Class Lesson January 26, 2014

Real Questions People Ask

Christians in the 21st century need to know what they believe and why they believe it. The six sessions of the “Honest to God” study will enable you to grow in your own faith and equip you to be more effective in sharing that faith with others. These sessions address foundational issues in the life of every person: The origin and significance of human life,the existence and nature of God, and how God reveals Himself and relates to people.

Last week we explored the first real question people ask: Is Every Life Sacred? In this lesson we looked at the origin and significance of human life. This week we will look at the very existence and nature of God with the second real question people ask.

Real Question #2: How Can I Be Sure God Exists?

Lee Strobel writes: So, if I want to avoid hell, I presumably have to believe that a snake talked to Eve, that a virgin got pregnant from God, that a whale swallowed a prophet, that the Red Sea was parted, and all sorts of other crazy things. If God wants me so bad…why does He make believing in Him so…impossible? Why doesn’t He just write in the sky, nice and big: 

 “Here’s your proof, Lee. Believe in Me or go to hell!"

Sincerely,

 The Almighty  

Question: 

Does God make it difficult to believe in Him?

• The evidence is there if people are willing to see it. It’s not for lack of evidence that people turn from God; it’s from their pride or their will. God is not going to force anyone. Love never works coercively. It only works persuasively. And there’s plenty of persuasive evidence here. Just think about these three questions if God did not exist: 1) Where did we come from? 2) Why are we here? 3) Where are we going?

Our lesson says this week that, God has given us ways to know Him.

Creation Calls: Are You Listening?

I. NATURE REFLECTS GOD – PSALM 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat.

The answer to Lee Strobel’s question of why God doesn’t write a sign in the sky is given to us – this morning - He Did! - Psalm 19:1


We are surrounded by fantastic displays of God’s craftsmanship – the heavens give a dramatic evidence of His existence, His power, His love, and His care. To say that the universe happened by chance is absurd. Its design, intricacy, and orderliness point to a personally involved Creator.



What message do the heavens declare?

• The Lord is the Creator.
• The Lord has revealed Himself through His creation to all people.

Creation can tell us about God’s eminence (His dominion over creation), but what can it tell us about His imminence (His nearness)?

• God is too big for us to comprehend but God can reveal certain parts about himself in ways that make sense to us. God can explain Himself to us. And God does this through His creation, through the Scriptures and ultimately through Christ. God is totally incomprehensible to us except for the parts He has explained. God is a mystery but certain parts of that mystery have been explained. One of these key revelations of God is in and through humanity. God has used us to communicate some things about what He is like. God is both the sovereign over the entire Universe and the Immanuel, “God is with us.” God is both caring enough to want to know us intimately and powerful enough to make the necessary changes in our favor.

If nature reveals God so clearly, why do we sometimes struggle to believe?

• Two people look at a beautiful sunset. One sees in it the hand of God; the other sees it in only natural terms. Why do some people see God in nature and some do not?

We see evidences of God as we look above us, around us, about us, and within us.

 

 

Creation only goes so far to provide the information we need to know God.

II. SCRIPTURE REVEALS GOD – PSALM 19:7-11

7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold— than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey, which comes from the honeycomb. 11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them.



Theologians say that there are two basic kinds of revelation from God:



1. General Revelation is the knowledge of God, as well as the knowledge of right and wrong, that can be obtained through nature. This general revelation of God’s existence and basic morality is known by everyone. First of all, the apostle Paul tells us that the people can obtain knowledge of God in creation. Knowledge of God, Rom. 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Paul goes on to tell us that there is a natural order of morality written on the hearts of all people. Knowledge of Morality, Rom. 2:14-15, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” This morality, however, is obscured by people's natural sinfulness and the cultures in which they are raised. So, though the basics of proper morality are written on the hearts of everyone, people's different situations, culture, upbringing, etc., obscure proper moral understanding. The Bible tells us that non-Christians have sufficient knowledge of God as well as knowledge of right and wrong, but that they are suppressing the truth of this knowledge in their own unrighteousness. Therefore, all people are without excuse before God since the Scriptures tell us that the knowledge of God and the knowledge of sufficient moral responsibility can be seen in creation as well as known in the heart.



