What Do You Believe?

Presupposition: An assumption, conjecture, speculation or something supposed without proof;

What do you believe?

Was all creation just a cosmic accident or did a designer, God, create all there is?

 The Bible says this:

Romans 1:20 NIV

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The Bible says that there is clear evidence that there is a Creator. The Creator, God, exists even though we can’t see Him. God has given mankind the privilege to observe the wonders of nature, the universe, the beauty and awesome physical evidence of His complex design down to the core of our DNA structure. Each human being has a unique design and through this design we can see that God has clearly revealed Himself. However, even with this clear revelation in conjunction with His inspired Word, people still reject Him.

The Apostle Paul goes on to tell us in the Book of Romans the reasons why people reject Him.

Romans 1:21-23 NIV

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their

thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise,

they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal

man and birds and animals and reptiles.

It seems that human beings have a tendency to be foolish. I myself have acted many times as a fool,

a stupid, stupid man, a jerk, an idiot………..you get the idea. The fact is, I earned these titles by insisting on viewing life through limited perspective and struggling to do life in my own way. Even though I inherently knew right from wrong, I chose to renew my yearly membership in the Frank Sinatra “I did it my way” club. You would think after a while of hitting my head against the wall I would find a new role model.  After about 40 years of roaming through the desert (sound familiar), I began to allow the Holy Spirit to gain a significant foothold in my life, making room for Him to influence and change the course of my life forever. I had realized I had come to the end of my rope with my misguided wisdom and that I needed to turn completely to the One who had promised to reconcile me back to God and save me from spiritual death. Jesus is now intimately connected to my life and He is the one who fills me with inspiration and hope while continuing to be Lord over my life.

The important thing to point out is that my receiving of Jesus was not based on a feeling or the running out of ideas to win the lottery. I began to read the Bible and investigate the evidence of the existence of God through scientific, archeological and spiritual avenues. My faith is not a “Blind” faith. Because of all the evidence I have uncovered, I now live with confidence in God’s power and frequently act on my belief that he will keep His promises. With help From the Holy Spirit I am able to embrace the power of God because there is plenty of evidence that He is the Creator of all things.  My belief in God is more than just acknowledgement, it has become personal and relational. God’s purpose for creation in the first place was so that He could have fellowship with us. I feel privileged and fortunate to be part of God’s family but I am saddened by the fact that there are so many people, who believe innately that there is some kind of higher power, that created the universe, yet refuse to embrace the one true God who desires to know them and have a personal relationship with them. The problem may lay in the fact that God desires that we surrender our lives completely to Him based on what Jesus did on the Cross. One of the greatest stumbling blocks for many people who are investigating Christianity is the fact that Jesus said that He is the only way in which we can receive the eternal life that God had promised. The current “new age” thinking in this matter is that all spiritual roads lead to God. The Bible states clearly there is only one way to receive to eternal life and that in through Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 NIV 
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except

through me.

There is something about our fallen human nature that causes people to deny the Lordship of Jesus even though God says specifically:

Matthew 17:5 NIV 
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said,

"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

If we were to really listen to Jesus we would know the truth and receive the right way to forgiveness and salvation.

Even for those who believe there is a God there is a tendency to shrink Him down to the point where we significantly reduce His Majesty and power. We tend push God aside allotting Him only a back seat until we need Him to intervene when life gets tough. By this action God becomes regularly ineffective and insignificant to the person who chooses for the most part to go their own way and rule their own life. In essence, the definition of sin is the person who acts based on their own will and desires in denial of God’s will and purpose for their lives.

How can we change a person’s perspective on faith and the role God should play in that person’s life?

What can we do to help those who need more proof that there is a God who sent His Son to save the world? How can we help someone to trust God completely in every area of their life?

First, we must equip ourselves with plenty of God’s truth through the understanding of His Word so we can inform others of the reasons why we believe the Gospel and why we have given our lives to fulfill the mission of the Church. Then, when the opportunity arises, share that faith, and provide some proof of the existence of God.

To help us along in this process, here are some areas we can further our investigation to help equip us with the proof we need to help others take greater steps of faith toward the God of the Bible.

The Evidence:

Historical:

•  External evidence from both archaeology and non-Christian writers confirms that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is a trustworthy historical document.

The Bible is unique:
The internal evidence test reveals the Bible's amazing consistency. The Bible contains 66 books and

was written by over 40 authors, in 3 languages, on 3 continents, over a span of 1,500 years, and covers hundreds of controversial subjects. Yet, the authors all spoke with agreement; there are no contradictions. From Genesis to Revelation, there is one unfolding story: God's redemption of mankind.

Bible Prophecy:

There are hundreds of specific prophecies in the Bible which have been literally fulfilled, in many cases centuries after the completion of the Bible. Any attempt to late-date these prophecies is impossible--there is a copy of every Old Testament book but one from before 150 BC, and hundreds of these prophecies were not fulfilled until centuries later Some prophecies fulfilled by Jesus are Micah 5:2, which revealed where He would be born; Isaiah 53 detailed His suffering, work at the cross, and resurrection; Psalm 22 is striking prophecy of the crucifixion.

