Just This Once
Is There A God?
Thousands of books have been written on the subject and Philosophers have dedicated their entire lives to studying the question:
Is there a God?
Before we actually consider that question, it might be beneficial to first ask,
"Does it really matter?"
Think about it this way – Imagine that you walk up to the ocean and dip in a cup. The water in the cup represents the time period of your life here on this planet. Looking out in front of you, the water left in the ocean represents the time period of your physical death and absence from this world.
If there is a God, or such a thing as life after death, it only makes sense to believe that most people would be interested in learning about Him. Our fate throughout eternity is VERY important.
Does it really matter? OF COURSE IT DOES!
If you believe that there is a God and you turn out to be wrong, there was no harm done in this life. On the other hand, if you don’t believe that there is a God, or you never take time to explore the matter and you’re wrong, your life is lost.
This is the moment. Give me this opportunity to spark your curiosity and maybe, just maybe you’ll start to explore further in a way you’ve never done before and never thought you would.
The Compelling Argument for Creation
One of the more convincing arguments for the existence of God is called:
Design Theory.
Design Theory basically states that the complexity of life proves the existence
of a designer.
For example,
Consider the odds of a tornado tearing and winding its way into a junk yard and then through the wind, storm and a random assembling of parts, spontaneously producing a working model of the US Space Shuttle.
Sound impossible? Well the odds of that happening are about the same as the odds required for life on this planet to have developed by chance.
Now, imagine that you are walking through a desert region of a country. (insert picture of desert) Suddenly you see a flash of light reflecting from the sand. You quickly approach and reach down to lift up a beautiful quartz watch. It is running and is set to the correct time and date.
The unique thing about this particular watch has to do with its history and origin.
No one lost it. No one made it.
Rather, through a combination of the sun, wind and other elements of nature over a period of many years, the watch was formed in the sand and just worked. Then when it got to its perfect state, it stopped altering and changing its functions and just existed.
If right now you are thinking, “That sounds more like a fairy tale and has nothing to do with reality.” YOU’RE RIGHT!
However, if you can clearly see the flaw in the above two mentioned creation stories, you should also be able to conclude that the theories which insists that life on this planet came into being by chance is also nothing more than a fairy tale, as the odds of that occurring are about equal to the odds of the watch being formed in the sand.
The most logical conclusion is that somewhere along the line, in the development of life on this planet, a directing force, God, entered into the equation and brought forth order out of chaos.
Take a moment to consider how complex our bodies are in their function and construction. The body is composed of elements, minerals, cells, organs, issues, muscles, fat and fluids and every part of our body has its own job to do.
If even one organ stops functioning, death can result. Every part of our body is intricately designed to work together as a whole being. Our heart pumps blood through our bodies, delivering oxygen and nutrients to our other organs. Each organ, while serving its own purpose, is connected to our other organs and they all work in cooperation with each other to keep us alive. If our body starts to overheat, it’s got a built in cooler which causes us to sweat. When we eat, our bodies know how to separate out the nutrients it needs and use those nutrients and then dispose of waste and toxins.
Males and females – they are different, but come together for a purpose. Each one contains an element that must unite in order for life to be created.
Think about our eyes. The eye just might be the most complex part of the entire body. A vulnerable organ, on the outside our bodies were designed to protect the eyes with eyebrows, eyelashes and eyelids.
Eyebrows and eyelashes don’t just exist for aesthetically pleasing purposes. Both eyebrows and eyelashes help provide a kind of filter to keep debris out of your eye. Just like the filter in your air conditioner, or the screen on a window, it may not be perfect, but they put a protective layer between the external and internal elements and substantially only let in things that are safe.
When an object gets through to our eyes, that wasn’t intended to be there, our eyes tear up in an effort to wash away the foreign substance. They adjust for light and darkness and collect data that our brains translate into information for how we see the world around us.
This is not the place for a full discussion on the eye, but I certainly want you to take a moment and consider the complexity of the eye, how it functions, and how a random set of events (a tornado ripping through a junk yard) could possibly create something so intricate.
Yet that’s exactly what some creation stories ask you to accept as being true.
History
If God does exist then certainly there should be some historical record and some evidence of an interaction between Him (and I use the masculine pronoun without being gender specific, no offense ladies) and the creatures He caused to develop here on Earth. Even a child interacts with an ant farm and a master interacts with a pet. Where then, can interaction between God and mankind be found?
Certainly the answer is not found in religion. Religion is man-made. It’s each person’s interpretations of the rules that we must follow in this lifetime. Where those rules come from, I’m really not entirely sure. Many of them come from an incomplete reading and understanding of the Bible. People start to read a portion of the Bible and find somewhere that the Bible says not to eat meat and then without understanding the context of the instruction, they just assume people should not eat meat. This also causes many people to believe that the Bible contradicts itself, but again, for those people who believe that, they just have not studied the way the Bible is put together and how different generations of people were given different sets of instructions for their own health and safety.
Religions came into existence as individuals sought to reach out to the god they created based upon their culture, parents and a host of other social, economic and geographic factors concerning any particular individual. The god that is worshiped by that individual is most often a god of his or her own creation with rules and beliefs that support what they believe to be proper. Ever heard of someone who believes playing cards is evil? Or dancing is evil? Where exactly do those rules come from? That kind of god is no more than a "god in a box," that fits nicely into someone's own neatly formed point of view. Let me pause and say, that if this is you, you are entitled to your point of view, but most of the religious rules that are followed today have nothing to do with God, and are more a personal choice of how people chose to live their lives. But we’re not going to get into all those details right now, so back to the topic at hand.
In reality, it may be better to acknowledge that God, in His fullness, is beyond our limited ability to completely comprehend.
You could think of God like a diamond. A diamond has many facets and when the light hits it, brilliance shines forth.
There are people who dedicate their lives to studying diamonds and their construction and others seek out those professionals to ask opinions and learn about one of the most treasured gems in existence.
You could spend your whole life studying and seeking God and still only come to a partial understanding of a few of the facets that make up his fullness and the brilliance that shines forth from his being. No one in this lifetime will ever understand everything and if they tell you they do, don’t believe them.