2. Special Revelation is direct communication to people. This special revelation is deposited in God’s Word – the Bible. David offered a series of parallel statements which describe the wonder and value of God’s Word: instruction, testimony, command, fear, precepts, and ordinances. But, special revelation is not limited to the Bible alone. There are many things that Jesus did that are not recorded in the Bible. Most probably there are things the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles did and said that were specially revealed from God, but are not recorded in the Bible. Finally, depending on which view of the charismatic gifts you might hold, if the charismatic gifts are still in operation, then a case could be made that such manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work would also be considered special revelation. Special revelation is how God has chosen to reveal Himself through miraculous means. Special revelation includes physical appearances of God, dreams, visions, the written Word of God, and most importantly—Jesus Christ.



What would you say the difference is between these two revelations?

• While nature points to the existence of God, the Bible tells us about salvation. General revelation does not provide sufficient information for the gospel message. The gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is found in the Bible. So, where general revelation deals with the existence of God and generic morality, special revelation, the Bible, and the person of Christ, give specifics regarding sin, salvation, heaven, hell, the nature of God, the Trinity, the incarnation, death, the Fall, redemption, etc.
• Because general revelation is not sufficient for salvation, it is necessary for all Christians to participate in the Great Commission where Jesus told us to go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). This command of Christ, given by special revelation, is the command to give those who only have general revelation the more specific and necessary doctrines revealed through special revelation, the Bible.

How do you explain the reliability of the Bible?

• There is more evidence that the bible is a reliable source than there is for any other book from the ancient world.
• The bible’s unity: 66 books written in different literary styles by perhaps 40 different authors with diverse backgrounds over 1,500 years and yet the bible amazingly unfolds one continuous drama with one central message. This points to the existence of the divine Mind that the writers claimed inspired them.
• Look at the bible’s transforming power – from the beginning, it has renewed people; given them hope, courage, purpose, wisdom, guidance, and power and formed an anchor for their lives.
• There have been thousands of archaeological findings in the Middle East that support the picture presented in the biblical record.
• It all goes back to whether the first verse of the bible is true when it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I believe there is overwhelming evidence that this is true – everything that has a beginning has a beginner.
• The bible is the only book in the world that has precise, specific predictions that were made hundreds of years in advance and were literally fulfilled.
• You can tie the reliability of Jesus to everything I’ve just mentioned as well – He was there from the beginning, He lived, He died and He rose again.
• Everything that was written in the bible points to who He was and what He would do – for you!
• The Lord has revealed Himself through His Word.
• The Lord’s Word to us is completely reliable.
• The Lord’s Word is powerful in its effect on those who obey it.

How would you describe the value of Scripture to you?



What does the Bible reveal about God that nature does not?

• The sky shows the wonder, power, and glory of God. But the sky cannot tell us how to be made right with Him and how to live according to His ways. David wrote that Scripture is instruction, God’s testimony, and God’s precepts and command. Scripture addresses the vast number of real-time issues God’s people will face. Anyone who follows the precepts and commandments will experience His joy. David also used fear of the Lord to portray God’s Word. This fear is a loving respect. David also wrote God’s ordinances, reliable judgments in giving His people direction on how to live. David compared God’s Word to gold and honey.

According to David there were two benefits of the priceless treasures of Scripture to people who integrated it into their lives, what were they?

1. It would warn them away from sinful thoughts, words, and actions.
2. They would experience tremendous reward in keeping them.

Interesting to note that David probably only had the first five books of the Old Testament to refer to this great treasure – we have the complete Old and New Testament.




Once we know God exists, and that He has communicated specifically to us, how can we respond? 

III. WE RESPOND TO WHAT GOD HAS MADE KNOWN – PSALM 19:12-14

12 Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. 13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me. Then I will be innocent and cleansed from blatant rebellion. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.



Many Christians are plagued by guilt. They worry that they may have committed a sin unknowingly, done something good with selfish intentions, failed to put their whole heart into a task, or neglected what they should have done. Guilt can play an important role in bringing us to Christ and keeping us behaving properly, but it should not cripple us or make us fearful. God fully and completely forgives us – even those sins we do unknowingly.




