In Part 1, nine barriers to belief were described. There are more, but those probably cover almost all the excuses to believe in a Creator God. I, personally, used several of them (if not all) when I was an atheist. If you haven’t read Part 1, please stop here and go back to our first discussion.
In Part 1, the logical question was asked:
“What do you need to believe in a Creator God?
Most unbelievers hardly ever consider this question. Since they can’t see a physical form or hear a literal voice, belief in God takes a backseat to the things of earth that can be seen. The catchphrase, “If I can see it, I won’t believe it” is the rule.
Generally, this is not a bad rule to live by, but it can’t be all-encompassing because we believe things we can’t see every day. Here are a couple of simple examples:
We can’t see wind, but that doesn’t keep us from believing there is wind and using it to our advantage. In other words, we believe there is wind because we see the effects, e.g., trees bending, leaves and paper being scattered, a roof blown away by a strong wind, etc. This would be circumstantial evidence. No one knows its origin or its creation, but we know it’s there.
We couldn’t see the virus vaccine injected into our arms when we got the COVID shot. It took much faith to believe in its existence and the scientific studies to show it would protect us from the effects of the virus, not to mention the faith we had to exercise regarding the quality control of the manufacturers, suppliers, and the ability of the doctors to inject me correctly. We couldn’t see every point in its delivery to us, but we believed it. Some people’s lack of faith led them in the opposite direction.
The “I can’t see Him” excuse is hypocritical; at the least, since we often exercise faith in things, we can’t see without worrying too much about it.
The last article made this critical point:
If you don’t want to believe in a Creator God, you can find many personal excuses to be an unbeliever.
Consequently, a search will likely never be executed. But if you want to know the truth about anything, you will search for it. In some cases, it will take priority over all the other menial things in your life.
In Part 1, we learned that there is substance and evidence to provide a basis for belief and faith in God. Paul wrote this significant passage about faith. It is not blind!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
This doesn’t sound like someone closing their eyes and chanting, “I do believe. I do believe,” to work up faith. Real confidence in the existence of God is based on proof and not just a mental exercise and personal feelings. You can’t “whip up” faith. There is nothing wrong with searching for proof of God’s existence…If you want it.
In the article following this one, we will explore the circumstantial evidence. But I want to cut right to the heart of the matter. It has to do with hard evidence that could be used in court.
Jesus and The Old Testament:
The first hard evidence is Jesus: He is either all He and the disciples claimed, or He pulled off the biggest scam in world history. When I first started to explore the Bible and ancient history, this derogatory statement about deception was my platform to attempt to prove to my Christian wife that she was fooled into believing in Jesus.
I can hear you saying, “Men wrote the Bible to control people.” I felt the same. We could add this to the excuses described in Part 1, but how do we know if we never investigated it to begin with? Often, we, as humans, believe the reasoning of someone else and rest our faith in his or her words. This is also a fault of believers.
If you are still with me, let’s go to the number 1 hard proof of God’s existence and His character:
Jesus, the Messiah, is described many times in the Old Testament, written hundreds of years before He came on the scene. I was surprised by this discovery because I thought He was the product of some idealistic New Testament disciples:
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Luke 24: 44-45
Let’s examine this closely. First, the setting for this passage was the third day after the Friday resurrection (33 AD). On the first day of the week (Sunday evening), when Jesus appeared, for the first time, to the cowering, fearful disciples hiding behind closed doors. They were terrified of dying the same way as Jesus (crucifixion). But then, Jesus suddenly stands before them!
Then, the same day in the evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:19
After eating broiled fish and honeycomb (See Luke 24: 41-43), Jesus gave the disciples a Bible study.
…He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Luke 24:45
Jesus then proceeded to show how all the things written in the three divisions of the Old Testament, or Tanakh (as the Jewish people call it today), were fulfilled or will be fulfilled about Him.
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
Luke 24:44
The three divisions of the Old Testament Jesus mentioned are:
- Law of Moses-The first five books: (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Jesus is there in promises to Adam, Eve, Jacob, Esau, Abraham, and all the others. He is also the point of the sacrificial laws and allegorical stories about Him, such as the story about Joseph.
- The Prophets: This includes the books of all the major and minor prophets, starting with Isaiah through Malachi (the last book of the Tanakh). 16 books of the Bible written over hundreds of years by different authors. They didn’t write philosophy; they wrote what they saw, and there was little possibility of collaboration or scheming.
- Psalms: This includes not only the book of Psalms but also the poetic book of Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes Proverbs.
What a Bible Study that would have been! The disciples had all the hard evidence of witnesses by seeing and eating with Jesus, the Creator God in human flesh (See John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1). In addition, they were briefed on the mysteries about Jesus that they couldn’t see in the Tankah. This is a point to remember. Real faith (belief and trust) will come when we study the Word of God, particularly the prophecies:
So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.
Romans 10:16-18 (CSB)
Your faith will either grow or diminish based on how much serious time you spend studying and contemplating God’s word. A little time in God’s word equals a little faith. Much time in God’s word equals much faith. It will grow strong and rooted if you exercise what you have learned.
An interesting note here is that Jesus had given this same Bible study earlier in the day to two discouraged disciples on their way to Emmaus. Jesus suddenly appeared (walking up from behind) as a stranger. Later in the evening, He revealed Himself to them at the evening meal. Based on the distance traveled, this Tanakh study likely lasted about three hours—the approximate time for a casual, thoughtful walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus (about 7 miles). You can read the complete account of this Bible study as they walked in Luke 24: 13-35. Here are just a couple of highlights:
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know Him.
