Seeing the God Behind Creation: Is God Real?

by Nancy Taylor and Phil Ryken, adapted by Bibles.net
| Time: 2 Minutes

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
(Hebrews 11:6 ESV)

Creation Proves God’s Reality

If you walked into a field and found a cell phone, you would probably wonder who had left it there and try to identify the owner. You would not think, “Wow, look at this amazing cell phone that spontaneously created itself and now is working and streaming videos and receiving text messages.”

Similarly, when we look at the world around us—at trees and flowers and animals and people—it is logical to conclude that Someone designed the universe to work just right. Any alteration in its design and we would not be here. Clearly, there is an ultimate reality—an Almighty Being—who created the universe with purpose and order.

Apart from the world around us, we see evidence of God in our own hearts. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that he “has put eternity into man’s heart.” We have spiritual awareness and an innate sense of morality—what some theologians have described as a “God-shaped hole” in our hearts—that is best explained by the existence of God. Why would we desire to know him if he did not exist? Our desire to see injustice righted, our inborn sense of duty and morality, and our deep spiritual yearning all point to the existence of God.

If our analysis of the world instinctively tells us that there is a Supreme Being, then the next question is, Which is the true God? Christians accept that the evidence for him that we can see in nature and in our experience is the starting point. But beyond this “general revelation,” as theologians call it, we can see a more particular and full-orbed picture of God in the Bible. We call the biblical witness” special revelation,” and it is how God reveals himself through his character and acts.

The Bible tells us how God has reached down to save us so that we can be with him forever. It is a complete love story that starts at creation, exposes our sin, shows our desperate need for deliverance, reveals how God rescued us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ends with us living with God in a new heaven and a new earth.

The rest of our site presupposes that there is a God who created the universe, that he can be known, and that the primary means he has given for us to understand and know him is his Word, the Bible. This is the starting point for getting to know who he is. It’s an exciting journey, one full of mystery and love. But don’t be embarrassed if you’re still a little unsure about whether God exists, or exactly who he is. Just keep reading the Bible and asking him to reveal himself to you, and he will.

This article was adapted from Nancy Taylor and Phil Ryken’s book, Is God Real: Encountering the Almighty.
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