THE SOURCE

 

Long before the advances of modern science, people observed that everything in this world was created from something else, either from some living thing or from one of earth’s resources.  Even today, we recognize that all types of “matter” have a beginning and an end. A loaf of bread doesn’t just appear on the store shelf, it comes from a bakery.  At the bakery, a baker uses several ingredients to make the bread, one of which is flour.  Flour is made from some kind of plant, like wheat.  Wheat is grown by planting wheat seeds. 

 

Not until more recent times have scientists been able to determine what things like wheat seeds, come from.  With the invention of special microscopes, scientists now know that it takes small cells to produce seeds, and it takes even smaller atoms and molecules to produce cells.

 

The theory of evolution claims that the basic components of matter - atoms and molecules - began the process of life.  This is not consistent with the evidence, however.

If each type of matter has a beginning, then the first “thing” must not be physical and must not have a beginning.  When determining where the first physical thing came from, the only logical conclusion is that something spiritual and eternal created it.

 

            The evidence shows that matter has a beginning and end.  Therefore something spiritual and eternal must have started the process.

 

Christianity believes in a statement that is consistent with the physical evidence around us, “In the beginning, God created…” (Genesis 1:1).

 

(Psalm 90:2) Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

 

 

NOW THAT’S PROGRESS!

 

Another piece of evidence you should consider is that the source of each created thing tends to be greater (in complexity, power, and value) than that which it created.   An ant hill is just a small pile of sand, but the ants that built it are more complex living things.  Modern automobiles are of much higher quality than those built in the early 1900’s, but the abilities and knowledge of the people who created those cars are far more impressive.   

 

According to the theory of evolution, the first living thing was minute and simple.  As evolution occurred, each successive living thing became greater and more complex than itself – atoms formed into molecules, molecules formed into cells, cells formed into plants and fish, fish transformed into animals, and animals eventually transformed into humans.

 

  • When you consider a living thing, a man-made object, or a natural resource, which seems more common over time: that it naturally wears out, breaks, dies and decays, or, its physical characteristics improve all by itself?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the phrase, “survival of the fittest” is used as evidence for how living things progress by evolution.  It is true that within nature, the strong tend to survive; however, the things that survive don’t change into something else.  The strongest wildebeests have been surviving lion attacks in Africa for a long time, but they still remain wildebeests.  No matter how many times he escapes a hungry lion, a wildebeest will never qualify to become part of the human race.

 

(Psalm 68:35)  O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary. The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!

 

 

HOW LUCKY IS THAT?

 

If you are a fan of certain sports, like horse racing or boxing, you may be familiar with “odds”.  Odds are a way of using numbers to describe the likelihood that a certain event will occur.  A simple way to explain odds is through the use of a coin or dice.  If you flipped a coin one time, the odds are 1 out of 2 that you could successfully predict whether heads or tails will be shown.  In other words, since a coin has two sides, you’d guess correctly approximately half of the time.   If you tried to predict the number that would be shown when shaking a single die, your odds wouldn’t be as good - only 1 out of 6, because there are six different numbers on the sides of a die.

 

In order for the theory of evolution to be true, three things are necessary: matter, time, and chance (luck).  Evolutionists claim that matter has always existed, and over billions upon billions of years it gradually transformed into people by chance.  Scientists who have studied organisms like cells, bacteria, and DNA, know what it takes for living things to be produced.  Many of these people have calculated the odds of certain chemicals combining on their own to produce other living things.  For example, one scientist describes the odds that basic chemicals could combine to randomly form a single bacterium as 1 out of 10100,000,000,000.  And, those odds only address the first event in a long series of events that it would take to create a human.  

 

Since numbers like these are too difficult to comprehend, a scientist named Sir Fred Hoyle described the odds in other ways.  One of his explanations for the likelihood of life forming on its own was to imagine the odds of one quindecillion (10 48) blind people playing with Rubik’s cubes and having them all solve their puzzles at the exact same moment.  Explained another way, he said the odds are better that a tornado could travel through a junkyard and assemble a Boeing 747 airplane than the odds of any life form evolving on its own.

 

The improbable odds of life forming on its own are evidence against evolution.

