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How do we know that there’s a God?

 

It’s probably one of the most asked questions of all time, right?

 

The question of God confronts us all, and where you fall out on that question impacts all the other questions that matter to us:

 

·        Questions of origin: How did I get here?

·        Of identity: Who am I?

·        Worth: Am I significant?

·        Purpose: Why am I here?

·        Security: Am I going to be okay?

·        The future: What happens when I die—when it’s all over?

 

You ever asked any of those questions?

 

I think we all wrestle with these questions at some point along the way and, probably, over and over.

 

Now, a lot of ink has been spilled to try to offer arguments for God’s existence. For my money, some are more interesting and compelling than others.

 

Some point to the contingency of creation: that everything appears to rely on something else for its existence. And you can only press that back so far, right? Even scientists are more and more convinced that there must have been a rather sudden something in the beginning. Of course, that just begs the question: what caused that event? Inert matter does not create creative processes, and certainly not to the degree of symmetry and beauty that we are accustomed to. So, how do we account for that?

 

And that’s another one, right?—beauty. Certainly we do have varied opinions on taste and art and music. But how do we explain the universal appeal of a sunset over the ocean, or a field of yellow wild-flowers along the highway, or, likewise, how do we explain the universal judgment that Beethoven on the piano sounds “better” than a two-year old using the same instrument? What accounts for these evaluative similarities—even culture to culture, for the most part?

 

And then certainly there are the concise conditions of nature that promote life, and human life in particular. Obviously, if there are an infinite number of worlds, then it does, I suppose, make sense that one like ours would arrive. But we don’t have a shred of evidence that there are an infinite number of worlds, but we have a whole heap of a lot of evidence that this one we have is exactly perfect for human life. If it were off by just a millionth in a number of cases and even smaller than that, it just wouldn’t work. But it does work!

 

How do we account for that? An accident, or a thoughtful God behind it all? Which is a bigger leap?

 

And then the last I would mention is the argument for morality. How do we know right and wrong? Every atheist I’ve ever known—though denying absolute truth—is more than willing to make absolute claims about this or that.

 

Of course, even the claim that there’s no absolute truth is an absolute statement, and so it stumbles out of the gate.

 

Whenever relativists make a statement, an absolute claim, all you have to ask them is, “Who says?” And it stops ‘em cold because you just keep pressing ‘em back.

 

How do we account for the innate sense of right and wrong that we all seem to carry around inside of us, if not for some moral being that stands apart from us and over us?

 

Well, these are just a smattering of the arguments that philosophers and scientists have been putting forward through the years.

 

The interesting thing about the Scriptures is that it doesn’t even concern itself with the question: Does God exist? It assumes His existence right out of the gate. It doesn’t start out with a detailed argument for His existence, it simply says, “In the beginning God….”

 

And some have said, “Well that’s not fair.” To which, I think, God would reply, “It’s only unfair if I‘m setting out to defend my existence. But I’m not doing that. Instead, through my Word, I’m introducing myself.” And that’s different.

 

You see the question the Scripture attempts to answer right out of the blocks and then throughout is not Does God exist? but rather What is He like? And they suggest over and over that He wants to know you and to be known by you.

 

God isn’t a little cosmic wizard hiding behind a drawn curtain putting on like He’s some big to-do when he isn’t!

 

No, He’s the Lord, the Sovereign One over all Creation, and He intends on pressing past our question of His existence to the much more compelling question: What are you really like? And who am I in the light of who you are?

 

Now, wondering if God is really real, that’s not bad. But it’s just the equivalent of the geometric given when you come to the problem of the Scripture.

 

And if you never press past the question of His existence, you will never really get to know the One who made you or discover why on earth you are on earth.

 

In the opening pages of Genesis the existing God begins to reveal a bit of what He’s like and what we are to be like as a result.

 

Continuing in our series this morning, FIRST THINGS, would you turn with me to Genesis Chapter 1?

