Why God? (Part Two)

Consider these two statements:

"How could anyone believe that a god created the universe? Think about it: a magical, invisible being, sitting up in the sky, all the sudden one day was like, 'Hey I'm gonna make that world' and poof that's what he did. Yeah that is crazy. How could anyone believe that??"

"Seriously? The world just happened? You mean to tell me that two particles just hit each other one day, a big boom exploded, and now I just sitting here sippin' my mocha joe? Yeah I don't think so. If I smash a watch and shake it for billion years I ain't gettin' another watch back. Pshhhh." 

Both of these statements sound completely ridiculous and foolish when they are worded like this, and there is no merit or thought put into either one. They are just conjecture spoken out of ignorance and fear and they are meaningless, void of truth. Anything can sound ridiculous if you phrase it right and deliver it with the right attitude.

It is my belief that God did in fact create our minds, and the Bible says:

For everything God created is good… 

1 Timothy 4:4

So if God made our minds and our minds are in fact good, then it would be foolish of us to not use our minds. It would also be foolish not to listen to those who use their minds at a professional level. What I am saying is, that it is a foolish thing to ignore what scientists (people, who have dedicated their God-given minds to discovering truth) are discovering about our universe, and that they potentially could be dead on with many of their findings. Also they may be dead wrong, but my point is that God made our brains, they are good and so we should not completely ignore what they are telling us. 

I say all of this to point out that many of the ideas that "unbelieving" scientists point to as truth, I also agree with. I believe in evolution. I believe that it is very apparent and all around us. When I was born we had to use a huge handset stuck to the wall to call people we loved, now we have tiny cell phones that fit in our pockets (and do so much more). This is a tiny example of evolution, but it is one all the same. We grow, we change, we get better, and so does everything else in nature. I believe that this is how God designed us and the planet. This is obvious by the fact that the planet is better, people are living longer, and technology is developing rampantly.

I believe the theories about Pangaea (the super continent) and continental drift are plausible. I believe that the world is in danger of greenhouse gases and we should not ignore the dangers of global warming. I believe that God is big enough to have made life in other parts of the universe very different or similar to our own. I even believe that the Big Bang Theory may very well be true. All we know is that God created the universe. We do not know the specifics. He very well made have used the "Big Bang Method" of creating worlds. I am not saying He did, and I am not saying that He didn't I am just saying that He could have. He is God and maybe He made some species by allowing them to evolve into other species. Maybe some of our ancestors were cavemen. 

Maybe we do not know every detail, and the Bible does not tell us every detail. So I will not sit here and deny or agree with every theory that is researched and developed. No, I will think and use my mind to recognize that I do not know the mind of God.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

I do not know how God specifically created every aspect of this planet, solar system, galaxies, or any of other 350,000,000,000 galaxies known to mankind. I am small and insignificant, but I was created by God and He gave me a mind. My mind is good, and therefore I will not deny it of its curiosity, its wondering, or its logic. If I do, then I am a fool that does not fully accept all of the gifts God has given me.

So yes, maybe the scientists have some of the details worked out about how the world got here, and maybe they are completely wrong. I agree with some ideas, have questions about a lot more, and know nothing of most of it.

Even so, there is one fact that I am sure of to the very center of my soul--it was not by chance. The details may never be clear, but it was not an accident. It was not a grand, cosmic mistake. No, I believe in my deepest soul that God started it all. Whether He created it out of nothing, whether He used methods or theories researched today, or whether He just opened his mouth and it poured forth, we will never know for sure. But I am sure that He made it.

And that is why I believe He exists.

So since we know why I believe God is real, back to the original question in post one--Why do I feel like I need to give my life to God completely?

This question is much simpler to answer.

If God is real then we must believe His Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

John 1:1

Since God and the Word are the same, and because I (as I have stated) believe in God, I must then also believe in the Word. It is the basic transitive property (if a=b and b=c, then a=c).

Since I believe the Word is true (because I believe God is true) then I must follow its instruction implicitly.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

When I read The Word, which I must follow, it tells me to completely surrender to God.

…He said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  

Mark 8:34-35

This verse is not only from the "God-breathed" word, but it is also a historical account of the literal words Jesus spoke while He was on this earth. Jesus said very clearly that I must lose my life. I must surrender my life in its entirety.

