There was once a young boy who spent much time in the forests behind his home. He hunted and fished with his father and generally enjoyed all aspects of nature. A lot of time was spent watching deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrels, possum, and waterfowl. One thing he often looked for in the forest was the “tracks”. The dictionary defines evidence as something which shows proof of existence. In today’s message we will point out the “tracks” or evidence that indicate God’s existence. We cannot exhaust all the evidence but will just give a few to stimulate your thinking.
First, we must have a concept of who God is. What are the characteristics of a God who lives in a place some call heaven? What is His nature and His working?
To begin with, the God of heaven is powerful, strong, and fearless. He can do anything. A characteristic often ascribed to God is omnipotence, which means that He is all-powerful with no limits and boundaries. We as humans live in a world with limits and boundaries. This comparison indicates that somewhere beyond our present reality, there is another reality of a world with no limits or boundaries and power beyond natural belief.
Unique to life is the reality of opposites – cold and hot, light and darkness, love and hate. This reality of opposites starts with a natural world and concludes with an eternal one. If our world has a natural humanity with limits and boundaries, there must be an entity somewhere that is eternal and limitless.
God is not only all-powerful but also exists eternally, that is, without beginning and without end. Through basic mathematical logic we can get a glimpse of a God who exists. He wrote the laws of nature and reality, which gives us “tracks” of His existence in the physical universe. In other words, if God did not exist then, we as a human race would also not exist – not to speak of the rest of reality. The laws of nature provide us with evidence that this God of heaven is also the Creator of the universe.
Since He is eternal, it is by Him that all material realities exists. Since we know from scientific research that material reality or matter came into existence, it makes sense that something greater than this material reality created it. This would align with a concept of a Spirit God who is a non-material, spiritual Being who created a physical reality.
Another concept of God would be His omnipresence – that is, being present everywhere. Scientists have discovered a non-material reality that exists to hold all material matter together. They call it the quantum potential. It is potentially something, but what is it? Perhaps it is the Spirit of God holding the universe together in its place. The Psalmist was inspired by God to write, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cove Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind.”
He would also be a God who is omniscient – which means all-knowing. This concept of God indicates that He is great enough to know all the information that is to be known.
Let’s conclude with a rational and logical look at the facts that God does exist since material reality is present. Let’s consider a few more “tracks” that will help to substantiate his existence.
First of all, the universe itself is evidence that God exists, a fact that we have already alluded to. There are only three options for the existence of the universe. Number 1 – The universe has always existed. Number 2 – The universe brought itself into being. And Number 3 – The universe has a creator. The first option we already know is false, because scientists agree that the universe has not always been here and that it will someday end. The second option, the universe brought itself into being, is an impossibility. How can nothing create everything? The third option is that God created the universe. Can this be proven? No. But beyond reasonable doubt, the very existence of the universe is reasonable evidence of a Creator God.
Another evidence for God’s existence is the abundance of complex information. The DNA code is a special arrangement of information with more than 3 billion segments, which points to a Designer and an intelligent source. If you were walking along the beach and saw the words “I love you” written in the sand, you wouldn’t think twice about its origin. You would likely not even stop walking. It would be obvious to you that someone else had been there before you and inscribed the words in the sand. You would never imagine that the waves of the previous high tide had somehow receded leaving the perfectly formed words for you to read. The same is true in our universe of intricate and complex design. There is so much information and design that we intuitively know that somewhere there exists a God who is the architect.
The Bible is another evidence of God’s existence. You may ask how we can know the Bible is true. Let me explain. The Bible is a collection of writings from many men who walked with God, heard His voice, and wrote down His message. If God wanted to give us a message, don’t you think He could do it? And He could do it however it suited Him, right?
The Bible contains many fulfilled prophecies, archeological discoveries, as well as an amazing unity throughout. The prophecies were given hundreds of years prior to fulfillment. This shows us it is a book not simply made by man. The Bible has been proven historically accurate in thousands of archeological discoveries. Its unity is amazing since it was written by 40 different writers over a period of 1,500 years, on three different continents, and in three different languages. As you read the Bible from cover to cover, you will note the internal harmony and a common thread throughout. The continuous unity points to God as the divine author of the Book.
God has created humans with the ability to imagine, reason, and choose. With free will, we can follow the evidence and find God, or we can choose to walk away and defy His existence. The choice is yours. Will you follow the “tracks,” or will you take your own way?
God inspired one of the writers of the Bible to write, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
We have not exhausted all the evidence for God. We have only mentioned a few. However, to the man who sincerely wants to know the truth so that he can believe it and walk with God, there are more than enough “tracks” to convince him. To the man who does not want to know God and walk with Him, there will never be enough. You must choose.
~Harold R Troyer