 

By the way, as you’re turning, if you would like to consider the question of God’s existence a little further or other questions about the faith, Timothy Keller has written a book called The Reason for God—Belief in an Age of Skepticism that I would really recommend. It’s very readable stuff and very thorough and, I think, would be very engaging for you.

 

Okay, Genesis 1. Who has God revealed Himself to be, and what difference does it make for us?

 

Well at the risk of over-simplification like the little children’s prayer at meal-time: God is great and God is [hesitates, and congregation responds] good. Yeah. And so we thank Him for our food, right?

 

That’s our prayer. That always bugged the crazies out of me as a kid because everybody knows that “good” and “food” do not rhyme!

 

But, if you can press past that, the prayer is actually spot on, and the rest of Scripture is just an historical catalogue of the greatness and the goodness of God.

 

What we mean by great is this: that He is wise and discerning and that He is powerful and mighty. In other words, He’s perfect in His planning and perfect in His execution. That’s good stuff.

 

There’s no one like Him. And when we consider His greatness, we’re struck by His incomparable capability. We find it interesting and even a little appealing.

 

Often why, I think, we like sports: why we like games that included Michael Jordan when he played or golf tournaments now that include Tiger Woods. They’re just more interesting than the ones that don’t because you might just see something you’ve never seen before, right? And you say, “Wow! That’s cool!” There’s a Wow! factor.

 

Well, when you come to Genesis Chapter 1, if you read it without experiencing some kind of Wow! factor, then somethin’s missin’. Because the first line says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

 

Wow! I mean there’s a whole heap in just that one little sentence.

 

I mean this summer if I make a really good burger—which I’m hopin’ to do—I might say, “Whoa! That was good! This is good!” Or hope everybody else says that as they’re eating my burger. Or I, you know, would hope to make maybe a 40 foot eagle putt sometime this summer. And I might say, “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Right?

 

But when you come to God, He made everything!

 

Wow! That’s greatness. That defines greatness! Because Michael Jordan might wheel and deal and dip and spin and even defy gravity for a second, but God made gravity! And Jordan too!

 

I mean we might be witnesses to things we might call “Great:” “Oh, hey, that was a great idea, Larry. That was a great meal, Martha. That was a great vacation, Honey.” But in the beginning God stood on something that was not there. He took nothing into His hand, and He threw it nowhere, and created a universe! Wow! All right?

 

Wow! That’s great-ness! Everything that’s “great” in this world pales in comparison!

 

But there’s more. Not only does the text suggest that God created, but that He created at will, and that He exercised power and authority over what He created. In other words, we read that He just spoke and things came into existence, and then the things that were obeyed His command.

 

In verse 3 he says, “Let there be light,” [a very famous line, right?] and [of course] there’s Light. But then in verse 4 He separates the Light from the darkness and names the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And so as a result of His greatness there’s evening and there’s morning! Now, there’s no mention in the text that the darkness says, “No. I don’t think so. I want to be called ‘Koigliblum’ or something.”

 

No. God says, “You’re night. You’re day.” And that settles it because God’s in charge. He creates; He separates; He names. Over and over and over throughout Chapter 1, He is in charge. He’s without equal.

 

There are rulers: the Sun rules the day, the moon the night, the fish the sea, the birds the air. You and me, we get to rule it all. But God even rules over us! Everything that’s great in creation—and there is a whole heap—is derived from the greatness of the Creator!

 

Now, what does this mean for us?

 

Well, I think it means that though the sun rules the day, the sun is not worthy of our worship. And though the birds rule the skies, they too are not worthy of our worship. Even man, who is given stewardship of it all, is not worthy of our devotion—only God.

 

There’s a built-in hierarchy to creation. You gotta go all the way up the chain. Who is behind it all?

Who deserves the credit for a sunset painted with colors you can’t quite describe? Who deserves the credit for a mountain peak high with fresh-fallen snow? Who deserves the credit for the precious beauty of the little tiny fingers of a newborn baby, or the intricacies of the nervous system?

