Is there a God?

1) The bible tells us that if we were to look around us then we would see that there is enough evidence to show us that there is a God. The world and the universe operates on order - the seasons follow one after another, there is a regularity in the cycle of events. When we look at crystals and snowflakes we can see that they are composed of regular shapes. Take a look at the flowers and insects and see how perfectly formed they are. 

Many scientists would have you believe that all this regularity was the result of a "big bang" i.e. it was born out of chaos. The likelihood of such regularity being born out of chaos is so big as to be incalculable. It's the equivalent of saying that an explosion took place in a field of cows which was positioned between a glass factory and a steel works, with the result that it started to rain watches.

The Bible tells us that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"

2) Everyone accepts that there is a spiritual dimension to life (the definition of a spiritual event is an event that could not have come into being according to the natural, physical laws of cause and effect). When people use terms such as "good luck", "bad luck", "fortunately", "unfortunately", "fate", etc., they are acknowledging the existence of spiritual events. For example, if someone said "that was bad luck" then they would be acknowledging that the event was influenced or affected by a spiritual force (in this case for bad). 

People will read horoscopes and accept that such events can be brought into being by such circumstances as the time and place they were born or the juxtaposition of planets etc. This is outside any physical laws and can only be argued from a spiritual/supernatural position.

So, if we accept that there are spiritual events, they must be created by some form of spiritual force or being. This is just one short step away from acknowledging that there must logically be a God.

3) There is a need for humans to worship something/someone. In most places and with most people this would seem to be through religion and some belief in a god or gods. 

• In those places where religion and belief in a god is outlawed (communist countries) the people deify their leaders. They worship the leaders. 

• When you next see a major football game on the television, just look at the crowd from time to time and note how often they raise their hands in the air in worship and adoration of their football team. 

• How many love songs use the phrase "I worship you" or you have heard someone say "he worships the ground she walks on". These phrases indicate that worship is the highest accolade that can be given to another.

There is clearly a high value placed on worship. If there is an in-born need to worship something/someone, then that must indicate that there is an object of worship (or a god) somewhere. If you don't find a god, you will make something else a god e.g. a football team.

4) How many times have you done things or thought things, for good or bad, that you believe to be outside of what is your normal character or pattern of behaviour? 

Perhaps, you've never had such an experience, or more likely you have not been able to categorise such an experience. Such experiences can only have been brought about by some spiritual force. which confirms the existence of spiritual beings.

When you ponder these things, you must come to the conclusion that there is a God

Who is Jesus?

We cannot attribute the deity (being God) to Jesus if He never claimed it Himself, so we need to look at what Jesus said about this Himself.

Firstly, Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father except by Me". This is an outstanding statement to make. All religious leaders would point the way to a God - to follow a set of rules or principles. None of them would say that they are the way to God. Jesus was unique in claiming that He was the way (and the only way) to God. His teaching focussed on Himself.  

Secondly, He made a claim that He could forgive sins. Logically, the only ones who can forgive sins are:

a) the one who was sinned against,

b) God.

To forgive sins is a claim to be God. The Jewish leaders of the time knew this and were seeking to kill Him for this claim, because it was a claim to be God.

Thirdly, He claimed that He would return to judge the world. This was quite a claim for a good religious teacher. Who has the right to judge the world other than God Himself?

Fourthly, He accepted worship from His disciples. When Thomas saw Jesus after His resurrection, he fell down and proclaimed "My Lord, and My God"... and Jesus never rebuked Him for it. A good religious teacher would have done so.

So - it is clear that on the basis of the actions, words and teaching of Jesus, it was without doubt that He was claiming to be God. Well, claiming to be God might be one thing, but to actually be God is a whole different ball game. Were His claims valid?

Logically, there are only three possible conclusions - 

1) That He was deceiving people and He didn't know He was doing so, in which case He was deluded, is to be pitied and can be classed as a lunatic or mentally unstable.

