I Believe In God

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be…

Genesis 1:1-3a (KJV)

In the same way that a novel-writer will not attempt to prove that he exists, the Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God. The first four words of Genesis tell the story; "In the beginning God..." With that the Bible assumes what atheists, and so-called "intellectual" evolutionists, have been wrong about for centuries...God IS!

Protagoras, who lived 2500 years ago, said the measure of everything is man. That’s like saying that the genius in automatic transmissions is the intricate gears, or that the beauty of the Mona Lisa is in paint and canvas. Man may be the crown of all creation, but he is still the object of creation, and not the Creator. For that you need God!

Just like transmissions could never exist without the excellence of engineering of a man, and the Mona Lisa could never thrill us except it first existed in the mind of a master artist, the center of every original thought and deed of all time and eternity is the One we call God. As Psalm 14:1 tells us, it is only the fool who has said in his heart, there is no God.

We do our best to prove to the unbeliever that God exists, however it is actually unnecessary to try to convince ANYONE. The Bible says in Romans 1:19-20 that the reality of God is apparent to all people even as they behold the things of nature. The fact is that knowledge of God is inherent in created beings. We KNOW He’s real! And any nonsense about Him being dead, asleep, or never was, is just THAT....NONSENSE!

A man asked another man on the street about God; "Why do people say God is everywhere? I don’t see him anywhere." With that the other man picked up a rock and clobbered him with it. "What did you do that for?", asked the complainer, "Man that hurts!" "You say you have pain in your head", said the man, "I don’t SEE any pain. Show me your pain and I’ll believe it exists!" The man made his point.

Oh, God exists alright! And, so this morning I would simply like to start where the Bible does, with the FACT that God IS, and like Hebrews 11:6 reminds, God ...is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

In our act of diligently seeking God this morning, please note three STATEMENTS of reality about God....

God is Spirit

24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:24 (NRSVA)

In speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus revealed the great truth that our God is not impressed with outward displays of righteousness. He exists in a realm that provides Him with access to the inner being of any man or woman. Jesus saw the deep spiritual need of the woman, and he knows our needs also. It is possible to please God only when the inner person, that spirit within each of us, is in harmony with the heart of a spiritual God. Jesus told us in His earthly ministry that the only way to come to the Father was through Him. And so that tells us that it is only possible to worship God by accepting Jesus Christ as savior and Lord.

God is Personal

The personality of God is seen in the personal way God has dealt with mankind. From a bush that burned, and was not consumed, God said to Moses, I Am. Self-awareness is a personal quality.

The pantheistic approach to God says that God is in everything, literally. He is in trees, grass, oceans, porcupines...as a component part. Some folks use the excuse for not coming to church that you’ve heard before; "I can worship god out in nature just as well as in church." They’ve substituted seeing God’s creation for being obedient to the Creator, who did say; "Forsake not the assembling together of yourselves, as the manner of some is..." God is personal, and He takes a personal interest in His creation.

There are those who may still subscribe to the "hands-off" type of God. This was popular in the 50’s and early 60’s. They picture God as a creator who made the world like a craftsman makes a grandfather clock, winds it up and lets it run by itself. No interference, man can take care of himself.

But that’s not the way it was when the children of Israel called out from Egypt in bondage...God rocked the kingdom of Pharaoh until he drove them out. God didn’t apply "hands off" when they were boxed-in with mountains on two sides, Pharaoh’s army behind, and the Great Red Sea in front. God’s personal breath blew every last drop out of the way, and His personal family walked over on dry land.