IDK :: Knowing God Exists
Tonight, we are beginning a series called IDK that we will come back to a few times this semester, where we’re discussing tough questions people have about God and faith. I want to look at one of the big questions that people who don’t believe in God—and even many people who do believe in God—ask.
Tonight, I want us to look at this question: How can I know that God exists? Maybe you have asked this question. I want to say up front: it is OK to ask this question. Part of developing a strong relationship with God involves asking questions.
Before we look at if we can know God exists, I want to look at a few passages in the Bible that talk about people who deny that God exists. Maybe you have friends or neighbors or even family members who don’t think God actually exists. Let’s look at some passages about them.
Psalm 53:1
1: The fool says in his heart, there is no God.
I don’t want you to walk up to your friend and call him or her a fool for not believing in God. But this verse shows that they are missing out on true life by foolishly denying the existence of God.
Now, I want to look at a passage in the New Testament, in Romans 1. These words are so true of our culture today:
Romans 1:18–20
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, or clearly perceived from the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
In this passage, the apostle Paul writes that “humans suppress the truth.” This word “suppress” means to prevent. So people are preventing themselves from knowing the truth. This means that many people today reject the idea that God exists. And this has been happening for thousands of years.
But look closely at this passage. Paul is saying that no one is without excuse. Everyone, at some point in their lives, will plainly see that God does exist … yet, they reject this truth. They see it and then act as if it didn’t happen. This passage ends by saying, “People are without excuse.” God has revealed Himself to everyone, and yet people suppress this truth and ignore Him.
I mention all of this so that you will realize that for the rest of your life, people who you work with, go to school with, and hang with will deny that God exists. And you have a mission. I’m not telling you to argue with them or debate them, but you can be a witness for God to them through your words, beliefs, and actions. Maybe, some of these people who ignore that God exists will come to know God because of you. That’s pretty cool.
But before we get into the main points of the message, I want to show you one more verse.
Psalm 13:1
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
David was the one who wrote this. He was a believer in God. And yet, he cried out to God to ask if God was actually even there.
So, as we talk tonight, you are either wondering yourself if God is real—if He actually exists—or you have people in your life who don’t know if God exists. So tonight, not only can you be taught something new, but you can also take this message to others.
So, how can I know that God exists?
1. There is no perfect ARGUMENT, but there are CLUES.
No matter how smart you are, no matter how good of a debater you are, and no matter how powerful you are with words, you will probably never debate someone into believing that God exists.
If you go on to YouTube and type in “Does God exist?” you will find hundreds of videos of people debating one another. Typically, one is a Christian, one is an atheist. And for an hour or two, they go back and forth, debating one another.
But you know what? None of them ever convinces the other to change his or her mind. Why? I think there are some reasons why but one of the big ones is that there is no perfect argument for the existence of God. There is not a perfect argument that you can share with others that will automatically change their mind.
If someone likes cottage cheese … and someone else hates it. The person who likes it can describe to the person who doesn’t using the nutritional value of cottage cheese. They can describe how beautiful and tasty cottage cheese is. They can tell the other person where it comes from and how it’s made. And they can give them lots of info and reasoning about cottage cheese.
But after receiving this information, will the person who doesn’t like it suddenly like cottage cheese? NO, because they don’t like cottage cheese. Their taste buds don’t find it appetizing. The only way for them to like it is for their taste buds to change. These two people are in two completely different worldviews. The one thinks they are right in saying that it is gross, and the other thinks they are right in saying it is delicious.
This is how it is with people who don’t believe that God exists. We still need to share the gospel and talk and sometimes debate with them. But there is no perfect argument that will suddenly make them believe in God. We have to hope that as we share our story, the Holy Spirit will come and change their taste buds. So you need to talk, share, and pray for people—but realize that changing their minds and beliefs is not up to you. That is out of your control.
Even though there is no perfect argument that will convince anyone of the existence of God, there are some clues and conversation topics that are great to bring up with people who don’t believe in God. Again, these won’t win them over necessarily, but they will give you both something to talk and think about. God often uses these clues to convict and change people. Look at Romans 1:18–20 again.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, or clearly perceived from the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Here, Paul is saying that all people have seen and witnessed the clues that God exists. He says in verse 20 that God’s qualities and characteristics are seen evidently in the world. His power and divinity are clearly seen throughout all that He has made. So God Himself has provided clues around the world to show that he truly does exist.
Yet, as we saw earlier, many people ignore these clues. But I want us to look at some popular clues that can help people realize that God exists. Let’s look at point #2.
2. These CLUES show us that a world without God makes LITTLE sense.
As we go through some of the clues, I want you to know the purpose of them. They are to help guide discussion, but also, hopefully, to show people who don’t believe in God that if God doesn’t exist, then the world makes no sense. These clues are pretty powerful.
Now, I am gonna share some things that you might wanna write down. I’m going to move quickly through these clues so that I don’t bore you.
Clue #1: The Clue of Beginning
I think God exists because something or someone had to create the universe, because the universe cannot create the universe.
Lots of people believe we exist because of the Big Bang theory, and some think we exist “just because.” But one of the clues for the existence of God is that something had to exist before the universe. How can the universe create the universe? Where did the universe come from?
Many people will say that a flash of energy and matter created the Big Bang, which created the universe—but then we all should ask, “Where did that matter and energy come from?” It cannot just create itself … it must come from a higher being who had already existed.