2) That He was deceiving people and He knew it. This would make Him to be an evil person.

3) That no matter how unlikely it seems, He was who He said He was.

So, how do we know which one of these positions is true?

Well, the evidence comes in five parts:

A) His Teaching

The words that Jesus spoke are the basis of our Western Civilisation and the basis of our legal system and our education.

The Sermon on the Mount is quoted endlessly. “Love your enemy”, “Do good to those that hate you”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, “Love your neighbour as yourself”

Do those sound like the words of a man who is mad or evil?

B) His Works (the things He did)

He performed many miracles:

• He healed people – He healed all who came to Him.
• He turned water into wine
• He fed over 5,000 people with only five loaves and two fish
• He walked on water
• A man had been dead for four days. Jesus commanded Him to come out of his grave and he came out.

Was a man who did all these things mad or evil? Could anyone other than God do these things?

C) His Character (who He was)

Christians claim that Jesus' character is something to be admired.

When Ghandi died, Pandit Nehru was looking for the words to describe Ghandi and He said “He was the most Christ-like man I have ever known” – a Hindu was using Jesus Christ as the comparison of the pinnacle of human character.

The real test of someone’s character is how they respond when they are in pain (how do you react when you hit your thumb with a hammer? - by accident, of course). When Jesus was unjustly tried, flogged and crucified, he looked at the people who were doing it to Him and cried “Father, forgive them”.

Is this the character of a man who is mad or evil?

D) His Fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy

There has never been anyone in the whole world who has ever had so many prophecies about Him before His birth.

Wilbur Smith (American theological writer) said “The ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, known as divination, but not in the entire gamut of Greek or Latin literature, even though they used the words prophet and prophecy, can we find any real specific prophecy of a great historic event to come in the distant future, nor any prophecy of a Saviour to arrive in the human race….Mohammedanism cannot point to any prophecies uttered hundreds of years before his birth. Neither can the founders of any cult in this country rightly identify any ancient text specifically foretelling of their appearance”

There are at least 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus – 29 of them were fulfilled in a single day.

Some people may claim that Jesus went about fulfilling the prophecies, but how do you fulfil the prophecy about where you are to be born, how you would die and the place where you will be buried? 

E) His Conquest of Death

This is probably the most convincing of all the evidence - that Jesus, having been dead for three days, rose from the dead. But what is the evidence for His resurrection?

a) His absence from the tomb

Jesus body was not there when people went to look.

People have offered many explanations;

1. Maybe He didn’t really die on the cross.

The evidence will not support this contention. Jesus endured a Roman flogging which would, of itself, kill most people and He was crucified in way from which you don’t recover.

If Jesus had not died on the cross, then the soldiers in charge of His execution would have been executed themselves. No-one survives a Roman execution.

John 19:34 says "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." NASB 

They didn't know it at the time but any doctor will now tell you that the mixture of  blood and water indicates the separation of clot and serum and would be accepted as good medical evidence for death.

2. Maybe the disciples stole the body

This is psychologically impossible - Would you die for what you know to be a lie? The disciples were killed for their belief that Jesus had risen from the dead. They could have avoided death by simply denying this fact. To die for what you know to be untrue is untenable.

3. Maybe the Authorities stole the body

This is the least probable argument of all. The Authorities could have solved the whole problem in an instant by producing the body. In reality, why would they want to steal the body which would lead to such problems and difficulties for themselves?

4. Thieves stole the body.

You have to ask the question - why would thieves steal the body? There is no value in a dead body – there is more value in the spices and the grave clothes which were left behind. If thieves wanted to steal anything from the grave, they would have stolen the clothes and left the body, however, it was the clothes that were left and the body that was missing.

b) His presence with His disciples

His disciples reported that they had seen Him and been with Him after His death and that He was alive. 

Some would say that they were suffering from hallucinations.

