If God Exists - How Can
We Know?
Signposts to God
A Sunday school teacher once asked his class "What
is faith?"
A young boy enthusiastically called back "Believing
something you know isn't true"
Does believing in God mean kissing my brains good-bye?
Is it a dream or a wish or a desperate answer to attempt to give
meaning to my existence?
And if God exists can I really know anyway?
This is probably one of the most profound and significant questions
that faces every human being.
It has been discussed and debated over centuries
Sincerely switched on people passionately hold opposing views.
Why do some people seem so certain and others so skeptical?
Where do you stand?
If you believe God exists, how do you know?
If you believe he doesn't have you weighed up the evidence?
Are there things that have happened in your life that make it hard to
believe?
What I'm wanting to do tonight is to briefly suggest 5 signposts or
types of evidence that point to the existence of God.
Then we've asked four different people to talk about what were and
are the significant signposts for them The significant factors that led
them to believe in God's reality
So that's where we're heading…..
A couple of introductory questions:
1 Can we really know anyway?
It's not possible to put God in a test tube and do repeat experiments
to prove His existence.
But there are many things we accept that can't be scientifically
verified.
-in a scientific sense we can't prove Napoleon
-we can't re-run the Universe and observe things again
We know and believe many things without being dependent on scientific
proof.
-Some things we see and experience the effects of
-we can't measure things like love or justice
Think about how we come to conclusions in the legal world
-we usually can't "prove" guilt or innocence beyond any
doubt
-what we can do is weigh up the evidence and look at reasonable doubt
and certainty.
Likewise we cannot prove God's existence beyond all doubt - we can
weigh up the evidence
If the evidence is so strong - that it becomes "beyond
reasonable doubt" we have some responses and decisions to make.
And potentially we have a whole new way of understanding life and
living.
One of the things I enjoy about preparing and thinking about topics
like this - is the conversations I have. I am someone who often thinks
by bouncing ideas off other people and I was discussing this question
"Can I /How can I know God exists?" with one of my colleagues
at work.
Her response was that because I have already made a decision that I
believe God exists - that I couldn't in fact address the question. That
because I believe I will only see the evidence that backs up what I
already think….
My response would be that one of the key reasons I do believe is that
the evidence does stack up for me.
If something is true - it is true whether or not I believe it.
In looking at the evidence this will either further confirm what I
believe or challenge my beliefs.
I have no desire to hold on to something which doesn't add up.
I am not afraid to look at the evidence because I have no desire to
base my life on something which is just wishful thinking or wrong.
Yes I may be more likely to see evidence that points to the
conclusions I currently hold - but that doesn't mean I am blind to other
evidence.
SO I can and I need not fear examining what I believe - if it is true
it will stand up - if not I don't want to hold to it anyway.
A second question to ask ourselves is….
Do we want to know the answer?
How open are we to finding "truth" whatever the
consequences may be??
If God exists - and there is strong evidence - what could that mean?
Might it mean changes in the way I live?
We can choose not to believe, and not to acknowledge the evidence is
there simply because we do not want to or we are aware of what the
consequences might be.
So lets have a look at some of the evidences or signposts that point
to the existence of God….
Different ones have these have been particularly significant for
people at different times and in different cultures..
For each of us different ones may be more or less significant
The first is what we call Cosmological evidence (Cosmos - being the
Universe)
The fact there is something (a universe - that exists) needs an
explanation.
Basically this is the whole thing of cause and effect - which we
observe all the time.
If I water the garden (or it rains) the plants grow…
There is a cause behind each corresponding effect. … so we have
the question - what caused the first cause…
The 2nd law of thermodynamics - that things run down - go from
structure or chaos - also points toward the universe having a
beginning…. a cause
We eventually go back to an uncaused cause - something or someone
who by nature is not an effect, but is eternal - without beginning and
not reliant on anything else…
God is described in the Bible like this:
"God's eternal power and character cannot be seen.
But from the beginning of creation
God has shown what these are like by all He has
made"
(Romans 1:20)
God is described as being eternal - without cause - with no
beginning and end
The fact the universe exists suggests there must be a first
cause - this is a sign post.
The second signpost is what is often called teleological evidence.
