SteemChurch: If we can't see or hear God, how do we know he exists?

in #steemchurch6 years ago (edited)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the SteemChurch,

'Peace be with you'


The existence of God!

Atheists, agnostics and intellectuals - so caught up in the importance of their own existence, are often quick to deny the existence of God, through one simplistic question -

'If I can't see or hear God, how can He exist?

And with this one question they consider themselves to be superior to 2,000 years of Christian literature.

Let us now examine.


Dare to Trust God.

The idea behind this sermon is derived from this post by @scarletmedia

https://steemit.com/christianity/@scarletmedia/dare-to-trust-god

The introduction:

"Now don't push the term faith at me," a lawyer barked out during a court section recently. "The word is like a red flag. I resent it. I see nothing wrong with 'Prove it to me first, then I'll believe' ".

And subsequently the response of our favourite rodents. Yes our two tiny friends can be annoying at times, then at other times they produce some true pearls of wisdom - in this case:

"We mice feel faith; and hope; and love; and we feel our creator. God is not an entity we can see or hear. If the creator of the Universe was to set foot on Earth - the planet would crumble under the weight. Which is why he must work through other senses and through people. We simple mice get it. Can't understand why the so called 'intelligent' don't. Good post ScarletMedia."


The mice are absolute CORRECT.

We know that God doesn't appear before us as a person. Or as a voice for all to hear. Or as an object to touch.

We have learned through our Christian studies that God is a part of us, with us all the time. And we don't communicate with him through sight, or sound, or touch, or smell, or taste - we communicate through feelings, emotions and prayer.


John 4:24

English Standard Version (ESV)

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Source


Responding to doubters.

In your lives you will come across doubters and they will ask of you the question this Knight shown above. And the best way to respond to them in SirKnight's opinion - put questions back to them. None of which can be answered by reference to the 5 senses.

  1. Do you love your wife and children? (How do you know you do?)

  2. Do you have high hopes for the future? (Can we see this hope?)

  3. Do you have faith in your friends and family? (Prove it!)

Then you can get a little more scientific:

  1. Do you believe in Atoms - proton, neutrons, electrons - how do you know they exist if you can't see them?

  2. If there is no Creator - what came before the Big Bang?

  3. Does 'time' exist? You can't see or hear 'time'.

There would of course be many more questions - let us share them in the comments.


Understanding what God is.

This Knight sees God as an omnipresence (present everywhere) and omniscience (all-knowing), but not an omnipotent (all-powerful) spirit. There is enough evidence in the Bible to say that God cannot (perhaps will not), directly impact upon humanity. More so He does guide our course through indirect influences - such as control over elements and working through people.

Perhaps the mice are right in their theory. If God was to focus all of his power directly on Earth at any given moment, the outcome for the Earth and maybe the rest of the Universe might be catastrophic.


This Knight now wishes to end with one final thought.

If there was an evil that wished to enslave humanity. This force of evil would need to do three things:

  1. Destroy LOVE for others.
  2. Destroy FAITH in others.

Then finally destroy all HOPE.

But to do all of this - the evil must first destroy our love and faith in God.

We must never let this happen.



OUR CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM BEGINS WITH OUR FAITH IN GOD

Source


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This Knight sees God as an omnipresence (present everywhere) and omniscience (all-knowing), but not an omnipotent (all-powerful) spirit.

Hello @sirknight, with all due respect, I'd like to point out a few things regarding the above statement.

If the bible refers to God as Omnipotent, why should we say otherwise.
If you truly believe that, "God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth"... You should also believe that He is Omnipotent because that's the Truth.

There is enough evidence in the Bible to say that God cannot (perhaps will not), directly impact upon humanity.

I will like to see those evidences. Well, except you mean physical impartation...

More so He does guide our course through indirect influences - such as control over elements and working through people.

Does this not prove Gods Omnipotence?

