My son and I had a conversation about what we did over the week. He told me that he had been reading blog posts of an atheist.
I asked why he was reading them out of curiosity. Apparently, my son met this atheist in person. Let’s call him James. James told my son about his blog, and my son took an interest in his work.
My son said that James came up with excellent arguments for atheism, and he enjoyed coming up with answers in defence of Christianity. We had a good discussion about it. We both came up with good points why Christianity is a legit concept and how the Bible should be acknowledged as the manual for life.
Why does it matter to me that people believe in God?
Setting aside that we are commanded by God to preach the word and make disciples, faith in God matters to me because our faith in God can give us everlasting life, immortality.
John 3:36 ESV Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
The Bible says that everlasting life begins when we believe in Jesus because when we die, we transcend to eternity which means we start spending infinity in heaven. This is so cool!
I don’t know why people would not want to go to heaven.
Why?
Why would people want to go to hell?
Why would people want to live a hundred years and cease to exist?
The concept of faith in God is too broad to discuss, so let’s break it down one idea at a time. For this devotional story, let’s talk about the existence of God.
I will provide two points that prove of the existence of God:
Me - My testimony
Historical - Records outside the Bible
Me - My testimony
I’ve been attending church since I was a kid but lived a life of compromise growing up. My dilemma was I’m afraid to go to hell, but I didn’t want to lose my badass image. This all changed when I served in a local church in my province. My mind and heart were opened to the existence of God.
I started doing things beyond my capabilities. Not to brag but for the sake of illustration, I served in the church for three years and in that time, I wrote over 50 songs; wrote, directed and managed over 10 musicals, planned around a hundred church events and led thousands to Jesus.
I moved to the city, and my faith faltered for a couple of years. I reached a physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual plateau. I came to a breaking point. I never felt so alone in my life.
At the point of desperation, I called out to God and committed myself into serving Him again. My life turned around dramatically. I am now a corporate trainer, instructional designer, podcaster, blogger, vlogger, producer, director, composer, musician, author, and building a family with the girl of my dreams.
How is that possible? I don’t know. It’s the Holy Spirit. It may be my body, but it’s the Holy Spirit working in me that is making it all possible.
Historical
There is a lot of historical evidence about the existence of God, and we can refer to Scripture such as the Quran, Torah and the Bible. These books are connected by a fundamental character in Theology, Abraham. Abraham, whom the Bible refers to as the “father of faith,” can be found in all three books. If Abraham is consistent in three ancient scriptures, it proves that he existed. If Abraham lived, then Jesus, who came from the lineage of Abraham, walked the earth as well. It’s no coincidence that these century-old scriptures point to the existence of God.
However, Abraham lived too far back. I googled content outside the Bible that talks about Jesus and came upon this article: Non-biblical accounts of New Testament events and/or people by Matt Slick. Matt is the President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry.
Here’s the link to his article:
https://carm.org/non-biblical-accounts-new-testament-events-andor-people
He mentioned historians who included significant Bible characters in their scrolls.
John the Baptist, Ananias the prophet, and Jesus Christ were mentioned in the historical text other than the Bible.
Legit historians proved the existence of Jesus. How can God be unreal if Jesus is real?
There is still a lot of evidence out there that point to the existence of God. If you don’t believe in God, we can agree to disagree. If what I mentioned is not enough, then I cannot prove the existence of God. Fine.
But since I came up with valid points, though they may not be enough for you, we cannot prove that God is not real. Right?
At the end of the day, it boils down to faith. Atheists put their trust in the belief that life is temporary and that we cannot access supernatural empowerment, and Christians put our faith in the hope that we are immortal and receive empowerment from God to do His purpose for our lives.
Friends, no one can prove that there is no God and that there is no life after death. I believe that the fact that we exist and the complexity of our universe points to the truth that we have a divine creator. It’s hard for me to believe that all we see are just accidents, especially when I see intricate patterns, various behaviour and overwhelming beauty. I cannot process that thought.
I know that this is not much evidence, but I want to share this point as well. People who went through life-threatening experiences saw heaven. Some people who went through a traumatic event saw Jesus. Science cannot explain that. Why is that?
This is what I think. If you believe in Jesus, you will see heaven when you die. If you’re suffering and you believe in Jesus, He will come to save you. I believe everything boils down to faith.
I ask you now, what do you believe in?
Thank you for reading this devotional story and I pray that it encouraged and empowered you in your walk with Christ. Please read other devotional stories on the website. You might find God's Beyond Fathom, Believer, Non-Believer, and A Message from Sam interesting.
If you’re interested in supporting this ministry of sharing the Gospel online, please subscribe, like and share this devotional story so we can spread God’s goodness, empowerment and love. Check out Merch by High3r.com on the website as well. God bless you!