How do you explain the importance of the two revelations to a complete understanding of the existence of God?

• General revelation is important because it ultimately can lead to special revelation. As people see through nature that there is a God, they will begin to search for Him.
• As they search the Word of God, they come to know Him. The Bible reveals God’s name, character, and ways. The prophets become stepping stones to an even more special revelation through Jesus, God’s Son.
• This is an important illustration of God’s progressive revelation.
• Psalm 19 declares that the glory and majesty of God has been made manifested in two ways. First, God has revealed Himself in a general way through creation. All people can know about God because His creation testifies to His existence and points to His attributes. Second, God has specifically revealed Himself through His spoken and written revelation – His Word. The psalm ends with a personal statement of commitment and confession to the Lord.

Would you change the way you live if you knew that every word and thought would be examined by God first? How does the existence of God impact the way you approach each day?

• David brings up his sins and his need for God to forgive him. In particular, he asked the Lord to cleanse him from two forms of sin in his life. 1) He called attention to his hidden faults. God knew everything about David. In fact, God knew David better than David knew himself. 2) David asked God to strengthen him so he would not give in to the temptation to engage in intentional or willful sins.
• David asked God to wash him spiritually so he could be absolutely free of any form of blatant rebellion. A person who openly defied God would pay an awfully high price.
• David responded with absolute submission. As an act of sincere worship, he placed the words of my mouth on the altar of surrender to the Lord. Also, he opened the meditation of my heart so God could see what was there. He invited the Lord to examine his meditation or thoughts so he could please the Lord with the thoughts in his mind, the emotional connection to them in his heart, and the expressions of them with his words.
• The Lord alone had been like a rock to David, strengthening and protecting him at every turn. Equally important, the Lord was his Redeemer who had come to him and pointed out his sin. Then the Lord forgave him and made him a new person who could put the past behind him. Observations about God’s world had directed David’s mind to reflect on His glory. However, reflection on God’s Word had turned David’s heart to worship, confession, and submission to God.
• Even as believers, our lives can be marked by unintentional and intentional sin.
• The Lord brings conviction but also forgiveness of confessed sin.
• As you begin each day, determine that God’s love will guide what you say and how you think.

Let’s conclude by considering ways to live out the fact that God gives us ways to know Him. 

Live It Out

God has provided us with powerful clues, in nature and His Word, about His existence and greatness. Choose one of the three ways to respond to God’s revelation of Himself:



1. Look around. Look up in the sky or at nature around you. What do you see that indicates God is real?

2. Join the chorus. Seek to live your life so that it joins creation in declaring the glory of God. Let your actions point to God.

3. Express your faith. Explain to someone why you believe God is real based on both nature and Scripture. When you put your convictions into words, you grasp better the truth you hold inwardly.

God desires more than a simple acknowledgement of His reality. He wants us to have a true relationship with Him and to build our lives around Him. look above. Look in scripture.



Perhaps you too have looked off into an azure blue sky, observed the sun seeming to drop into the ocean surrounded by rays of amazing color, or been awed by the brightness of a full moon. Down in your spirit you heard the silent voice that said, not vainly but worshipfully, “God, and God alone.”



“The night has a thousand eyes and the day has but one; the light of the whole world dies with the setting of the sun.” At the midnight of human ignorance, there are a lot of lights in the sky. Noontime, there is only one. And that’s Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

 

 

Does God Exists?

Click Here to Watch

Reasons Why We Should Know:

1. Cultural Impact
2. For Our Own Faith
3. Winning Unbeleievers

 

5 Arguments for God's Existence:

1. God is the best explanation for the origin of the universe.
2. God is the best explanation for the fine tuning of the universe.
3. God is the best explanation for the moral values that exists.
4. God is the best explanation for the historical fact for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
5. God can be personally known and experienced. 

 

Prayer of Commitment


Oh Lord, I want to know You more and more each day, so that others may come to see You through me. Amen. 

This is a familiar lesson for most Christians, but a foundational one as it relates to the apologetics of the Christian faith. Try this week to search through David's eyes to see his assurance of God's existence through nature and the Scriptures - how will you respond to the ways God has given you to know Him?

See you on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan