160710 The God Who Is There

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

I find it very hard to comprehend how people of apparent high intelligence can rule out the existence of God. That is an entirely unprovable position. In order to rule out the existence of God one would have to know everything there is to know. No one can say that they have enough knowledge to be positive that God does not exist outside their level of knowledge. One only has to look at the created order to recognize that there is a design and where there is a design there must be a designer. Let’s look at some of the evidences that proclaim God’s existence.

Let me begin by saying that everyone, everywhere, have a deep inner sense that God exists, that they are His creation, and that He is the Creator. In the first chapter of the book of Romans we are told that even the Gentile unbelievers knew God because what could be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:19-23)

The Bible tells us that it is the “fool” who says in his heart “there is no God” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). It is the wicked person who first curses and renounces the Lord and repeatedly thinks “there is no God” (Psalm 10:3-4). Since we don’t want to be considered fools or wicked people. Let’s look at some of the things that encourage us to believe that God exists. First of all…

The created universe screams of God’s existence. Let me read Psalm 19:1-3. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. ² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. ³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.

I recently found a website that gave a lot of comprehensive material on the evidence for God. That website is www.everystudent.com and it contains several blogs. The one I looked at asks “Is there a God?”

I will be taking several things from that website and would like to give them the recognition they deserve.

Examples of God’s design probably are inexhaustible. Let’s look at the earth. The earth’s size and gravity is absolutely perfect for holding a thin layer of nitrogen and oxygen. If the earth were smaller it would be like the planet Mercury with no atmosphere. If the earth were larger its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter, and be impossible to live on. Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The earth is located the right distance from the sun so that we do not freeze or melt! The rotation speed of the earth allows its entire surface to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

Our moon is the perfect size and distance from the earth. It causes ocean tides and stimulates the circulation of ocean water so that it will not become stagnant. Most of the surface of the earth is covered with water. No living thing that we know of can live without it. In fact, about two thirds of the human body is water. Water freezes from the top down and floats so that life can exist in the winter. Our earth has a system that causes water to evaporate, leaving the minerals behind, and forms clouds that move by the wind to spread water over the land. It is a system of purification and supply that maintains life on this planet.

The human brain processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain processes more than 1 million messages a second and makes all kinds of decisions without getting your permission. Such as when to breathe and when to blink. The human brain protects the eye. The eye can distinguish 7 million colors. It has automatic focusing and simultaneously handles 1.5 million messages.

Evolution, focusing on mutation and change cannot fully explain the source of the eye or the brain. Especially when you have to start with nonliving matter that then produces living organisms. Another evidence for the existence of God is…

The created universe had a beginning.

For a long time the universe was considered eternal. In recent years, scientists have come to the conclusion that our universe began with a Big Bang. At some time in the past, billions of years ago, the scientific conclusion is that “something” came into being from “nothing”. First of all, let me say, “something” never comes from “nothing”. At least not without a Creator! When asked, scientists usually admit that there is no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and the resulting production of matter. The Bible keeps it simple, look at Genesis 1:3. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. “God said” and “there was light”!

Again and again, in the first verses of the Bible we find the phrase, “And God said”! When God spoke, the next thing in creation appeared and it was good.

Not only did the universe have a beginning it also had a “Beginner”! Another evidence of the existence of a Creator. Is the fact that…

The created universe follows certain laws of order. Let’s look at the Bible again in Genesis 8:22. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.

God ordained that there would be a certainty in life. Day after day gravity remains consistent, the earth rotates at the same speed all the time. The speed of light never changes whether on earth or in the galaxies far from us. Why is the universe orderly and reliable?

"The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence.” Dinesh D'Souza, What's So Great about Christianity: Regnery Publishing, Inc, 2007, chapter 11

No one can explain why nature follows consistent mathematical patterns. These rules that remain always the same are in themselves a kind of miracle. Also…

DNA is a program that calls for a programmer. In every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code that tells the cell how to act. A computer program is made up of 1’s and zeros. The DNA code is made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. There are 3 billion of these letters in every human cell!

DNA tells the cell what to do in the same way that your programming tells your computer what to do or tells your telephone how to ring. Each cell in your body has an instruction manual that is passed on from generation to generation. This is so amazing because these are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that give instruction. Chemicals that provide a detailed code showing exactly how the person’s body should develop.

There is no natural or biological explanation for how this happened apart from a Creator. In order for DNA to exist there had to be someone who intentionally constructed it. Now let’s look at the fact that…

God constantly reaches out to His people. Listen while I read Psalm 53:2. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

The Bible everywhere assumes that God exists. From the first verse of the Bible, “in the beginning, God” to the end of the book of Revelation, “Surely I am coming soon.” The existence of God is everywhere proclaimed in His Word.

