1. Introduction
On December 19, 1918,
the New York Globe newspaper ran a cartoon panel entitled “Believe It or
Not”. It featured unusual and starling facts from around the world. It
was the brainchild of Robert Ripley. The concept proved to be very popular
and grew in stature from a weekly newspaper article to radio and television.
In April 1930 Ripley brought it to the radio. In March 1949, Ripley brought
it to television. Ripley died in May 1949 but the saga continued. Museums
have sprung up all over the world featuring these unusual and startling
facts. In October 2005 there were 29 Ripley museums around the world.
But as popular and as far reaching as the Believe It Or Not phenomenon
has been, it has never captured any one that has ‘raised someone from the
dead’. It has never captured anyone that has caused a blind man to see.
It has never captured anyone walking on water.
We as Christians believe these events happened.
But the question before us tonight is “Why Do We Believe”.
Why do we believe that “God Exists”?
Why do we believe that “God created the world”?
Why do we believe that “the Bible is Word of God”?
Why do we believe that “Jesus is the Son of God”?
Some believe because their parents or their grandparents believe. Some
believe because the preacher believes or people close to them believe.
Some say it’s a matter of faith. But why do some people have faith and
some don’t? Why do some seem to have more faith than others? I’m afraid
that faith to some is because of all the wrong reasons. They grew up with
people that have exhibited great faith or they’ve been around people that
exhibited great faith and it naturally inspired them to the same belief.
What is faith? Faith is a matter of knowledge and evidence, knowledge
that you get from study and evidence obtained as a result of that study.
That’s why some people have it and some don’t. That’s why some have more
than others. Their faith is based on knowledge and evidence.
I presented the following scenario to a high school Bible class. Suppose
that someone walked into the room and said that they could raise someone
from the dead. Would you believe it? Dutifully without exception, everyone
said no. When asked why they believe that way, they said because miracles
like that don’t happen today. Then I said, suppose that the man took us
to a funeral home, walked to nearest casket, placed his hands on the body
inside the casket, and the body arose and walked away. Would you believe
it? Once again, dutifully, without exception, everyone said no. Then I
said, what if they exhumed a body that you knew without a shadow of a doubt
was dead, the man placed his hands on the body and the body arose and walked
away. Would you believe it? They continued to reject any notion that the
man could raise anyone from the dead. And yet if we imagine that we could
witness a resurrection in person and not believe, how can we believe in
something that we’ve never seen?
Tonight’s lesson isn’t about whether we believe or even what we believe.
It’s about why we believe. Let me say that again. Tonight’s lesson isn’t
about whether we believe or even what we believe. It’s about why we believe.
There are two main reasons why we need to examine this question:1) because
our faith needs to rest on a solid foundation of evidence and 2) we need
to be ready to confront doubters with our knowledge of how we rationalized
our belief and our faith.
1 Pet 3:15
states:
But
sanctify ?the Lord God in your hearts, and always be
ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
2. God
Exists
How have we rationalized in our mind that God exists? If we cannot see
God or hear God, how do we know that he is there?
2.1 Proving
What you Cannot See or Touch
How can we prove that He Exists? How do we prove what we cannot see or
touch? Some argue the mere fact that because we cannot see nor touch God
means that God does not exist.
But we all believe in things that we cannot see with our eyes. None
of us has seen some of the great events in past history. But have no doubt
that they occurred. History tells us that George Washington was our first
president. Do we believe that? Were we there to see him sworn in and take
the oath of office?
Do we believe that Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theater? Did we
see it happen?
We believe these things are true because of the evidence. We can read
the books from the times. There is so much evidence about Washington and
Lincoln that it is easy to believe in these things even if we did not see
them with our own eyes.
There is a mountain of religious writings available, including the Bible
that talk about God and the things he has done.
We believe in many things that we have not seen first hand. That’s why
we can believe in God for the very same reasons. Although we cannot see
him, He has left us with evidence that He exists.
Psa 19:1
The
heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Rom 1: 20
20For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
These writings tell us about God.
2.2 Nature’s
Design
What does the design of nature tell us about God?
Suppose a friend invited you over to check out his new bicycle. As you’re
standing in the garage admiring it, you asked the friend where he got it.
“That’s an interesting story” he says. I had these old bicycle parts
lying around in the garage. Last night I forgot to close the door to my
garage. During the night we had a big storm. The wind blew so hard that
all the bicycle parts in my garage blew together made this bicycle.