Hallucinations do occur amongst highly strung, emotionally unstable people, the sick or those who are on drugs. Jesus' disciples were tough fishermen, tax collectors and rebels - they don't sound like the sort of people who are subject to hallucinations. In fact, many people refer to Thomas as "doubting Thomas" because he said “unless I see I will not believe”. Thomas was a disciple who was not present with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them and he wouldn't accept their word without seeing it for himself. Does this sound like someone subject to hallucinations?

Jesus appeared to over 550 people on 11 different occasions. Is it really feasible that over 500 people could suffer the same hallucination?

An hallucination has no objective reality to it – it’s like a ghost, yet in Luke 24:37-43, we read:
But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? " See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."  And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, " Have you anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them. NASB

Ghosts don’t eat fish….

c) The immediate effect

Within 300 years Christianity spread through the whole known world. The disciples told everybody that they met – such was their excitement over what they had witnessed.

d) His effect down the ages

The most amazing thing about the Christian church is that it bridges all age groups, all cultures, all personality types all intellects and social backgrounds. There are over 1700 million Christians in the world today.

Each of them would speak of their own personal experience of knowing that Jesus is alive - can they all be wrong?

Look at His claims and the evidence – is it possible that this man was mad or evil?

Sherlock Holmes once said: “Once you have eliminated the possible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be true”.

C. S. Lewis said : “We are faced with a frightening alternative. The man we are talking about was (and is) who He said or else a lunatic or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic or a fiend; and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy occupied world in human form”.

How can I know God?

The truth is that all of us have rejected God - we've pushed Him out of our lives. We have grown up with an independent spirit of wanting to do things our own way, without any reference to God.

We all have deep desires to be loved, for there to be a purpose for our lives and to be considered someone of worth i.e. that we are valued. These basic needs were to be fulfilled by God, but because we have rejected Him and gone our own way, we have devised our own strategies to meet these needs, but they can only be truly fulfilled by God - our own strategies will eventually fail. The only way you can truly have these needs met is by being restored to God in the relationship that He originally intended. So, how do we do this?

Well, in one sense, there is nothing we can do. The pain of rejection goes deep, and in rejecting God, we have inflicted deep pain upon Him. What is there that we could possibly do that would answer the pain we have inflicted upon God? - nothing. 

We all stand accused of rejecting God, and the consequence of this rejection is that we will be eternally separated from Him (this is what is referred to as hell). If that is what we want, then God will fulfil our wishes when we die, but until that time whilst we are in this world, the love of God for us is present and He seeks to draw us back to himself. No matter how depraved a situation you may be in, God is very close by (there is no hell on earth) and His love is available to you.

Many people try to restore the broken relationship with God by doing good deeds, going to church etc., but none of these address the issue of our rejection of God.

An example might help - suppose you murdered someone in Rochdale and after the event you were so remorseful and sorry for what you had done, that you decided to run away to London and spend the rest of your life caring for people less fortunate than yourself. When the police caught up with you, you would still be returned to Rochdale to stand trial for the crime you committed. The fact that you had changed your life to the benefit of others would not count - you would still be guilty of murder. It is a poor but similar representation of how we are before God. Your good deeds and righteous acts will not deal with the fact that you are still guilty of rejecting God.

Happily (for all of us), God foreknew that this would happen and prepared a way by which we could be restored in a right relationship with Him. He sent, Jesus, His only Son who had committed no sin, to take the punishment for us. He suffered the punishment for sin by being excluded from the presence of God when it was undeserved and unjust. You might find this difficult to understand, so let me explain by way of an example: 

There were two good friends who grew up together and eventually went to the same university. When they left university, they took different paths in life. One became a senior court judge, whilst the other fell upon bad times and debt and eventually turned to a life of crime. One day, many years after they last saw each other, the one who had turned to crime was taken to court to stand trial for a crime, for which the penalty would be a hefty fine or imprisonment. His case came before his friend, the judge who, after staring at him for sometime recognised his friend in the dock, even though the accused didn't recognise him. The judge was overjoyed to see his friend, whom he loved from many years ago, and wanted to help him, but how could he? He couldn't set him free without ceasing to be an honest and fair judge.