I cannot just duplicate myself—I must come from something else: my parents. Same with our universe: we cannot just be here from a random piece of matter. There has to be something before the universe that lives outside of our universe. I think this is a big clue for God.
Now, this argument won’t turn a skeptic into a Christian, because the skeptic will ask this question back: “Where did God come from then?” And as Christians, we believe God is not a created being, but He has existed for eternity. We believe that He is not tied down to the laws of nature like everything else in our universe. We believe that God doesn’t need our universe to exist. But nonbelievers don’t see that as a logical belief.
Clue #2: The Clue of Order
I think God exists because of the precise order of the universe.
Have you ever thought about how exact everything in our universe has to be to function properly? We are a precise distance from the sun, and if we were even slightly closer or slightly farther away, we would burn or freeze to death.
The exact values of gravity, the speed of light, etc.—all of these things have precise values. A scientist named Francis Collins said this: “If any of those constants was off by even one part in a million, or in some cases, by ‘one part in a million’ million, the universe could not have actually come to the point where we see it. Matter would not have been able to coalesce, there would be no galaxy, stars, planets, or people.”
That would be like you walking up to a wrist watch on the ground. And in all the complexity a watch requires , which is way less than the universe, you then just assumed it just popped into existence. That seems ridiculous because it is. The amount of complexity to create a watch requires a designer and a maker who makes that thing. It seems logical then that something even more complex like the universe and us in it would require a maker too.
Clue #3: The Clue of Morality
I think God exists because within all of us is a belief in true right and wrong.
If there is no God, then where did the idea of “integrity” come from? Where did the idea that there are some things that are right and some that are wrong come from? In order for these things to exist, there has to be a higher authority that instills these values in us.
There are a lot of things that people have different views on; But not many people disagree on murder. So where did that idea come from that we shouldn’t murder? There has to be Someone or something that created us that way to think that murder is wrong. How can a chemical explosion create moral laws? How can a piece of matter with no sense of morality or thoughts or purpose create morality and thoughts and purpose? It doesn’t make much sense. I think God exists because true right and wrong exists.
OK, time for the last clue:
Clue #4: The Clue of Beauty
I think God exists because we long for things like love, beauty, and feelings.
if we came from matter or from nothing at all, then how do you explain love? Or beauty? Because if we came from a collection of accidental atoms, then there is no purpose for our existence. And if there is no purpose for our existence, then beauty and love and feelings don’t really exist. They are just chemical reactions.
I believe that in order for us to love and see beauty and have feelings, we must come from something that has love, beauty, and feelings. If we came from just a piece of matter, then love and beauty are myths. They don’t truly exist. I think God exists because I know love and beauty and feelings exist.
So these are just four of hundreds of clues that God does exist. And I think these will create some great conversations with people who do not believe. They may or may not lead them closer to God, but these clues are what God mentions in Romans 1. He is making Himself clear to everyone, and it is our responsibility to talk and share about God with people. And these clues can also help us in times of doubt, when we feel distant from God and wonder if he really exists.
But, I want to finish with this third and final point, which I believe is the most crucial reason why God exists.
3. I know God exists because of SIN, FORGIVENESS, and the longing for HEAVEN.
I think the No 1 argument for the existence of God is our own sin and the need of the gospel. All of these clues and arguments and debates are worthless without the hope of the gospel. Simply knowing that God exists and is real doesn’t do you much of anything. Look at
Romans 10:9:
9: Because If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Paul is saying that if you confess and believe in your heart that Christ was raised from the dead, then you will be saved. The only way for to be saved and spend eternity with God is to confess your sin and believe that Jesus did for you what you couldn’t do for yourself. The only way is to confess your sins and believe that Christ died and rose again for you.
So debating and talking and reasoning with unbelievers is important—but sharing the gospel with them is more important. And one of the ways that I know God exists is that I recognize that I’m a sinner. I have done things wrong. I have felt bad about stuff I have done or said. I know sin and screw-ups exist. And actually, I think sin itself is proof that God exists. If God doesn’t exist, then why do I feel bad about certain things I do? If God doesn’t exist, why is sin such a big deal? If there is no heaven or hell, then who cares how people act?
I think in all people, there is an acknowledgment that sin exists—and also for many, a need to be forgiven or made right. If there is no God, then why do we have a desire to seek forgiveness and fix what is broken?
And also, people have a longing for a life after death. We have a longing for hope and security after our lives end here. If there is no God, then why is there a desire in us to look beyond Earth to our future?
The best way for you to talk to your friends and family who don’t believe God is real, is to talk about the gospel. Talk about Jesus. Talk about sin and problems in our world, and ask questions about it. It is through proclaiming the gospel that God changes lives.
And for you who, at times, doubt that God exists, and yet you consider yourself a Christian, I want you to know that it happens. And it’s OK. But remind yourself of the gospel: that Jesus pursued you despite your sin. And then look at all of the clues that point to God.
PRAY
Then finish your time discussing what you guys learned and what that looks like in your lives.
Ask:
Has anyone ever felt this way? Struggled with this question?
What has helped you be sure in your faith when you have thought about this question?
Has there been anyone in your life who was a part of you working through these kind of hard questions? If so tell us about that.
Of the 4 clues which one had the biggest impact on you?
Of the 4 clues which one do you still have the hardest time with?
What does the statement “I know God exists because of SIN, FORGIVENESS, and the longing for HEAVEN.” mean in your own words? How does that play out in your life?
Is there anyone you think God wants you to talk to in your life about the Gospel?
Okay now go have fun :)