Does God exist? Here are six straight-forward reasons to
believe that God is really there.
 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.
 The
Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the
temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120
degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we
would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a
fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would
make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect
distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed
of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing
the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled
every day.
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 a universal solvent. This property of water means that
thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried
throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.5
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
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.
 The
human brain processes more than a million messages a second.7
Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out
the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what
allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The
brain functions differently than other organs. There is an
intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings,
to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.
The eye...can distinguish among seven
million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an
astounding 1.5 million messages -- simultaneously.8
Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within
existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain
the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of
living organisms from nonliving matter.
2. Does God exist? The universe had a start - what caused
it?
Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one
enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the
Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists:
the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the
initial start of time itself.
Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic,
stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the
Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every
planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being
as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of
the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we
cannot find out what caused that to happen."9
Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the
moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred
thousands million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was
filled with light."10
The universe has not always existed. It had a start...what
caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden
explosion of light and matter.
3. Does God exist? The universe operates by uniform laws of
nature. Why does it?
Much of life may seem uncertain, but look at what we can
count on day after day: gravity remains consistent, a hot cup of
coffee left on a counter will get cold, the earth rotates in the
same 24 hours, and the speed of light doesn't change -- on earth
or in galaxies far from us.
How is it that we can identify laws of nature that never
change? Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable?
"The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this
is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys
rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics.
This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe
doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a
universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant
to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of
existence."11
Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum
electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a
mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of
miracle."12
4. Does God exist? The DNA code informs, programs a cell's
behavior.
 All
instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent.
Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose.
Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a
very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer
program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones
and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged
tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of
our cells is very similar. It's made up of four chemicals that
scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in
the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There
are three billion of these letters in every human cell!!
Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for
specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a
three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a
certain way. It is a full instruction manual.13
 Why
is this so amazing? One has to ask....how did this information
program wind up in each human cell? These are not just
chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a
very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop.
Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an
explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot
find instruction, precise information like this, without someone
intentionally constructing it.
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 many 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
didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so
heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I
have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us
with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us
with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his
existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape
thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose
to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you
win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are
bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively
pursuing them.
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 revealing
himself to 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."14
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."15
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.16
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."17 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."18
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]."19 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."20
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.
By Marilyn Adamson
Marilyn Adamson Website
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.
I just asked Jesus into my life (some helpful information
follows)...
I may want to ask Jesus into my life, please explain this
more fully...
I have a question or comment...
One
Heartbeat Away Website
(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) Hugh Davson, Physiology of the Eye, 5th ed (New
York: McGraw Hill, 1991)
(9) Robert Jastrow; "Message from Professor Robert Jastrow";
LeaderU.com; 2002.
(10) Steven Weinberg; The First Three Minutes: A Modern View
of the Origin of the Universe; (Basic Books,1988); p 5.
(11) Dinesh D'Souza, What's So Great about Christianity;
(Regnery Publishing, Inc, 2007, chapter 11).
(12) Richard Feynman, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a
Citizen-Scientist (New York: BasicBooks, 1998), 43.
(13) Francis S. Collins, director of the Human Genome Project,
and author of The Language of God, (Free Press, New
York, NY), 2006
(14) John 8:12
(15) John 14:6
(16) John 14:11
(17) Jeremiah 31:3
(18) John 3:16
(10) Revelation 3:20
(20) John 10:27-29 |
