I cannot prove to you that God exists just as you cannot prove to me that He does not. The following six reasons for my belief in God’s existence and goodness I put to you in order to persuade you to see that Christians base their belief in God on reasonable, rational grounds. Atheists and agnostics are not somehow more reasonable and rational because it is self-evident that no supernatural order exists. The believer is asked to have faith. This belief comes about through more than just a rational, reasonable argument but I offer it as a start, so that you do not dismiss Christian belief out of hand because of an assumption of its inherent irrationality.
My reasons here are in no particular order – except for the first one and the one on which all the following arguments stand or fall. However, given the truth of Jesus’ resurrection, the reasons following the first one are validated. I hope that you can be open to belief in the God of the Bible. So here are my reasons:
The truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection validated all of Christ’s claims of being God and the prophetic claims He had made about His impending death and resurrection. Jesus had told His disciples about this before His death, but they did not understand:
31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. Mark 9:31-32. (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible. Crossway. Kindle Edition.
On that third day and over the course of the next 40 days He appeared to them and to over 500 others. The disciples, moving from not believing the women witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, believed it once they saw Jesus for themselves. They later refused to deny what they saw, to the point of death, so this is strong evidence that Jesus’ resurrection truly happened. There must have been major things at stake for unbelievers to later kill the apostles for their beliefs. Why such a reaction of hatred and hostility? Christianity hinges on the veracity of the resurrection of Christ. I do not believe in the God of the Bible because I need to but because I believe that Christianity is the truth and Jesus’ resurrection really happened.
Seeing the same evil in humanity cyclically repeated throughout history. My readings of the Bible reveal a propensity in some people for dreaming up lies and mischief and wreaking havoc in innocent people’s lives. We see this type of behaviour written about in Scripture:
1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” Psalms 2:1-3 (NASB)
Also see Psalms 10:2-18 and Psalms 21:11.
The greatest wreaker of havoc that the West is currently contending with is Marxism. I classify all current trends – woke and cancel culture, gender theory, feminism, racism fixations and falsehoods, the re-writing of colonial history – under the label of Marxism because they all bear the hallmarks of previous Marxist revolutions – upsetting the existing godly order, trading truth for lies, setting people up for harm and alienation from God because of the lies perpetrated, creating moral confusion, whipping up hostilities and dividing people into outraged sub-groups (AKA minorities) then using these groups for the Marxist cause. Marxism creates minority status on any cause that it finds useful. The racism charge against white races is quite popular at the moment. So is the gender fluidity cause. “Human rights” covers a wide umbrella of causes, often founded on lies and causing exacerbation of problems the so-called human rights activists purport to be solving. Everyone useful to the Marxist cause has rights – all except for the truly vulnerable, like foetuses. These are non-persons. No rights allowed.
On the issue of racism, back in 2007, when John Howard was Prime Minister and Mal Brough was Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, they tried intervening in alcohol abuse in certain aboriginal communities because of resultant horrific child abuse. But the cry of ‘racism’ from the media and no doubt, the alcohol industry, stopped this initiative dead in its tracks. No help for abused children because of Marxists and other interest groups. This is happening constantly.
Robbing children of innocence and a childhood is another popular pastime of leftists. Witness contemporary children’s entertainment; witness pagan governments enforcing ‘safe’ schools programs. Thank goodness for courageous and good politicians like George Christensen (Liberal National), Barnaby Joyce (National) and Mark Latham (One Nation). George Christensen has proposed a bill to ensure the care of babies born alive in failed late-term abortion attempts. Barnaby Joyce seconded the bill. Mark Latham has proposed a bill for the NSW Parliament that seeks the protection of children and parents from government and bureaucratic overreach in the teaching of gender fluidity in schools. These men deserve and need our prayers for their seeking of true justice in our world. ‘Marxism’ in conjunction with ‘justice’ is an oxymoron. The Marxist’s idea of justice actually twists the tables on your and my gut sense of true justice. They have assigned a whole new set of meanings to the term ‘justice’ along with their ‘appropriation’ of some of our most beautiful words – ‘rainbow’, ‘gay’, ‘tolerance’, ‘diversity’. True justice is what the Bible advocates – justice for the genuinely needy, not for the perfectly capable. We’re all left picking our jaws up off the floor over Marxist “social justice”.
