Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 1 Lesson 3
In this lesson, we examine the questions of how we can know God exists and how we should present God’s existence to others. To answer these questions, we look at the pattern of presenting and proving God’s existence in the Bible. We also consider why the Bible says that all people actually know that God exists but suppress this knowledge.
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well good morning let’s get started with Sunday school thank you for being here last time we broached the topic of God’s attributes who God is and just briefly want to remind you what what our main point of that lesson was if you want to know who God is the only reliable and effective way of doing so is through the Bible it’s only after you start with God’s own revelation of himself in the Bible that you can correctly interpret how God’s attributes are manifesting themselves in your life and in the world so already we’re seeing this theme through the first two lessons we have to go to the Bible we start with the Bible and then that’s what we use to understand what we see in life and in the world now today we’re talking about God’s existence we can know that God exists but how and how do we prove God’s existence to others today’s lesson we’re going to be looking at a number of scriptures here’s our lesson outline we’re first start by considering a possible conversation with an unbeliever that involves God’s existence well then look at how the Bible presents the issue of God’s existence we’ll discuss why we can and should follow the Bible’s pattern in this area and then a little return to that sample conversation and talk more about application we’re going to see today that that theme that we’ve seen the last two lessons about starting with the Bible it’s going to continue now let’s pray before we go on our great God you do exist and we thank you for revealing yourself to us and to the world lord I pray that you’d help me to be able to explain this very important truth now that you’d open our eyes to your scripture and that you would equip your people for the work or service so they can speak with confidence to others about you your name of Jesus amen all right now picture the scene they’re talking with a non-believer and he mentioned something about the need to believe in Jesus but then he says to you sorry but I’m an atheist I don’t believe there is a God what do you do next how would you proceed in that conversation is his statement a conversation stopper did you just move on from this person you can’t give him the gospel or despite his objections should you just give him the gospel anyways and trust the Holy Spirit to do the work or do you need to prove God to this person get him to accept the existence of God somehow before you can talk to him about what the Bible says about sin about salvation about his need for Jesus Christ this is a very true to life issue and I’m sure that many of you have dealt with people and conversations like this where there’s an admission that they don’t believe in God or they don’t believe in the Bible and that just seems to shut down the whole conversation they say oh I’m an atheist oh I’m an agnostic if there is a God we can’t know anything about you or I don’t believe the Bible what not we as Christians to do to present or prove the existence of God to those we deny it well answer this question let’s go to the Bible as we’ve seen the Bible is our foundation for truth how does the Bible deal with the question of whether God exists the answer may be surprising to you as I say we’re gonna look at a number of scriptures today but we’re going to start at the very beginning please open your Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 I’m gonna start in the Old Testament we’ll go to the new test and eventually we’ll start in Genesis 1 though and remember the context of Genesis 1 and really the context of the first five books these all make up the law the Torah what we also call the Pentateuch this is given by Moses to the children of Israel as they’re about to enter the Promised Land Moses can’t go with them he writes the Torah for the people of Israel like God’s commands that Israel will know who their God is they will know what their God requires and they will be able to teach the next generation about God those who don’t know God they can teach him about him by using the Torah now we might guess that’s such an instruction about God a very fundamental instruction would begin or at least contain proof for God’s existence but notice how God has Moses begin this revelation the Torah Genesis 1 verses 1 & 2 in the beginning God created the heavens in the earth the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surfaces of the deep the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters I will come back to this passage when we talk more specifically about creation but notice how Moses attempts to prove the existence of God here well namely he doesn’t God has Moses just go right ahead and proclaim God’s existence and then what God did as creator in fact as you go through the whole Torah you don’t see Moses laying out arguments for why people why the people vigil should believe in the existence of their God not to be sure there are many exhortations in the Torah for people to obey their God and to believe his words but the arguments presented in the Pentateuch the Torah are always about turning to the God who is rather than proving that there is a God let’s look at another scripture in the Old Testament Exodus 3 next is 3 we have notices encounter with God and the burning bush Moses is on Mount Sinai now remember he grew up in Egypt he was ready to start a revolution didn’t work he fled the people of Israel are still enslaved and in bondage Moses is on Mount Sinai tending a flock but God appears to Moses