Is there an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God who is in control of our
universe? Is He interested in every facet of our lives? Is Jesus Christ His
Son and equally God in every particular? Do we have the information available to be
certain of this? Is it important for us to be aware of this truth about God?
God has not revealed everything about Himself to man, but enough so that man has no
excuse not to know that He exists.
Rom. 1:18-23 (Phillips) — Now the holy anger of God is disclosed from
Heaven against the godlessness and evil of those men who render truth dumb and impotent by
their wickedness. It is not that they do not know the truth about God; indeed he has
made it quite plain to them. For since the beginning of the world the invisible
attributes of God, e.g. his eternal power and deity, have been plainly discernible through
things which he has made and which are commonly seen and known, thus leaving these men
without a rag of excuse. They knew all the time that there is a God, yet they
refused to acknowledge him as such, or to thank him for what he is or does. Thus
they became fatuous in their argumentations, and plunged their silly minds still further
into the dark. Behind a facade of “wisdom” they became just fools, fools
who would exchange the glory of the immortal God for an image of a mortal man, or of
creatures that run or fly or crawl.
When we see what God has created; its complexity, its completeness and beauty, we are
without excuse to fail to see that this is incompatible with something that just happened
without any meaning.
It is said that Darwin said that he shuddered every time he studied the intricate
anatomy of the eye. It was so complex and perfect which made it hard to see how it
would come about by time and chance.
With me, its when I view the landscape close ups of our adjacent planets, I see no
signs of life of any kind. If we would see a variety of vegetation and possibly some
animal or insect life present, we might have more grounds to question. The
invariable seasons of the year here with never failing life-sustaining rains and
atmosphere, which none of the other planets that we have been able to study have; it
should give us pause to consider.
Now man in his “wisdom” does not want to be accountable to an Omniscient God,
and thus behind a facade of fatuous argumentation try to explain Him away. They
spend endless time in developing theories which makes God unnecessary in the creation of
our universe.
Paul follows in the first chapter of Romans with the section that Phillips titles
“The Fearful Consequences of Deliberate Atheism.”
Rom. 1:28-32 — Moreover, since they considered themselves too high and
mighty to acknowledge God, he allowed them to become the slaves of their degenerate minds,
and to perform unmentionable deeds. They became filled with wickedness, rottenness,
greed and malice; their minds became steeped in envy, murder, quarrelsomeness,
deceitfulness and spite. They became whisperers-behind-doors, stabbers-in-the-back,
God-haters; they
overflowed with insolent pride and boastfulness, and their minds teemed with diabolical
invention. They scoffed at duty to parents, they mocked at conscience, recognized no
obligation of honor, lost all natural affection, and had no use for mercy. More than
this — being well aware of God's pronouncement that all who do these things deserve
to die, they not only continued their own practices, but did not hesitate to give their
thorough approval to others who did the same thing.
In going over this passage of Scripture at this time, it couldn't help but bring to my
mind the recent massacre in the Colombine High School in Colorado. Those involved
young men seemed to be perfect candidates to fit Paul's description. They asked if
anyone there was a Christian and when a young lady stood up and said that she was one,
they shot her in the head and killed her on the spot.
I believe this is the price we are paying not only in Colorado but in many of our
public school systems. It is against the law to mention God in a positive way in
public school. Now that God has been pretty well
eliminated from that school system we will be able to continue to study the
characteristics of these godless children. The fault is not necessarily with the
children as most of them are raised in a godless environment. If they are
reprimanded by their parents, it is the parents that will face a jail sentence. If
they are told about God in school its the teacher that will be fired.
In summarizing this section of our study, I believe God has given us too many evidences
of his creation in the things we use and see every day for us to have an excuse not to see
this. I believe as we study the universe, both microscopically and telescopically,
we are brought face to face with God's handiwork.
In the next main section of the proof of God's existence we need to see what God has
revealed to us through His holy prophets who have given their prophecies through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit — the third person of the Godhead.
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament in reference to Jesus' first coming.
Beginning with Moses, about 1500 years BC, and many in the Psalms about BC 1000.
Many more in the main prophetic books from Isaiah to Zechariah. This latter
period covers over 200 years. Isaiah BC 740+ and Zechariah BC. 520+.
