“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” Bertrand Russell

 Every intellectually honest philosopher has come to the same conclusion: If there is no God, life has no meaning. There is no other option. On the theist’s side, it was A.W. Tozer who once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Paul says there is clear evidence that points to God.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” Romans 1:18-24

Exploring the Existence of God

1. An effect points to a Cause.

The law (not theory) of cause and effect says for every effect there must be a cause. This one is the most convincing for me, right out of the gate. And if you are not convinced that the Bible is the Word of God, you don’t need to go to the Bible on this one. German philosopher, Martin Heidigger posed his famous question: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” implying that if there is something, there must be a reason. There is a cause to creation, and ultimately you get to an uncaused Cause, the “First Cause”. If you don’t believe in God then you would be someone who believes that you can somehow get something from nothing, and that somehow living matter can rise out of non-living matter. Both are scientifically impossible. But if everything finds its origin in God, then He is the Designer of it all, from dolphins to dinosaurs, koalas to quasars.

When we look at scientific theory it’s important to understand the context of history out of which these theories were formed. Atheistic evolution was born out of mid 1800s, when most scientific philosophies were driven by the presupposition that “God is dead”. It was a case of removing the Answer before the question is asked. “There is no God. Where did we come from?” It’s like announcing that there is no number 4. Now, what’s 2+2? Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” was published in 1859 and became the driving work for atheistic evolution, though Darwin himself was more of an agnostic (and never claimed to be an atheist). He first studied to be a minister at Cambridge. As he first wrote about transmutation of the species, he seemed to believe that God was the First Cause.

2. Creation points to the Creator.

Just as the moon reflects the sun, creation reflects the God who created it. The moon is not ablaze with heat and light. It does, however, reveal that there’s another light. A giant round mass, floating in space, becomes a micro-version of all of creation. All of creation points to God. Planets, earth, trees, animals, people, brains, eyeballs all point to God. Creation tells us, not only that He exists, but it also tells much about “His invisible qualities and His divine nature”.

 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tent for the sun.” Psalm 19:1-4

 Stephen Jay Gould, an evolutionary biologist, paleontologist, who spent most of his time teaching at Harvard said this:

“We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; because comets struck the earth and wiped out dinosaurs, thereby giving mammals a chance not otherwise available (so thank your lucky stars in a literal sense); because the earth never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a “higher” answer – but none exists. This explanation, though superficially troubling, if not terrifying, is ultimately liberating and exhilarating. We cannot read the meaning of life passively in the facts of nature. We must construct these answers for ourselves.”

The Bible says the opposite, that it is precisely through nature, our the first clue, that God does exist. And creation reveals an explicit design.

3. A design points to the Designer.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:19–20

A prominent and growing explanation for the origin all things is known as “intelligent design”, which argues that the universe and all living things are best explained by an Intelligent Designer, and not a random process based on an undirected natural selection. But not only has God made it clear outside of us, but also inside of us:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11  Not only do we see Him in what is made, He has placed within us all a kind of homing devise that tells us that He is.

4. A search for purpose points to the Purpose.

We all search for greater purpose and meaning in life. We have a sense that there must be more to life. C. S. Lewis wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

5. Wrong points to Right.

The moral argument for the existence of God appeals to the existence of moral laws as evidence of God’s existence. According to this argument, without God there can be no such thing as morality.

“If God does not exist, everything is permitted” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky In other words, the fact that we all have an innate sense of right and wrong is an indicator of a God who instilled morality in us. God has put a moral law within all of us that governs the universe. God has placed this moral law within us, as a gift, so that we would respond to the Giver of it all. Once we establish that there must be a God, we are ready to discover who God really is. If there is no God how do you explain that? Paul the book of Romans, Paul offers this same argument.

“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” Romans 2:14–15 Paul is saying that even those who don’t believe in God, act like they do.

6. Love points to the Lover.

Love and emotion cannot be explained apart from God. If there is no God what are our options? A chemical reaction, biological drive, an animal instinct? If God doesn’t exist then love is reduced to an evolved emotion that comes only from matter and energy. The Bible teaches that there is a reality is bigger than matter and energy. Reality includes a supernatural God who is love and created us with an innate ability to love and have emotion.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 Clearly, love comes from God, who in fact, God is love.

7. The Son points to the Father.

How do we know God exists? He came here told us so, and showed us exactly what God is like and who He is.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” 1 John 4:9

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:3

God’s “divine nature and eternal power” is seen most clearly in Christ.

8. A transformed life points to the Transformer.

Millions of changed lives offer proof of a Changer. By His Spirit, God is transforming lives, pointing to Him.

“And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 A life without a cause is life without effect.

The apostle John, among hundreds of others can say, this is not theory or conjecture:  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

John says, “We have seen Him.” Have you seen Him? Faith runs deeper than sight and all the clues point to Him. Faith will always precede reason because God is bigger than your finite mind and greater than your understanding. All the clues point to Him. You can believe, and as you do, you will experience the presence of God.