and God Commission’s Moses to go back and speak God’s words to Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go now Moses has several questions and objections to this commissioning and notice the conversation that plays out in Exodus 3:13 250 X is 3 13 to 15 here it says oops actually a little bit earlier than that Exodus 3:13 yeah alright maybe that’s what I said X is 3 13 and 15 then Moses said to go behold I am going to the sons of Israel and I will say to them the god of your father’s has sent me to you now they may say to me what is his name what shall I say to them God said to Moses I am Who I am and he said thus you shall say to the sons of Israel I am has sent me to you God furthermore said to Moses thus you shall say to the sons of Israel the Lord that is Yahweh the God of your father’s the God of Abraham the god of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you this is my name forever and this is my memorial name to all generations there’s a few things in this passage first notice that Moses anticipates that the people of Israel will ask for the name of the God that Moses represents not merely accepting the description the god of your father’s and we might ask why would the people be so concerned about God’s specific name we’re not told one reason could be that the people are serving multiple gods and so they need to know which God claims to be their deliverer out of Egypt and despite the revelation of God to Abraham and his descendants we know from other Old Testament writings especially the prophets that visual had idols even in Egypt they were not completely true to the God of Abraham so it could be they need clarification about which God is there actually their Savior but another reason could be that the Israelites wanted to know more about the nature of their saving God you see in ancient Israel’s culture a name was not just a name a name a name told you something about a person it was descriptive and this was also generally the view about ancient deities in that time the name of a God was important for describing who that God was I notice the name that God gives and replied to Moses his question on behalf of Israel he says in Hebrew yes a share a yet and yeah is the Hebrew verb for I am I am Who I am tell them I am sent you now this is a striking response it means that fundamental to who God is is his existence we could say I exist is God’s name but this name declares more it also declares God’s transcendence and eternality he says I am the ever-present God I am the one existing always in and outside every moment of time we talked about God’s eternal eternality last week this name also declares God’s independence and self-sufficiency I exist no matter what I need nothing for my own existence no one can prevent me from being meat now this name I am Who I am it has a connection with the Covenant name that God uses so often in the Old Testament and we see it in verse 15 see how it says the Lord in small capital letters you probably have heard this meat from me before but this is how our English Bibles translate the name Yahweh in our Bibles now Yahweh does not mean the Lord now the word for Lord in Hebrew is Adonai which is also used other times to describe God the name Yahweh though apparently comes from another form of the Hebrew verb for being a yeah is I am and Yahweh or Yahweh is he is I am he is you can see the connection there why does the Bible translate it as the Lord well it has to do with a certain tradition that came from the Jews post exile they wanted to protect this name of God and so they wouldn’t say the name Yahweh they would instead say Adonai or they’d set and they’d use another term and the English Bibles have inherited that tradition but if you say the Lord that’s okay the New Testament uses the Septuagint translation of certain Old Testament passages sometimes and uses the Lord rather than Yahweh but Yahweh is what originally would have been reading so that’s why I use it that’s why I always say Yahweh instead with the Lord I’m not trying to be weird I’m just I think that’s appropriate all right so Yahweh I should also say this about Yahweh this comes up as a questions it’s kind of like an aside Yahweh is used as a name for God before the time of Moses this isn’t the first time that God is revealing his name Yahweh for instance Abraham and Jo both address God as Yahweh and yet x2 6 2 says Exodus 6 2 I am Yahweh and I appeared to Abraham Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty but by my name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them now that sounds like a contradiction but what’s really what God is really expressing here is that he revealed himself in a special way to Moses and Israel via his name Yahweh that he did not do with Abraham job or any of the father’s now I mention all this to you because beyond declaring God’s existence his independence his eternality the name Yahweh is a and name with covenant connotations and as a association with covenant because it’s the name that God gets especially in relation to his people Israel the people of this covenant so Yahweh then not only has the idea of existence but also God’s faithfulness it’s his name of promise his loyalty to himself and to Israel just as God always is so God is always faithful to his people in covenant and that includes us in the New Covenant through Christ back to the original point though we’re talking about how can we know God’s exist how do we know God exists God declares to Israel through Moses that existence and faithfulness are essential to him and in verse 5 God explicitly confirms that the faithful God of their fathers is the I am Who I am the very one who has sent Moses to them again this is pretty all pretty poignant for presenting God’s existence God is not equipping Moses here with arguments to prove God’s existence the people of Israel