Physical evidence:

Old Testament:

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from 200 B.C. to A.D. 68, included a copy of every Old Testament book except for one. Comparison with the texts of a thousand years later shows little or no variation and change between them.

New Testament:

• There are over 24,000 old manuscripts, that is hand written copies, of portions of the New Testament (NT). Over 5,000 of these old manuscripts are in Greek, the language the NT was written in.

• There are two excellent parchment copies of the entire New Testament which date from          the 4th century (325-450 A.D.).

• Earlier still, fragments and papyrus copies of portions of the New Testament date from         100 to 200 years (180-225 A.D.)

• Perhaps the earliest piece of Scripture surviving is a fragment of a papyrus codex containing     John 18:31-33 and 37. It is called the Rylands Papyrus (P52) and dates from 130 A.D., having  been found in Egypt. The Rylands Papyrus has forced the critics to place the fourth gospel back to the first century.

There is a growing mass of evidence from archaeology that the Bible accounts deal with real people living in real places. In fact, there is no known case where archaeology contradicts what has been written in the Bible. 

Scientific Evidence:

The Design and Diversity of life:

Intelligent design:   

• The assertion that the universe and all of life are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process.

Aspects of ID: 

•  symmetry, Orderliness, Discernible pattern, Predictability and consistency.

Examples of God’s incredible Design: 

• The Cell, DNA, The Human Body, The Human Eye,  The Immune System, The Brain, Species of Animals, The Universe etc. 

 

The Fossil Record:

• The Bible says God created separate species (“according to their kind”: Genesis 1). To this day  there are no transitional fossils that show an evolution from one species to another. The lack    of proof of evolution through the fossil record after scientists have inspected millions of fossils, is proof that life must have been created rather than been part of some undirected process.         Today there is no evidence that a process called macro evolution is found anywhere in nature.   So the scientific evidence actually reinforces the Bible that there had to be a Creator.

Here's one more pertinent consideration, never reported by the most devoted Darwinian: Charles Darwin's own statements of doubt about his theory. He openly acknowledged "the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe as the result of blind chance or necessity."  

With his "The Origin of Species" about to be released, he wrote to fellow British biologist George Bentham,

"Thank you heartily for what you say about my book; but you will be greatly disappointed; it will be grievously too hypothetical. It will very likely be of no other service than collocating some facts; though I myself think I see my way approximately on the origin of species. But, alas, how frequent, how almost universal it is in an author to persuade himself of the truth of his own dogmas. My only hope is that I certainly see very many difficulties of gigantic stature." (Charles Darwin)

The Scientific Laws:

• 2^nd Law of thermodynamics: All systems, if left to themselves, move from a state of order to disorder
• This scientific law is in direct opposition to the theory of evolution

The 2^nd Law In the context with the Bible:

Here, stated in a simple form, is the second law of thermodynamics. The whole creation is slowly running down. God has built a certain amount of entropy into the system, which, if not managed through the constant operations of dressing and keeping, will bring it to a state of disorganization. The Reader's Digest Encyclopedic Dictionary defines entropy as "the irreversible tendency of a system, including the universe, toward increasing disorder and inertness." The principle is that neglect of natural things is destructive.

The Bible confirms this law:

Hebrews 1:10-12 NLT

He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth
and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever.
They will wear out like old clothing.  You will fold them up like a cloak
and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.”

Spiritual Evidence (Changed lives, Your own story):

Tell your story. Explain how your life has changed since coming into a relationship with Jesus. Try

to identify with the person you are speaking with and look for similarities in life experiences.

Build a relationship with the person. Point to the evidence that convinced you that the Bible

is God’s truth, His playbook for life and road to abundant living. Explain how you use biblical principle in your everyday life. Model a Christ-like character. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Act on your belief in God and His Truth.

More Proof:

There were over 500 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus:

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according

to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than

five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have

fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he

appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

So, what do you believe?

There is a lot of evidence that God is the Creator of all things.  We just touched upon a few of these proofs. What is most important to us is to know that that Jesus willingly died to pay for our sins and in doing so reconciled those that receive Him back to God. Also, the Holy Spirit indwells in those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior marking them with the seal of salvation that can never be taken away. This same Holy Spirit is the change agent who transforms our lives setting us apart to God while guiding our steps, counseling us and helping us understand God's truth. 

Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross we can trust God with the plan and purpose He has for our lives. Simply put, that purpose is to share our faith, love and serve God and others as well as help others do the same. What we believe matters and has eternal consequences.

John 5:24 New Living Translation (NLT)

 I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

Remember these truths from God's Word: (read - Romans 8:31-39)

If God is for us who can be against us……..nothing can separate us from the Love of God.  

Just Sayin……………..Dave