It may also be helpful to think about what would happen if three blind men tried to describe an elephant from just one spot, if none of them had ever visually seen one before. From their relative positions, they would each explore the object in front of them:
All three of them could accurately describe what they learned about the elephant from their point of view, yet none of their views would create a complete picture. We as human begin to grope at God in the darkness and develop various points of view regarding Him.
This brings us back to the original question: If God exists, where is there evidence of His interaction with mankind?
There must be some kind of supernatural, miraculous event that stands out in history. It must be something truly unique that we can point to as being a reliable manifestation of God interacting with the race of man.
If you take time to research, you will discover that historical records, even outside the framework of "religious writings" show evidence that Jesus lived as a real person and was not just some mythical creation. Even heathen historians testify of His followers. If you think of other historical lessons, were you alive for the Revolutionary War? Were you alive when the United States Constitution was signed? Were you alive when the Wheel was invented? Of course not! All of those things happened thousands of years ago, but historically, the information gets passed forward. The closer in time the history, the easier it is to find the information. At first you may just hear what happened by word of mouth, then a written article and years down the road it might get printed in an encyclopedia. The point is, the older the record, the more difficult it is to find the historical information, but that doesn’t mean that the event didn’t happen.
Historical records show us that a man named Jesus existed, so the question becomes, can we determine that he more than just a man?
Jesus was apparently born a simple man, into the household of a carpenter. He became well known as a teacher, a charismatic leader and many people followed him. He was arrested as a heretic (someone who has opinions opposed to the general majority) and accused of leading an insurrection, (an uprising against authority and government) which ultimately brought about his execution.
This is not at all an uncommon series of events. Back in biblical times, many people were executed, but even so, unlike other martyred religious leaders, Jesus represented himself differently.
Other religious leaders of that time, taught their followers to be carbon copies of themselves as they sought a deeper relationship with god. Jesus on the other hand did not seek to have his followers do what he did. Instead he said things like "Where I am going, you cannot come." He also made some very astonishing claims about himself saying: "No man can enter heaven unless He comes in through me." "God and I are one" and "I will die and three days later rise from the dead."
Some people say that Jesus was nothing more than a "good man" or a "great prophet." I don’t know; it seems that either Jesus was crazy, or He was exactly what he made himself out to be:
Throughout history, many great spiritual leaders have emerged.
Confucius put together a group of thoughts about life, relationships and how things work. Yet he never made any supernatural claims about himself. In fact, most major historical religious leaders have refrained from making any miraculous claims about themselves. Also, every great religious leader throughout history has ended up like everyone else who has ever been born and lived without any miraculous claims. They have all ended up DEAD. There is one claimed exception: Jesus Christ is the only one who is said to have risen from the dead.
If he did indeed come back from the dead, then we have a reason to believe He was what he claimed to be. Furthermore, if he did come back from the dead, we have a reason to further explore what He taught. The key is in His claim that he would return from the dead. Once again volumes have been written on this subject, but to summarize the concept in a few short pages will be sufficient.
The people who were following Jesus believed that Jesus was the man who would lead their nation in victory over the oppressors. When they saw him arrested and condemned to death, they did as most of us would do - they feared for their lives! They even denied ever knowing him at all. When they gathered together after his death they met only in secret. Back in those days there was a promise of a coming Messiah who would save the people and they believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. Now he was dead. They were bewildered and perhaps even felt somewhat betrayed by him. From their own earthly perspective he had "let them down." Then something happened.
All of a sudden, this weak, fearful and discouraged little group of people became militant and bold. They stopped hiding in fear and shame. They started vocally proclaiming Jesus once again was the Messiah and declaring to everyone that he had risen from the grave. They did this openly and defiantly and for their actions they died horrible deaths and suffered unimaginable torture such as: being dragged by horses, impaled by swords, crucified upside down and even dropped alive into boiling oil.
These deaths are recorded historically, because all of these people did actually exist and were killed in brutal ways.
What could have possibly caused their change in attitude and action? Something must have happened to them. Something so dramatic and life changing that it took them from being defeated, fearful, whimpering weaklings to dramatic, dynamic, dogmatic warriors. What could possibly bring about such a drastic change? The solution seems obvious; they actually saw Jesus alive three days after they had seen him dead and buried.
Just prior to being crucified Jesus had been beaten to an unrecognizable bloody mess. Then he was whipped by leather straps with little lead balls on the ends till the flesh was ripped from his back. During His crucifixion, to ensure he was dead, He was stabbed with a spear allowing his bodily fluids to poor forth from him. He was brought down off the stake where he had been crucified and placed in a tomb, which was the traditional way back then, of burring the dead. If those types of injuries had not actually been fatal, which they certainly were, it would have taken weeks, months, perhaps even years for him to recover from them; NOT THREE DAYS.
He hadn't just been resuscitated, No! He had actually died and been resurrected from the dead.
Some people also claim that the disciples lied about seeing Him alive again, but for each of them to brutally die for such a lie, isolated and alone is too far-fetched to believe. How could so many people be willing to give up their lives for a lie? You may find one who’s willing, but these men were instantly transformed in character and outwardly declared that Jesus had been resurrected. So drastically changed that there’s only one conclusion that makes sense.
Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead just like he said he would be, and they saw him.
That identifies Jesus as being a definite point of interaction between the physical world and another - a supernatural world. It makes him a point of interaction between God and mankind. There may be or may have been other such points of interaction of which I am not aware, but at least this one, with Jesus Christ, is certain.
For me, this means He was and is exactly what He claimed to be, the resurrection proves it.
Most people have heard mention of “Adam and Eve in the Garden.” Just in case you’ve heard the names but not the story, it’s said that the devil convinced Eve to eat fruit from a tree that God had forbidden them to eat. It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil convince Eve that if she ate the fruit off that tree, she would not die, but instead, be like God. She ate the fruit and then went and also gave the fruit to her husband and he ate. Jesus then came to visit them and cursed all of mankind to death. Prior to that act, death wasn’t part of life, and historically you can find where people used to live many hundreds of years. Adam died at the age of 930 and other historical, Biblical figures of that time also died over 900 years old, but since then, people died substantially younger. Moses was 120, King David was only 70, and you know what the average life span is of people today.