God is simply giving Moses words to declare to Israel and by extension to Pharaoh and to the people of Egypt now you might say but doesn’t God give Moses proofs to use later on well yes he does look over now at Exodus chapter 4 verses 1 to 5 Exodus 4 verses 1 to 5 where we read this then Moses said what if they will not believe me or listen to what I say for they may say Yahweh has not appeared to you Yahweh said to him what is that in your hand and he said a staff then he said throw it on the ground so he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent and Moses fled from it but Yahweh said to Moses stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail so he stretched out his hand and caught it and it became a staff in his hand that they may believe that Yahweh the God of their fathers the God of Abraham the god of Isaac and the God of Jacob has appeared to you this is interesting and this gives us an expansion of what we’ve seen thus far notice God gives Moses a miracle to perform this miracle has three parts first Moses staff becomes a snake when Moses throws it on the ground and this is probably a dangerous snake a venomous snake considering that Moses has to run away from it I like that detail by the way that I feel like it’s very true to life second Moses grasps the snake by the tail this is also really miraculous because grabbing the tail of a snake give that snake maximum flexibility to strike the one who’s grabbing him yet that’s what Moses does and he remains unharmed and third one grasp the snake becomes a staff again in Moses his hand so multi-part miracle these these different aspects of this miracle they represent a kind of proof to help the people of Israel believe do they not this evidence is to go along with Moses is Proclamation notice though what the evidence is for Moses says in verse one they may say Yahweh has not appeared to you or notice what God says in verse five this is so that they may believe that Yahweh has appear – it’s interesting that specifically the miracles not given to prove God’s existence but to prove that Moses is indeed God’s messenger to summarize them from Exodus 3 and 4 in the burning bush encounter we see that Moses and being commissioned as God’s messenger is told to simply declare God’s existence and his faithfulness as essential to God and Moses has given some evidences to testify to the authenticity of his message there’s not just this miracle here there’s other miracles that Moses is given to do and that Moses will do and that God will do through Moses that’s gonna lead to the whole series of plagues on Egypt now this is all very instructive and as we go forward in Exodus and indeed through the Old Testament and even the New Testament we see these two aspects Proclamation simple proclamation of God’s existence and who God is and evidence these appear together but with a noticeable hierarchy and I’ll show you a few more example this in Exodus continue or consider x2 6 verses 6 to 7 you can just turn a couple pages over Exodus 6 verses 6 to 7 notice what we read here God speaking to Moses see therefore to the sons of Israel I am Yahweh and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will deliver you from their bondage I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments then I will take you from my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians now this is interesting we do see proclamation and evidence but notice the order God declares himself – as you’ll through Moses he says he’ll do something for Israel and the result will be that the people of Israel will know that God Yahweh is their God we see the same thing in X 275 look over X is 7/5 God says the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst we really have the same order here it’s not that God’s gonna do these plagues of judgment he’s gonna do these miraculous works without saying anything to people of Egypt no Moses who’s going to declare first is in a declarative to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh and by extension the people in Egypt about God and then God is going to act God will judges or judge Egypt redeem Israel and the result will be that Egypt will know that God is Yahweh and we could go on an exodus and many other Old Testament pastors Exodus 8:10 exis 914 Exodus 16 6 in Exodus 16 11 to 12 we see a pattern what can we conclude from this pattern I’ve written three points here first God does present evidences for his existence and his character and he wants people to see this evidence and to know it but this evidence secondly does not stand in for simple proclamation of God it’s not that you can proclaim God or you can give evidence of God no the evidence of God is presented after and alongside the revelation of God’s Word in fact this evidence is not to be interpreted on its own this is key please listen to this the evidence that God gives for himself and his word is not to be interpreted on its own but only according to what God has already declared and really this is what we’ve been saying for the past few lessons isn’t it God’s Word the Bible is the foundation for truth it has to be the pair of glasses that you use to examine the world if you wanna know who God is even if you want to know God’s existence and the testimonies of God’s existence that exist in the world you have to start with the Bible all the data in the world whatever event or experience we go through must be interpreted through the lens of Scripture in order to understand God correctly now consider without Moses declaring God’s message to Israel and to Egypt could the 10 miraculous plagues of God have been misinterpreted they most certainly could have in fact I can’t see how they could not have been misinterpreted if Moses didn’t declare Yahweh and who Yahweh was and what Yahweh was doing the Egyptians might have said oh this is really bad luck