He then came up with a solution......

He pronounced sentence over his friend - that he should pay £10,000 or spend one year in prison. Through passing this sentence, his judgement was true and fair, even though his friend could not pay the fine. Then, he climbed down from his seat, took off his wig and wrote out a cheque to the value of £10,000 and gave it to his friend so that he could pay the Clerk of the Court.

This is a similar situation to the one we are in with God. We stand accused of rejecting God, and we  are guilty. The punishment is eternal separation from God (the true and fair justice of God), which we cannot pay. Knowing that we cannot pay it, He comes down to earth and suffers the punishment due to us and the price (sentence) has been paid, which means we are free and can be restored to Him!

If this is true, then why do will still not seem to have that relationship with God? Well, if we go back to our story... when the judge handed the cheque to pay the fine to his friend, his friend had to receive it, otherwise it would count for nothing and his friend would have to go to prison. In the same way, we need to receive the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us otherwise the sentence of eternal separation from God is still in force.

So, if you want to know God, you do need to do something. You need to make a decision. You need to recognise that you have rejected God and that you need to be forgiven. You also need to recognise that God has done all that is necessary for you to be forgiven and restored in a right relationship with Him by sending Jesus to die for you. Your decision is to accept Jesus or not (to take the cheque or not) - the decision is yours, and only you can make it.

If you wish to take the decision to accept what Jesus has done for you, then all you have to do is to talk to God about it. God is more interested in what is going on in your heart rather than whether you use the right words or not, but you should cover the points already mentioned. Tell Him -

• that you realise that you have pushed Him out of your life and have rejected Him,
• that you are sorry for doing that and that you want to be forgiven for hurting Him.
• Thank Him for sending Jesus to take the punishment for your rejection of Him,
• tell Him that you choose to live your live for Him
• and ask Him to come into your life by His Holy Spirit

Something like - "Father God, I'm sorry for rejecting you and pushing you out of my life and I ask You to forgive me. Thank you for sending Jesus to die in my place to take the punishment that was due to me. I now receive Your forgiveness and ask you to come into my life by your Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father"

If you have spoken to God in this way, then God WILL respond to you. You may feel nothing different has happened, but these are matters of the spirit, not the matters of emotions and God will have forgiven you. Now, continue to talk with God on a daily basis and you will begin to discern Him speaking to you. I suggest that to help you in this, that you seek out a group of Christian believers who may be able to help you. It doesn't have to be at West Street, but we're willing to help. I also suggest, that you get hold of a Bible and start to read the New Testament - the books of Luke or John would be good ones with which to start. In this way you will get to know more about God - how loving and forgiving He is and just how much He delights in you. You may also contact us through this website, if you need any help.

Finally, what was all that about "inviting His Holy Spirit into your life"? Well, this is the truly amazing thing about God (something that really blew my mind when I made my decision). God wants to come and live in your life, to be with you for ever. He does not want to be seen as remote, but wants to be as close as He can to you every day, to help you live your live to the full. He does this by joining His Spirit (His Holy Spirit) to your spirit. This is not anything spooky - God would NEVER do anything to harm you or cause you distress - that's not His way. It's a bit like two friends holding hands.

God loves you so much that He gave you the right to choose, and if you say "no", then He will respect that, even though it will lead to you suffering more. He will not invade your life without your permission - that's a sign of His love for you. So, you need to invite Him in to your life if you are really going to live a full and fulfilled life.

Do all religions lead to God?

No - logically, this is just not possible. 

For example, 

Christians claim that Jesus is God but Muslims would violently disagree with that - they can't both be right (and, in this example, Christians and Muslims cannot, therefore, be worshipping the same God). 