Whether or not you believe the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the disobedient act that caused separation between God and mankind is at this point not really that important. A dog sometimes bites his master’s hand or a cat sharpens its claws on the new furniture. These kinds of acts can cause serious consequences, everything from a gentle “No!” to a cat’s claws being removed.
But, somewhere in the past there has been a separation created between God and mankind. It has strained the relationship between the two to the point of almost total alienation. As a result, Jesus said that those people who were members of this "wicked and adulterous generation" would be cast into "outer darkness" at a time of coming judgment.
The thought of being separated from God forever, or enduring some type of eternal punishment isn't a pleasant one. For that reason the concept of "hell" has been denied by many religious groups and many individuals. It is important once again to remember that the opinions of various religious groups are not to be taken too seriously by themselves, people like to make up the rules that fit into what they want to follow. You need to go to the source, study the situation, and make your own, educated decision. Since the only verifiable interaction point between God and mankind is Jesus Christ; and since he said that there would be some people who would depart into "everlasting fire" it becomes important to take what He said seriously. I personally would like to avoid such a fate and I assume, so would many other people.
An in-depth evaluation of the teachings of Jesus will bring you to an understanding of His mission. He came here to provide mankind with a way to avoid the perils of outer darkness and everlasting fire.
The Good News
You may never have heard it explained like this before, but what you’re about to read is the Gospel of Christ, presented in a way that you can understand. It’s something that you can share with those people who you want so desperately to believe.
Imagine you and a friend go out to a fine restaurant to eat. After the meal you discover that you don't have the money to pay the bill, maybe you forgot your wallet, maybe you lost it from your pocket, but it doesn’t matter, you can’t pay. There are two possible outcomes to consider in this situation:
The restaurant could call the police, or your friend could pay the bill for you.
Imagine that your friend does pay the bill. Now you no longer owe the restaurant, but instead you owe your friend. I’m sure you would apologize, tell your friend that you never want this sort of thing to happen again and ask your friend to forgive you. Your friend would then most likely accept your apology and perhaps even forgive the debt, not requiring that you pay back the amount you owe him at a later date. “My treat…”
Keep this story in mind as we move on to another one. Imagine yourself as a young child playing ball in the back yard. Suddenly you take a great swing with the bat and make perfect contact with the ball! You watch gleefully, but your joy turns to fear as the ball sails over the fence and breaks through your neighbor’s window.
As you could expect, your neighbor is angry and wants his window replaced. You however are a child and there is no way you can possibly pay such a debt. Then, just when it seems there is no way out, your older brother steps forward and tells the neighbor that he’ll pay for the damages in full. Your neighbor doesn't care who pays the debt, he just wants his window fixed. Once the broken window is fixed, your strained relationship with your neighbor is once again restored. On the other hand, now you owe your brother for the window. In all likelihood, because your brother loves you and knows that it isn't possible for you to repay him, when he hears you tell how sorry you are and hears you ask him to forgive you, He would say "Forget it, it's OK." He would probably even explain that you don't have to pay him back.
It is important to remember here that your brother has every right to forgive you. Your neighbor has been completely taken out of the situation. Your brother has personally taken care of the problem. That gives him the right and the power to forgive you if he chooses to do so.
Finally, imagine you are sitting at home and the phone rings. On the other end is a famous athlete, a real sports hero. You have seen this person play on TV. You have read about this person in the news, but you have never met him. He explains to you that he has a ticket for the big game tonight and he wants you to have it! He invites you to meet him at the gate, so you get ready, drive to the game and sure enough, there stands the star, waiting for you at the gate. He has one ticket in his hand. It is HIS TICKET. You come to the gate and he gives you his ticket so that you can go in to the game. Then, after he’s handed you the ticket, he turns to walk inside and the guard at the gate lets him go in anyway, without a ticket. After all, he is the star and he really doesn't need a ticket because they know him at the door.
So you say, “What do these three stories have to do with God, His relationship with mankind, or the work of Jesus Christ?”
Consider this. We all come into this world, God's creation. We go through this life as individuals with free will. Along the way we break God's rules. We accumulate a debt that we can't possibly pay. We owe our very lives to God and throughout life we develop a desire for something better; we hope for an opportunity to go from this world to a new and better life.
God in his infinite mercy has demonstrated a great love for mankind. Like an earthly parent to their child, when something goes wrong and the child misbehaves, the parent doesn’t stop loving the child. The Bible teaches that the consequence of sin is death. "Death" is supposed to be the result of disobedience. But God has provided a means of escaping that "death sentence" through the gift of Jesus Christ. Because of his unique birth and flawless life, Jesus Christ owed no debt to God. He broke no laws and therefore possessed the right to go forward from this world into an eternal life with God. Because he owed God nothing for himself, he possessed a "value" that could be used to pay for the disobedience of others - His perfect life! He then willingly allowed himself to be put to death in our place. God allowed our punishment to be placed upon him instead of us. He then was cast into darkness and tormented in separation from God.
Many people fail to realize that the Bible says Jesus "descended into hell" after his death. Three days and three nights later, because he truly didn't deserve to be there, God brought him back from the dead. He then went forward into the life with God that he deserved.
As our friend, He paid the price we owed to God for the life we partake of here on earth. As our brother He has restored the broken relationship we had with God. As the greatest "hero" who has ever lived, he offers to us "his ticket" to enter into a future life with God. Because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God and mankind have been reunited. We no longer owe God any debt. The debt has been paid in full. Our strained relationship has been reconciled. The "ticket" is in the hand of Jesus and He is standing at the gate, offering it to each one of us. This is certainly Good News! It is the true message of Christ!
The next question you should be asking yourself is,
"What do I need to do to get that ticket? How can I make sure that I can go forward into a future, better life with God?"
First of all, I can tell you that it has nothing to do with what you drink, how you dress, how you wear your hair, or any earthly physical, "fleshly," thing.
