Archive for the 'Bible Studies for Life' Category

Being Sure God Exists

In our increasingly irreligious society, it has become almost fashionable to proclaim one’s self an agnostic or even an atheist. The number of irreligious people – “the nones”- continues to rise in many Western countries. Christians are moving from the majority to the minority status.

One writer has noted,

“In this climate many are asking the question, ‘How can I know God exists?’ It is impossible to ‘prove’ the existence – or the non-existence – of God. But the real question is, ‘Does the evidence around us argue for or against the existence of a divine Creator?’ Just as a spectacular building or an inspiring piece of music draws us to the one who designed or wrote it, Psalm 19 argues that creation itself testifies to the reality of God, reflecting both the existence and attributes of our Creator.”1

In more theological terms, what we find in Psalm 19 are descriptions of general revelation and special revelation. Each of these tell us different things about God, and together they tell us God exists and who He is.

When we look at creation we see the glory of God. This is what the psalmist writes in verses 1-6. That creation exists at all reveals the glory of God (vs. 1-4) and the order exhibited in creation reveals the glory of God (vs. 5, 6). These things tell us little about God Himself, but they tell us enough to know that He exists.

What can creation tell us about God? When we look at the vastness of the universe, we can conclude God is powerful, even awe-inspiring. Consider the working and order of the universe, the sun’s consistent movement through the skies, the earth’s perfect distance from it, or the placement of the moon to control the tides. From these and other such facts we can determine that God has vast, even unlimited intelligence. We might conclude that God is a God of wisdom and order.

But this is not enough for us to know God, only to know some things about Him. To know God, His character and His moral attributes, God must tell us about Himself. He must reveal Himself to us.

This is exactly what God did in His word, the Bible. Consider some of what God reveals in the Bible: His instruction, that His testimonies are trustworthy, that His precepts are right, that we are happy when we obey Him, that His ordinances are reliable, His ordinances are more valuable than fine gold and sweeter than honey.2

We could learn none of those things by looking at mountains, no matter how majestic they might be.

God is so loving, so filled with grace and so interested in our redemption that He made Himself known to us specially. He did this through Jesus Christ. We learn who God is and his character through His son, Jesus Christ, even as the prophets and apostles made it known to us. General revelation tells us only enough to condemn us (Romans 1:18-20). Special revelation tells us enough to save us (Romans 1:16, 17).

Can we be sure God exists? Absolutely. Much more than this, we can know Him in a deeply personal way because He has revealed Himself personally to us.

Yours for the Great Commission,

Ronnie W. Floyd

Senior Pastor, Cross Church

General Editor, Bible Studies for Life

1Bible Studies for Life: Honest to God, by Robert Jeffress

2– Paraphrased summary of Ps. 19:7-10.

The Sacredness of Life

The fact that the lives of unborn children have become a political football is surely a scar the history of America will never be able to cover. I would not be surprised if future generations look back on our generation with the same shamed bewilderment we have when we look back the generations who owned slaves. Will we feel the same deep wound as when we look back on the Holocaust? Or when we think about the genocide in Rwanda? We should.

The Bible tells us that humanity was the crowning point of God’s creation. God made Adam and Eve “a little lower than the angels” (Ps. 8:5). Humans, because we were created in the image of God, are separate and distinct from the animal kingdom. No animal was created in God’s image. As such, followers of God have always considered human life to be sacred.

The writer of Psalm 139 perhaps said it best:

“For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began” (vs. 13-16, HCSB).

In this beautiful poetry, we see the heart of God revealed. Humans have His eye even before we are born. How captivating! How humbling!

And how saddening that so many have so little respect for the unborn.

Satan quickly enticed violence

Not long after entering the human story, Satan enticed one to murder. Cain slew Abel (Genesis 4:1-9) and set the whole course of humanity on a murderous slaughter. If history has revealed anything, it is that humanity knows no limit of violence and carnage.

Murder of our fellow humans, child sacrifice in pagan religions, abandonment, human trafficking, modern day slavery, and myriad other abuses plague our race. It seems there is no lack of people willing to abuse other people for power or the almighty dollar.

Perhaps it has never been more important for God’s people to exemplify what it means for life to be sacred. Culture will not discover God’s passion for humanity without the light of the gospel.

It is up to us

Demonstrating love within our own families, caring for unwed mothers, leading them toward preserving human life, caring for orphans, ministering to war refugees; it’s all speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves. “Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy” (Proverbs 31:8, 9, HCSB).

Recognizing and standing for the sacredness of life can be costly. Humanity gone astray, convinced that humans are equal to animals and as expendable as last week’s trash, will not lightly accept the biblical message of humanity’s innate worth. However, faithfulness to stand is what God demands.

Yours for the Great Commission,

Ronnie W. Floyd

Senior Pastor, Cross Church

General Editor, Bible Studies for Life