THE EXISTENCE OF GOD & THE KNOWABILITY OF GOD

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

How do we know that God exists?

EXPLANATION AND SCRIPTURAL BASIS

A. Humanity’s Inner Sense of God

All persons everywhere have a deep, inner sense that God exists, that they are his creatures, and that he is their Creator.

- even Gentile unbelievers “knew God” (Romans 1:21)
- “exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (Romans 1:25)
- “what can be known about God is plain to them”
- “because God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:19)
- it is “the fool” who says in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalms 14:1)
- the wicked person first “curses and renounces the Lord” then in pride repeatedly thinks “there is no God” (Psalms 10: 3-4)

B. Believing the Evidence in Scripture and Nature

If we are convinced that the Bible is true, then we know from the Bible not only that God exists but also very much about his nature and his acts.

- God’s eternal nature and deity have been “clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20)
- The “rains and fruitful seasons” as well as the “food and gladness” that all people experience and benefit from are also said by Barnabas and Paul to be witnesses to God (Acts 14:17)
- “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge” (Psalms 19:1-2).

In one sense everything that exists gives evidence of God’s existence. Everything in Scripture and everything in nature proves clearly that God exists and that he is the powerful and wise Creator that Scripture describes him to be. Therefore when we believe that God exists, we are basing our belief not on some blind hope apart from any evidence, but on an overwhelming amount of reliable evidence from God’s words and God’s works.



C. Traditional “Proofs” for the Existence of God

Constructed by Christian (and some non-Christian) philosophers in attempts to analyze evidence, especially from nature, in extremely careful and logically precise ways, in order to persuade people that it is not rational to reject the idea of God’s existence.

4 major types of proofs:

The cosmological argument
The teleogical argument
The ontological argument
The moral argument

The value of these proofs lies chiefly in overcoming some of the intellectual objections of unbelievers.

D. Only God Can Overcome Our Sin and Enable Us to Be Persuaded of His Existence

“the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4)

“since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

“in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5).

In this sinful world, human wisdom is inadequate for coming to know God. We are dependent upon God to remove the blindness and irrationality caused by sin and to enable us to evaluate the evidence rightly, believe what Scripture says, and come to saving faith in Christ.









THE KNOWABILITY OF GOD

Can we really know God? How much of God can we know?

EXPLANATION AND SCRIPTURAL BASIS


A. The Necessity for God to Reveal Himself to Us

“because God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:19)
“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27)
“in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:21)

The Bible alone tells us how to understand the testimony about God from nature. Therefore we depend on God’s active communication to us in Scripture for our true knowledge of God.

B. We Can Never Fully Understand God

It is not true to say that God is unable to be understood, but it is true to say that he cannot be understood fully or exhaustively.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalms 145:3)
“Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure” (Psalms 147:5)
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it” (Psalms 139:6)
“no one comprehends the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

It is not only true that we can never fully understand God; it is also true that we can never fully understand any single thing about God.

C. Yet We Can Know God Truly

Even though we cannot know God exhaustively, we can know true things about God.



God is:
- love (1 John 4:8)
- light (1 John 1:5)
- spirit (John 4:24)
- just (Romans 3:26)

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the might man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).