Competing personal desires can be a stumbling block in those who have fallen away or have not ever believed in God. This is not always the case but is often so. If Christians fall away, I do not accept that these people were never believers in the first place, at least not in every case. I see much in Scripture that warns against apostasy and there is often an “if you…” followed by a “then I will…” type statement from God.
For example, see Romans 11:21-22 (NASB) 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
and 1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible. Crossway. Kindle Edition.)
I know that the theology concerning loss of salvation is vexed with opposing views so I will leave this discussion for another article. Sorry if this departure from the notion of ‘the perseverance of the saints’ sounds works-y but so it has to be; then the New Testament is works-y. Only it’s not, and I’m not. Again, this is a whole other topic that is not being discussed here.
Also see Hebrews 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (ESV Bibles by Crossway. ESV Global Study Bible. Crossway. Kindle Edition.)
Lastly, there is Jesus’ own parable of the sower and the seed found in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. Conditions of the human heart can make God acceptable at first, only later to be crowded out as worries and temptations take over the heart that was once responsive. This point, then, is for those who have lost a genuine faith. Very often, some personal event or competing desire is the actual cause of a Christian reverting from their faith and this can also be the case in someone never having believed. So the desire for personal autonomy, another way of describing idolatry, be it in connection to a thing or a person, can deflect someone away from God. Some people who have lost their Christian faith rail at God for not giving everyone an experience such as that of the Apostle Paul. As Scripture records Paul’s miraculous conversion in Acts 9, it appears to make faith in Christ a no-brainer. But no, Paul could have dismissed even the experiences that God had given him. Jesus gave us a parable with three protagonists – Abraham, a rich man and Lazarus (not the Lazarus Jesus raised from the dead). In the parable, He said that even if someone were to return from the dead to warn the living of the hell to come for the unrepentant, marked by callous hearts, people with vested interests still wouldn’t be persuaded to believe. Even Paul was to exercise faith, not certainty or knowing.
Here is Paul on this very topic – 2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
And here is Jesus – John 20:29 (ESV) 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
It is possible for people to experience promptings from God and to have hardened their hearts against receiving the God Who offers them. God treats us all individually. We all have our own path to walk. I speak of varying temperaments and circumstances here, not of many paths to the one, true God. We come to God through belief in Jesus. Look for what God is giving you in the way of insight or provocation to faith as you hear a sermon or read Scripture or a Christian book or website or even while you simply reflect on existence or God’s creation. It is not our right to issue God with please-explains. Look to God with a spirit of humility and willingness to learn and be willing to yield to Him.
The existence of good and evil in the world. The world does not HAVE to be the way it is – a place of goodness, a place of evil, containing lovely people, containing horrible people, a place of joy and happiness, a place of accidents and sickness, a place of laughter, a place of sorrow, a place of birth, a place of death. It is this way because of the Fall. Sin and death entered this world. Experience tells us that humans have a propensity for good and evil. So both the world around us and our own leanings towards or away from God and goodness remind us daily of the existence of good and evil in this realm. Scripture tells us that our own inclinations do not need to keep defaulting to the bad, that through a relationship with God, we can start to shed a propensity for evil and turn to delight in good. This growth in the love of God and in what is good continues over the course of a lifetime. We don’t stay in a static state of forever going over the same patterns of existence. Good and evil co-existing in this world points to the existence of a spiritual Being or being as the source of this good or evil. The ultimate destinations for good and evil are heaven and hell.
Personal experiences of God. I have had experiences of God in my life – fleeting, scarce, coming with authority yet reassurance, vivid and real. God treats each person differently. You may also have received such experiences or maybe not. It doesn’t matter. You have your path to walk with God, I have mine. God treats us individually, yes He does. Seek God and keep asking Him to help you to believe in Him and His goodness.
The re-establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 after 2,000 years of Jewish diaspora. God has not forgotten His chosen people. Many Old Testament references speak of God restoring Israel.
See Amos 9:14-15 (NASB) 14 “Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 “I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.
Although these verses may refer to an earlier restoration following Israel’s first overthrow and captivity, I believe that biblical prophecies can also point to multiple restorations which could arguably include Israel’s most recent restoration to her own land. I find it extraordinary that a people, the Jews, have retained their identity without a land for 2,000 years, especially as they have been persecuted many times over that timespan. So yes, the restoration of the nation of Israel I see as part of God’s plan for these people.
See Romans 11:28-29 (NASB) 28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Be open, honest, seeking and contemplating. I hope and pray you find, or re-find, God. I wish you well on your journey.
Our World Our Faith 