 

Who deserves the credit? And, perhaps, most mysterious of all, who came up with the wonder of a love? Think about that. Love: the mutual care and affection between souls that settles the heart and anchors the person. Love: I mean that’s one thing you can’t buy at Wal-Mart!

 

You know, the moment takes me back. There was a moment when I was interacting with one of my children. I didn’t run this past them, so I won’t say the name. There were three and I said, “Who made you? Where did you come from?” And they looked up at me: “Wal-Mart?” I looked at Amy. “They think we picked them up off the—at Wal-Mart! That’s amazing.” Wow! We knew we had some ground to make up. They were going to have identity complexes like no one’s business. Wow!

 

We don’t come up with these things; God does. God does and, therefore, He’s the only One worthy of our awe!

 

I mean what’s more awesome: Peyton Manning makin’ a touchdown, or God making everyone who’s ever scored?

 

Wow! We get so caught up in what man can do. God made man and everything else! Everything is derived. Only God is self-existent and self-sufficient, and so worship becomes worth-ship. It becomes giving the ultimate due to the One who’s worthy, and there’s only one.

 

Let me ask you this: Is your enthusiasm for God proportionate to your enthusiasm for anything else? Is your enthusiasm for God proportionate to your enthusiasm for anything else? That kinda—Phutt—puts us all in the cross-hairs a little bit, doesn’t it?

 

I mean, somethin’s just not right if we leap out of our seats and scream when our team makes a touchdown, and then sit on our hands and even our tongues when we gather for worship!

 

You say, “Well, that’s not my personality! That’s my own living room. This is in public.”

 

Okay, I get that. But however you express enthusiasm for things in this world, is it in proportion to how you express your enthusiasm for the One who made the world? That’s a good question. In other words, in your life is God getting His due?

 

The opening verses of Scripture reveal a God who defines greatness, and they call forth our devotion, our worship! They also reveal a great God that defines goodness! God is great. God is good.

 

You can’t read the Genesis account and not be taken back by the orderliness of it all and the beauty of it all (David did a great job laying that out for us last week): the bounty of God’s gracious provision in Creation.

 

The same God who stops you in your tracks by His power satisfies you inside and out by His loving kindness.

 

We get a window into His goodness as we consider the design of it all. If Genesis 1 and 2 do anything, they portray a God delighting in creating the original habitat for humanity! Everything is specifically designed to support and promote life. And not just any old life will do, but a meaningful life—what Jesus later calls life to the full!

 

We get brilliant light for day and for night. We get a vast array of fish and beautiful birds and the land teeming with animals feasting on plants yielding their seed and fruit trees bearing their fruit. And everything plays its role working in harmony with everything else, promoting life, and in particular supporting human life which God delights to make extra-super special.

 

Look with me at verse 27:

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

 

Now get this. Whereas God made everything else in accordance with its kind: “Oak tree, you’re going to be like oak tree.” Okay? “Salmon, you’re like salmon.” “Bear, bear.” “Man, me!”

 

He made us in his image. You read that Genesis account and you are not prepared for Him to say verse 27. You are prepared for Him to say, “And He made man after his own kind.” Not so. You’re not just like a tree or a whale or a blade of grass. You are like God! You were made to be like Him!

 

You’re fashioned intricately to exhibit many of the powers that God exhibits, to share much of the authority that God demonstrates, to reflect His character in His world for His glory in a way that nothing else in all of creation can!

Oh, God. He is good! And He doesn’t just give us bare minimum either. He eagerly provides a bounty for us. Look down to verse 29:

 

“I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”

 

In other words, look all around you. They’re all yours for your sustenance—my provision for your life.

And we didn’t have to earn any of this stuff. He just gave it to us as a gift to enjoy and you can just hear His sense of delight throughout this. Six times: verse 4, verse 10, verse 12, verse 18, 21, 25: everything He makes, He says, “Man, that’s good!”