or they might have said this is the wrath of our own God what have we done to upset our gods they would have misinterpreted what was actually happening it would have misinterpreted that all these things are actually proof of God’s existence not the proof of their gods same thing with the people visual they might have said that all this was the work of a a God or a set of gods that are there new saviors or they might have even said these are the gods of Egypt the gods of Egypt have switched sides and and now they’re helping us you see why it’s so important that this evidence be interpreted according to God’s Proclamation it’s the same for us it’s the same situation today people can always find ways to misinterpret the testimony that God gives of himself in our world and as we’ll see shortly a man has plenty of reason to misinterpret the evidence a man has a strong bias against God and the evidence that God gets him to himself so again I say the pattern we see from the Old Testament is while God does give plenty of evidence for his existence this evidence is meant to serve only as further confirmation of what God declares about himself even his own existence pattern we have is to show people God’s existence by simply declaring him and then looking at all evidence in light of God’s own revelation I used to you might say but this is the Old Testament and only with the Jews what about the New Testament and the Gentiles well let’s look at the New Testament turn over to the book of Acts chapter 14 we certainly have many proclamations in the investment of the Apostles and others giving God’s revelation to Jews and we see that they refer to the scriptures they they don’t bother to argue for God’s existence they just present it though they’ll talk about testimonies and evidence but with the Gentiles is it any different well look at acts 14 verses 14 to 17 and the context here is that Paul is on his first missionary journey and he’s at the city of Lystra in central Turkey he and Barnabas they’ve just healed a man who has lain with God’s power and the people see this the the Gentiles the people of that city they are overcome with awe at what they just see and they believe that Paul and Barnabas are their own gods there’s Zeus and Hermes and they prepare a sacrifice for them talking about misinterpreting evidence right but notice how paul and barnabas respond so acts 14 verses 14 to 17 but when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd crying out and saying men why are you doing these things we are also men of the same nature as you and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them the generations gone by he permitted all the nations to go their own ways and yet he did not leave himself without witness and that he did good and gave you reigns from heaven and fruitful seasons satisfying your hearts with food and gladness even saying these things with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them now do you see that we really had the same pattern here as in the Old Testament the mode of Paul and Barnabas is not philosophical arguments but declaration they say we’re here to proclaim to you the truth they start proclaiming what the Bible says and then use the Bible to interpret the evidence that the world interpret the evidence in the world already available to these Gentiles they say this miracle you saw is not evidence that we’re gods no we’re men just like you but we serve the God who really is or they say God Himself has been testifying all this time to you of his existence and his character by giving you good and by sustaining your lives he’s basically appealing to God’s providence as a testimony of God’s existence it’s the same as we’ve seen in the Old Testament revelation God’s declaration of himself and that is used to interpret and bring out testimony of God in the world one more example this acts 17 acts 17 verses 22 to 34 very famous passage this is Paul addressing me Areopagus in Athens Paul is speaking to the philosophical elite by the way this picture here you see the Acropolis this is a famous site of various temples in Athens but this little hill out in front of it this would be the Areopagus Mars hill as it’s also also called that would be where the elite the philosophical elite of Athens would meet and they discussed various things now this group of people these elite they likely consisted of a pretty mixed group in terms of beliefs there are those who help to traditional Greek polytheism many gods and you know the temples even on the Acropolis were part of that polytheistic religion but there would also be in the group adherents of various philosophical schools of that day in Greece and these schools all had different ideas about God there were the skeptics that said that God might exist but he’s ultimately unknowable and whether he exists or not is unknowable so agnostics basically the Epicureans they were practical atheists they believed they believed that the gods existed but they played no meaningful role in the real world they were separate and then there were the Stoics Stoics for pantheists they believed that God was an impersonal force pervading everything in the world very many different ideas about God how is Paul going to present God and God’s existence to such a group well let’s look starting in verse 22 so Paul stood in the midst of the areopagus and said men of Athens I observed that you are very religious in all respects while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship I also found an altar with this inscription to unknown God therefore what you worship in ignorance this I proclaim to you the God who made the world and all things in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth does not dwell in temples made with hands or is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live in all the face of the earth