The evidence of design in the universe - in humans, in animals, in
plants, in beaches, in sunsets , in mountains- indicate a designer.
The presence of order and purpose in the Universe is everywhere and
indicates someone or something ordered and purposeful behind it.
If you consider something as simple as a watch - you would presume
there was a watchmaker.
If we look at the complexity and order and design a human being -
or in the human eye, in even one cell, in the DNA in one cell - the
order and purpose and complexity indicate not only a cause but an
intelligent designer…….
Who or what gave the specifications?
The Earth itself speaks of intentional design …. here's just a
few things
This evidence of design is a huge signpost to me of the existence
of an intelligent designer.
I love being in the outdoors - whether it's walking in the bush and
looking at the hundreds of different species of plants - all with
their different shades of green and peculiarities - listening to all
the different bird songs, watching a waterfall, going Wow at a sunset….gazing
at the sky on a clear night….
Let me read you a little Steve Turner poem…
The Bible says this…
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
PS 19:1-4
It's like creation bears God's fingerprints or signature.
A third Signpost is moral evidence.
The fact that we all have a conscience - an innate sense of right
and wrong
CS Lewis writes a lot about this and about how universally people
appeal to the same sense of right and wrong.
When we say things like "That's not fair", "you
promised", "you lied to me"
We are appealing to a behavioral standard we expect others to
recognise..
There are things we know inside of us that are right and wrong -
things that are wider than cultural norms.
Yes we can dull our consciences by continually ignoring them - but
we all have them.
This is another signpost - a signpost to somebody behind the
Universe who has placed this conscience, this innate knowledge of
right and wrong in us.
And it is also a signpost to something of the Character of this
person….
A forth signpost is that of this whole process itself.
Our human search for someone or something outside ourselves.
There have been a range of philosophical arguments at various times
- around ideas such as - that because we can conceive in our minds a
being who is perfect and necessary and infinite - that being must
exist (else they wouldn't be perfect). This stuff gets a bit mind
blowing for me…
CS Lewis points out a bit more simply that even though someone's
hunger does not prove food exists it is a powerful indicator that a
person has a capacity to eat..
Spiritual hunger is an indicator that there is something or someone
beyond ourselves
Augustine - a very early Christian writer talked about how our
hearts are restless until they find their rest or home in God.
It can often be in the hardest an lowest times in our lives that
this signpost or question kicks in
The world can be a very screwed up and painful place at times
In the brokenness something in us cries out for someone and
something more.
A fifth type of signpost is that of experience.
Lots of otherwise rational, responsible people believe in and claim
to experience God's reality in their lives.
They experience a God who answers prayers, who gives guidance and
who comforts who cares, who is a friend.
Many people who choose to believe and trust and follow Jesus and
allow God to lead their lives experience profound changes. Steve
talked last week about John Newton the man who wrote "Amazing
Grace" - one of the most ruthless slave traders who came to know
and experience God in his life and was radically changed.
For me the changes may have possibly been more internal - although
that hopefully flows out through who I am. From being someone
incredibly driven and desperate to prove I was OK, while feeling like
I was value less, tolerated by people, and often close to losing hope
- God has begun to rework foundational stuff in my life to restore
hope in me and so I am beginning to know that I am valued for who I am
- not just in my head but in the core of who I am.
For me that's radical change and I'm sure there are many other
stories from others here in this room who have experienced God in a
real way..
So that's five signposts, or areas of evidence that can point to
God's existence and reality.
The things we've talked about tonight are all things that either
point us to God's existence - or if we believe in God - maybe can add
weight to that for us… in terms of knowing that the evidence is
strong..
However believing in God is more than an intellectual search …
There can be big steps from believing in God rationally to knowing
that he cares for us, knowing that he has a purpose for us, knowing that
he is good.
So I would like to pray that God would not only increasingly make us
aware of the signposts to him but that we would actually connect with
him and that our hearts would find rest in him…
Let's pray:
God - wherever we're at with you,
Whether we're not sure you're even exist
Whether we know you're real but are afraid or hurt or scared of you.
Whether we're disappointed with you or excited about you….
Please show you are real to each of us… and give us the courage to
keep discovering more of you.
Amen
Preached at St Albans by Paula Swindells (Elder) 1Oct 2000
