Bible Basics: God
As we examine the basics of the faith the most important place to start is with God. People often ponder questions like: Is there a God? If so, what is He like? Does He care about us? What does He require of us? These are questions that all people must face, and the answer to these questions will determine the direction and goal of our lives.
The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God through fancy philosophical arguments (though we do not disparage such conversations as we answer people’s questions). The first statement in the Bible is: “In the beginning God . . .” (Genesis 1:1). Scripture assumes God’s existence and asserts that “the fool has said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalms 14:1). The Bible states that only a fool, ignorant of or denying the facts, would deny God’s existence and authority. However, to those who reject or discount the teachings of the Bible, it is necessary to examine added proofs or evidences of God’s existence and authority.
One helpful evidence for God is reason. Reason (common sense) points to the existence of God. The law of cause and effect requires that with regard to every effect there must be a cause. This world exists and can be seen as an effect. What is the cause of this world? Did this world (and universe) come into existence by chance? Did nothing produce something? Is there a cause or some sort of master-mind that we call God? This line of thinking is important. For example, when we see a great house, we know that there was a builder and architect. When we hear a beautiful song, we know that there was a composer and a singer. This earth has been made to work and operate with amazing accuracy and delicacy. Consider this: the earth travels around the sun on a course that is approximately 595 million miles in distance, yet it does not vary in the length of time it takes for each trip by as much as a second. How can this be explained? A wise and powerful God is the most sensible answer.
Intuition and the human spirit require that we turn to God and acknowledge Him. Man, instinctively recognizes a higher being and desires to worship it. This is true of all cultures and civilizations in recorded history. Where did man obtain this knowledge and concept of a divine being? Our skeptical, humanistic age attempts to erase God and people’s desire to reach out to a supreme being. The 19th, 20th and 21st centuries have seen the rise of the Industrial and Computer Ages. With all the advancements that these centuries have ushered in, there has been a rise in atheism and agnosticism. However, despite the efforts of atheism and agnosticism over the last few centuries, mankind has not been freed of his search for meaning. Mankind continues to search for purpose. In other words, people still search for God. As a matter of fact, the last number of decades have seen our world become less enamored with the nonsense of atheism. People may not know it, but the “secret sauce” they are searching for (to make life worth living) is God.
As people search, sadly they are misled by our great enemy, Satan. Satan does not care if a person is an atheist or one who follows a false-religion. All that matters to our enemy is that people are misled. This is why we must get our basics right. We can agree that the basics of the faith start with God, but we need to make sure that we are hearing God’s story as found in Scripture. We must avoid the lies and false teachings that Satan has used to dupe the world. The Bible has much to say about God. We learn that God is our maker and creator. We learn the characteristics and nature of God in the Bible. It does our hearts good to know that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, and many other things.
Where are you? While it is amazing that God takes the time to tell us who He is and how great He is, if we do not stop and investigate these truths, we suffer great loss. The Gospel (Good News) of Jesus is that God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. The Gospel also teaches us that we are in dire straits if we ignore and reject God. The greatest tragedy one can suffer is to stand outside of God love, grace and mercy. Seek God and keep looking up!