For the Chief Musician. By David.
1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt.
They have done abominable deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men,
to see if there were any who understood,
who sought after God.
3They have all gone aside.
They have together become corrupt.
There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and don’t call on Yahweh?
5There they were in great fear,
for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6You frustrate the plan of the poor,
because Yahweh is his refuge.
7Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When Yahweh restores the fortunes of his people,
then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
The Existence of God (Declared in Creation)
Pillars of Creation
The Existence of God
The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning God…” (Gen 1:1). In this way, the Bible assumes the existence of God.
Lesson
Theologians throughout history have defended the existence of God. These arguments range from proving the general idea of God, to showing why the Bible portrays the one true God. Thomas Aquinas is perhaps the greatest apologist for the existence of God. He argued that everything that happens has a cause, but there cannot be an infinite number of causes. Therefore, there must be what he called an “uncaused cause.” This uncaused cause must be God.1 Other theologians, like Augustine and John Calvin, argued that God’s existence is proven by the fact that nearly all people can conceive of God, though sin clouds this idea with wrong perceptions.2 Still others, like Immanuel Kant, said that the existence of morality among all people proves the existence of God.3 Since morality is not always rewarded in this life, there must be a source of morality beyond this life, namely, God.
Key Verses
The Bible, as we said above, assumes the existence of God. Therefore the Bible’s purpose is not to prove God’s existence. However, this does not mean the Bible does not provide many reasons to believe in God. In fact, it says that those who do not believe in God are foolish.
David said, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” He says those who deny God are corrupt, and have turned aside from Him.
Isaiah claimed that God created the heavens and the earth, and did not create it “empty” or “in waste” but “to be inhabited.” This is called a teleological argument for God’s existence.4 With the benefit of modern technology, we are just now beginning to understand the amazing order of the universe. Thousands of years ago Isaiah understood that the earth was made to sustain life. We now know that there are an almost infinite number of factors essential for life on earth alone. If any one of these were slightly different, no life would be possible here.5 All this order could not have happened by chance. There must have been a creator who was both intelligent and powerful enough to know exactly how to create the perfect conditions needed for life.
Conclusion
There are many ways to argue for the existence of God. God must exist because an “uncaused cause” must exist. The presence of the idea of deity demonstrates that God exists. The fact that all people have a sense of morality, a sense that is not always beneficial, means that there must be a giver of that morality. The order of the universe points to a creator of that order.
Reflection/Prayer/Thoughts/Applications
Often conversations about Christianity begin with a discussion about the existence of God. How would you defend God’s existence to someone who does not believe in Him?