If Christ was an ordinary man he could have in no way influenced how He could fulfill
these prophecies as they were written hundreds of years prior to his birth in Bethlehem.
These prophetic books had been in general use for hundreds of years prior to His
birth.
I will select only a few of the many passages in these prophetic books which verifies
that Christ is the fulfillment of these prophecies. This proof would then validate the
claim that He was who He claimed to be — the Son of God. I will use some of the
texts less often used for this purpose to show the ubiquitous pattern of these prophecies.
Matt. 2:1-6 — When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of
King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has
been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship
him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all
Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and
teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In
Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
Micah 5:2— “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are by no means
least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd
of my people Israel.”
The point I want to emphasize here is that priests and scholars in Israel were well
acquainted with the prophecy that told about the place where Christ would be born.
This text by Micah was written over 700 years prior to Jesus' birth. Micah was a
contemporary of Isaiah.
Notice the credentials of the one to be born in the land of Judah. This male
child was to be born of a virgin. Note the words of Isaiah given through prophetic vision
over 700 years prior to this date:
Isaiah 7:14 — Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
(Immanuel means God with us.)
In chapter 9, Isaiah enlarges on this prophetic claim that this male child will truly
be “God with us.” Speaking of this same pregnancy:
Isaiah 9:6 — For to us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Meanwhile, over 700 years later, we find this notation in The Book:
Matt. 1:18-23 — This is how the birth of Jusus Christ came about: His
mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was
found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not
want to expose her to public disgracve, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and
you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
— Jesus means “The Lord saves.”
Now I would like to go back 1000 years to see that David is revealing from prophetic
vision, Christ's' prayer on the cross. There are too many parallels with the events
at Christ's crucifixion to fail to see that God is revealing this to David for our
admonition. This is for the whole world to see to strengthen our faith in God, and
to give no one an excuse to doubt that Christ was who He said He was.
I will quote a few selected excerpts from Psalm 69, followed by the actual account of
His crucifixion as penned by writers in the New Testament who were eye witnesses of the
event.
Psalm 69 (Read the entire chapter).
Vss. 1-4 — Save me, O God, for the waters
have come up to my neck. . . I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for My God. Those who hate me without reason outnumber
the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me.
(See John 15:23,25 — He who hates me hates my Father as well. . . But this
is to fulfill what is written in their Law: “They hated me without reason.”)
Vs. 6 — May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord,
the Lord Almighty; May those that seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of
Israel. (Peter had just denied Him with cursing and swearing and all had deserted
Him.)
Vs. 7 — For I endure scorn for Your sake,
and shame covers my face. (He has been stripped naked and nailed to the cross for
public display.)
Vs. 8— I am a stranger to my brothers, and
alien to my own mother's sons;
(See John 7:3-5 — Jesus' brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and
go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to
become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show
yourself to the wo rld. 'For even his own brothers did not believe in him.'”)
Vs. 9— cont'd— And the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
(See Romans 15:3 — Even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written:
“The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”)
Vs. 12— Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the
drunkards.
(See Luke 7:33,34 — For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking
wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and
you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard.')
Vss. 16,17— Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your
great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly,
for I am in trouble.
(See Mark 15:34 — And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)
Vs. 19 — You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies
are before you.
(See Matt. 27:28-30 — They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then
wove a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand
and knelt in front of him and mocked him.
“Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.
They spit on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.)
Vs. 20 — Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for
sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
(See Matt. 26:55,56 — At that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a
rebellion that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?
Every day I sat in the temple courts
teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings
of the prophets be fulfilled. Then all the disciples deserted him and fled!)
Vs. 21 — They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
(See Matt. 27:34 — They offered him wine mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he
refused to drink it.)
Vs. 23 — May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be
bent forever.
(See Romans 11:25— Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full
number of the Gentiles has come in.)
This is the hardening of their spiritual understanding that Paul was shown under
inspiration. This was in answer to Christ's prayer at His crucifixion.
Psalm 22 is another chapter that prophesies about Christ's crucifixion.
Psalm 22:1— My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
The initial verse of this chapter identifies this passage as events of the crucifixion.
Vss. 7,8 — All who see me mock me, scorned by men and despised by people.
“He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.”