To sum it all up, and to answer my question, "Why do I feel like I need to give my life to God completely?" in a simple phrase: because I believe that God exists, I must believe His Word is true. Because I believe His Word is true, I must surrender my life.

There is more to my faith, specifically what I feel is my calling. I believe that God Himself called me to follow Him, but that is another level of my belief. This is the basic, purely mental side of why I believe. It is not all emotion and feelings. I have reasoning and logic behind what I have committed my life to, and I believe that God would have it no other way. He states clearly that we are to use our minds in our decision to follow him.

…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…  

Philippians 2:12

…but test everything: hold fast what is good.  

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  

1 John 4:1

So yes, my heart has called me to follow Jesus, but my mind has told me that it is the only logical decision. 

Why God? (Part One)

Disclaimer: I do not know a lot about science, and I will not pretend to. If I learned one thing in my many years of school it is that I do not know much about any one thing. So just to be fair, I wanted to let everybody know that I have no background in science, and I do not know many of the scientific details beyond what I am saying here.

Some people, when they read my previous post, may think that I have lost my mind to frivolous hope in an unseen and untouchable God. They may think that my mind is weak and that I live with no logic or reason. And if some of you do think this I understand entirely.

It is a hard to thing to imagine a Being that exists, that cannot be touched, seen, heard or felt (at least in how we commonly sense these things), let alone say that you have completely devoted your life to His fame and glory. It sounds insane. It sounds delusional. And for many years I, myself, had great difficulty in truly believing that God existed. So why do I now fully believe? What has convinced me so deeply that I would publicly declare that I am follower, a believer, a worshiper of Christ? These are obvious and important question to ask so...

Simply put, I have "given my life" to God because I believe He exists. This may sound confusing, but if I did not believe in His existence then why would I ever devote my life to His service? I suppose then the question becomes even simpler--Why do I believe God is real?

Mainly, because I can see Him in nature. Not just the wind blowing or how the leaves turn up when it is about to rain, but the deep down molecular nature that man has only begun to discover over the past century.

Here is a slightly cheesy, but seriously incredible video of just one tiny aspect of what goes on in every one of us. This is happening in your body. It is mind blowing and beautiful.

When I see this video my mind is blown. I see a truly intelligent Being's masterful design. All of these microscopic structures are working together to build your body, protein by protein. It is like a huge organization working as one to build something unique and awe-inspiring.  

Now consider how every person, animal, insect, bird, and fish are different, yet we all share extremely similar traits. Most every macro-organism has a head, eyes, ears, a face, limbs, and organs. This may point to similar ancestry, but what if it (also) points to design. If we were all made by the same Creator, would we all not have similar traits? 

Look at how the earth sustains itself. The earth provides itself with the water it needs through rain. The rain gives life to plants, animals, and people. It soaks into the earth and sustains life. It drains into rivers, seas, and oceans, where the sun takes the water back into the atmosphere and repeats the cycle. This happens over and over so that life can exist. Look at the greater picture--our planet. How it is perfectly set on the only course that could allow life. The climate would be too extreme if we were any closer or any further  away.

What about our universe? Many of us have seen videos like this (this one is especially creepy, ending in a peculiar invitation to believe in ET), but it is insanely awesome at the same time. Try to sit through the whole thing, and you will realize how absolutely enormous this universe is.

I felt invisible when I heard him say that it takes 10 billion years moving at the speed of light to travel to the known edge of the universe. I believe the vastness, and the unknowable, incomprehensible  beauty of the beyond colossal universe points to an all knowing and even-greater-than-the-universe God.

All of the incredible, awe inspiring, glorious nature that exists in us and around us is (in my opinion) proof that God truly exists.  I believe that all of the beauty, wonder, and mystery that surrounds our lives is the result of intelligent creation. I believe it is all too incredible to have merely happened one day by chance and accident. I believe in God. 

These are some of the reasons I believe that God exists. But what part does logic play in my decision? Have I actually thought about all of the aspects of how we got here? What about all of the scientific evidence that points to things like the Big Bang Theory, and the idea of evolution? Do these things not need to be considered since so much thought has been put into them? All of these questions are important, and they do affect how people see God and the creation of the universe.

 And that's why you should read part two. Coming soon...