Why God?

 Santa Claus, a mystical man who lives up at the North Pole and delivers presents to children all over the world in a single night every year. Most kids believe in him at a young age, and almost always there comes a time when someone tells them the truth - Santa Claus isn't real. Whether someone tells them or not, at some point in our lives we all come to the realization that there is no magic man from the North Pole who delivers our Christmas. Maybe we see our parents putting the presents under the tree, or we notice the fake beard of the Mall Santa. The point is, eventually we figure out that the evidence just isn't there to support belief in Santa.

I was born and raised in a Christian home, brought up in church and started attending a Christian school in the 3rd grade. I have been surrounded by people who believe in God my entire life. I grew up being told that God was real. And yet, even though I do not believe in Santa Claus, I do still believe in God. But why? What's the difference? Both God and Santa Claus are supernatural beings I've never seen with my own two eyes and have been told since I was a boy were real. The difference is - there is evidence for God.

That's right, there is a lot of evidence to support that God is real, whereas with Santa Claus, the evidence is stacked against him. Now, before we go any further in this discussion, I would like you to stop for a minute and answer this question: "Do you believe in God, and why do you believe that way?" Go ahead and write down any reasons for thinking as you do.

Did you finish writing those down? This is an important part of the discussion, so don't skip it just to finish reading my post. I mean, I know it is a wonderful post and all, but you shouldn't rush through stuff like this or you might miss something truly life changing. =)

Alright, so now that you have some idea of what you believe and why (hopefully), let's look at our ultimate source of truth - the Bible - and see what we find. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us this: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect". Here, Peter is advising the church that it is not enough to simply believe, we must be ready to give answer for WHY we believe. This is why I asked you to write out your reasons.

In the beginning of the book of Romans, a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome, Paul shares this - "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20). According to Paul, the world itself stands as evidence for God's existence, and not just as evidence, but as evidence which is impossible to ignore. Everything that God has made (which is, by the way, everything) points to Him. The Earth, the sun, the plants and animals, the stars, and especially people - all of this points to God.

In the scholarly world there is an argument for God's existence called the "Kalam Cosmological Argument". Simply put, this argument says that we can know God exists by looking at our universe - which is exactly what Paul just said in Romans 1:18-20. This next part might get confusing, so pay attention and read as slowly as you need to. You see, in the last couple of centuries science has discovered some pretty awesome stuff about our universe. For example, there is a scientific law now which states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed - that means that nothing pops into existence out of nothing, and it doesn't just disappear either. Science has also discovered that our universe is in a constant state of expansion (it keeps getting bigger and spreading out), and that it has definite edges (even if we could never reach those edges). This means our universe is a closed system (like giant sealed box). In a closed system, heat will eventually reach equilibrium (which means that it will eventually spread out completely evenly throughout the system). If this were to happen in our universe, it would leave us feeling EXTREMELY cold.

I am sure most of you have heard of the "Big Bang Theory", and no, I do not mean the TV show. This theory came about from all of this information science discovered, and attempts to explain the beginning of the universe as a Big Bang, where nothing exploded into everything. Scientists figured out that with our universe the way that it is, it couldn't have just existed forever - if it had, all the heat would have already reached equilibrium and we would be too frozen to even move. So our universe Had to have a beginning - hence, the Big Bang Theory.

Well, there's another rule out there that everything that begins to exist has to have a cause. Scientists came up with the Big Bang Theory as the "cause" of the universe. The problem is, even if it is true, what caused the Big Bang? I'm sorry, but you can't just have nothing explode into everything - within our universe matter is neither created nor destroyed so that doesn't work UNLESS something or someONE (who has always existed and has all power) caused it. The Christian God, as He has revealed Himself in the Bible, has the power, the knowledge, and the everlasting-ness to have created our universe. In my opinion, He is the best explanation for the beginning and existence of our universe.

Now, if you got lost in there somewhere, let me summarize it for you. Science has revealed to us that our universe HAD to have a beginning - it has not just always existed. Everything that begins to exist has to have a cause, and the Christian God is the best possible explanation for the cause of our universe. This is just one of the reasons which supports my belief in God.

Obviously, I didn't know all of this stuff when I was younger. I had faith in God long before learning any of this, but I found it difficult to explain to other people why I believed in God. I had a personal relationship with Him, had experienced His love and forgiveness in my life, and I looked out at the world and the stars and just knew He was real, but those were just reasons for me to believe, not for someone else to believe, too. The Kalam Cosmological Argument is a way to help other people see that there is evidence for God beyond just blind faith, and I hope that it will help you in your faith.

You know, maybe when I asked you to think about why you believe (or don't believe) in God you realized that you didn't know why you believed that way. Maybe you were raised a certain way, or you went by what felt right, or maybe you just never really thought about it before. I am here to tell you that God IS real, and you can have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Send me a message if you want to know more.

People will try to tell us that belief in God is ludicrous, or crazy, or just plain dumb. But we know they are wrong. We know that God is real, and we have the evidence to back us up. And because there are people who are going to oppose us, it is that much more important for each of us to be able to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus.

I know this is a long post, but it is important for us to recognize that belief in God isn't silly or irrational. If we are right, and God is real, and He really did create the whole universe, then don't you think He would make it so we could know that it was Him? Paul certainly seemed to think so, and I do, too. Trust me, the more you learn about our world, the more you will find evidence for God.