Don't get me wrong, God is very interested in how we live our lives, but as humans, we are weak and we fail. He knows this and doesn’t ask us to be perfect before we come to him. What is important to understand is that He alone will help you work through any problems that HE SEES with your life as you grow closer to Him. From the inside out He will help you change your life, but not based on what others are saying around you, based on what He sees. You need to work out the details of those changes with God, not man. He will change you into what He wants you to be as you grow spiritually, and it takes time.
Physical perfection here in the world is not the starting point in any relationship with God. Furthermore, man's definition of spiritual perfection is not the same as God's definition. This takes us back to the question, what do you need to do now? The starting point is simple- Just like a friend who apologizes for being unable to pay his restaurant bill, we need to apologize to Jesus Christ for our part in making him pay our debt to God. Just like a child would thank a brother for taking care of a problem with a broken window, we need to thank Jesus Christ for taking care of the problem of our broken relationship with God. Just like a fan might receive a ticket to the "big game" from a star athlete, we need to receive from Jesus Christ the right to enter into a new life with God.
Throughout history, the most relied upon means of communication with God on a Spiritual level has been through meditation and prayer. The same methods can be used today to communicate with God. In fact, as you develop a relationship with him, a prayer is just like any other conversation that you would have with a friend or your earthly parent. It doesn’t have to be some formal proceeding, however, when initially opening the communication lines, there are some foundational things that would be good to know. Just like when you call your parent and say, “Hi dad”, when you pray, you should address God. While the Bible gives many titles to God, we generally see in prayer, he is our Heavenly Father. The Bible also teaches that because of what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross, Jesus is our connection to God, and we pray through His name, so it would be good if at the end of your prayer, you say something like, “In Jesus name I pray…” the exact words in between are not as important and as you study, you’ll understand more about why these starting and ending addresses are a good idea, but for your first conversation, you should at least have some of the following elements. Say hello, say thank you, ask forgiveness, acknowledge the gift you’ve been given and close in thanks. If you have difficulty praying, here is an example of a prayer for you to read that will help get you started. Relax, take a deep breath and just read the following prayer, softly, out loud, as though you were standing face to face with our Savior, Jesus Christ!
"Father in Heaven, Thank you for Jesus. Lord Jesus, come into my life; forgive my sins; I am so sorry for the pain and suffering I put you through. I understand that for my sin and failures I should have died, but you paid the price to God for me. Please forgive me. I want to receive the gift of life you offer me and I thank God for bringing you back from the dead. You did not deserve to die. Thank you for everything you have done in my life. Please give me a place in Heaven with you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen"
That's it! That is all it takes to begin your new life! On the other hand if you've just read through that prayer like you've read the rest of these words, STOP, go back, and read it again, this time with sincerity. It is like turning on a light in a darkened room. You will never be the same again.
It is important for you to know that beginning a new life with Jesus Christ is a lot like planting a seed. A seed needs sunlight, warmth, and care in order to grow and flourish. The seed of Christ that is planted in those who receive Him needs similar things for it to grow also. A combination of studying the Bible, prayer, and regular contact with other faithful Christians in Church or Bible study will help provide you with what you need to grow spiritually. They will help you learn to walk in Faith, trusting God with every aspect of your life.
Don’t get too frustrated if it takes you some time to find a Church, Bible Study or group where you feel comfortable. Different churches have slightly different beliefs and traditions. That’s the “religion” part that I mentioned at the beginning. Religion has created many rules and ideas that it believes are important in this world. What’s really important is that you learn about the Bible. This will not happen overnight. In fact, the more you study it, even the same sections over and over, the more you will learn. Fifty years from now you will still be learning something new, because the Bible says that things are spiritually discerned. Which means that as our relationship with God grows, our eyes get opened to understand more and more.
While the Bible has many books in it, most of those books actually work together to tell a bigger story and that bigger story is what will take time to reveal. Also, as I mentioned earlier, just because you see a command in the Bible in one place, does not mean that command still exists today. God gave different instructions to people at different points in time; times BEFORE Jesus had died on the cross. We live in a different time today and today, Jesus has died on the cross and our instructions are to believe on him and ask for forgiveness.
Also be careful as you the read the Bible to notice who is speaking. People today like to quote parts of the Bible and use those parts to support various different beliefs or even use those parts to try and prove the Bible is wrong. The Bible is filled with many stories of things that happened historically, my prophesies of things that would happen, many saying of Jesus and his interactions with people, and there are human people who get quoted in the Bible, even Satan speaks in the Bible, and the things they say or believe may have been based on their circumstances and lack of understanding at that time. The devil may have been saying a lie on purpose to mislead someone. So before you jump on one part of something that is stated in the Bible, it’s important to understand what part of the Bible that statement comes from, who was speaking, who was the message for at that time, and what was that person’s understanding. No matter how insignificant you may think something is, everything in the Bible is there for a purpose. It just may take us our entire lives to figure some of it out and some of it we may never understand. So it’s just important that before you judge the Bible as being wrong, or contradicting itself, that you understand how the Bible is constructed, what each Book’s purpose is, who is speaking, who are they talking with and what’s the big picture.
You should also know, that if anyone has ever told you, or if you have ever heard that being a believer is easy, that’s not entirely true. See, before you pray and ask for forgiveness, the devil didn’t have a reason to care about you. Whether intentionally or not, you were on his side. After you pray, he’s upset and you may feel like everything starts going wrong. You may have family and friends think you’re crazy, you may feel like other things are going wrong, but don’t lose that faith, you will win in the end.
There are a handful of videos on my website that are meant to help answer some of the most common questions I get asked. For example, “If there really is a God, why do bad things still happen in the world?” and “What makes you think you’re so right?” I hope you’ll take time to go over and watch these videos and the others that are posted, they’re not long, but help clear up some of the questions that cause new believers to stumble or that put stumbling blocks in front of people who are exploring faith but haven’t yet taken that step. You can find those videos by clicking here, or by going to to the top of the page and following the link through to the "Videos" page.
I truly hope you enjoy your journey into a new life.
Thousands of books have been written on the subject and Philosophers have dedicated their entire lives to studying the question:
Is there a God?