(See Matt. 27:41-43 — In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law
and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he
can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross,
and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he
wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'”)
Vs. 16 — Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they
have pierced my hands and my feet.
(See Acts 2:23 — This man (Jesus) was handed over to you by God's set purpose and
foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to
the cross.)
Vs. 18 — They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
(See John 19:23,24 — When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes,
dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining.
This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let's not tear it,” they said to one
another. “Let's decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that
the scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided my garments among them and
cast lots for my clothing.”)
Approximately half way from the time of David, until the birth of Christ, we come to
the prophet Zechariah. His ministry is in the time frame of 520 BC. In chapter
11 of his book he describes two shepherds. The first one refers to Christ and the
second one to the anti-Christ. We will limit our discussion to the good shepherd.
Zech. 11:9-13 — The flock (Israelites) detested me, and I grew weary of
them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the
perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh. . .” I
told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they
paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to
the potter” — the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the 30
pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.
(See Matt. 26:14-16 — Then one of the Twelve — the one called Judas Iscariot
— went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I
hand him over to you?” So they counted out thirty silver coins. From then on
Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.)
(See Matt. 27:3-8— When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned,
he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and
the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent
blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied.
“That's your responsibility.”
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left.
Then he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is
against the law to put this in the treasury, since it is blood money.”
So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's
field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of
Blood to this day.)
This is only a sample of the many prophecies in the Old Testament which describes
events in Christ's life and death on earth at His first coming. I believe this
should be sufficient to prevent us from having any excuse in not believing that these
events were a fulfillment of prophecy.
The crowning proof that Christ is who He claimed to be is if He was raised from the
grave as He promised that He would be. If He was not resurrected from the grave,
then our belief is worthless and our salvation is a myth.
Romans 1:1-4 — Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and
set apart for the gospel of God — the gospel he promised beforehand through his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a
descendent of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be
the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord...
Can you imagine God raising Christ from the grave, as the Bible states that He did, if
Christ was an imposter? It is the resurrection from the dead that validates His
claim of being the Son of God.
Acts 2:24 — But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of
death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Paul, who was contemporary with Christ, had absolutely no doubt that Christ was
resurrected from the grave.
1 Cor. 15:3-8 (NEB) — First and foremost, I handed on to you the facts
which had been imparted to me: that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the
Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised to life on the third day, according to
the Scriptures; and that he appeared to Cephas, and afterward to the twelve. Then he
appeared to over five hundred of our brothers at once, most of whom are still alive,
though some have died. Then he appeared to James, and afterwards to all the
apostles. In the end he appeared even to me.”
This was not an iffy thing. He met with the apostles on several occasions during
the 40 days prior to His translation. At one time He was present with over 500 of
the brothers at the same time. Most of these were still alive at the time Paul was
writing this letter.
The only ones who were trying to cover up this event were the guilty Jews who had
orchestrated His crucifixion. These crafty criminals were caught in their own trap. They
had asked Herod to place a Roman guard to secure Christ's tomb to prevent His disciples
from sneaking in and stealing His body and claiming that He had been resurrected.
Matt. 27:62-66 — The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief
priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “We
remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'after three days I will rise
again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.
Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been
raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make
the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by
putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
By carrying out this precaution the Jews precluded anyone from seriously considering
that the frightened apostles would come and overcome the Roman Guard and steal Christ's
body.
I believe one of the strongest evidences in addition to the many visits Christ made
with His disciples and apostles, was the changed lives in the disciples themselves.
Prior to the resurrection there was bickering and timidity in standing up for Jesus,
whereas after this time they were united in total dedication in witnessing to all, the
gospel commission, with total fearlessness.
When Jesus rose from the grave, reality that He really was God became a 100% conviction
in each one of them. I can't imagine them to be united in their story of His
resurrection, if untrue, when they were repeatedly threatened with risk to their lives if
they continued to do this. Not one of them ever appeared to consider that as an
option.
When we consider all the fulfilled prophecies and the events of Christ's ministry,
crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, written by eye witnesses, it becomes more of a
certainty as we continue to study it.
I believe God has given us sufficient evidence from His Word, the Bible, to make an
intelligent decision as to whether His Word is reliable and if He is God, as therein
revealed. I further believe we will not be able to claim insufficient evidence to
make that decision.