 

And then He gets to the end and He looks at the whole thing and He says, “That’s good good! That’s really good stuff!”

 

You see, it’s God’s greatness that enables Him to make the world habitable, but it is His goodness that makes this world wonderful! And the two come together; then it’s awesome for our blessing!

 

And He makes our life meaningful too, right? He gives us the crown of His creation: the gift of companionship. Only God could come up with such an idea. He says in 2:18:

 

“It’s not good for us to be alone.”

 

And so He gives us companions; He gives us meaningful relationships so that we can live life together—share life together—side-by-side. Ours is a shared existence by the grace of God.

 

Someone said, you know, “Why is marriage such a longing of the human heart?” And someone responded saying, “I think it’s because we all long to have our life witnessed by somebody.”

 

It’s an interesting thought. I think we’re made to be in community, made for relationship. And that’s God’s idea. He gives us  the gift of purpose—a meaningful existence, being productive and fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth. I’m doin’ my part! No. Numerically to be sure, but more importantly stewarding all of God’s gifts and His many blessings: taking the unique gifts that each one of you, that each one of you, brings to the table and stewarding them for His glory making much of Him as we reign over the world and as He reigns over us. That’s what that means.

 

Perhaps most wonderful of all, He gives us the gift of Himself: companionship, purpose, but also His own person, His own presence. The God of Genesis cannot be reduced to a mere Force, a mere Power. He’s a Person and He defines what it means to be personal: engaging Adam and Eve in dialogue, coming Himself into the Garden for conversation and relationship.

 

I tell you, you read Genesis 1 and 2: the design of creation, the bounty of creation, the beauty of creation, the special place we are given in creation, the gift of life, the gift of one another, the gift of purpose, the gift of God Himself. It’s all right here in these pages. God, indeed, defines goodness!

 

And what does this mean for us?

 

Well, if God’s greatness is a call to awe and worship, I would suggest to you that perhaps God’s goodness is a call to gratitude and dependence. Gratitude looks back and all around and says, “My. Look at who God is and what He’s provided.” Have you done that recently? Dependence actually looks forward and trusts God and says, “Man, the God who has provided in the past and is providing for me now, I trust Him to provide for me in the future.”

 

Now that’s not easy. Worship, Gratitude, Dependence: these are tough, if we’re honest, because Worship means it’s not all about me, it’s about God, and that cuts against my pride. And Gratitude and Dependence aren’t easy because it means I’m not enough, and I thought the whole idea of growing up was becoming sufficient and independent. I’m not enough in and of myself. I’m not sufficient. I can’t take credit for all the good in my life and I can’t rely upon myself alone for the needs in my life. That too is sobering and cuts against the independence and self-reliance imbedded in our hearts.

 

One way you might apply Genesis 1 and 2 is just with a simple three-part prayer:

 

The prayer of Worship that says:

There’s no-one like you!

The prayer of Gratitude that says:

Everything I have is a blessing from your hand!

And the prayer of Dependence:

I need you!

 

There is no one like you and everything I have is from your hand and I need you! That’s a pretty good response to Genesis 1 and 2. They reveal a whole heap about who God is and who we are to be in response: Worship, Gratitude, Dependence.

 

But we would be remiss if we stopped there because we live at a particularly glorious time in redemptive history! I mean we don’t know much, but we have a pretty good sense that creation didn’t happen yesterday. Revelation has progressed along. The creation account is not the only window into who God is and into who we are to be.

 

In fact, the Scriptures claim that over 2,000 years ago God chose to step down into His own creation and give us a face-to-face encounter for the ages in the person of Jesus.

 

We hear about this in three places in particular: Hebrews Chapter 1, Colossians Chapter 1, and John Chapter 1. Now, I do have enough time so that’s good and we’re going to look at all three of these.