Before we actually consider that question, it might be beneficial to first ask,
"Does it really matter?"
Think about it this way – Imagine that you walk up to the ocean and dip in a cup. The water in the cup represents the time period of your life here on this planet. Looking out in front of you, the water left in the ocean represents the time period of your physical death and absence from this world.
If there is a God, or such a thing as life after death, it only makes sense to believe that most people would be interested in learning about Him. Our fate throughout eternity is VERY important.
Does it really matter? OF COURSE IT DOES!
If you believe that there is a God and you turn out to be wrong, there was no harm done in this life. On the other hand, if you don’t believe that there is a God, or you never take time to explore the matter and you’re wrong, your life is lost.
This is the moment. Give me this opportunity to spark your curiosity and maybe, just maybe you’ll start to explore further in a way you’ve never done before and never thought you would.
The Compelling Argument for Creation
One of the more convincing arguments for the existence of God is called:
Design Theory.
Design Theory basically states that the complexity of life proves the existence
of a designer.
For example,
Consider the odds of a tornado tearing and winding its way into a junk yard and then through the wind, storm and a random assembling of parts, spontaneously producing a working model of the US Space Shuttle.
Sound impossible? Well the odds of that happening are about the same as the odds required for life on this planet to have developed by chance.
Now, imagine that you are walking through a desert region of a country. (insert picture of desert) Suddenly you see a flash of light reflecting from the sand. You quickly approach and reach down to lift up a beautiful quartz watch. It is running and is set to the correct time and date.
The unique thing about this particular watch has to do with its history and origin.
No one lost it. No one made it.
Rather, through a combination of the sun, wind and other elements of nature over a period of many years, the watch was formed in the sand and just worked. Then when it got to its perfect state, it stopped altering and changing its functions and just existed.
If right now you are thinking, “That sounds more like a fairy tale and has nothing to do with reality.” YOU’RE RIGHT!
However, if you can clearly see the flaw in the above two mentioned creation stories, you should also be able to conclude that the theories which insists that life on this planet came into being by chance is also nothing more than a fairy tale, as the odds of that occurring are about equal to the odds of the watch being formed in the sand.
The most logical conclusion is that somewhere along the line, in the development of life on this planet, a directing force, God, entered into the equation and brought forth order out of chaos.
Take a moment to consider how complex our bodies are in their function and construction. The body is composed of elements, minerals, cells, organs, issues, muscles, fat and fluids and every part of our body has its own job to do.
If even one organ stops functioning, death can result. Every part of our body is intricately designed to work together as a whole being. Our heart pumps blood through our bodies, delivering oxygen and nutrients to our other organs. Each organ, while serving its own purpose, is connected to our other organs and they all work in cooperation with each other to keep us alive. If our body starts to overheat, it’s got a built in cooler which causes us to sweat. When we eat, our bodies know how to separate out the nutrients it needs and use those nutrients and then dispose of waste and toxins.
Males and females – they are different, but come together for a purpose. Each one contains an element that must unite in order for life to be created.
Think about our eyes. The eye just might be the most complex part of the entire body. A vulnerable organ, on the outside our bodies were designed to protect the eyes with eyebrows, eyelashes and eyelids.
Eyebrows and eyelashes don’t just exist for aesthetically pleasing purposes. Both eyebrows and eyelashes help provide a kind of filter to keep debris out of your eye. Just like the filter in your air conditioner, or the screen on a window, it may not be perfect, but they put a protective layer between the external and internal elements and substantially only let in things that are safe.
When an object gets through to our eyes, that wasn’t intended to be there, our eyes tear up in an effort to wash away the foreign substance. They adjust for light and darkness and collect data that our brains translate into information for how we see the world around us.
This is not the place for a full discussion on the eye, but I certainly want you to take a moment and consider the complexity of the eye, how it functions, and how a random set of events (a tornado ripping through a junk yard) could possibly create something so intricate.
Yet that’s exactly what some creation stories ask you to accept as being true.
History
If God does exist then certainly there should be some historical record and some evidence of an interaction between Him (and I use the masculine pronoun without being gender specific, no offense ladies) and the creatures He caused to develop here on Earth. Even a child interacts with an ant farm and a master interacts with a pet. Where then, can interaction between God and mankind be found?
Certainly the answer is not found in religion. Religion is man-made. It’s each person’s interpretations of the rules that we must follow in this lifetime. Where those rules come from, I’m really not entirely sure. Many of them come from an incomplete reading and understanding of the Bible. People start to read a portion of the Bible and find somewhere that the Bible says not to eat meat and then without understanding the context of the instruction, they just assume people should not eat meat. This also causes many people to believe that the Bible contradicts itself, but again, for those people who believe that, they just have not studied the way the Bible is put together and how different generations of people were given different sets of instructions for their own health and safety.
Religions came into existence as individuals sought to reach out to the god they created based upon their culture, parents and a host of other social, economic and geographic factors concerning any particular individual. The god that is worshiped by that individual is most often a god of his or her own creation with rules and beliefs that support what they believe to be proper. Ever heard of someone who believes playing cards is evil? Or dancing is evil? Where exactly do those rules come from? That kind of god is no more than a "god in a box," that fits nicely into someone's own neatly formed point of view. Let me pause and say, that if this is you, you are entitled to your point of view, but most of the religious rules that are followed today have nothing to do with God, and are more a personal choice of how people chose to live their lives. But we’re not going to get into all those details right now, so back to the topic at hand.
In reality, it may be better to acknowledge that God, in His fullness, is beyond our limited ability to completely comprehend.
You could think of God like a diamond. A diamond has many facets and when the light hits it, brilliance shines forth.
There are people who dedicate their lives to studying diamonds and their construction and others seek out those professionals to ask opinions and learn about one of the most treasured gems in existence.
You could spend your whole life studying and seeking God and still only come to a partial understanding of a few of the facets that make up his fullness and the brilliance that shines forth from his being. No one in this lifetime will ever understand everything and if they tell you they do, don’t believe them.