having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation so that they would seek God if perhaps they might grope for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live and move and exist as even some of your own poets have said for we also are his children being then the children of God we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone and image for money art and thought a man therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead okay now notice that Paul does the same thing here as we’ve seen in other portions of scripture does not dialogue does not look for neutral ground does not present a philosophical argument for God he simply proclaims God as revealed in the Bible and in doing so let’s not miss this Paul is calling attention to many of the errors of Greek religion and philosophy he says your concept of the nature of the divine is all wrong your concept of yourselves though the different people of the earth is all wrong you are ignorant of the true God so let me tell you what is really true and how do I know it’s true because I know the true God and he sent me to speak to you know to that Paul is more than willing to make use of evidence in the world but again with an unashamed biblical foundation and perspective Paul says look even you admit that your knowledge of the divine fall short you have an altar to an unknown God Paul says look even one of your own ancient poets acknowledged the inconsistency of worshipping idols made in the image of man so then everywhere we look in the Bible we see the same pattern God’s people are fundamentally preachers that is they are heralds of the revelation of God we are heralds and Proclaimers and even our arguments that use evidence are firmly based on the Scriptures as a foundation so there really is no there should not be an economy in to represent evidence or do we present the Word of God we present what God has revealed and we use that even to give forth the interpretation of the evidences and testimonies that God has given in the world now perhaps you’re hearing all this I’m saying to yourself but how could such proclamations ever persuade people of God’s existence I mean all this reasoning oh no let me say this what they think that we’re just foolish to make such an argument and then we’re using circular reasoning and we’re essentially saying we believe God exists because God says he exists and also he says that here’s the way that we should interpret the evidence of his existence in the world isn’t that circular reasoning well.all reasoning is ultimately circular that is whatever you use as your final authority for truth must validate itself by itself or else it’s not really your ultimate authority for example if you’re a rationalist if you believe reason is the final authority for how you know what is true what how do you know that your reasoning is valid except by your reason telling you that it’s valid well I believe my reason is valid because I have reasons for doing so that’s circular reasoning and ultimately can’t prove itself well if you’re a romantic if if feelings aren’t are what’s gonna tell you what’s true and what’s wrong how do you know your feelings are valid except by your feelings telling you that they’re valid that’s circular reasoning so really any sort of epistemology that is any sort of way of discerning what is true it Altima lis has a circular foundation but Christianity is actually more reasonable in this circular it is fitting that God is the ultimate authority and truth be allowed to validate himself by himself that’s not the same for rationalism romanticism or other kinds of ways of trying to discern truth if you didn’t follow all of that don’t worry we haven’t even more straightforward reason to simply proclaim the God of the Bible to the world it’s not that we sticking our heads in the sand and we’re just saying something is true because the Bible says it’s true there’s something more happening here look at romans chapter 1 verses 16 to 23 probably knew we would end up in this passage talking about god’s existence romans 1 verses 16 to 23 paul writes very important words regarding the existence of god romans 1 verses 16 to 23 paul says for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes the Jew first and also to the Greek for in it that’s the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written but the righteous man shall live by faith 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 in them for God made it evident to them since the creation of the world his indivisible or 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 just observe a few items with me about this passage notice that Paul says all people know God exists what really but plenty of people say that they don’t know God exists they say they know that God doesn’t exist and that doesn’t matter Paul says by inspiration of God’s Spirit everyone has understood for certain God’s existence and power how how they understood this well it’s clearly seen through God’s creation you don’t need to be a scientist and have a microscope or a telescope to understand this everyone Paul says has seen this truth and therefore has no excuse for not seeking and serving the true God it’s just like what the Old Testament says Psalm 19 verses 1 to 6 the heavens declare the glory of God and it’s like the Sun which reaches from one part of the earth to the other nothing is shielded from its heat or nothing is unaffected by teeth that’s God making himself known everyone knows that God exists it’s evident from the creation of what to man do with this knowledge paul says man suppress it in unrighteousness I have a picture of a trapdoor here on your screen it’s like the knowledge of God was emerging from a trapdoor in the floor in every man’s mind and once the unbeliever realized what it was he pressed down on that door with all his might to keep