 

I want to string together this morning a strand of pearls that you just kinda keep with ya: Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1. Four authors claiming the same thing. By the way, that’s an incredible argument for the veracity and the truth of Scripture: when you can find different people saying the same thing in different ways, making the same claims—that definitely leads to the truth of it.

 

Okay, let’s look at this together: Hebrews Chapter 1. That’s page 1862 in your pew Bibles. You’re all wondering why I had you turn to Genesis 1—I did refer to a few verses there, but I wanted to give you something to look at if I got boring. Hebrews 1 beginning in the first verse:

 

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of [how many things?] all things.

 

Heir of what? All things. Oh my goodness, are you trying not to wake a baby? The Bible just said that the Son of God is the heir of ALL things. That’s better. All things!

 

The Son [keep going] through whom He made the universe, the Son is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

 

These are no minor words. There’s no one like Jesus! Throughout history God has revealed Himself through appointed prophets, but 2,000 years ago He chose to show up Himself in the person of Jesus.

And we are told that Jesus radiates the glory of God. He radiates the exact representation of God’s character. That means he’s not just a glimpse of God, he is the perfect mirror image.

 

If you really want to know who God is, you have to really want to look in the face of Jesus because he is God!

 

This is why the author can make such bold, audacious claims here: three of them.

First, the Son is the heir of how many things? ALL things. Oh, I love it! All of creation belongs to the Son!

Second, the world was created through the Son. He is the agent of creation! The God of Genesis, the Father, created through His own Son! Now you don’t get that through Genesis 1. We need further revelation to get that. That’s a pretty profound thing. We’ll talk about that more in a minute.

Third, by the Son’s powerful word the universe is held together; it is sustained. Literally it says that he bears it, that is he carries it toward an appointed end. Who does that? The Son does that.

 

Wow! Creation came into existence through the powerful word of God (Genesis 1), and now we learn it’s sustained in the same manner. That’s pretty cool!

 

Colossians Chapter 1, page 1832: 1832. Different author, same description. Colossians 1:15. This is speaking of the Son, Jesus:

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him [how many things?] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; [how many things?] all things were created by him and for him. He is before [how many things?] all things and in him [how many things?] all things hold together.

 

Amazing! While we were made in God’s image, after His likeness, Jesus is the perfect likeness of the Father. In other words, though we can’t see the Father right now, Jesus makes the invisible God visible!

 

And notice like Hebrews, the Son is the agent of creation. To be emphatic, Paul employs it four times in two verses: “All things” are created by the Son, through the Son, and for the Son, and he’s before all things and in him all things, all things, hold together. In other words, all things hold together because the Son makes it so. That’s amazing!

 

Now, let me just make an observation here. These two passages—Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1—do not allow room for the god of deism which is the prevalent, prominent default among many here in the west, and that is this: the god of deism creates and then he just sets things in motion and releases his grip. He’s no longer involved; he’s aloof; and he’s out of touch.

 

I would say this. Scripture claims God’s on-going providential governance of all things. If He ever lets go, nothing holds together.

 

Likewise, these two passages do not allow room for the god of the eastern mystics who is supposedly one with creation: you know, god is everything, everything is god.

 

Scripture claims otherwise. It claims God’s pre-existence, His self-existence. He is before all things and by His own will dependent things come into being. So, while creation can certainly point us toward God, creation itself cannot introduce us to Him personally!

 

For that you need Jesus because he is God in person!

 

John claims as much in John Chapter 1. Will you turn with me to the beginning of John’s gospel? John Chapter 1. Genesis 1, Hebrews 1, Colossians 1, John 1.

 

Again we’re going to hear some very consistent teaching. Notice the profound way that John begins his gospel! This is so sweet.

 

In the beginning….

