God: Is He? Who is He? - Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Acceptable worship demands that the true God be known.
Acceptable worship demands that the true God be known.
How can you worship something or someone you don’t believe in?
If you don’t believe in Him, you also won’t have an adoration for Him, nor will you follow Him.
We have to consider the God we are worshipping.
God has revealed Himself so clearly in His Word and through His Son, that man has no excuse not to believe in Him.
Faith, therefore, is the fundamental requirement for true worship.
Faith, therefore, is the fundamental requirement for true worship.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
This verse states two facts about God
He Exists
He Exists
It is possible to know something about His nature.
It is possible to know something about His nature.
The true worshipper must have these two things settled in His mind.
Will Durant, who was a historian who was very skeptical of all religions said the following thing,
The greatest question of our time is not Communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West: it is whether man can bear to live without God.”
The greatest question of our time is not Communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West: it is whether man can bear to live without God.”
Even as a devout atheist, he recognized the major issue in life is the reality of God.
How on earth could you reconcile this man’s life?
Did Man Create God?
Did Man Create God?
Skeptics of religion will say this is true.
They will say Christians have come up with a supernatural being to explain things that happen which can’t be explained.
Therefore, God is a human creation.
Sigmund Freud believed humanity created God because we needed a security blanket knowing there is some higher being in control of all of our situations.
According to him, God only exists in man’s imagination.
Most gods who are made by humans are typically very oppressive.
Most gods who are made by humans are typically very oppressive.
They put things on us which cause us to fear them. They do not show acts kindness unless there is something we do to deserve that kindness.
The belief that man created God was conceived in a mind that was corrupt.
When man is focused on himself and not on God, he wishes there were no gods at all.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
So what do we do? We create false gods even when in reality, we wish there wasn’t someone ruling over us.
Man was created to worship.
Man was created to worship.
Since we were created to worship, if we don’t worship the true God, we will find something to replace Him with. Whether it is something we ourselves have created or another man has, we will replace God with that object.
We will create philosophies that say God is dead and to believe in Him is crazy.
If a person isn’t a philosophical atheist, the will be a practical atheist.
Titus 1:16 talks about these people.
They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
This has been the norm since the Fall with Adam and Eve. The first thing they did when they sinned was try to hide from God.
If we take a look at several verses in Romans 1, we will see that it is impossible for man not to recognize God for who He is and what He has created.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 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. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Look at what happens when we refuse to acknowledge who God is. Can we think of a better description of the times we are living in today?
How Can We Be Sure of God?
How Can We Be Sure of God?
The Bible presupposes, rather than proves, God’s existence.
The Bible presupposes, rather than proves, God’s existence.
This is what Psalm 90 says about God.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
This is a classic doctrinal affirmation about God. God is the only God.
It tells us He is eternal. It tells us He is the creator.
As Christians, we must accept one foundational truth.
As Christians, we must accept one foundational truth.
GOD
GOD
Once we accept this, everything else in the Bible will make sense. Without Him at the center of it all, the whole tapestry of the Bible and our faith falls apart.
Theologians will tell you that there is more reason to believe in God than there is not to believe in Him.
Logical reasons to accept the existence of God.
Logical reasons to accept the existence of God.
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
If there is a design, then there must be a designer.
It argues that the order in the universe is the evidence you need to know there is a supreme intelligence behind it all - God.
AESTHETIC ARGUMENT
AESTHETIC ARGUMENT
Since there is beauty and truth in the universe, somewhere there has to be beauty and truth on which this was all based.
VOLITIONAL ARGUMENT
VOLITIONAL ARGUMENT
Since man has the ability to make willful decision, somewhere there has to be an infinite will and the creation of the world was an expression of that will.
MORAL ARGUMENT
MORAL ARGUMENT
Since there is right and wrong that has been established in the world, there had to be a supreme being who determined that.
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
This looks at the cause and effect of the universe. This concludes that someone made the universe because every effect must traceable to a cause.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
Both of these scriptures talk about the foolishness in believing there is now God.
Simply acknowledging the existence of God isn’t enough.
Simply acknowledging the existence of God isn’t enough.
Einstein recognized a cosmic force in the galaxy, but believed that God was unknowable.
A popular self-help group that is out there’s tells people,
“You have to have a relationship with God as you perceive Him to be.”
“You have to have a relationship with God as you perceive Him to be.”
This belief is wrong and straight from Satan himself. Our God is the same to me as He is to you, as He is to your neighbor down the street, as He was to all the generations before us and the ones to come.
Next week, Rick will finish up this Chapter of the book. He will be taking a look at God Is a Person, God is a Spirit Being and much more. Make sure you come and join him next week to finish this chapter out.