it closed and to keep that knowledge from coming into his mind but this but man the unbeliever he cannot completely shut this door the resistance he feels by pressing on it reminds him constantly of the truth behind that door but man has determined to ignore this truth so that he can live as he wishes without God being a man being lord over his own life the unbeliever therefore refuses though he knows God exists he refuses to honor God or give thanks to God now as a result because he’s willfully suppressed something that he knows to be true his thinking is fundamentally twisted resulting in greater and greater degradation of himself in idolatry and in sin which is what Romans 1 goes on to say this is also by the way why even the heathen who dies without ever hearing the gospel is justly condemned by God because the heave even the heathen knows fundamentally about God and still chooses his own sin over ago now this is not to say that drove this kind of revelation and creation can save a person but it is enough to condemn a person it’s been said that all although atheists may say they don’t believe in God God does not believe in atheists Romans 1 and 2 make clear that everyone knows in their souls that God exists but how do we get through to people in this state how do we persuade them to acknowledge what they already know to be true should we give them evidence that they can examine objectively so that they’ll just be compelled to acknowledge God’s existence is there evidence we present to them that unarguably leads to God well no that won’t do since we’ve already seen even here in Romans one man has a bias against the evidence he does not want to acknowledge God and so he will reinterpret the evidence to say ah I don’t think that proves that that’s a there’s a God I think that’s just chance work how do you know it was just one God it could have been any gods really the Bible goes so far to call unbelievers blind dead and darkened in their understanding they cannot reach God objectively based on evidence because they’re not objective and I say they but remember this is all of us this is all of us without God intervening what hope is there for a man what hope is there for opening their eyes to the truth that God exists well there’s only one hope and it’s right here in our passage right at the beginning Paul mentions in verse 16 I’m not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes alright yes the power of God to every one power God unto salvation for everyone who believes what does God use to open blind eyes it’s his word it’s just revelation it’s there living an active word that Pierce’s souls like a sword it’s the divine breath that gives life it’s the word of the very Spirit of God God’s Word wielded by God’s Spirit is what awakens man to the knowledge of God that they already know but have suppressed this is why we as Christians are called to preach the word and this is why we always use the Scriptures as a foundation and as a lens for interpreting the evidence in the world when we speak to unbelievers it all comes back to the scripture that’s God’s means of opening the eyes those who don’t know him probably a great summary of what we’ve been saying today is 1st Corinthians 1 verses 21 to 25 turn over there now 1st Corinthians 1 verses 21 to 25 another important word from Paul by God sphere rich creamy is 1 21 to 25 Paul says for since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe frangie indeed Jews asked for signs I always want more evidence and Greek search for wisdom wants something that satisfies their own ideas but we preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling-block and gentle into Gentiles foolishness but to those who are the called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men so how does anyone come to know and believe the God of the Bible so based on evidence observed objectively in the world no that won’t be enough all evidence needs a scheme of interpretation you have presuppositions and that’s going to affect the way you examine evidence the only way anyone comes to know God is by the spirit using God’s Word that’s why Romans 10:17 says so faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ this is God’s ordained means and this wise and glorious because through it man is humbled and God secures for himself maximum glory we could never on our own you can come to God because of how wicked our hearts are so God has to make his truth known to us and use his spirit to change our hearts so let’s summarize the main points of today’s lesson everyone knows that God exists but suppresses his truth in a wickedness incident therefore the Christian does not really need to prove God’s existence to unbelievers the Christian instead needs to declare God’s Word and the true interpretation from God’s Word of what evidence there is of God in the world God has ordained that such means will by God’s Spirit save those that God calls at God’s ordained time now armed with this understanding that’s now return to the hypothetical conversation that we began this lesson of it let’s talk a little bit more about application you see their first question there how should we respond to someone who says that the gospel is irrelevant to him because he’s Naevia well there’s more than one right way to proceed in this conversation and the context of the specific interaction we cause you to choose one method over the other how well you know this person what already occurred in the conversation etc but you might say when someone says he’s an atheist you might ask the person why he objects to God’s existence and then give answers to his objections from Scripture you might say oh there’s too much there’s too much evil in the world to believe that there is a God oh really well let me tell you how we’re supposed to understand evil I mean you could even point out that even the fact that you call something evil or call something wrong is evidence that God exists how you can deal with his objections but if they’re endless if he’s not really listening to what you have to say you might point out to him that the real issue is his rebellious heart as the Bible says and then if he’s willing to talk to him about the gospel look I can answer your questions and your objections all day but the real thing you need to understand is about your need for a new heart you might say that’s him you might say also or instead but the Bible says that people himself included yes even this proclaimed self-proclaimed atheist actually know that there is a God but the reason that we reject this knowledge is because of our love of sin and self which is what Jesus came to save his people from from sin and from self and to give them a new heart and you can tell him the gospel you might say that the Bible clarifies that testimonies that God gives about himself in the world creation conscience God’s providence you say you don’t believe there is a God actually God has given testimonies of existence of his existence in the world and the Bible tells us about those testimonies and share that with him and you could say God holds us accountable for this knowledge and therefore we have to give a proper response and that is by believing the gospel you can you can share the gospel well you might simply tell him that when he says he’s an atheist oh you’re glad that he told you that because you can testify to him that there is a God and that God has graciously made himself known to you and therefore he’s now making himself known to this atheist again these are just examples responses that I thought of you don’t have to say any one of those exactly but understand the main point hearing that someone is a self-declared atheist or an agnostic is not itself a closed door to the gospel you still can proclaim God to them and even show them how they can see the evidence of God in the world by understanding the scripture now I’d like to pose a follow-up question to that that’s question number two on your screen why is it that we as Christians are sometimes more comfortable trying to reason God’s existence without using the Bible then with using the bottle someone says that you know prove to me prove to me God without using the Bible I almost feel like okay yeah I’m engaging that why why do we feel comfortable doing that and maybe less comfortable using the Bible I think the answer is because it seems Lizer according to a worldly understanding it might just be that we haven’t really thought about it we want to love this person and say okay this is the way I can let that person but the reason we’re inclined to set the Bible on the side because it seems wiser according to the world standards it seems more acceptable it’s going to result in we think less opposition in persecution so we’re gonna try and prove God without the Bible but that’s a trap don’t fall into that trap one thing Answers in Genesis often says it’s true and that is there is no such thing as neutral ground I want you to say well I’m objective proved to me God without using the Bible but that’s impossible in fact that and it’s really misleading when someone says prove God without using the Bible they presuppose that the Bible is unnecessary irrelevant or wrong for your for life and for understanding the world sure can be able to prove that the Bible is necessary and is relevant and is true based on those terms of argumentation you can’t interpret the world without the Bible you can’t interpret the evidence without the Bible you need the Bible because it’s God’s Word we know that without God’s Word you cannot properly make sense of the world God’s Word is the only reliable foundation for truth so though it seems wiser in the world’s eyes to try and argue for God apart from the Bible it’s not gonna it doesn’t honor God first of all to do that second of all it’s not gonna be effective you need the revelation of God and they need the revelation we go let us say with Paul that we are not ashamed of the gospel and not the Word of God in general I mean gospel can be used really as a synonym for the word of God in some respects we’re not ashamed of God’s Word we’re not actually into the gospel for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes reason is good experience is good but only on the foundation of the Bible on their owns they’re not going to they’re not going to be able to do what we want them to do to persuade people of God’s existence and of the gospel number three as a Christian how do you know for yourself that God exists and the Bible is true they say okay this is the way we refer to the people who are unbelievers and atheists this is the way we try and present to present God’s existence the gospel to them what about us how do I know that God exists now that I’m a Christian well it’s the same way it’s not like you begin one way you believe and then you have a different way of understanding God’s existence yeah I just accepted it by faith at first I accept it because God’s peer testified of it at first but now I believe because it’s very reasonable according to the world’s understanding it’s the same situation for us as Christians as it was for us when we needed to hear the gospel God has given I wanted not God has given many testimony to the truthfulness of the Bible and for his existence and these are encouraging to us I don’t want to minimize these things things like Biblical Archaeology a science that accords with what the Bible said you know scientific conclusions that accord with what the Bible says or just even understanding again this is in the realm of science things like DNA and various aspects that cosmos you say oh this is so wonderful so beautiful so complex this is this is just more proof that God exists yes it is and it’s