A good example: He owns and controls the air we breathe. With a snap of His fingers, He can seize this air and we will cease to exist. That's a direct impact!

My God is Omnipotent

For further understanding of the word OMNIPOTENT. Here is a screenshot of the meaning of the word:

Screenshot_20180528-113018.png

Now, compare it with whom you serve.

Have a blessed week

Thank you for the challenge scarletmedia.

This Knight believes that there is a level of semantics caught up this comment you have made.

Compared to you and me - God is omnipotent. However, if God is truly omnipotent explain:

  1. Famine.
  2. Disease and pestilence.
  3. Droughts and floods.
  4. Cyclones and other natural disasters.
  5. Starvation.
  6. Torture and slavery.
  7. Rape, murder, child molestation.
  8. Central banking.
  9. Accidents.

Surely if God had unlimited power - there would be none of these things.

Let's take it a step further - if God wanted the Israelite's freed from slavery why didn't he simply pick them up and move them out? Why work through Moses?

So this Knight stands by his comment - God either cannot involve himself directly; or, he chooses not. Either way this makes SirKnight happy. For either way humanity has choice, freewill and responsibility.

(Now return to original post)

I am... SirKnight.

Compared to you and me - God is omnipotent. However, if God is truly omnipotent explain:

  1. Famine.
  2. Disease and pestilence.
  3. Drought and floods.
  4. Cyclones and other natural disasters.
  5. Starvation.
  6. Torture and slavery.
  7. Rape, murder, child molestation.
  8. Central banking.
  9. Accidents.

From my little understanding, I think the simplest explanation to this is freewill.
The question asked resembles, ''Why didn't GOD destroy Satan?
God is the root of all good and Satan is vice versa. God doesn't rule with power, but love..
Before the fall of Lucifer, he accused God of improper leadership, this was a challenge, and no one challenges God. But, God didn't destroy Satan, Why?

  1. Because He rules with love and not power, If He destroyed Satan, it would instill fear in the angels and they would've no longer served Him with love, but with fear. God doesn't want this.
  2. Because God has to prove that His leadership is the only good, and that of Satan's is worthless. And since Satan thinks God's leadership is poor, he is the only candidate to prove it. This explains all the listed disasters.

God omnipotence, will still be displayed fully, but with time. And then, the earth will be destroyed, as said by @scarletmedia. The delay is for the our salvation, which is a proof against Satan. This is one reason for our creation.
AJoining God's kingdom is by choice and not by force, and His omnipotence shall manifest, and all created being, with even an atom of evil will be subjected to eternal doom.

Synick

wow... i just love your comment... i dont have much to add...

truth is, Satan is vanquished, and God is forever victorious

if we can believe that, then all sufferings make sense all the same...

BLESSINGS!

Thanks for taking your time to read those series of comments.

The bible teaches that bad corrupts good, but let's look at the bright side. At the end of this world, good will overcome bad and it won't have any power to corrupt good again. because we will be fully trans figured.

LOVE........ BLESSINGS

SyNick

Surely if God had unlimited power - there would be none of these things.
Nice list of arguments that God does not exist. If you think these things prove God is not Omnipotent, I suggest you look to answer these questions:
Why did God give man freewill?
Why did God provide the temptation that resulted in the original sin? Did he not see this coming?
I believe my Omnipotent and loving God did not create a pet dog or an ant farm for his amusement. He created a complete environment where we could grow and learn to commune with our creator. This our place to learn the pain and sorrow of not being with Him and the joy and rewards of following His word. We are not capable of understanding why all the things we perceive as bad happen, but we must learn to appreciate the lessons and gifts He graciously gives us. Especially the gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice of His son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Proof of a Love that cannot be exceeded.
God be with you.

God is All-knowing sir. Let's flashback to the beginning of time when God made man. He made all things good for man including his habitation...until man sinned. It is the result of the fall of man that all these things; problems and disasters occur on a daily all over the world. We can only pray, have faith and believe that God's got us no matter the situation or circumstance we find ourselves. It is only through faith in Him that we can have steadfast LOVE and be safe from danger.

