By Chris WittsMonday 15 May 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
Have you ever wondered if God really exists? I believe this is an extremely important question—one of the most crucial questions anyone can ask.
I found some interesting statistics from 1999 that show while most Australians believe in God, only a minority believe in a personal God. Around 35% believe in a personal God and 39% in a life force of some sort; 9% feel there is no God; and 17% are not sure and don’t know.
The fact that more Australians believe in God than attend church, is also evident in the fact that while 20% attend church at least once a month, about 33% pray or meditate at least weekly, and 43% feel somewhat or extremely close to God. They are really interesting figures.
Do You Believe in a Personal God?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you doubted whether or not there really was a God, and you thought that just maybe this world is all there is to our existence? I mean, you can’t see God. You can’t touch God. I’ve never heard God speak to me audibly. So how can I know that there really is a God? What happens to me after I die? Many Christians believe in a personal God as I do, and agree with the statement from the Apostles creed that says “I believe in God”.
In the minds of some people today, the Bible makes a strange omission: it never makes any attempt to prove the existence of God. The writers of Scripture assume God’s existence—they did not feel the necessity of proving it. Because to them God’s reality was vividly experienced day in and day out.
Thoughts on the Existence of God
The writers of Scripture thought God’s actions were so obvious that they did not need to address this area of doubt. But nowadays in our modern world people think differently, and people today desire evidence and credibility before they are willing to put their faith in something, or Someone. Over the centuries, people have developed a variety of arguments for the existence of God.
Something Bigger Than Us
Over 900 years ago a man named Anselm said that all people somehow or other have a concept of God as being bigger than anything else we can think of. And if we have the ability to conceive of something that is bigger than anything else we can think of, then there must be a reality behind this human idea. Where else did it come from?
Cause and Effect
Then 750 years ago Thomas Aquinas argued that the principle of cause and effect suggests that God exists. The things we see happen have a reason for happening—everything in this world has a cause and effect. Therefore, if we think backwards, eventually we have to ask the questions:
- Was there ever a first cause?
- Was there something or Someone who initiated all the effects I see around me?
- Who started it all in motion?
- Did all this just happen, or did God begin it all?
Creation Suggests There Is a Creator
Then there was a third argument for the existence of God. It came from the thinking of the French philosopher Voltaire, who was not a Christian, but he was the first one to suggest this. The argument, which he explained quite simply, says that, for example, if I walk along a hiking path somewhere here in Sydney and I come across a watch, I naturally assume that there must be a watchmaker who put it all together. A watch cannot just come together by random accident.
Well, if that is true, then I have to conclude that the creative design of the universe also suggests an architect. Just as it is reasonable to assume that the intricate design of a watch presumes the existence of a watchmaker, so it is reasonable to presume the existence of God when I examine the amazing intricacies of the universe.
The Moral Argument
Another argument for the existence of God is called the moral argument. It says that all people in every society have a sense of morality. We have a sense of what is fair and unfair, what we ought to do and what we ought not do. Where did we get this sense of morality if not from God?
Some people object and say, No, people simply learn their morality from their surroundings and society, not from God. The problem with that idea is that some of the most moral people we admire in history stood out against the prevailing morality of their society, and rather than being products of their culture, they were changers.
Creation of Life
A final argument is the argument from life. People can do a great many things in this world; we can change and rearrange and alter and develop and elaborate, but the one thing we cannot do is create life. We cannot take a dead thing and make it alive.
Only God, who is the source and fountain of life, can breathe life into something.