Sunday Sermons
Does It Matter If God Exists?
Does it Matter if God Exists?
While God is generally believed in by more than 90 percent of the American public, He is generally ignored when it comes to making an impact upon their lives. In the mid-1960’s there emerged a movement called “God is dead”, which was short-lived, but did have a lasting influence. The statement, “God is dead” meant several different things to different people. To some, the existence of suffering, whether in natural disasters, or dread diseases, seemed to argue that God either is absent, indifferent, malevolent, or does not exist at all. To others, the advances in science and technology seemed to make God obsolete, that is, we do not need God, for we are able to alter our own environment and perform our own “miracles”. We can do our own healing, we can solve our own problems, such as infertility, and so on.
“Has the future made God unnecessary?”
Unfortunately, many people tend to think of God as identified with the past. The incidents in which He revealed Himself were in the past, so that is where He fits and belongs. So people, and even some Christians find it hard to conceive of Him as being present and active in the future. J.B. Phillips, in his little book, Your God Is Too Small, tells of a psychological test given to a mixed group of older adolescents during World War II. They were asked the question, “Does God understand radar?” In nearly every case they answered “No”, but then laughed when they realized what they had said. The idea of God, living in the modern world had been foreign to them. Of course, God has always understood radar. He is the One who designed and created the universe with the natural laws that scientists would study and formulate into what they call the laws of physics upon which radar is based (Colossians 1:16). He has been waiting out there in the future for people to invent things like radar. “We are accustomed to thinking of God moving history by pushing, as it were, causing it from the past. But another way of thinking of Him is as the God who moves it by pulling from the future where He already is” (Does it matter if God exists? Millard J. Erickson, p. 35). Instead of advancements making God unnecessary, an unknown and constantly changing world makes God ever relevant. 1. God remains the same (Hebrews 13:8). 2. The future does not take God by surprise, rather He is the only one who can penetrate it, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me; declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done” (Isaiah 45:9-10). This is not an empty boast, rather the Bible is filled with detailed prophecies that prove God’s ability to know the future, in addition, the Bible contains a knowledge of the universe that man would only discover after he vastly improved his technology. 3. Advances in true science do not disprove the existence of God or make Him unnecessary, rather, God is always there awaiting the new discovery, saying either “congratulations” or “what took you so long?” 4. The entire creation is moving towards a final meeting with God, “all things have been created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16); “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Romans 11:36). 5. The greatest need that we have concerning the future is not technology, but rather, the presence and wisdom of the God who knows the future, no greater assurance could we have concerning the future than, “and lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Tired of being a statistic?
We do live in a world that is more and more becoming impersonal, where a person is a statistic or a number, where you are not identified as a human being with a name, but a number, or as one chairman of a church building committee called members, “giving units”. Among all the billions of people who exist on this earth, do you matter? Only God has really addressed this issue sufficiently. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31). In the First Century sparrows were so numerous, dispensable and cheap that two of them were sold for a tiny coin. Even today, they are so numerous that we tend to be indifferent to the loss of one, “there’s plenty more where that one came from” is often our attitude. We also tend to think that any sparrow is the same as any other and any one will do, that is, there is no value in any individual bird per se. Yet God is aware when any one sparrow dies! In like manner, God knows all about us, even the very number of the hairs on our heads. “That is a very minute point of information seemingly trivial in nature and certainly unknown about us by any other human being and no doubt even by ourselves” (Erickson p. 48). It is a vivid way of saying that God knows all about us, not just our circumstances, but also everything about us. In other words, no harm can come upon us or even threaten to come upon us of which God is not aware. To God, we are not a number, rather, we are very important, in fact, our soul is far more valuable than all that the world contains (Matthew 16:26). We are never just a statistic to God. He never thinks, “What is one more or less?”. We see this same truth demonstrated in Luke 15.
“Does anyone really care?”
