Doubt for most people starts with the first statement in the Bible:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

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God does not take away reasons to doubt and if we choose that path, we will find reason to doubt.  However, if we choose to believe, we will find many reasons to believe.

“God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith.

Steps to Christ, Page 105

Faith in Jesus is based on substance and evidence much like science.  It is not blind faith with which nothing to rest its case:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11: 1

Both the faith of the Atheist in evolution and the faith of the Christian in Creation is based on “evidence of things not seen.” None of us were there at the beginning of life.  We can’t observe it, put it in a bottle or test it in the lab.  All we can do is interpret the evidence as one would a crime scene.

The atheist and the unbeliever have assumptions regarding passage of time, the fossils, structure of animals, plants, etc, and their own reasoning powers, but it is evidence of things unseen.

In the end, the unbelieving scientists ask us to believe that order, complexity, and designed came from chaos and disorder.

The believer has evidence in the complexity of life; the claims of men who wrote the Bible; and their own reasoning powers.  There are intelligent men on both sides.  For every scientist that believes in evolution, there are many who do not. There are many who think by things they observe in nature that a 6 day creation is not only possible, but it is the only explanation for the beginning and  survival of life.

The unbeliever does not like to include a creator God as a possibility because of the other implications and responsibilities that come with it.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind…”

Romans 1: 28

Men choose to be willingly ignorant of things they don’t want to accept.

 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

2 Peter 3:5-7

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Many scientists try to separate faith in a Creator God with Science.  They set them up as opposing each other exclusively.  They try to show that science trumps anything spiritual or Biblical.  To believe in a literal 6 day creation defies science and therefore falls into the arena of faith.  But,  there are many very intelligent and accomplished scientists who believe in a literal 6 day creation.  There is a book you can read called,

In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation

There is a idea proposed by Michael Behe, a creation scientist, that makes a lot of sense.  It is called Irreducible Complexity.  Some scientist dismiss it, because it is a theory just like their grand theory of evolution.

The premise is that life is so complex that it could not evolved slowly and added parts along the way.  I once heard the story about the evolution of the porcupine.  It quills are reported to have “evolved” over millions of years as they were needed to protect itself from enemies.  But, how about all those years it did not have the quills?  How did it survive?  Why are they not extinct?

Irreducible Complexity states that the porcupine had to have  all the elements for life and  the quills at the same time.

Another example is your circulatory system of blood, heart, and vessels to carry the blood.  Which came first?  If the heart, then what did it pump?  If the blood, how did it move?  If the vessels, what was in it?

All had to be present at once in a body for life to work. The idea of parts being added as needed makes no sense.

Nature is probably the best place to look for the fingerprints of a grand Designer we call God. Paul wrote:

 ^“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…”

Romans 1:20

We can learn a lot about God by simply observing nature. The verse above says because of God’s creation, we have no excuse for not believing in Him.

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Self defeating statements and the law on non-contradiction.  

What does this mean?  Often people in haste to minimize or attempt to eliminate truth will say something that is self-defeating and contradicts their statement.  Here is an example:  Have you ever heard someone say, “There is no absolute truth.”

That is a contradictory statement.  To prove it, just ask the person, “Is your statement absolute truth?”  If they answer, “yes” then they confirm there is absolute truth.  If they answer “no” then they acknowledge that their statement is false and to be ignored.

The world is full of absolute truths.  We depend on these to fly planes, drive cars, and complete activities of living.  It is an absolute truth that taking all the blood out of body will kill me.  It is absolute truth that gravity keeps me from floating away.

Jesus absolute truth statements like this:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6

Jesus claims exclusive right to being the only way, the only truth.  He can do this because it is true and He has demonstrated the truth through God’s word and His resurrection.

There is logic behind belief in a Creator God and the power of absolute truth…even in spiritual things.  If you would like to learn more on this topic, I recommend the book,

“I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be an Atheist” 

by Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek

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The Routine and Passage of Time Leads to Doubt

The routine and passage of time is difficult for many to wrap their heads around. Billions of people before you were born, enjoyed their youth, lived, dreamed, took on a responsibility of a family and watched their own children grow old.  Then they died.  This cycle has continued for thousands of years.

It has been about 3,500 years since the opening verse of the Bible was penned.  The continuous cycle of life and death creates doubt about the promises of Jesus’ return, and the validity of God’s word.  In fact, this exact feeling is held by not only many Christians  today, but it was also in the thoughts of those only a few decades after Jesus left earth.  Peter wrote these words:

“First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you  and will ask, “He promised to come, didn’t he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!””

2 Peter 3: 3-4

This is a direct reference to the promise Jesus made to his disciples and all who would hear their message:

I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am.

John 14: 2-3

Paul wrote words of encouragement to those who thought Jesus was coming during their own life times.  But, they watched as fellow believers, friends, and family began to die.   It is one of my favorite passages of the Bible, because so much can be learned about the events of the 2nd coming and those who have died, particularly for those who “die in Christ.”

Our friends, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

However, today we hear a different sort of hope being offered that does not include the resurrection.

Today’s words of encouragement would be something like this, “Don’t worry, he is in heaven enjoying eternal bliss.” or “He is in heaven with his family now.”

But, this is not the words Paul used:

 We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him.

What we are teaching you now is the Lord’s teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. There will be the shout of command, the archangel’s voice, the sound of God’s trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. So then, ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18

The words of Paul, an apostle of Christ, used the Lord’s own teachings to give us hope that one day Jesus would return to the sound of loud trumpets. Then those believers who died years ago will be resurrected and if we are alive then, we will rise with them in the air and we will ever be with the Lord.  He will take us to where He is now.  Those are the words we are to use to encourage one another.

For those who don’t have this hope, life is simply reduced to what they can do in the time allotted to them, whether good, bad, or both.

A sovereign God does not view things or time as we do:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 55:8

do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2 Peter 3: 8

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 Conclusion:

There will always be reason to doubt, but this does not mean that you can’t have faith that moves mountains.  This faith comes first by searching and wanting to know the truth about Jesus.  Next, searching for truth in the book that claims to have have it will build a strong foundation upon which to rest your faith. Finally, by searching for Jesus you will find Him.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

But, let us never forget, that there are mysteries we might never know this side of eternity.

The word of God, like the character of its divine Author, presents mysteries that can never be fully comprehended by finite beings. The entrance of sin into the world, the incarnation of Christ, regeneration, the resurrection, and many other subjects presented in the Bible, are mysteries too deep for the human mind to explain, or even fully to comprehend. But we have no reason to doubt God’s word because we cannot understand the mysteries of His providence. In the natural world we are constantly surrounded with mysteries that we cannot fathom. The very humblest forms of life present a problem that the wisest of philosophers is powerless to explain. Everywhere are wonders beyond our ken. Should we then be surprised to find that in the spiritual world also there are mysteries that we cannot fathom? The difficulty lies solely in the weakness and narrowness of the human mind. God has given us in the Scriptures sufficient evidence of their divine character, and we are not to doubt His word because we cannot understand all the mysteries of His providence.

Steps to Christ, p. 106 and 107