If you had a friend that told you that story, would you believe it?
You could let the wind blow bicycle parts for a million years and it wouldn’t
make a bicycle. If you’re going to turn bicycle parts into a bicycle, someone
has to do it. It takes someone that knows how bicycle parts fit together.
And it takes someone who can use tools to connect the rights parts together
to make a bicycle. It takes intelligence to put the bicycle together.
This same logic tells us that some intelligent being put the world around
us together. Take a look around. We live in a world full of all kinds of
amazing and complex things, much more so than a bicycle; plants, animals,
people, planets, galaxies.
Where did these things come from? How would an atheist answer that question?
He believes that over billions of years, the blind forces of nature gradually
formed all the complex things around us. But does that make sense? If we
believe that blind forces of nature cannot make a bicycle, how can we believe
that they can form this complex world around us?
2.2.1 Woodpecker
Think about the woodpecker. The bird hammers a tree with its beak at the
rate of 15 times per second. That’s almost twice as fast as most machine
guns. With each of these pecks the stress against the bird’s body is 1000
times the force of gravity. How does the bird keep pecking away at trees
without his head exploding? Several things about the bird make this possible.
His skull is reinforced with bone. His bill is stronger than most birds.
Special feathers cover the nostrils so that sawdust is not breathed in.
His skull and beak are separated by a small shock absorber-type mass that
helps to cushion the impact. He has special muscles that pull the brain
away from the skull each time he pecks. How did he come to have all of
these special features?
2.2.2 Man
And what about man? The human body itself is the most impressive example
of all. While I’m talking, many systems are at work in my body to produce
my words and in your body to hear and process them.
Does chance explain all this design? The atheist believes that given
enough time and chance, all things could form on their own. In order words,
the atheist is saying that if we just let wind blow long enough on bicycle
parts, a bicycle would form.
Simple reasoning tells us that a supreme being must exist that formed
all things. An intelligent designer and someone with great power.
3. God
Created the World
There are two different ways to explain how things got started; creation
and evolution.
3.1 The
Universe and Planets
How did our universe and this planet come to exist? How did life begin?
Where did all the plants and animals and people come from? One side believes
that God created all of this just as described in the Genesis account.
The other side believes that our universe has gradually evolved to its
present state over billions of years.
If you haven’t faced the teaching of the evolutionist, you will. Statistically,
almost half of all Americans believe in this theory. It’s commonly taught
in public schools. Students are taught that evolution is scientific fact,
when in reality it’s an unproven theory.
How did this world in which we live come to exist? Where did all these
living things come from? Has it all evolved over billions of years? Or
is it all the work of an intelligent designer.
According to the evolutionist, simple cells grew out of non-living material.
They began to evolve and change, forming other kinds of life. These too
evolved and changed over millions of years until ultimately every living
thing we see around us came to exist.
The Genesis account is much different.While
evolution leaves everything up to blind chance, Genesis says that an intelligent
and powerful God is behind the creation of all things. Over a period of
six days, God spoke into existence everything around us. What a marked
difference from evolution.
3.2 What
About Life?
And what about life? Ultimately, the atheist must say that living things
came from non-living things. They call this process spontaneous generation.
The theory of evolution teaches that given enough time somehow, non-living
material became alive.
A physicist from YaleUniversity
calculated the odds that life could form from a mixture of primordial soup.
He found that there was one chance in 10 to the one billionth that this
was possible. To put it another way, it is more likely that your entire
family would win the Texas
lottery every week for a million years than for life to form this way.
3.3 Evidence
for Creation
We live in a world of amazing design. This design is absolutely necessary
for the survival of the creatures.We
talked about the woodpecker a few minutes ago. Why does the woodpecker
peck at the tree? He’s hunting for food. He pecks a hole in the tree that
connects to tunnels that insects have made. He then uses his long tongue
(often longer than the bird itself) to reach into the hole and find its
food. His ability to peck away at the tree is absolutely necessary for
its survival. Genesis teaches us that an intelligent designer created these
animals that way from the start. That makes much more sense than saying
they evolved over millions of years. TO THE WOODPECKER THAT’S A LONG TIME
TO WAIT FOR LUNCH.