encouraging to us but ultimately we believe because God has opened our eyes to what our souls always knew but would not accept we believe because God graciously gave us the faith to believe we believe we believe because God opened our eyes to see him and to hear him in the Bible we recognize his voice when we read the scriptures that’s what Jesus said right my sheep hear my voice and they follow me we believe because God gave us this Holy Spirit when you come down to it that is the reason it’s not because oh you know it’s just so very reasonable where the probabilities were just so great are just testimonies ultimately it was God himself who opened our eyes and it’s just by his Holy Spirit we said I know that this is true I can’t help but recognize it because God’s Spirit has made it known to me if we say it’s anything else then we’ve diminished the gospel really God had to do it all we believe because God caused us to believe that’s why he gets all the glory that’s why we’re so grateful to him and that’s why we use the gospel we use God’s Word through prayer and the power of God’s Spirit to persuade others of God it’s the same for them as it is for us they need to believe by God’s Word and his spirit opening in their eyes just as he did for us okay any comments or questions on today’s lesson right yeah thank you so much for those comments Roy just to repeat them briefly so you pointed now what we’ve been saying today accords with Paul’s writings in 2nd Corinthians 4 where he says that the the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ and you also pointed to infusion 6 where we a reminder that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places yeah sometimes we want to think and again I think this is a pressure from our society that the problem is merely intellectual oh if I could just get them to see reason that that God exists then then they’ll understand and be saved well yeah reason is a tool that God uses us but it it’s not merely an intellectual issue it’s not merely an issue of the mind it is an issue of the Spirit because as these verse is saying as the others we’ve looked at today man has suppressed the truth of God Satan has blinded the minds of the unbeliever you have the spiritual forces of wickedness working against the truth so that’s why we must arm ourselves with the truth that’s why just as you were saying away we have to rely on God’s Spirit that’s why we pray that’s why we use the gospel those are God’s ordained means those are our spiritual weapons for casting down the fortresses so yeah thank you for those comment any other questions or comments right yeah it thank you for noting that Scripture in my light I believe says from the Psalms and I like we see light and you’re like we see light and that’s the same thing that in the psalm 119:105 thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path without the light of Scripture we can’t examine the evidence properly see that’s why I think it’s so unfortunate that that we sometimes think that we can give lots of evidence and that will persuade the unbeliever to believe I’m frustrated with that not because giving evidence is really bad no we see God is giving evidence of himself even in the scriptures not just in the word subscription basis look at this look at this thing in the world look at this prophecy that I gave that was fulfilled look at this mighty work that I did but the problem is it’s gotta be just as you said it’s gotta be looked at in the light of God and without that light man’s heart is so wicked and our minds are so weak and it due to the effects of sin that we’re just gonna we’re gonna miss it we’re gonna find a way to explain away the evidence yes twing yeah thank you for knowing that Dwayne just to repeat briefly you refer to a scripture at the end of Luke chapter 16 and that report of the rich man and Lazarus the rich man saying send Lazarus back from the dead to my brother so they don’t come to hell so this place where I am in and Abraham responds to him on behalf of Lazarus let them believe the scriptures if they don’t believe what Moses wrote if they don’t believe what God wrote in the Bible it won’t matter somebody rose from the dead they still won’t believe just as you said doing this is more more of a testimony that we need to use the word that is the that is the means of God to open up the mind and the eyes of someone who does not believe and even even evidences our evidences by themselves and really nope no single piece of evidence is going to be decisive to turn someone to God God has to open their minds and he uses the scriptures to do that so thank you for mentioning those scriptures I think they’re all really great echoes of what we’ve been talking about today we’re out of time so we’ll close down the lesson but I hope that you’re seeing I hope you’re humbled and encouraged by today’s lesson next week we’re gonna talk more about God and one of those amazing and hard to grasp qualities another thing that shows the great glory and transcendence of God and that is that God is Trinity God is Trinity that’s what we’re gonna talk about next week let’s close in prayer our Greek God we thank you that just as your son Jesus said you’ve hidden these things from the minds of the Great and the wise and you’ve revealed them to children you revealed them to us we were weak we were not the the great of this world and yet you revealed them to us thank you so much God we didn’t deserve that we pray God she would open many more hearts and eyes to understand and believe Lord salvation is all of you but we’re glad that we can be a part of it so use us God make us bold with your word make us full of love for others so they might see and believe open their eyes we pray God use us to do it give yourself the glory preach you about bless the church and the rest of their service today in Jesus name Amen