These disciples were so discouraged! The eyes filled with discouragement can not see Jesus. The two travelers do not recognize him. The One they had placed all their trust in and hope had been nailed to a rough Roman cross! They were leaving the city of discouragement (Jerusalem) and traveling to Emmaus to start their lives over. Then, without praying, only indulging in their self-pity and discouraging conversation, Jesus suddenly appears from behind.
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded (explained) to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
v. 25-27
Jesus gently reminds them that they had failed to believe the prophets when they spoke about His sufferings. As good Jews, they expected the Messiah to be a commander of an army who would free Israel from their enemies, in particular Rome. Sometimes, we want the Bible to say what we want it to say. We want a Messiah on a white horse to come to free us from oppression! To clear up their misunderstanding, Jesus gives these two disciples a Bible study about “Himself,” starting with Moses (The first five books of the Old Testament) and the Prophets (16 books of prophecy written over hundreds of years!).
A subtle point in this story is the care Jesus has for a small audience of two people. He is very personable, addressing our own personal discouragements! Also, we don’t find these two men praying. Instead, they were extremely downcast and talked about it openly. Misery loves company. Then Jesus shows up from behind them. He sneaks upon them! They were not expecting anyone. Sometimes, God knows what we need to get us out of the funk. He does it when you least expect it. But spending time learning from God’s word about Jesus will lift your spirits as it did with these men. They exclaimed:
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
v.32
Our hearts are not encouraged by religious creeds, cermonies, and traditions…only Jesus and the scriptures do we find the soul’s satisfaction.
Author
A word of encouragement to those who are at their lowest in worrying and doubt: this is when Jesus will suddenly appear…without any pleading prayer. Not in a large group, but just you. Why? Because He knows your specific need and what you must do to find peace. He loves you deeply! In our darkest hour, Jesus can be the nearest to us, unseen as a stranger, ready to give you the words of life. Just listen and be revived by His presence. Then, seek to know Him more.
The point is that Jesus is not just another prophet or good person. His advent was predicted by at least 48 major prophecies found in the Old Testament. There are more, but we will start here. The odds of Jesus fulfilling just eight prophecies are astronomical, aka as impossible unless it is 100% accurate:
- Born in Bethlehem,
- Preceded by a Messenger,
- Enter Jerusalem on a Donkey,
- Betrayed by a friend,
- Sold for 30 pieces of silver,
- Money is thrown into God’s house and used to buy the Potter’s field,
- Silent before His accusers and
- Crucified between two thieves
The odds of accidental or planned events by just one man are 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That number is 100 quadrillion.
If you include the 48 major prophecies, the odds are 1 in 10 with 157 zeroes behind it.
Eyewitnesses
There were many eyewitnesses of Jesus’ activities at His first coming to the earth. The disciples created a case for Christ. They saw and touched Jesus. Here are a few examples of their case statements:
John:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
1 John 1:1
Note: John describes Jesus as the “Word” in his gospel (See John 1: 1-18). In this passage, we learn about the divinity of Jesus as the Creator!
Peter:
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we told you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
2 Peter 1:16
Unlike circumstantial evidence, there were many eyewitnesses!
Doubting Thomas
Thomas had separated himself from the other disciples for eight days. When they finally saw him again, the believing disciples said,
We have seen the Lord!”
John 20:25a
But Thomas was like most of us, i.e., “I won’t believe unless I see Him myself.”
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20: 25b
Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord’ and my God!”
John 20: 27-28
Thomas was finally satisfied by what he saw. He had found His Lord and God. Jesus encourages us who have not seen as did Thomas:
“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:29
We may not be able to see Jesus and have the people’s direct experience of Jesus’ day, but we have enough reasons to believe the testimony of those who did. There are even more than just His disciples who experienced Jesus in person!
Paul and the Other Disciples, Plus More Than 500 People, Saw the Resurrected Jesus!
The converted religious zealot, Paul, summarizes the eyewitness accounts described above in his letter to the Corinthians many years after the resurrection:
“…He was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas (one of the disciples walking to Emmaus), and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also….
1 Corinthians 15: 4-8
Often, people who are religious need an encounter with Jesus to make their religion real and valuable to others. Just because someone goes to church and is active in it does not make their experience real.
Conclusion
It is in Jesus that we can find hard evidence of the existence and, more importantly, the true character of God. The prophecies tell of His first and second coming. The second coming prophecies are just as numerous as the first!) Most have already been fulfilled. Even the conditions of the last generation are described in detail. There is no other religious man, god, or self-proclaimed deity/philosophy with prophecies fulfilled precisely and clearly as written by multiple prophets than Jesus.
There were many eyewitness accounts of Jesus and the events of His life on earth. Because of what they saw, especially the resurrected Jesus, they went from fearful, discouraged unbelievers to men and women who proclaimed Jesus boldly, even to the point of torture and death.
If you want to know what the Creator God looks and acts like, look to Jesus. The doubting Phillip wanted to see God the Father. He said that would be enough for the other doubting disciples.
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…
John 14: 8,9
The character of love, compassion, forgiveness, and sacrifice of God the Father can be seen in the life of Jesus! They don’t have different personalities. Jesus said,
“I and the Father are one.”
John 10:30
Learning about Jesus is a study of a lifetime. So you have plenty of material. This material includes nature and the life we see around us.
Next time, we will examine the circumstantial evidence of God’s existence in what we see daily. Until then, the question remains,
“What will it take for you to believe in God?”
But just believing He exists is not enough. At some point, as you seek His guidance, you will learn to trust in Him and take Him at His word. As a result, you will find fellowship and peace in Him.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Peace, I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27
Won’t you start that journey today? Contact me if you have questions or if I can help in any way.
Eddie