 

Christians will say that there is only one God, Hindus would say that there are many gods - they can't both be right.

Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6) NASB. 

Jesus is pretty clear on this point - there is no other way to God other than through Him. 

Now you must decide whether you believe what Jesus said is true or not (you might like to look at some of the other questions on this we site to help you on this point), but one think is clear - all religions do not lead to the same God, and as there is only one true God, only one of those religions can be true.

Why do I need God?

We have various needs. We have some fundamental needs for air, water, food, shelter, warmth, etc. which all affect our physical frame, but we have deeper needs that affect our spirit and our ability to live a complete life. These needs can be categorised as Casual, Crucial and Critical needs.

Casual needs will not affect us psychologically but would make us feel less than happy. Such things as there being no hot water when we really wanted a bath, or it being a rainy day when we wanted to go to the beach.

Critical needs will have an effect on us psychologically, such that, if they are not resolved in the short-term we can be seriously disturbed. In this category comes the need for love and relationships

Most important of all are Crucial needs. If these needs are not met then we will be seriously disturbed. In this category, we have three needs for - love (the need for unconditional love), purpose (a reason for us to be in this time and place) and worth (that we are not worthless). 

We rationalise how we might get these needs met and set up goals for ourselves, such that, if we achieve these goals then we believe that these three crucial needs will be satisfied. We then behave in a manner that seeks to achieve these goals. When the path to our goals is blocked, then we suffer the negative emotions - the main three of which are guilt, anxiety and depression.

The goals we set up are usually centred around, people, possessions (including finances) and jobs, but the problem is that we can never be in control of them - they can all be taken away from us. To that extent, we can never be sure that the goals we have set for ourselves can ever be achieved, and thus we can never really be sure that we will satisfy our crucial needs.

Some Christians will say that every person has a God-shaped hole inside them that only God can fill and yet we try and fill it with money, possessions, hobbies, work, etc., but none of these things can truly satisfy or need for love, purpose and worth. They are right. For we were designed that God would meet our need for love, purpose and worth.

The problem is that there is a broken relationship between God and us, such that, we do not rely on God to meet these needs but strive to meet these needs by ourselves.

With the broken relationship restored, we can know that God loves us unconditionally (He gave His Son for us), that He has a purpose for us (He created us in this time and space for a purpose that only we can fulfil) and considers us of great worth (that He would do anything to restore that relationship with us).

Until the relationship is restored (see here) and we can see and know that God is meeting these three needs, we will not truly lead a fulfilled life. So, you do need God...

Why is there suffering in the world?

Firstly it needs to be said that God is not aloof to suffering. He knows and feels the pain of all who suffer. 

We are affected by the things around us, whether they be events, people or spiritual forces. We are not immune from these things, we cannot lead an independent life, we are affected by the world around us. It is worth noting at this point that the things you say and the things you do, can and will have an effect on others whether they be for good or evil.

We do not live in a perfect world and certainly not the world as God intended it. The world and everything in it is affected by the distortion of the evil that exists, and we are all affected by it.

As much as there is a God who loves you and cares about you, so there are evil forces in the world that would seek to harm you and destroy you, to stop you from reaching out to God because they are opposed to the purposes of God. Suffering comes from these evil spiritual forces, it does not come from God. God's will for you and all mankind is that none should suffer, and He is a God who heals and delivers. The only condition is that you come to Him for your healing and He will heal you.

When this question is asked, there is usually a subsidiary question which is something like "why doesn't God remove all the suffering from the world?" Well, He has said that those who come to Him, in faith, for their healing will be healed, so in that sense He does remove suffering from the world, but I guess we're really asking the question about suffering, in general.

God has said that there will come a time when all suffering will be removed, but the time is not now. For Him to remove all suffering from the world, He would have to remove all evil. If God were to do that, where would you be? Would you still be here or would you have been removed?

