The Existence of God

by Kirk M. Wellum@http://redeemingthetime.blogspot.com

The first great truth asserted by the confessional statement, "We believe in the one true and living God," is the truth that God exists. This immediately sets us apart from all atheists. Atheism is a religious position that people take up when they are trying to avoid issues of conscience. No one is born an atheist. They convert to it at some point in their lives when they deliberately turn away from God's revelation in the world and within their own hearts. We need to challenge atheists to tell us their conversion experience and confront them with the things in their lives that are driving them away from the God in whom we live and move and have our being.

Down through the years Christians have argued for the existence of God in a variety of ways. Some point to the fact that human beings have an idea of God, and therefore this must point to the reality of God himself. Others work from the principle of cause and effect and see God as the ultimate cause and effect. Some see the design and purpose that are evident throughout the universe as evidence of God the ultimate designer and planner. For others the sense of right and wrong that human beings have points to a divine lawgiver, and the capacity of our human minds to grasp the reality around us speaks of our creation in the image of the creator. Taken together as a unity the cumulative effect of these "proofs" is notable. Individually, however, none of them proves that God exists in a definitive way. Rather they collaborate his existence once we bow to the authority of his Word.

When the Bible presents God's existence it does so by way of assertion. From the opening verse in the Bible it assumes the existence of God. There is no appeal to a higher authority to prove his existence because such an appeal is inherently contradictory. If God exists and he is God, there can be no higher court of appeal than the testimony of his own Word and Spirit. In the Bible, rejection of God's existence is always tied to moral folly, so for instance, Psalm 14:1 says: "Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.'" In fact, the Bible boldly asserts that God has plainly revealed himself to all human beings through what he has made but they do not see it because they suppress the truth by their wickedness. Nevertheless, they are without excuse and must give an account to God one day (Romans 1:18-32).

The final proof of the existence of God is our experience of his grace. When all is said and done, Christians know that God exists because he has revealed himself to them. He has broken through their moral stupidity and brought them to acknowledge what should be obvious to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear. We know God exists because of his grace revealed to us in Jesus Christ. This is a subjective knowledge that is substantiated by everything around when we look at the world with minds illuminated by the Word and the Spirit. Hebrews 11:6 says that 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. This faith is not self-induced but is produced in our hearts by God's grace. Until we enjoy the immediate presence of God in the new creation we are required to live by faith and not by sight. This is what we do when we take our stand in the world and proclaim with those who have gone before that we believe "in the one true and living God."

To be continued...