Does God Really Exist?

The heavens tell the glory of God, and the skies announce what His hands have made. Day after day they tell the story; night after night they tell it again. Psalms 19:1-2 (NCV)

NO ONE – not even one who has not heard of the Holy Bible or Jesus Christ – has an excuse for not worshipping God. The world surrounding every human being gives abundant and fantastic evidence of God’s existence, craftsmanship, and power (Romans 1:19-23). The heavens and surrounding nature proclaim God's existence and power (Psalm 19:1-4; Psalm 29:3-9) because God has revealed Himself to everyone through His creation – the sky, animals, trees, oceans etc. The knowledge of God can be “clearly perceived . . . in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). But humans – created in the very image of God – give the most evidence of God’s existence and character (see Genesis 1:26-28). In essence, every created thing gives evidence of an all-wise and all-powerful eternal God and His character (Psalm 104:1-30). 

We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. In the past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but He (God) never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts. Acts 14:15-17 (NLT)

The true and living God is humankind's Creator and Redeemer. God is entitled to all our worship, love, and affection. God has proved “He is real by showing kindness, by giving you rain from heaven and crops at the right times, by giving you food and filling your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:17, NCV). “The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!” (Romans 1:19, MSG). All of creation declares God’s power, majesty, and glory. In God, “we live and move and exist.”. . . and we are “His offspring” (Acts 17:28, NLT). Nevertheless, all our ideas and thoughts about God should be measured, verified, and confirmed by the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is the Word of God, sixty-six books forming God’s love letter to the world for godly living and faith.

Creation’s design, sophistication, and organization all point to an involved Creator. Just to look upward and see the sky by day or sky by night and see the sun, moon, stars, and clouds all continually declare the existence of an all-wise Creator that maintains and sustains their order. Still more, every leaf of the tree, every blade of grass, every star in the sky, every snowflake, and every other part of creation all cry out continually “God”. Indeed, the universe (cosmos) itself proves the existence of God. To say that the universe happened by chance is ludicrous. The harmony, order, and the design of the universe give evidence of an intelligent purpose. There must be an intelligent and purposeful God to create a universe to function this way and to maintain the universe’s existence. The revelation of God in creation is truly wonderful.

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. Yes, they knew God, but they would not worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:20-23 (NLT)

All people everywhere have a deep inner sense that God exists and that God is our Creator. Even more, people have an inner sense of right and wrong, as well as the need of justice from a holy divine Judge. This inner sense of justice and fairness proves there must be a God who is the Source of right and wrong and who will someday mete out justice to all people. But in spite of God’s universal revelation that speaks day and night in creation, most people ignore God because they want to live as they please (Romans 1:18-2:23; see also Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 8:20-22). Although many people acknowledge that God exists, they have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (Romans 1:25). Sadly, many people have elected to reject their inner sense of God’s living presence and His character (Romans 1:21-25) and say “There is no God” (Psalm 10:3-4; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1) in order to sin. Sin and the “god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers” to keep them from seeing the truth of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). These evil forces cause people to think foolishly and to deny God’s existence. Inevitably, these people “suppress the truth” about God and deny God (Romans 1:18, 20, 23, 25, 28, 32).

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good! . . . Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord. Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey Him. . . . The Lord will protect His people. Psalms 14:1, 4, 6 (NLT)

Beside our inner sense of a true and living God, clear evidence of God’s existence is seen in the inspired Holy Bible. The Holy Bible assumes the very existences of God. In fact, the first verse of the Holy Bible says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Most important, God has now accompanied His existence with further revelation of Himself through Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate (human flesh). Everyone who has genuinely accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior has an inner sense or awareness of God and this awareness become stronger and more distinct. Believers of Jesus Christ begin to know God as a loving Father in heaven (Romans 8:15), the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Romans 8:16), and we come to know Jesus Christ living within our hearts (John 14:23; Ephesians 3:17; Philippians 3:8, 10; Colossians 1:27). Unless we have a personal relationship with the Lord so that God is our Father and Jesus is our Redeemer, what we see in creation and what we read in the Bible will not do us much good.

Therefore, evidence in God is not some “blind faith”; it is based on evidence found both in the Holy Bible, in the surrounding world, and our hearts. Not only the Holy Scriptures proves God’s existence, everything in nature (e.g., the clouds, the majestic thunderstorms, the sun, etc.) all reveal evidence that God exists and that He is the powerful force that sustains the world He created. This wonderful conclusion must lead to our worship of our loving and living God.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is filled with His glory. 

Isaiah 6:3 (TLB)

References

Life Application Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.

Packer, J.I. Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs. Carol Stream, IL:  Tyndale House Pub., 1993.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994.

Grudem, Wayne. Christian Beliefs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1989.