It may also be helpful to think about what would happen if three blind men tried to describe an elephant from just one spot, if none of them had ever visually seen one before. From their relative positions, they would each explore the object in front of them:
- One would probably insist that the elephant was like a large hose, as he was the one touching its trunk.
- The second may insist that the elephant was like a feather, as he was the one touching its tail.
- The third could think that the elephant was like a wall, as he was the one touching its side.
All three of them could accurately describe what they learned about the elephant from their point of view, yet none of their views would create a complete picture. We as human begin to grope at God in the darkness and develop various points of view regarding Him.
This brings us back to the original question: If God exists, where is there evidence of His interaction with mankind?
There must be some kind of supernatural, miraculous event that stands out in history. It must be something truly unique that we can point to as being a reliable manifestation of God interacting with the race of man.
If you take time to research, you will discover that historical records, even outside the framework of "religious writings" show evidence that Jesus lived as a real person and was not just some mythical creation. Even heathen historians testify of His followers. If you think of other historical lessons, were you alive for the Revolutionary War? Were you alive when the United States Constitution was signed? Were you alive when the Wheel was invented? Of course not! All of those things happened thousands of years ago, but historically, the information gets passed forward. The closer in time the history, the easier it is to find the information. At first you may just hear what happened by word of mouth, then a written article and years down the road it might get printed in an encyclopedia. The point is, the older the record, the more difficult it is to find the historical information, but that doesn’t mean that the event didn’t happen.
Historical records show us that a man named Jesus existed, so the question becomes, can we determine that he more than just a man?
Jesus was apparently born a simple man, into the household of a carpenter. He became well known as a teacher, a charismatic leader and many people followed him. He was arrested as a heretic (someone who has opinions opposed to the general majority) and accused of leading an insurrection, (an uprising against authority and government) which ultimately brought about his execution.
This is not at all an uncommon series of events. Back in biblical times, many people were executed, but even so, unlike other martyred religious leaders, Jesus represented himself differently.
Other religious leaders of that time, taught their followers to be carbon copies of themselves as they sought a deeper relationship with god. Jesus on the other hand did not seek to have his followers do what he did. Instead he said things like "Where I am going, you cannot come." He also made some very astonishing claims about himself saying: "No man can enter heaven unless He comes in through me." "God and I are one" and "I will die and three days later rise from the dead."
Some people say that Jesus was nothing more than a "good man" or a "great prophet." I don’t know; it seems that either Jesus was crazy, or He was exactly what he made himself out to be:
Throughout history, many great spiritual leaders have emerged.
Confucius put together a group of thoughts about life, relationships and how things work. Yet he never made any supernatural claims about himself. In fact, most major historical religious leaders have refrained from making any miraculous claims about themselves. Also, every great religious leader throughout history has ended up like everyone else who has ever been born and lived without any miraculous claims. They have all ended up DEAD. There is one claimed exception: Jesus Christ is the only one who is said to have risen from the dead.
If he did indeed come back from the dead, then we have a reason to believe He was what he claimed to be. Furthermore, if he did come back from the dead, we have a reason to further explore what He taught. The key is in His claim that he would return from the dead. Once again volumes have been written on this subject, but to summarize the concept in a few short pages will be sufficient.
The people who were following Jesus believed that Jesus was the man who would lead their nation in victory over the oppressors. When they saw him arrested and condemned to death, they did as most of us would do - they feared for their lives! They even denied ever knowing him at all. When they gathered together after his death they met only in secret. Back in those days there was a promise of a coming Messiah who would save the people and they believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. Now he was dead. They were bewildered and perhaps even felt somewhat betrayed by him. From their own earthly perspective he had "let them down." Then something happened.
All of a sudden, this weak, fearful and discouraged little group of people became militant and bold. They stopped hiding in fear and shame. They started vocally proclaiming Jesus once again was the Messiah and declaring to everyone that he had risen from the grave. They did this openly and defiantly and for their actions they died horrible deaths and suffered unimaginable torture such as: being dragged by horses, impaled by swords, crucified upside down and even dropped alive into boiling oil.
These deaths are recorded historically, because all of these people did actually exist and were killed in brutal ways.
What could have possibly caused their change in attitude and action? Something must have happened to them. Something so dramatic and life changing that it took them from being defeated, fearful, whimpering weaklings to dramatic, dynamic, dogmatic warriors. What could possibly bring about such a drastic change? The solution seems obvious; they actually saw Jesus alive three days after they had seen him dead and buried.
Just prior to being crucified Jesus had been beaten to an unrecognizable bloody mess. Then he was whipped by leather straps with little lead balls on the ends till the flesh was ripped from his back. During His crucifixion, to ensure he was dead, He was stabbed with a spear allowing his bodily fluids to poor forth from him. He was brought down off the stake where he had been crucified and placed in a tomb, which was the traditional way back then, of burring the dead. If those types of injuries had not actually been fatal, which they certainly were, it would have taken weeks, months, perhaps even years for him to recover from them; NOT THREE DAYS.
He hadn't just been resuscitated, No! He had actually died and been resurrected from the dead.
Some people also claim that the disciples lied about seeing Him alive again, but for each of them to brutally die for such a lie, isolated and alone is too far-fetched to believe. How could so many people be willing to give up their lives for a lie? You may find one who’s willing, but these men were instantly transformed in character and outwardly declared that Jesus had been resurrected. So drastically changed that there’s only one conclusion that makes sense.
Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead just like he said he would be, and they saw him.
That identifies Jesus as being a definite point of interaction between the physical world and another - a supernatural world. It makes him a point of interaction between God and mankind. There may be or may have been other such points of interaction of which I am not aware, but at least this one, with Jesus Christ, is certain.
For me, this means He was and is exactly what He claimed to be, the resurrection proves it.
Most people have heard mention of “Adam and Eve in the Garden.” Just in case you’ve heard the names but not the story, it’s said that the devil convinced Eve to eat fruit from a tree that God had forbidden them to eat. It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil convince Eve that if she ate the fruit off that tree, she would not die, but instead, be like God. She ate the fruit and then went and also gave the fruit to her husband and he ate. Jesus then came to visit them and cursed all of mankind to death. Prior to that act, death wasn’t part of life, and historically you can find where people used to live many hundreds of years. Adam died at the age of 930 and other historical, Biblical figures of that time also died over 900 years old, but since then, people died substantially younger. Moses was 120, King David was only 70, and you know what the average life span is of people today.
