Defend Your Faith

1
Defend Your Faith

• Lesson 2
• Is There A God?

2
The Most Fundamental Question

• Is there a God?
• We must be ready to give an answer to this
  question (1 Pet. 315)
• Why discuss this question (Psa. 104 141ff
  361ff 531ff Rom. 121,28 Tit. 116)?

3
Presenting Your Case For God
A Universe Exists
No Beginning?
Beginning?
Caused
Uncaused
Personal (Spirit)
Impersonal (Matter)
4
Presenting Your Case For God( Two Classical
Arguments )

• The Cosmological Argument every effect has a
  cause (Heb. 34)
• The Teleological Argument design demands a
  designer
• Design in the heavens (Psa. 191-2 Rom. 120)
• Design in the human body (Psa. 13913-14)
• Design in the animals (Psa. 104 Job 38-39)

5
Presenting Your Case For God( Two Historical
Arguments )

• The Jesus Argument if Jesus is God, then God is
  (Jn. 11,14,18 Col. 29 Heb. 13)
• The Bible Argument if the Bible writers say God
  is and they are true, then God is (Lk. 11-4
  2 Pet. 116-21 1 Jn. 11-4)

6
Answering Objections to God

• Objection 1 I cannot believe in a God that I
  cannot see.
• The atheist bears the burden of proof that God
  does not exist. To do this, he must know
  everything in the universe that can be known.
  This he cannot do!
• What about thoughts or emotions (like love), can
  you see them or measure them? What about
  electricity, sound waves, magnetism, or gravity?
  Can you see them? No, and yet you believe in
  them.

7
Answering Objections to God

• Objection 2 If God exists, why doesnt he just
  show himself?
• First, God has already shown himself in nature
  (Rom. 120) and Jesus Christ (Jn. 11,14,18).
• Second, God does not have to show himself in ways
  that man requires.
• Third, God showing himself will not guarantee
  that a person will believe in his existence (Ex.
  41,8,9 Lk. 2267).

8
Answering Objections to God

• Objection 3 If God created all things, who
  created God?
• At some point in time there must be a first
  cause. Thus, something (matter) or someone
  (spirit) has always existed to be the first cause
  of our own existence.
• It is more reasonable to believe that someone
  (God) has always existed (Gen. 11 Psa. 902
  Prov. 822ff Heb. 110). God is an eternal
  Spirit (Ex. 314 Deut. 3327 Jn. 424
  526 Rev. 410).

9
Answering Objections to God

• Objection 4 God is just a human invention like
  all of our fairy tale figures.
• Sigmund Freuds hypothesis was never tested on
  people who believed in God!
• This objection cuts both ways. If the believer
  wishes God into existence, does the atheist wish
  God out of existence?
• Desire come from needs that can actually be
  satisfied with something or someone that is real.
• Why would man invent a God who punishes sin?

10
Answering Objections to God

• Objection 5 Atheism does not rely upon a blind
  faith in God. It relies upon science and facts.
• The atheist is an unbeliever in God, but he is
  not a man without beliefs. He is a believer. He
  has faith. He believes that
• 1. God does not exist
• 2. Either matter is eternal, or something came
  from nothing
• 3. Life (mind) came from non-life (matter)
• 4. Design came from random chance and chaos
• 5. Conscience came from non-conscience

11
Defend Your Faith

• We Must Choose the Path to Travel Belief in God
  or Belief in No God.
• Either God Exists or He Does Not. If We Believe
  in a God That Does Not Exist, Then No Amount of
  Faith Will Create Him. If We Dont Believe in a
  God That Does Exist, Then No Amount of Unbelief
  Will Make Him Go Away.

12
Defend Your Faith

• Either Way There is Belief. Which Belief is More
  Reasonable? Which Belief Has the Evidence to
  Support It? Belief in God Rests Upon Reasonable
  Evidence. It Is Foolish To Say That There Is No
  God (Psa. 141).

13
Defend Your Faith

• There Are Three Kinds of People in the World
• Those who have sought God and found him they
  are reasonable and happy.
• Those who are seeking God and have not yet found
  him they are reasonable, but unhappy.
• Those who neither seek God nor find God they
  are unreasonable and unhappy.
• Seek God, Find Him, and Be Happy Today
  (Isa. 556 Mt. 77-8 Acts 1727)!