Two weeks ago I sat in the back yard with my 6th grade grandson and I told him some stories of God’s work in my life.
I can give rational evidence for God’s existence, even as I can for my wife, Christy’s existence…it would be a little silly, since her existence is obvious.
I don’t think it is silly to give rational evidence for God’s existence, but I do believe his existence is obvious.
Anyway, in our conversation I told personal stories, I didn’t just give rational evidence for God’s involvement in my life.
What we talked about was not irrational, but it was personal, interactional…what I had seen, heard, experienced.
Oli was quiet for a moment…then he told me that the stories were encouraging, and he opened up about a couple of questions he had “long” had about God.
We went inside and my Niece’s daughter, Heidi, and some other grandkids joined the conversation.
It reminded me of how all people have questions…deep thoughts about ultimate things are inside of us.
Even the very young, have profound questions and theological thoughts.
Some people drown these thoughts and questions out as they get older…because they make them nervous, or confused…but they are there.
The writer of Ecc. writes, that God has put in eternity our hearts…all of our hearts.
This morning, I want to direct my short message to those who are not yet followers of Christ, or who may be Christians, but who are struggling with doubts.
We have spent this year in the gospel of John, and it was written for you…if you have not yet believed the gospel and followed Christ.
I’ll skip ahead to where we will be in a few weeks and read…John 20, this is after the resurrection.
But Thomas one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
If you have not yet believed the gospel, John wrote this for you…so that you would believe that Jesus is the Messiah (Savior), God who took on human flesh, and that by putting your faith in him you would have life.
My Grandson’s question was, and I get this frequently…How can God have always existed, where did he come from?
My five-point answer:
- Something exists.
- Something doesn’t come from nothing.
- Something has always existed.
- What exists is personal not impersonal.
- What has always existed therefore is a “Who’, a person not a what.
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking wrote, “Because there is a law of gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.”
A law is a definition not a thing of creative power.
CS Lewis said this idea is like thinking you can create money by doing math…the law of addition will not create funds in your account.
One Oxford atheist wrote, “space-time generates its own dust in the process of self-assembly.”
He calls this the “cosmic bootstrap principle”
*That term is used to describe a logical contradiction (pull yourself up)…but he owns it as an explanation, not as a contradiction.
His Oxford colleague wrote that “His view of the universe is blatantly self-contradictory. It is logically impossible for a cause to bring about some effect without already being in existence. Between the hypothesis of God and the hypothesis of a cosmic bootstrap, there is no competition.”
John Lennox, scientist and mathematician writes about this, “What this all goes to show is that nonsense remains nonsense, even when talked about by world-famous scientists.”
So, God exists, and the world was made by him…but what about Jesus, what are we to do with him?
John wrote at the beginning of his gospel…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
This was not a theory for John…he knew Jesus personally…he saw his power, his authority, his resurrection.
Listen to how he begins his letter, 1 John.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
The Bible is true, you can trust it…if you will.
It is not contradictory, it has no errors, and it has not been manipulated and changed by humans…God has seen to it, that we have his word.
You don’t have to throw away reason to believe…in fact, please don’t.
Just make sure you don’t think your reason alone can get you to God.
Did Jesus live?…without doubt.
Was he crucified in the first century on the cross?…without doubt.
Did he raise from the dead?…without doubt.
Some have come to Christ through the process of trying to disprove the resurrection…that is how strong the evidence is.
I will repeat the Liar, Lunatic, Lord decision matrix:
-Jesus leaves you with only three choices
- He was a liar
- He was crazy, Lunatic
- He is Lord
That leaves you with two more choices:
- Reject him as Lord
- Accept him as Lord
What do I do next? I still have questions.
You will always questions…you just need to have a few conclusions.
Do you believe that Jesus is who he says he is? The evidence is conclusive.
Do you believe that he died for your sin and rose from the dead? The evidence is conclusive.
If you believe those things, are you willing to transfer trust from self to Christ? This is the decision point for you.
“Believe” in Scriptures means more than intellectual understanding (not less than that).
I believe in my wife’s existence…but relationship with her requires more than that.
It means you put your trust, your confidence in him…not in your own efforts, goodness, or intellect.
In Scripture being born again is a work of God in the human heart…and yet, we are told to believe and follow Christ.
So, I will not try to coerce you to believe…it is a work of God.
I will simply invite you to do so…because you can, if you will…chose to follow Christ.
You must not wait for God to “do something”…he already has.
You must choose to repent and follow Christ.
This morning, we are going to read through John 19…the crucifixion.
We are also going to celebrate communion…it is where we use tangible symbols…juice and bread…to remember what Christ has done on the cross.
The cross is the ultimate reason for Thanksgiving.
The juice is a symbol of his blood spilled for us.
The bread is a symbol of his body broken for us.
We smell it, touch it, see it, taste it…the symbols are real things and what they symbolize is a real thing…a substitutionary death on the cross for our sins.
IF YOU HAVE NOT YET TRUSTED CHRIST…DO NOT PARTAKE
If you are currently in persistent, unrepentant sin…do not partake.
Or…give your life to Christ now…then partake.
Or…repent of your sins…then partake.