Is there a God?

Scripture Reference: Romans 1:18-20

Questions:

1.     Pastor Nate said that "you can't figure out your life until you figure out the bigger picture surrounding your life." How does this change the way you approach questions about your identity, belonging, or purpose?

2.     Which of the five evidences for God's existence (cosmological, teleological, moral, existential, beautiful) resonates most with you, and why? How might you use this evidence in a conversation with someone exploring faith?

3.     Pastor Nate argued that without God, there is no foundation for objective morality or human rights. How does this understanding strengthen your confidence in the Christian worldview? Where have you seen people "smuggle in Christian beliefs" while denying God?

Sermon Highlights:

Context:

Romans 1:18-20 is part of Paul's introduction to his systematic presentation of the gospel. Before explaining how people are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, Paul establishes universal human accountability before God. He argues that God's "invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." This means general revelation (what we can know about God from observing creation) leaves humanity without excuse for rejecting Him. This passage forms the theological foundation for natural theology and apologetic arguments for God's existence.

"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." (Romans 1:18-20)

Cosmological Evidence

• "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

• The cosmological argument addresses why there is something rather than nothing-the universe exists as an effect that requires a cause.

• The logical structure:

  • (1) Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

  • (2) The universe began to exist.

  • (3) Therefore, the universe has a cause.

• Science has proven the universe is not eternal; it had a beginning point, evidenced by its continual expansion.

  • So, it must have a cause.

  • The cause of the universe must be transcendent (above and beyond), immaterial (not made of the same substance), and personal (because atoms and molecules don't create conscience or personality).

  • "Nothing times nobody can't equal everything"

  • Even the Big Bang requires an explanation for what caused the bang.

• Francis Schaeffer's concept of "nothing nothing" clarifies that we're not talking about "something nothing" but absolute nothingness before creation.

• The alternative to God is the "virgin birth of the universe."

  • Everyone needs a miracle, whether the virgin birth of Jesus or the virgin birth of the cosmos.

• Christianity doesn't just provide the best explanation for existence; it provides the only rational, logical explanation.

Teleological Evidence

·      "When you look from the perspective of a scientist at the universe, it looks as if it knew we were coming." (Francis Collins, paraphrased in sermon).

·      The teleological argument (also called the "fine-tuning argument" or "Goldilocks principle") demonstrates that the universe is precisely calibrated for life.

o   If Earth's tilt shifted even slightly, we would freeze on one side and burn on the other.

o   If Jupiter weren't exactly the size and location it is, Earth would be hit by 10,000 more asteroids.

o   Fifteen universal constants (gravitational constant, nuclear forces, etc.) have such precise values that if any were off by even one part in a million (or million million), the universe could not support life.

o   The complexity of a single strand of DNA is evidence of intelligent design, not random chance.

·      Irreducible complexity means certain systems require all components to exist simultaneously to function—they cannot develop through minor sequential additions over time (examples: bacterial flagellum, immune system, mousetrap).

o   Simultaneous existence is required: men and women had to arrive at reproductive maturity at the same time; plants need insects and animals for pollination while animals need plants for food.

o   Giving a bag of Legos infinite time and chance will never produce a designed structure—it will always produce chaos, not complexity.

·      The watch requires a watchmaker; the designed house requires an intelligent designer; the fine-tuned universe requires God.

Moral Evidence

·      "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)

·      The logical structure:

o   (1) If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.

o   (2) Objective moral values and duties do exist.

o   (3) Therefore, God exists.

·      Humans have an innate understanding of right and wrong across all cultures.

o   Children demonstrate this early with cries of "that's not fair."

·      Without God, there is no intellectual foundation for concepts like racism being wrong—it becomes mere preference, and "might makes right" becomes the evolutionary outcome.

o   Martin Luther King Jr.'s argument for civil rights depended on appealing to a "higher law" beyond human legislation—without God, he had no basis for his claims.

·      Evolution cannot produce morality—it produces "survival of the fittest," where the strong dominate the weak (as seen in the animal kingdom).

·      If morality were just a byproduct of evolution, we would only have categories of "advantageous" or "disadvantageous," not "good" and "evil"—but we rightly see the Holocaust as evil, not merely disadvantageous.

·      Atheists who are intellectually consistent with their worldview (like Richard Dawkins) must conclude: "The universe we observe has no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."

·      Human rights are a Christian invention—"we need Christianity to be right for human rights abuses to be wrong."

·      Only God's existence explains why we have a conscience, feel guilt, expect justice, and recognize inherent human dignity.

Existential Evidence

·      "[God] has put eternity into man's heart." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

·      C.S. Lewis argued: "Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists"

o   A baby feels hunger because food exists; humans feel sexual desire because sex exists, etc.

o   Our desire for meaning, purpose, and transcendence points to the reality that "I was made for another world"

·      Human desires are like a gift card that can only be redeemed at a specific destination.

o   Our longings for satisfaction, meaning, and love were designed to find fulfillment in relationship with God, not anywhere else.

o   This explains why attempts to find ultimate meaning and purpose apart from God always leave us empty.

§  We're swiping our gift card in the wrong places.

·      Atheism cannot explain why we seek meaning beyond mere survival.

Beautiful Evidence

·      Evolution cannot explain why humans engage in activities unnecessary for survival: poetry, art, music, and heroism.

·      If we are merely "animated sacks of accidental chemicals," how can we be capable of love, heroism, or creative expression?

·      An honest atheistic Valentine's card would read: "My genes have determined that you are useful for the propagation of my DNA"—not "I love you"

·      The human capacity for admiration, aesthetic appreciation, and self-sacrificing love points to being made in the image of a beautiful, loving, creative God.

The Ultimate Evidence

·      "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power." (Hebrews 1:1-3)

·      Beyond philosophical arguments, the historical reality of Jesus Christ is the most compelling evidence that God exists.

·      Jesus really did come into the world, claimed to be God, died on a cross, and rose from the dead (this will be explored more fully in week three of the series).

·      Jesus is not just evidence that God exists but reveals what kind of God exists—a God who loves us enough to become human, die for our sins, and offer salvation.

·      All five philosophical evidences combined with the historical reality of Jesus provide overwhelming weight of evidence that God exists and has revealed Himself definitively in Christ.