The world around us gives an abundant evidence of God’s existence. In Romans 1:19-20 we find, “ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

“Nevertheless, it is man himself, created in the image of God, who most abundantly bears witness to the existence of God: whenever we meet another human being, we should (if our minds are thinking correctly) realize that such an incredibly intricate, skillful, communicative living creature could only have been created by an infinite, all-wise Creator…

“in one sense everything that exists gives evidence of God’s existence. For those who have eyes to see and evaluate the evidence, every leaf on every tree, every blade of grass, every star in the sky, and every other part of creation all cry out continuously, “God made me! God made me! God made me!” Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology p. 142. God has surrounded us with the evidence of His existence. And, He is constantly reaching out to touch us and bring us to Himself.

On the sixth day of creation God created man in His own image. God created male and female and after that God looked at all of His creation and said that it was very good. We don’t know how long Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the garden. We do know that some time passed. Days, weeks, years! We just don’t know how long! What we do know is that God spent time with these amazing creations of His. But one day, when He came into the Garden, Adam and Eve were not eager to see Him because they had violated the one rule that God had given them. All their unborn children died when they ate that fruit in the garden. God had every right at that point to simply wipe them out and start over again. However, God already had a plan that included how He would rescue His people. And…

Jesus is the highest evidence of God’s existence. Listen while I read John 1:1-4. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

When I began this message I wondered which passage of Scripture I should use to talk about Jesus. Finally, I settled on John 1:1-4. The entire Bible talks about Jesus. We know this because, when He was walking along the road to Emmaus “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27) All the Scriptures speak of Jesus.

Jesus is different from all the other religious leaders the world has produced. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Without hesitation Jesus did so identify Himself!

He said God exists and you’re looking at Him! When Jesus spoke to His Father in heaven He was not sending some long-distance message He was speaking from a position of very close unity. He claimed attributes belonging only to God. He forgave people of their sins, which only God can do. He freed people from the habits connected to their sin, which only God can do. Jesus did not say follow my teaching and you’ll be okay. He said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of His existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the hunger in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ. All of these things tell us that God exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? The greatest proof that God exists is the love of God in Christ Jesus.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

160703 The God Who Heals the Broken Land

David had been denied the privilege of building the temple because he had lived such a violent life. God said he could not build the temple because he had shed so much blood and waged great wars. God did not want his temple associated with the concept of death, destruction and warfare. So, He allowed Solomon, David son, with Bathsheba, to be the builder of the magnificent temple. Let’s look at the description of the result found in…

2 Chronicles 7:11–16 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³ When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ¹⁴ if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶ For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

These words recorded for our instruction came from the very throne of heaven. In the chapter before this, Solomon, king of Israel, son of David, poured out his heart in prayer, on his knees, asking God to honor His people by occupying the temple they had built. A large part of that prayer of dedication was thanking God and reminding God of his promises. Then Solomon outlined a series of examples when the people would need God’s forgiveness.

In Solomon’s prayer he asked God for forgiveness for the man who sinned against his neighbor, for the nation when they sinned and were therefore defeated in battle, when the people sinned and God brought famine and other examples of the need for correction and forgiveness.

Solomon’s prayer opens with God’s own words. Let’s look at 2 Chronicles 6:14-17 “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, ¹⁵ who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ ¹⁷ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

Here we are given another example of beginning prayer proclaiming the glory of God’s name. Solomon recognized that there was no God other than Jehovah! Solomon prayed just as Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 5:9b) Later Isaiah would expand on the concept of there being no God like Jehovah. In fact, God’s words, through Isaiah, were, “I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:11)  

Solomon knew they would need to repent. Let’s move further down to 2 Chronicles 6:36-39. If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, ³⁷ yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ ³⁸ if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

Solomon recognized that we all sin. And he also recognized that the wrath of God will always be released against sin. Because God is a God of justice He must act against sin. There are those who would like to cut out of the Bible all the references to the wrath of God and leave behind the love of God. It is true that wrath seems to be a very negative concept and by itself would cause us to live in fear of God. God’s love would be meaningless if He were not just. We need to ask what God would be like if he did not hate sin. He would then be a God who either delighted in sin or at least was not troubled by it. “Such a God would not be worthy of our worship, for sin is hateful and it is worthy of being hated.” Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, page 206. To hate evil and sin is a virtue that should be cultivated.

Solomon continued that if sin causes God’s people to be carried away in captivity his prayer for them would be that they repent with all their mind and all their heart. And if they repented in such a way then God should hear from heaven and maintain their cause and forgive His people. And then he asked God to keep His eyes open and His ears attentive to the prayers offered in this Temple. With the conclusion of Solomon’s prayer…

The dedication of the Temple was amazing. Let’s look ahead to 2 Chronicles 7:1-3. As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. ² And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. ³ When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

It is difficult to imagine the scene. It was a repeat of what had happened in the wilderness when they dedicated the tabernacle. Moses and Aaron blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering that had been placed before the tent of meeting (Leviticus 9:23-24). Later, a similar event would occur on Mount Carmel. Elijah had demonstrated the power of God by withholding rain for three and half years. When he had the people’s attention he called for a contest between Jehovah and Baal, the false god worshiped by the wicked king and queen, Ahab and Jezebel! Two altars were erected and prepared for sacrifice. The priests of Baal spent the day calling out to their god to no avail. At the time of the evening sacrifice Elijah prepared the altar for Jehovah and placed the wood with the sacrifice on it and then dug a trench around it. He had water poured on it until the sacrifice was soaked along with the altar and the trench was filled with water. With a simple prayer Elijah called for God to respond so the people would know that Jehovah is God alone. When he prayed fire fell and consumed the offering, the wood, the stones and licked up the dust around as well as the water in the trench. No doubt the people could see, “The Lord, He is God”.