 

Living organisms not only require just the right conditions to begin, but they also require just the right conditions to continue living.  How “lucky” is it that our world still contains just the right amount of oxygen for us to breathe after all these years?  What are the odds that gravitational pull continues to keep our earth at just the right distance from the sun so that we don’t freeze to death or burn up? 

 

The structured universe that sustains life is evidence for a sovereign God.

 

(Psalm 8:3-4) When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;  What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 

 

UNIQUELY ONE

 

            Sometimes after a hard day, I like to sit on my deck and take in the sights and sounds in my backyard.  I live in a fairly wooded neighborhood, so there are lots of plants and trees to see, like pines, cedars, oaks, daylilies, and orchids.  The various shapes, textures, and colors of the plants make them interesting to look at, but, outside of helping to produce oxygen, that’s all they are good for.

 

            As you might expect, our backyard is also home to some local wildlife.  It isn’t uncommon for me to see birds like robins, cardinals, and sparrows; and small animals, like squirrels and chipmunks.  I also feel fortunate, because I get to see some animals that are more rare, like rabbits, deer, and foxes.  Although I prefer to watch the wildlife more than the plants, they don’t do anything very spectacular either.  Tomorrow I’ll probably see another bird or animal in my backyard, but I bet it will just be walking, running, flying, or eating.

 

People, on the other hand, are an entirely different case.  You could sit on any park bench, watch people walk by, and be amazed at the differences. On the outside there are different faces, body shapes, and hair. On the inside, there are different personalities, emotions, and thoughts.  When it comes to abilities, people can do things like build spaceships and paint pictures.  Among billions of them on the earth, you know that no two people are alike – each one is unique, special, and has more value and potential than any other living thing. 

 

People have characteristics that couldn’t have developed on their own.

 

The individuality of each person is evidence for an individual, personal and spiritual God.

 

(Psalm 139:14) I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

 

 

LET’S GET PERSONAL

 

People are given labels like shy, outgoing, happy, and sad because they have something called personality.  Your personality is revealed by the way you tend to think, feel, and act.  The word “soul” is also used when referring to one’s personality.  Some people cry when they watch love stories on television, and some scream in fear at the sight of spiders.  Some people feel a great sense of accomplishment by competing in athletics, but others prefer classical music and a book.  Some people wake up before daylight with smiles on their faces, while other people like to party late into the night.

 

            Animals have personality too.  Any dog owner can tell you that a dog acts differently depending upon whether the owner is leaving for the day, or returning home from work.  Donkeys will sometimes go where you want them, but other times even a whip won’t cause them to budge.  Some cats will sit on a visitor’s lap and purr, but others will hide under the couch at the first sound of a strange voice. 

 

            Plants, however, are examples of living organisms that do not have personality.  Things like grass and trees don’t have minds to choose a course of action that is influenced by their emotions.  The growth of a flower is only affected by the resources around it, like water, sun, and soil - not its personality. 

 

In order for the theory of evolution to be true, personality would have to be produced out of something that previously did not have personality.  In other words, somehow, somewhere, when the first animal evolved, it had a mind, emotions, and a will, even though the thing it evolved from did not.  No one has ever produced any evidence that this is remotely possible.

 

            Personality is evidence we were created by a personal God.

 

(1 Thessalonians 5:23)  Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

LOOK WHAT I CAN DO

 

If you were interviewing someone for a job, you might ask the question, “What do you see yourself doing in ten years?”  I’m sure you can imagine the job applicant responding with answers that relate to what he enjoys, how much money he would like to make, or what kind of social status he hopes to achieve.

 

Consider for a moment how ridiculous it would be to ask your pet hamster that same question.  Even if you ignore the fact that hamsters only live to be about 3 years old, your hamster isn’t capable of thinking about doing anything other than what all hamsters do.  The birds that live in my backyard have the ability to build bird nests, but they continue to build them out of the same materials, and in the same shapes and places they have for generations.  There are no examples of birds filing patents for new types of plastics they want to build their nests out of.  Plants and animals don’t have the intrinsic desire to improve their self-worth or make advancements in society.

 

The history of mankind reveals something entirely different.  Since the beginning of time, man has continued to make advancements.  In fact, the rate of advancement seems to be increasing faster than ever.  For hundreds of years, it was only possible for people to communicate verbally in person, or remotely through the written word.  Today, the invention of things like cell phones and computers has changed our ability to communicate dramatically. 