 

Does that sound familiar? You bet it does. And we expect him to say: “God created the heavens and the earth!” ‘Cause that’s what we’re used to: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But not so. That’s certainly what his Jewish readers would have expected as well. No. No. No. John’s ready to offer some new, some fresh revelation:

 

In the beginning [John says and everybody’s ears go (whistle) and then he says: Gotcha!] was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

 

The Word was with God: that is, his identity is not yet revealed—we’ll get to that in a moment, but he was with God: he was in relationship with the God of Genesis. He was “with God:” that is, he was distinct but he was present in the beginning like a companion.

 

And you’ve gotta be careful here because it’s like, “Okay, wait a second. Are we talking about two gods?” I mean John must have been writing this kind of with a little shake believing so strongly that there was only one God: but in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Wow!

 

Just to confirm the deity of the Word he, like Paul and the author of Hebrews, claims in verse 3 something now we’re all very familiar with: how many things were made through the Son, the Word? ALL things. There it is. And with him nothing was made that has been made. In fact, verse 4: Life was resident within him and that life was the light of men. And the light shines out into the darkness.

 

Oh, my goodness. Flashbacks to Genesis 1 all over the place; you can’t miss it. God created with His Word and here we discover that His Word was actually a person and not just a sound. The Son was with the Father in the beginning. The Father created all things through the Son—His Word—and likewise He continues to sustain all things through the Word, through the Son.

 

Now I keep sayin’ it’s the Son. You say, “Show me.” Verse 14 gives us better clarity as to who the Word is:

 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

Okay, but I don’t have a name. Verse 17:

 

The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

 

There it is.

 

And then verse 18 says:

 

No one has ever seen God, but the only God, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

 

Creation reveals the greatness and goodness of God. It does. It confronts every human being with the greatness and the goodness of God, and it calls forth our worship and our gratitude and our dependence.

 

But, but creation is not the fullest nor the clearest expression of God’s greatness and goodness. For that you need Jesus, and specifically you need to receive Jesus.

 

Look at verse 10 of John Chapter 1:

 

He was in the world [that is, the Son] and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, human decision or a husband’s will, but [children] born of God.

 

Whew!

 

You know, I suppose in one sense it’s true that all human beings are God’s children by virtue of being made in His image, but John here claims that there’s more to it than that. It isn’t enough just to exist and to assume that it will all pan out in the end. To really be a child of God you have to receive His only child—his only Son, Jesus—and to receive him as Lord, creator, and sustainer of all things. Jesus is the one who alone is worthy of your allegiance, your worship, who alone is worthy of your gratitude, who alone is worthy of your dependence.

 

Have you received Jesus? There’s no better time then right now, either for the first time or in a fresh way. To let him know: Jesus, I’m not enough. I need you. To let him know: Jesus, thank you for all that you’ve done for me. And to let him know: Jesus, there’s no one like you. I bow my knee to no other but you alone.

 

That, my friends, is a great way to apply Genesis Chapter 1.

 

Let’s pray.

 

Jesus, we put on that we’re enough a lot, but we’re not enough.

We’re not sufficient in and of ourselves. We need you. We need your

mercy every morning. We need your grace. We need your forgiveness

and your love. We need you. And, Jesus, we are compelled from within to

say, “Thank you. Through your life you introduced us to the Father. Through

your death and resurrection you make salvation possible. When our eyes look at

the buds on the trees and the flowers and the green grass and the birds in the air: when

we experience love from another, when we experience meaning  in life, all we can do is stop

and say, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ because all things came into existence through you and all things

hold together by your powerful word. You are heir of all things. All things are for you and to

you. Thank you for all things. And, Jesus, there’s no one like you. We can’t put up a teacher; we

can’t put up Mohammed and Buddha and Confucius or any of the philosophers of our day and say,

‘Yes, you are one among them.’ No, in point of fact, you made them all. You are on your own without

rival. You alone are worthy of our devotion and we invite you right now to reign over us and to

reign in us either for the first time or in fresh ways for your glory, Lord Jesus Christ.”

And the people of God said together, “Amen.”