Perhaps it’s time for God’s fire to fall again. After this magnificent demonstration…

God came to Solomon in the night. God seems to use a nighttime visit often. When it was time to announce the coming of the Messiah God did the same thing. Let’s turn to Matthew 1:20-21. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Joseph was pondering the problem of what to do about the fact that his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant and they were not married yet! God appeared to him in a dream. It seems to me that such night visits are common because it is a good time to get a person’s attention. Joseph was visited at night at least two more times in the process of protecting the infant Jesus.

In the same manner, the apostle Paul was visited at night at least three times to be guided on the direction of his ministry (Acts 16:9; 18:9; 23:11).

After all the excitement of the dedication of the Temple Solomon must have been emotionally exhausted. He went to his house, went to bed and was soon fast asleep. Then God appeared to him and then pointed out…

God did the choosing — as always. Let’s look ahead to 2 Chronicles 7:12. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.   

It must have been very reassuring to hear the words, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place.” We need to remember that is God who does the choosing in our lives. Solomon can build the temple and dedicate it to the glory of God but he cannot require God to choose the place as a house of sacrifice. Let’s look ahead to verse 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

This is an amazing statement that God makes. “I have chosen… That my name may be there forever.” Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount are very important because God has chosen and dedicated that place to his name forever. We don’t begin to have time to unravel all that might mean. But one thing for sure no matter who claims to own the Temple Mount — Muslim or Jew — it is the place where God’s eyes and heart are forever. There Christ will return to bring an end to all the foolishness that we called history.

God does not forgive our sins simply because we confess them. God forgives our sin because we repent. Because we turn from our wicked ways. God forgives when we turn not just when we ask. One must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. That means turning from sin and turning to Christ in faith.

Repentance calls for humility. Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. ¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

The church at Corinth had allowed open sin and needed to repent. They needed a godly repentance not the world’s kind of repentance. Just as God told Solomon His people must turn from their wicked ways while seeking His face. Then, and only then, would God hear from heaven and heal their land.

It is important that we seek. Let’s look to the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

We have often looked to these words as guidance in our prayer time. Ask and go on asking; seek and go on seeking; knock and go knocking! Such asking results in receiving. Such seeking results in finding. Such knocking results in it being opened. Whatever “it” is. It will be received — it will be found — and it will be opened. We should be very serious about prayer. Because…

God promised He would be attentive to prayer. Let’s turn to 2 Chronicles 16:9a. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

Asa the King of Judah had relied on Syria rather than God. The preacher (seer) Hanani recounted to him some of the times that God had rescued Israel. The victory had come because they had relied on the Lord. And then, these words, “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him”. God is constantly looking for people who put him first in all their seeking. God will meet the needs of his people…

When God’s people meet His conditions. Let’s look to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“These things” that Jesus refers to are the basic needs of life: what we eat, what we drink and what we wear. But, before we seek our needs we should first seek God’s kingdom. Faith in the Lord Jesus brings us salvation. Trust in the Lord Jesus provides for all our needs. The words of God to Solomon, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,” provide the conditions whereby he will forgive their sin and…

He will heal the land. In the days of Joel God’s people were suffering and in need of real revival. Let’s look to Joel 2:23-25. Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. ²⁴ “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. ²⁵ I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

Immediately before God spoke these words to Joel he had said that they must return to the Lord their God. God pointed out that he was slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He called for the people to consecrate a fast and come together to call on God. Then and only then would he begin to restore what had been taken away. Not only does God promise Joel that he would resume meeting the needs of people he said that with their repentance he would give back to them everything that was taken away.

There needs to be a repentance in America today. This nation was founded on the principles of the Judeo-Christian religion. The United States Constitution and that of every state in the nation is based on the Bible. We now live in a time when many people are committed to wipe out all memory of real religion. All over America there are attempts being made to remove any reference to God.

The evil consequences of the current social experimentation in America is to see ruined lives, hatred, violence, sexual sin openly practiced and all other kinds of evil not only seen but commended as a normal way of life. I know that God will intervene and ultimately He will win out in the struggle. But first, His people must repent and call on him to intervene.

For those of us who wonder why God is not acting more forcefully in the events unfolding around us we need to remember the words of James. “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:2b-3) We need to recognize that failure to ask might deprive us of what God would otherwise give us. Jesus gave a similar statement in Luke 11:9-10. There he makes a clear connection between our seeking and God’s giving them to us. When we ask, God responds. Our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, is prepared to hear our prayers and heal our land.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.