Whether or not you believe the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the disobedient act that caused separation between God and mankind is at this point not really that important. A dog sometimes bites his master’s hand or a cat sharpens its claws on the new furniture. These kinds of acts can cause serious consequences, everything from a gentle “No!” to a cat’s claws being removed.
But, somewhere in the past there has been a separation created between God and mankind. It has strained the relationship between the two to the point of almost total alienation. As a result, Jesus said that those people who were members of this "wicked and adulterous generation" would be cast into "outer darkness" at a time of coming judgment.
The thought of being separated from God forever, or enduring some type of eternal punishment isn't a pleasant one. For that reason the concept of "hell" has been denied by many religious groups and many individuals. It is important once again to remember that the opinions of various religious groups are not to be taken too seriously by themselves, people like to make up the rules that fit into what they want to follow. You need to go to the source, study the situation, and make your own, educated decision. Since the only verifiable interaction point between God and mankind is Jesus Christ; and since he said that there would be some people who would depart into "everlasting fire" it becomes important to take what He said seriously. I personally would like to avoid such a fate and I assume, so would many other people.
An in-depth evaluation of the teachings of Jesus will bring you to an understanding of His mission. He came here to provide mankind with a way to avoid the perils of outer darkness and everlasting fire.
The Good News
You may never have heard it explained like this before, but what you’re about to read is the Gospel of Christ, presented in a way that you can understand. It’s something that you can share with those people who you want so desperately to believe.
Imagine you and a friend go out to a fine restaurant to eat. After the meal you discover that you don't have the money to pay the bill, maybe you forgot your wallet, maybe you lost it from your pocket, but it doesn’t matter, you can’t pay. There are two possible outcomes to consider in this situation:
The restaurant could call the police, or your friend could pay the bill for you.
Imagine that your friend does pay the bill. Now you no longer owe the restaurant, but instead you owe your friend. I’m sure you would apologize, tell your friend that you never want this sort of thing to happen again and ask your friend to forgive you. Your friend would then most likely accept your apology and perhaps even forgive the debt, not requiring that you pay back the amount you owe him at a later date. “My treat…”
Keep this story in mind as we move on to another one. Imagine yourself as a young child playing ball in the back yard. Suddenly you take a great swing with the bat and make perfect contact with the ball! You watch gleefully, but your joy turns to fear as the ball sails over the fence and breaks through your neighbor’s window.
As you could expect, your neighbor is angry and wants his window replaced. You however are a child and there is no way you can possibly pay such a debt. Then, just when it seems there is no way out, your older brother steps forward and tells the neighbor that he’ll pay for the damages in full. Your neighbor doesn't care who pays the debt, he just wants his window fixed. Once the broken window is fixed, your strained relationship with your neighbor is once again restored. On the other hand, now you owe your brother for the window. In all likelihood, because your brother loves you and knows that it isn't possible for you to repay him, when he hears you tell how sorry you are and hears you ask him to forgive you, He would say "Forget it, it's OK." He would probably even explain that you don't have to pay him back.
It is important to remember here that your brother has every right to forgive you. Your neighbor has been completely taken out of the situation. Your brother has personally taken care of the problem. That gives him the right and the power to forgive you if he chooses to do so.
Finally, imagine you are sitting at home and the phone rings. On the other end is a famous athlete, a real sports hero. You have seen this person play on TV. You have read about this person in the news, but you have never met him. He explains to you that he has a ticket for the big game tonight and he wants you to have it! He invites you to meet him at the gate, so you get ready, drive to the game and sure enough, there stands the star, waiting for you at the gate. He has one ticket in his hand. It is HIS TICKET. You come to the gate and he gives you his ticket so that you can go in to the game. Then, after he’s handed you the ticket, he turns to walk inside and the guard at the gate lets him go in anyway, without a ticket. After all, he is the star and he really doesn't need a ticket because they know him at the door.
So you say, “What do these three stories have to do with God, His relationship with mankind, or the work of Jesus Christ?”
Consider this. We all come into this world, God's creation. We go through this life as individuals with free will. Along the way we break God's rules. We accumulate a debt that we can't possibly pay. We owe our very lives to God and throughout life we develop a desire for something better; we hope for an opportunity to go from this world to a new and better life.
God in his infinite mercy has demonstrated a great love for mankind. Like an earthly parent to their child, when something goes wrong and the child misbehaves, the parent doesn’t stop loving the child. The Bible teaches that the consequence of sin is death. "Death" is supposed to be the result of disobedience. But God has provided a means of escaping that "death sentence" through the gift of Jesus Christ. Because of his unique birth and flawless life, Jesus Christ owed no debt to God. He broke no laws and therefore possessed the right to go forward from this world into an eternal life with God. Because he owed God nothing for himself, he possessed a "value" that could be used to pay for the disobedience of others - His perfect life! He then willingly allowed himself to be put to death in our place. God allowed our punishment to be placed upon him instead of us. He then was cast into darkness and tormented in separation from God.
Many people fail to realize that the Bible says Jesus "descended into hell" after his death. Three days and three nights later, because he truly didn't deserve to be there, God brought him back from the dead. He then went forward into the life with God that he deserved.
As our friend, He paid the price we owed to God for the life we partake of here on earth. As our brother He has restored the broken relationship we had with God. As the greatest "hero" who has ever lived, he offers to us "his ticket" to enter into a future life with God. Because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God and mankind have been reunited. We no longer owe God any debt. The debt has been paid in full. Our strained relationship has been reconciled. The "ticket" is in the hand of Jesus and He is standing at the gate, offering it to each one of us. This is certainly Good News! It is the true message of Christ!
The next question you should be asking yourself is,
"What do I need to do to get that ticket? How can I make sure that I can go forward into a future, better life with God?"
First of all, I can tell you that it has nothing to do with what you drink, how you dress, how you wear your hair, or any earthly physical, "fleshly," thing.