 

The fact that man has made huge changes in society over the last 5000 years, while apes have made none is pretty clear evidence.  Not only is it absurd to believe apes could transform into humans, but it shows us that humans have been given traits that exist in no other living thing.  People have goals, desires, and creativity, but plants and animals do not.

 

Creativity and purpose are evidence we were created by God for a purpose. 

 

(Ecclesiastes 3:11) He has also set eternity in their heart.

 

(Ephesians 2:10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THAT’S NOT RIGHT

 

When examining the evidence around them, many founding fathers of the United States determined there must be a God.  These men made their beliefs known through a statement they included in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…’. 

 

In other words, it was evident to the writers of the Declaration of Independence that each person is born with something inside that acts as a guide for what is right and what is wrong.  They understood that the process of evolution cannot create a common set of morality in people, so they concluded that these truths must have been planted in them by a Creator with moral principles.

 

Evidence for morality is quite easy to recognize because you were born with it.  As a toddler, you didn’t need to be taught to steal toys or feel upset when your toy was taken – you just did.  If someone maliciously slugs you in the face, you feel angry.  If you come home and find someone has stolen your television, you feel violated.  After learning about the murder of a college student, you hope the offender is captured and punished.  When you hear the story of a young child who was abused by an adult, you feel compassion for the innocent victim. 

 

We use the word, “conscience” to signify the thing inside us that is used to recognize the difference between right and wrong.  Your conscience is like a built in compass that attempts to provide guidance on what kind of action to take, or whether your past behavior was admirable or shameful. 

 

Morality and conscience are concepts that only apply to people.  Plants don’t have them because they don’t have the ability to choose any course of action. Animals don’t have morality or conscience either – their behavior is determined by instincts or conditioning (training) – not by matters of right and wrong existing inside them at birth.

 

The theory of evolution claims that it is possible for morality to develop on its own, even though there is no evidence this could occur.  The evidence revealed through morality should lead you to the conclusion that people are moral creatures because they were created by a moral God.

 

(Romans 2:14-15) For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,  in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 

 

·         If all laws were abolished, would morals cease to exist?


IGNORING THE OBVIOUS

 

As you have seen, there is compelling evidence in the world to suggest that we were created by God.  But, if the evidence reveals the opposite of what evolution claims, why doesn’t everyone believe in God?  Why do people ignore evidence that is plainly seen, in order to believe in theories they desire to be true?  God addressed this very issue within the book of Romans found in the Bible.  People suppress the truth of God so that they can take the place of God (Romans 1:18)

 

People recognize that if it is true God created the earth and humans, then He also has the power and right to influence what goes on in our lives.  For most people, this truth conflicts with their desire to have control.  The real reason people don’t believe in God, or develop other gods is so that they can decide what is right and wrong, rather than feeling compelled to live according to God’s desire.

 

Since we were created by Him, one of the ways we are less than God is in our morality.  The bible often uses the word “unrighteous” when describing our spiritual condition (Romans 1:18). We prove we are unrighteous by not being able to live up to the moral standards that were given to us by a righteous (perfect) God. 

 

Rather than admitting to their unrighteousness and submitting to God, many people prefer to live as their own god. However, Christians have examined the evidence and responded differently.  Even though they are imperfect people, Christians have been convinced that God not only exists, but that He takes care of their physical and spiritual needs.

 

 

WHAT IS YOUR VERDICT?

 

            The question about God’s existence is so important because your answer is either the first step in the hopes of a relationship with your Creator, or the first step in living apart from Him.

 

            God exists and He is either a rock you can stand on for salvation, or a rock you will stumble upon as He gets in the way of a self-centered lifestyle.

 

(Psalm 18:2) The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

 

(Romans 9:33) “Behold, I lay in zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

 

Romans 1:18-23

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

 

  1. What does it mean to “suppress the truth?”                                         (verse 18)

 

  1. Is there any excuse for not believing in God?                                                  (verse 20)

 

  1. What can we know about God by looking at creation and people?      (verse 20)

 

  1. Rather than worshipping the God who created them, what do people tend to focus their attention on?                                                                                               (verse 23)

 

  1. Why would it be foolish to worship the sun or an animal?

 

  1. Why would it be foolish to worship another person?