INTRODUCTION: Most of us here believe in and fully agree with, what I am about to teach and up hold. We believe that "Our God He Is Alive" as the grand hymn goes. So one might ask, "Why study on this topic?" Most of us have accepted this truth, that God exists, more as an article of faith than something that needed proving. "After all, everyone
believes in the existence of God, don't they" we have reasoned. There might have been a handful of college professors somewhere in our universities who might profess that they were atheists or agnostics but on a practical level everyone we know has believed in the existence of God. But through the years some things have changed. Most of us cannot tell anyone why we believe in the existence of God, other than that "he lives within my heart." We have not adequately passed on our faith to our children and then have turned in ever increasing number to atheism, agnosticism, and new age notions of God that bear no resemblance to the God of the Bible. It is time we got back to basics! What is the evidence for the existence of God (an all powerful being who created the universe),

BODY

I. THE UNIVERSAL BELIEF IN A CREATOR.

A. This is based on the truth that all mankind has had the belief that there is a creator.

1. Men in all the world, and throughout all time, not only believe in deity, but also engage in acts of worship and devotion.

2. Acts 17:26_27 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

3. "Everywhere the human heart has a craving for God. There will be exceptions as individuals, but the exceptions do not invalidate the rule. The atheist is an exception in every society!" (Ferrell Jenkins, Introduction to Christian Evidences)

B. The argument thus stated.

1. Since there is in the universe those things that satisfy man's deepest longings..

2. ...there must be a reality (i.e. God) that complements and meets this universal craving for a Supreme Being.

3. Where did the universal belief in the Creator come if not from the Creator himself? Is it only chance that caused it? Did man come up with a totally new and novel concept where there was none?

A. The Universe exists, therefore there must be a reason for its existence.

1. It is a scientific principle that with every effect there must be a sufficient cause.

2. Science has present a number of alternatives which try answer the question, "What caused the universe?"

3. Even if one grants that the universe developed by a slow period of evolution (which we do not!) it still does not answer the question, "What caused the universe?"

4. Scientists claim that the universe came into being because of a "big bang." The universe was originally a very small, heavy ball (according to the big bang theory) and suddenly exploded into all the planets and stars that we have today.

5. This theory fails because it is not a sufficient cause. Some questions which must be asked.

a. Where did this huge compressed ball come from?

b. What caused the ball to explode? Where was the sufficient cause for this?

B. Only the existence of God provides a Sufficient Cause for the existence of the universe.

1. The Bible recognizes this principle.

a. Hebrews 3:4 - "For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God."

A. The entire order of the universe demands a designer.

1. Look at the seasons, how they compliment one another.

2. The very order of nature, how it is interdependent upon each other. 

3. The order of the universe, how the earth is in precisely the amount of distance from the sun and on the perfect axis to support human life.

4. The majesty of the universe itself.

5. One preacher put it this way. "The universe is a complex system. We can find order and design from the most immense galaxies down to the smallest atom. We find amazing things that animals do by instinct apart from which they could not survive. We can predict the movement of heavenly bodies because of the physical laws by which they are governed. We see with our eyes and hear with our ears and sing songs with our voices. The various systems found in the human body function not by accident but by plan. There were a series of articles in Reader's Digest which discussed this: "I Am Joe's Heart", Eye, Lung, etc. Who could believe that Joe is here by accident and not by plan?"

B. The Bible testifies to this!

1. Psalm 104:24 - "O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions;"

2. Psalms 8:3_4 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

3. Psalms 19:1_2 "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge."

4. Romans 1:19-20

A. This is also called the "anthropological argument"

1. It is based upon reality that everywhere people have "a sense of ought"

a. That in certain circumstances, certain things should be done

b. People are concerned...

1) That people should act a certain way

2) That people do not often act the way they should

c. Even atheists and agnostics have "a sense of justice", and are angered when it is violated (as in the case of rape and murder)

B. This moral nature in man demands a Moral Being as the Original Cause.

1. This moral being created man with a sense of right and wrong.

2. If not God, where did we get that it was wrong to kill, steal, commit adultery, hurt another person?

CONCLUSION: There is adequate evidence to prove to the average person that there is a God. No wonder Paul said that those who rejected Him are with out excuse! Our creator, just as the song that teens sometimes sign, is an
awesome God!

STUDIES OF BASICS:
Intoduction
Existence of God
Creation of Mankind
Epistles- Christ's Messages to the Church
Book of Acts
The Inspiration of The Bible
The Inspiration of The Bible (Part 2)
The Life & Mission of Christ
The New Testament
The Book of Revelation -- Victory