Philosophy of religion. In undergraduate school in college, I took a class on philosophy that focused on world religions. We studied the major philosophers and their views on religion. We studied Christianity along with other world religions. At the end of the class, I remember the professor asking us what religion did we want to believe in: Christianity which says you are a sinful person, or another religion that says you are a good person? The professor didn’t teach us that the God of the Bible is the only God who loves you and wants to have an eternal relationship with you.

 

After reading this book, you will know what the professor didn’t understand that the Christian God loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for all your sins (John 3:16). When you accept Jesus as your Savior, His resurrection from the dead provides what no other religion can: eternal life with God and a changed life with a new nature like Jesus. (You will learn more about this later.)

 

Personal Application

In which god do you want to believe? Your god? Someone else’ god? Or the God of the Bible?

 

There is only one God. In the Introduction, I stated that “everyone believes in someone or something.” In this chapter, I provide a few ways to know that the God of the Bible exists. I have included Bible verses so you can see that these are based on what God says about Himself. In the following verses, God says He alone is God. No other god in any form exists. He says that many people have created their own ideas of who He is, but they don’t know Him as He truly is, the God of the Bible.

 

“What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say. Who made these things known so long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the LORD? For there is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none but Me. Let all the world look to Me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by My own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on My word: Every knee will bend to Me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to Me.” The people will declare, “The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength.” And all who were angry with Him will come to Him and be ashamed. (Isaiah 45:20-24 NLT)

 

The Bible doesn’t try to prove God’s reality. The Bible simply states He exists. This is evident in the first verse of the Bible.

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NET)

 

Faith in God’s Reality Is Needed to Experience Him

I know it’s obvious, but you must believe that God is real to have a personal relationship with Him and experience His life.

 

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NLT, author’s emphasis)

 

What Do You Think?

Why is faith in God’s reality essential to knowing and experiencing Him?

 

God’s Reality Is Evident in His Creation

The Bible states simply and clearly that God created everything.

 

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created – when the LORD God made the earth and heavens. (Genesis 2:4 NET)

 

The following verses say the evidence that God created everything can be seen in creation itself:

 

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. (Hebrews 11:3 NLT)

 

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:20 NLT)

 

I knew God was real, but I didn’t know who He was. I remember, as a teenager sitting under the fig trees on my grandparent’s farm on hot summer days and looking up into the sky and talking to God. I just knew from His creation that He existed.

 

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4 NLT)

 

I believed in God long before I knew who He was. As a committed Christian now, I study the Bible, meet with other believers, and experience God in many genuine ways. I live by faith in Him and enjoy experiencing His presence in my life. My faith in God rests on what He says about Himself. Real-life experiences with Him bolster this faith.

 

You also can discover God and experience His reality when you seek to know Him with all your heart. If you want to know God, ask Him to reveal Himself to you.

 

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13 NASB)

 

What Do You Think? (Advanced)

Why do you think God wanted to create the universe, planet earth, all living creatures, and people?

 

God’s Reality Is Evident through Science

Some people think science and Christianity are polar opposites. That you can’t believe in both but must choose one over the other. Central to this conflict is the theory of evolution by natural selection and the opposing Christian belief that there is an intelligent design and, therefore, a Designer behind creation. Some people fail to understand evolution is still just a theory that can’t be proven by science and the scientific method.

 

NOTE: Scientists seeking truth use the scientific method to prove that a theory is true and only then confirm it as science. Despite many attempts, the theory of evolution has never been proven to be valid and reliable as a scientific fact.

 

The young atheist. I remember shortly after committing my life to Jesus Christ, discussing evolution and creation with a person at a party. He was a biology major and an atheist who was convinced the theory of evolution was the answer to the age-old question, “How did we get here?” I was staunchly advocating God as the Creator. We came to an impasse, neither of us willing to budge in our firmly held beliefs.

 

The young Christian. Many years later, I had a discussion about science and Christianity with a young Christian lady in an adult Sunday School class I was teaching. She mistakenly thought evolution was science. Due to her strong belief in creation, she considered all science to be opposed to the Bible and Christianity. I told her evolution is a theory and not a proven science. I said that true science and the Bible are not only compatible but inseparable because unbiased science is a study of God’s creation. I explained the Bible was replete with verses related to the sciences, such as biology, physics, astronomy, geography, and so on. The chapter “The Natural World” further describes this compatibility.

 

What Do You Think?

After all, if God created everything, why isn’t science, without bias, a study of the natural world He created?

 

God’s Reality Is Evident in Changed Lives

When people accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and ask Him to be the Lord of their life, He sends the Holy Spirit to live within them. Because of this, they become a Christian. In biblical terms, they are a new creation on the inside. As they strive to live for Christ, their outward behavior begins to change to reflect the transformations occurring in their hearts and minds.

 

She was a vulgar and immoral woman. I didn’t like being around this friend of my mother’s. (She was very different from my mother, so I wondered why they were friends.) However, she was also my good friend’s mother, so there was no avoiding her. Then one day, my friend told me his mother had committed her life to Jesus Christ. He said she was radically different because Jesus Christ had changed her. She no longer used vulgar language. She stopped going to bars and stopped drinking alcohol. She was radically different on the outside and the inside. I was not a Christian and didn’t believe this could happen to such a disreputable woman. I would have to see her to believe it. Well, I did see her, and she was indeed different! She was sweet and kind but constantly talked about Jesus Christ. I was not sure what to make of her.

 

Later, my friend told me his mother had gone home to be with Jesus. I didn’t know what he meant, so he told me she had died and gone to Heaven. She was divorced and had been battling serious cancer for many years. After she committed her life to Jesus, she asked Him to take her home to be with Him when her alimony payments stopped. She was too ill to return to work and would be destitute without financial income. The Father God honored her faith and prayer, so she died a few days after she received her last alimony check. Her son committed his life to Jesus because he saw God’s life-changing power in his mother.

 

What Do You Think?

How is this woman’s changed life evidence of God’s existence?

 

More information about the existence of God. Richard E. Simmons III wrote a book published in 2019 titled Reflections on the Existence of God. It’s a compilation of fifty-five short essays presented in ten groupings based on their similarity. Within the ten groupings, he provides a variety of perspectives to help you understand the reality of God’s existence. Examples of the essays include God has a personal name, existence of evil, human morality, belief in God, meaning of life, evolution and God, and more.

 Mr. Simmons uses thirty years of research, including comparative religion studies, as evidence that the God of the Bible exists. You may find his book helpful if you seek to know more about God and His existence.

 

Personal Application

Why do you want to know more about the realities of God’s existence?

 

Did Jesus Really Exist, or Was He a Myth?

How can you know that Jesus Christ was actually a person who lived on earth some two thousand years ago? Is there actual evidence that He existed? Unfortunately, many people treat His existence as a myth, simply the imagination of some zealous religious followers of His. Titus Kennedy answers these questions in his book, Excavating the Evidence for Jesus: The Archaeology and History of Christ and the Gospels. He uses extensive archeological discoveries in Israel to trace the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to prove His existence. He follows Jesus through the New Testament Gospels, identifying scientific findings and historical literature to confirm the story of Jesus Christ.

 

Personal Application

How has this chapter helped you confirm that the God of the Bible exists?

 

The next chapter provides a glimpse of how mighty and awesome God truly is. You will also learn that He is the Triune God, that is, ONE God in three persons.

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