Don't get me wrong, God is very interested in how we live our lives, but as humans, we are weak and we fail. He knows this and doesn’t ask us to be perfect before we come to him. What is important to understand is that He alone will help you work through any problems that HE SEES with your life as you grow closer to Him. From the inside out He will help you change your life, but not based on what others are saying around you, based on what He sees. You need to work out the details of those changes with God, not man. He will change you into what He wants you to be as you grow spiritually, and it takes time.
Physical perfection here in the world is not the starting point in any relationship with God. Furthermore, man's definition of spiritual perfection is not the same as God's definition. This takes us back to the question, what do you need to do now? The starting point is simple- Just like a friend who apologizes for being unable to pay his restaurant bill, we need to apologize to Jesus Christ for our part in making him pay our debt to God. Just like a child would thank a brother for taking care of a problem with a broken window, we need to thank Jesus Christ for taking care of the problem of our broken relationship with God. Just like a fan might receive a ticket to the "big game" from a star athlete, we need to receive from Jesus Christ the right to enter into a new life with God.
Throughout history, the most relied upon means of communication with God on a Spiritual level has been through meditation and prayer. The same methods can be used today to communicate with God. In fact, as you develop a relationship with him, a prayer is just like any other conversation that you would have with a friend or your earthly parent. It doesn’t have to be some formal proceeding, however, when initially opening the communication lines, there are some foundational things that would be good to know. Just like when you call your parent and say, “Hi dad”, when you pray, you should address God. While the Bible gives many titles to God, we generally see in prayer, he is our Heavenly Father. The Bible also teaches that because of what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross, Jesus is our connection to God, and we pray through His name, so it would be good if at the end of your prayer, you say something like, “In Jesus name I pray…” the exact words in between are not as important and as you study, you’ll understand more about why these starting and ending addresses are a good idea, but for your first conversation, you should at least have some of the following elements. Say hello, say thank you, ask forgiveness, acknowledge the gift you’ve been given and close in thanks. If you have difficulty praying, here is an example of a prayer for you to read that will help get you started. Relax, take a deep breath and just read the following prayer, softly, out loud, as though you were standing face to face with our Savior, Jesus Christ!
"Father in Heaven, Thank you for Jesus. Lord Jesus, come into my life; forgive my sins; I am so sorry for the pain and suffering I put you through. I understand that for my sin and failures I should have died, but you paid the price to God for me. Please forgive me. I want to receive the gift of life you offer me and I thank God for bringing you back from the dead. You did not deserve to die. Thank you for everything you have done in my life. Please give me a place in Heaven with you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen"
That's it! That is all it takes to begin your new life! On the other hand if you've just read through that prayer like you've read the rest of these words, STOP, go back, and read it again, this time with sincerity. It is like turning on a light in a darkened room. You will never be the same again.
It is important for you to know that beginning a new life with Jesus Christ is a lot like planting a seed. A seed needs sunlight, warmth, and care in order to grow and flourish. The seed of Christ that is planted in those who receive Him needs similar things for it to grow also. A combination of studying the Bible, prayer, and regular contact with other faithful Christians in Church or Bible study will help provide you with what you need to grow spiritually. They will help you learn to walk in Faith, trusting God with every aspect of your life.
Don’t get too frustrated if it takes you some time to find a Church, Bible Study or group where you feel comfortable. Different churches have slightly different beliefs and traditions. That’s the “religion” part that I mentioned at the beginning. Religion has created many rules and ideas that it believes are important in this world. What’s really important is that you learn about the Bible. This will not happen overnight. In fact, the more you study it, even the same sections over and over, the more you will learn. Fifty years from now you will still be learning something new, because the Bible says that things are spiritually discerned. Which means that as our relationship with God grows, our eyes get opened to understand more and more.
While the Bible has many books in it, most of those books actually work together to tell a bigger story and that bigger story is what will take time to reveal. Also, as I mentioned earlier, just because you see a command in the Bible in one place, does not mean that command still exists today. God gave different instructions to people at different points in time; times BEFORE Jesus had died on the cross. We live in a different time today and today, Jesus has died on the cross and our instructions are to believe on him and ask for forgiveness.
Also be careful as you the read the Bible to notice who is speaking. People today like to quote parts of the Bible and use those parts to support various different beliefs or even use those parts to try and prove the Bible is wrong. The Bible is filled with many stories of things that happened historically, my prophesies of things that would happen, many saying of Jesus and his interactions with people, and there are human people who get quoted in the Bible, even Satan speaks in the Bible, and the things they say or believe may have been based on their circumstances and lack of understanding at that time. The devil may have been saying a lie on purpose to mislead someone. So before you jump on one part of something that is stated in the Bible, it’s important to understand what part of the Bible that statement comes from, who was speaking, who was the message for at that time, and what was that person’s understanding. No matter how insignificant you may think something is, everything in the Bible is there for a purpose. It just may take us our entire lives to figure some of it out and some of it we may never understand. So it’s just important that before you judge the Bible as being wrong, or contradicting itself, that you understand how the Bible is constructed, what each Book’s purpose is, who is speaking, who are they talking with and what’s the big picture.
You should also know, that if anyone has ever told you, or if you have ever heard that being a believer is easy, that’s not entirely true. See, before you pray and ask for forgiveness, the devil didn’t have a reason to care about you. Whether intentionally or not, you were on his side. After you pray, he’s upset and you may feel like everything starts going wrong. You may have family and friends think you’re crazy, you may feel like other things are going wrong, but don’t lose that faith, you will win in the end.
There are a handful of videos on my website that are meant to help answer some of the most common questions I get asked. For example, “If there really is a God, why do bad things still happen in the world?” and “What makes you think you’re so right?” I hope you’ll take time to go over and watch these videos and the others that are posted, they’re not long, but help clear up some of the questions that cause new believers to stumble or that put stumbling blocks in front of people who are exploring faith but haven’t yet taken that step. You can find those videos by clicking here, or by going to to the top of the page and following the link through to the "Videos" page.
I truly hope you enjoy your journey into a new life.
Header Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