When we try to answer that question, we may easily come to the conclusion that someone like Hitler would be removed and someone like Mother Teresa would stay, but on what basis do we make this assessment? Where do you draw the line between good and evil? On which side of that line would you stand?

The Bible tells us in many places that the heart of all men is evil:

Genesis 6:5 "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" NASB

Genesis 8:21 "The LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth" NASB

Matthew 15:19 (Jesus said) "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders." NASB

Matthew 7:11 (Jesus said) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" NASB

... and those are just a few references.

So, in reality, if God were to remove evil, He would have to remove everyone who has not found a restored relationship with God. Now, as has already been said, there will be a time when this will happen and no-one knows when this will be, only God Himself, but for the moment, it is His will that all should have the opportunity of coming to Him, to receive forgiveness and to be restored into a loving relationship with Him. This is because God loves all people, including you and me, and wants you to know Him.

So, for the moment because of the love that God has for you, suffering must remain, but there will be a time when.....

Why are we all here?

To answer this question you really need to understand who you are. Are you just a clever animal or is there more to you than normal animal instincts and life? The Bible tells us that we are spirit, soul and body. The body is fairly obvious to us, but the other two areas maybe less so. The soul covers the Rational (our thought processes), the Volitional (our will and our behaviours) and Emotional (our feelings) parts of our being. Your spirit is what makes you - you. It is this that makes the difference between us all (and means that we are all unique) and is the place of our personality. It includes areas such as creativity, sensitivity and conscience.

Two identical twins may have identical bodies, behave in the same way, think alike and experience the same emotions, but their spirits will be different. If you were to ask them both to paint a picture of the same bowl of flowers, their pictures would not be the same. This is because they are unique people with different creative skills.

The Bible tells us that we were made in the image of God and it also says that God is spirit. It is your spirit that marks you out as different. You were created in the image of God, not only that but you are unique - there is no-one else like you.

God gave you a spirit to be an image of Him and to be in relationship with Him - His spirit to your spirit. Your purpose in being here has nothing to do with where you live, what you own, what you do or what friends you have. What does matter is how you relate to God and how you relate to others.

In fact, Jesus was asked a question which is recorded in Matthew 22:35-40
"One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"  And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'  " On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."  NASB

So, we are to be in relationship with Him and to love Him, but this is not just one-way traffic - the Bible tells of His great love for us and a His desire for us to have a relationship with Him.
Your purpose in being here is not just random. He created you out of His love and seeks your response to love Him. Fundamentally, God is looking for people who want to be part of His family and will be part of His family for all eternity.

Is there more to life?

Jesus said that He came that you might have life and might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The implication of His words are that we don't have life as God intended, and thus the answer to this question is - yes, there is more to life. What then is the life to which He refers? Well, it is a life that has certain characteristics - a life that is free - free from fears, anxieties and guilt. It is also a life that is full to overflowing with peace, fulfilment and joy (to name just six attributes of many). You really do have life when you live in freedom and peace - but Jesus didn't stop there. He went on to say that you should have life more abundantly -  so much that you can't cope with it

Jesus also said that He came to give us this kind of life - new life. He was referring to the fact that we are separated in our relationship with God so that we are unable to find peace and freedom and to live in them - thus we are not truly experiencing life as God intended. Jesus came to restore our relationship with God so that we might have life (see How Can I Know God?)

Does God love me?

There is nothing more sure or certain in the world than the fact that God loves you. The whole Bible tells of God's love for you.

He created you because He loves you. God does all things well and does not make mistakes.  The problem is that we are estranged in our relationship with God and there is nothing we can do to restore that relationship (see How Can I Know God?). To resolve this issue, God had to do something and His solution was to come to earth to suffer and die for you - that's how much He loves you.

Jesus said - "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13 NASB). This is what God has done for you - He lay down His life for you, to call you His friend. This is the most awesome concept in the whole of history - that God loves you so much that He would freely lay down His life for you.