3.4 Theistic
Evolution
So the evolutionist and the creationist seem hopelessly in conflict with
one another. Either you believe in evolution or creation. However many
believe in both. Statistics suggest that about 80% of Americans who believe
in evolution also believe in God. Many are convinced that it’s possible
to combine their belief in God with the theory of evolution. This is called
Theistic Evolution. They believe God created the world and used evolution
to do it. But there’s one big problem with this concept. Creation and evolution
tell two different stories about how things began.
| Evolution |
Creation |
| Everything
came into existence over billions of years |
Everything
happened in six days (Gen 1) |
| The
first living things were small, single celled creatures and all living
things evolved from them |
Gen
1:20
20Then
God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the
heavens.” |
| Man
evolved from lower forms of life |
Gen
1:26
26Then
God said, “Let Us create man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
and over the cattle, over ?all the earth and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth.” |
3.5 Days
or Ages
So you see, these two concepts cannot fit together because they tell conflicting
stories. But even so some still believe that the two can be combined. One
way they try to do this is to claim that the six days of creation mentioned
in Genesis are not six literal days. They believe that they represent ages
of time that span millions of years. This belief would give evolution a
chance to blossom. This concept is called the “Day-Age Theory”.For
example, if someone spoke of something happening in Abraham Lincoln’s day,
you would recognize that as being something more that a 24 hour day. They
believe this is the way the word ‘day’ is used in the Genesis account.
How long did the days of Genesis last? If one reads the Genesis account
of the six days of creation, does it sound like 24-hour days? If you ask
any fifth grader, they could tell you the answer. There’s no indication
that the days mentioned were anything other than 24-hour days. These six
days are mentioned in other scripture.
Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor
and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord your
God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter,
nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your
stranger who is within your gates. 11For in six
days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Does that sound like millions of years? Does that sound like ages of
time?
The bottom line is that evolution and creation cannot be combined. One
must either believe in evolution or creation, but not in both.
4. The
Bible is God’s Word
The Bible is under attack today. Unbelievers tell us that it’s a book full
of myths and fairly tales. They would laugh at anyone who took serious
the stories about Moses parting the Red Sea
or Jesus raising the dead. But unbelievers are not alone.
Some religious people claim that the Bible has been changed over time
since it was written. They say we cannot be sure which parts are God’s
words and what has been changed by man.
What does the Bible say about itself?
2 Tim 3:16-17
16All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17that
the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Pet 1:20-21
20knowing
this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21for
prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy states that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God.And
Peter is giving us some important information about the scriptures. When
prophets spoke, they were not speaking their own words. Instead God was
using them to tell people what He wanted them to know. Their words were
God’s words.
The Bible claims to be more than just the words of men. It claims to
be the very words of God. But how can we know that the Bible is truly inspired
by God?
4.1 Unity
of the Bible
The Bible is an amazing book. While it is bound together in one cover,
it actually contains many different books, 66 books to be exact. These
books were not all written at the same time. Some 40 different men wrote
them over a period of about 1500 years. These men came from very different
backgrounds. Some were kings, some were herdsmen, some were fishermen,
and Matthew was a tax collector. They lived in different times. Some lived
in times of peace, others in times of war. Some lived in times when God’s
people were faithful and others lived in times when God’s people were sinful.
These writers did not even share a common language. The Old Testament was
written in Hebrew with parts in Aramaic and the New Testament was written
in Greek.
And yet the Bible is remarkably unified in concept and principle.
I work in an engineering organization. Customers call upon us to create
proposals for products that they want built. Large proposals can have 20
engineers working on them. Ideally the final proposal would read like it
came from a single person or at least from a single organization. But how
often does that happen. It is a struggle to get the final to look unified.
These are people who sit next to each other, with the same language, the
same education, with the same objectives, with the same knowledge, who
talk on a daily basis and they still can’t get it right. To say the unity
of the Bible just happened by chance cannot be. There had to be a central
figure involved, orchestrating the ideas and making sure it plays as one.
Men cannot do that even under the best conditions.
4.2 Prophecy
When we look at the contents of what’s inside the Bible, we find more proof
that God was behind the scriptures. One of the best examples is prophecy.When
inspired men spoke for God, their message was called prophecy. Sometimes
this message would contain information about the future. The prophets would
tell in advance what would happen to men, cities and nations. The statements
of the prophets were captured in the scriptures and become very important
as we try to prove the inspiration of the Bible. Men cannot know the future.