Many have noted the big difference between how car salesmen treat you before you buy and after you have bought the car. In this life the interest of many people seems to be so shallow, that I am only worth something to them if they can make a profit from me. In contrast God demonstrates that He truly cares about us. Jesus died for us while we were yet enemies (Romans 5:8); and Jesus died for everyone, even though most will not accept His offer of salvation (John 3:16). In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus demonstrates that we can trust God, for He is not only aware of our needs such as the physical comfort and health that is so apparent to us, but also of the much more significant dimensions of life. He is not saying that nothing bad will happen to us, but rather, if we trust and serve Him nothing ultimately and eternally bad will happen to us. Erickson notes, “This should be an encouragement to us. Most of us are not very important people or beautiful people, as the world measures such things. We are not the kind of people who cause heads to turn when we pass by. We may think that because we do not get much attention, nobody knows or cares. With the famous people, every detail of their lives, every development, is a source of interest or at least curiosity to many people” (p. 53). Yet God understands that most often His faithful servants are ignored (1 Corinthians 1:26), yet He loves them dearly (Hebrews 11:38 “men of whom the world as not worthy”).
“Is anyone in charge?”
Presidents, world leaders and the great men of this world come and go, so who will keep evil in check in our lifetime? At times when a tragedy happens someone will say, “Where was God when this happened?” As if He was not doing His job, for the assumption that most people operate under is that it is God’s job to see that good things happen and that bad things do not happen; yet reality is much bigger than such a simplistic statement. There are times that bad things can be turned into great occasions for good, as in the life of Joseph (Genesis 50:20 “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive”). The good fruits from a hardship, trial or tragedy can be tremendous (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4). “There is an important lesson to be learned here. We have a tendency to think of God as working only in the dramatic, the cataclysmic, or the miraculous. The rest of the time we are on our own, and so is the rest of the world. Things just ‘happen’ in such a way of viewing life. God, however, takes no vacations. He does not even take breaks in His day’s work. He is constantly and everywhere active” (Erickson p. 61). Erickson also cautions us, that while the short-range consequences that Joseph experienced were unfortunate, the long-range results were quite different. “There should be a word of guidance for us here not to judge circumstances too soon. We need to ask not only, ‘what are the results?’ but also, ‘are they all in yet?’” (p. 64). Or, as James noted, “Do not complain brethren….as an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful” (James 5:9-11).
“Is that all there is?”
Regarding life, Shakespeare wrote, “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing”. This sense of the meaninglessness of life has been held throughout all the ages, the ancient Greeks had their philosophy of despair, “not to be born at all, that is by far the best fate”. On a more contemporary note, Sam Bellow wrote, “but what is the philosophy of this generation? Not God is dead, that period was passed long ago. This generation thinks and this is its thought of thoughts that nothing faithful, vulnerable, fragile, can be durable or have any true power. Death waits for all these things as a cement floor waits for a falling light bulb”. Moreover, many people who have been successful in this life often have a feeling that something is missing. Apart from God, even the most successful of men end up disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated (Ecclesiastes 2:11). The Bible reveals that death is not the end, but rather only the end of a period of probation, and after death there is an eternity of either bliss or suffering (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Matthew 25:46). Heaven is not necessarily the continuation of all the activities people engage in here. The type of activity engaged in throughout all eternity is not therefore, merely an extension of what people naturally most want to do here. It is not an experience of endless self-indulgence; rather, it consists in serving God and receiving a higher level of satisfaction, fulfillment and happiness than anything that can be experienced here (Revelation 21:4). In addition, unlike our hobbies, heaven is not a diversion or merely something to do. The joy in heaven will be incomparable to those merely temporal pleasures that seem to mean so much here (Romans 8:18).
“Is anything permanent?”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). Today Jesus might also add, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where they are subject to inflation, depreciation, devaluation, the fluctuations of the Dow-Jones average”. Every earthly thing can be lost in a split-second, and think how said it would be to give one’s self, and perhaps one’s whole working life, to accomplish something which ultimately would fail and lose all its resources. Yet God notes there is one thing that will always hold its value, that is our faithfulness to Him, “knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
“Will evil finally prevail?”
Despite all our improvements and technology, man is not gaining any ground on keeping evil under control. Statistics seem only to show each generation showing more and more signs of moral decay. Education is not the answer, as someone noted, education does not eliminate crime; it merely enables the person to practice it with greater skill and sophistication. Yet, God reveals that evil will not prevail, and we all have the choice to move over to His side in this lifetime (Matthew 13:41-43).
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