We can guess about it, we can collect information and make predictions
about it. But we cannot know what will happen.
Many examples of prophecy exist. The destruction of the city of Tyre
as told in Ezekiel. The fall of Nineveh,
the Assyrian capital as described in
Zephaniah. The freeing of God’s people by the great king Cyrus as described
in Isaiah.
These instances of prophecy are but some of many that can be read from
the Holy Scriptures. Each prophecy was fulfilled. Prophecies inspired by
God.
4.2.1 Jesus
What about prophesies told about the Messiah? Hundreds of years before
Jesus was born, the prophets were telling us about his life. They supplied
us with details about how he would be born, live his life and ultimately
die. Micah 5.2 tells us where Jesus would be born. Isaiah 7:14
tells us about his virgin birth. Psalm 22:18
tells us about the casting of lots for his cloths during his crucifixion.Isaiah
53:12 talks about the transgressors, the two thieves that were crucified
with Jesus.
These prophecies did not come from mere men. God directed these prophets
and their prophecies were written in the Holy Scriptures so that we might
believe.
5. Jesus
is the Son of God
5.1 Different
Ideas
What about Jesus? Are stories about him simply a myth? Was he just a good
man, a moral man.Some say he was
a prophet. Some say he was the Son of God.
5.2 Claims
What did Jesus say about himself? Comments that he made about himself could
have a bearing on whom he really was. Jesus came to the earth some 2000
years ago. Since that time, things have never been the same in our world.
John 6:28
8For
I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him
who sent Me.
John 10: 30
30I
and My Father are one.”
John 3:16
16For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
These are just a few of the verses of scripture that talk about the
deity of Jesus. If we can know what Jesus said about himself that narrows
our choices as we try and figure out who He is. For instance, we know he
is not merely a good man because good men would not claim to be the Son
of God unless it was true. But how do we know this claim is true? Just
because someone claims to be someone doesn’t necessarily make it so. We
believe Jesus is the Son of God because there is evidence to back up that
claim.
5.3 Miracles
Miracles were one of the key pieces of evidence that show Jesus is who
he claims. Webster defines miracle as “an extraordinary event manifesting
a supernatural work of God”.
Some of these extraordinary events include changing water to wine (John
2:1-11), casting out demons (Mark 1:23-28), healing the leper (Luke 5:12-15),
calming the storm (Luke 8:22-25), feeding the multitude (Matt 14:13-21),
walking on water (John 6:15-21), raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44),
and healing the blind man (Mark 10:46-52). These were done so that men
would believe that Jesus was whom he claimed.
5.4 Resurrection
But the greatest piece of evidence that backs up his claims was his resurrection.
Paul in Rom 1:4 declares Jesus to be the Son of God by the resurrection
from the dead.
Christ’s resurrection is important to our faith. If Christ was not raised
from the dead, we have no need for faith.
But, did Jesus actually rise from the dead? Some have claimed that the
disciples stole the body. Could that happen? Could somehow the disciples
have sneaked past the Roman guards, roll away the stone and steal the body
of Jesus to make it look like a resurrection? Let’s say for a minute that
they did. During the first century, Christians were executed just for being
Christians. A lot of the disciples closest to Jesus all went to their death
under the hand of the executioner. The Romans and certainly the Jews responsible
for the crucifixion did not want the resurrection to take place. This would
dispel their claim that Jesus was not the Son of God. They undoubtedly
would try any measure at their disposal to find the body if it existed.
People went to their death without revealing such a claim. When men face
execution, they will do anything to survive. If anyone had the body of
Jesus, the executioner couldn’t find it. That is strong evidence that no
one stole the body. The conclusion is that Jesus did rise from the dead
and he is who he says he is, the Son of God.
These miracles were done for one reason, that we might know that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God.
John 20:31
31But
these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
6. Close
So, Why do you believe? If you believe simply because someone else believes,
I contend that’s not good enough. You must believe because of your study,
because of the evidence of the facts. The more powerful the evidence, the
stronger the belief.
We have only scratched the surface of this evidence. I would encourage
everyone to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs. Your faith will
love you for it.
The lesson is yours. I hope that I have said things that you didn’t
know or at least reaffirmed things that you already did know.
|