You and I are both alive today because we love Him and He loves us. So we keep up the faith.

Thanks a lot @sirknight. You are a man full of knowledge and wisdom. I am very happy to have crossed paths with you today through my blog. May God bless you!

@scarletmedia

#Followed!

wow... well ive just lost a bit of love towards you, dear brother...

God IS OMNIPOTENT, and he is also PURE LOVE

he choses not to do some things, and to do others

we are nothing to debate his SOVEREIGN DECISIONS

in fact, it is suffering that makes people humble, an undeniable prerequisite to meet him...

HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?

People say I will believe it when we see it. The Bible teaches us we must believe first then we see. Every single person at one time had the ability to believe, because God gives each one the measure of faith and He sets eternity in our hearts. I asked a room of people p, perhaps 100 or so, this question. How many people believe God raised Jesus from the dead. Nobody hesitated, every hand went up. Everyone in the room believed Jesus was raised from the dead. This is amazing! Nobody saw it, but everyone believed it. Because this is required for us to be saved. We have to believe God raised Jesus from the dead and confess Him as Lord. Romans 10:9. The free gift of grace to be saved.
The Bible say the fool says in his heart there is no God. Literally it mean a fool says there is no God for me. That God thing is good for you, but not for me.
They decided one day not to believe!
One thing that is amazing you were speaking of the make up of atoms. There is something invisible holding everything together and scientists cannot find it, see it or measure it, but they know it has to be there. The atheist scientist named this thing “The God Particle”
We know what or Who holds this stuff together by the scriptures.
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.

God bless!
Daddy William

This Knight sees God as an omnipresence (present everywhere) and omniscience (all-knowing), but not an omnipotent (all-powerful) spirit. There is enough evidence in the Bible to say that God cannot (perhaps will not), directly impact upon humanity. More so He does guide our course through indirect influences - such as control over elements and working through people.

This I believe too @sirknight. God is the beginning and the end, the author and the finisher of our faith. The Lilly of the valley, the lion of the tribe of Judah.

Only fools says in their heart there’s no God

He created heaven and the earth , the universe itself is a misery which cannot be unveiled.
In my heart, in our heart there lives the almighty. Big but yet small to occupy our hearts . You see I need no prove of God’s existence because I’m a living proof of his work

Well said sire one must believe,
IT EXISTS! beautiful message

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Some prove for some who still fail to believe

Proof 1

: Creation Demands a Creator. The Hubble telescope continues to reveal previously unknown galaxies. Our awesome universe simply astounds us. Under the night sky, King David of ancient Israel asked God: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"
Prove 2
Life Demands a Life-Giver. Scientists have tried in vain to create life from non-life, or even from "soups" of laboratory chemicals. They have utterly failed
prove 3
Laws Demand a Lawgiver. Science has discovered that our physical universe appeared from nothing
Proof 4
: Design Demands a Designer. Not only do we find predictable physical laws throughout the universe, we find tremendous evidence of intelligent design. The human body, for example, shows insurmountable evidence of design

There is lot more, it written in the word "the gods of this world has blinded their eyes that they know not the time of their redemption( paraphrased)

Powerful Monday motivation sir

People may have reason to say God doesn't exist, but how come they don't see a reason to show be exists?
The creation of the earth alone and all it's mysteries is something that the world will never be able to explain.
Let's look at it this way we believe there is always a tomorrow even when we haven't seen it, and that's why the bible say without faith we will never be able to please God.
God exists in his awesome wonders, in answer to our prayers, in the amazing abilities of his power, in our communication with him in prayer as well.
Only a fool will sat there is no God.

Great Message Brother! reason and rationale not without enough to comprehend the presence of God, however sooner or later the eyes of the will have confirm that can not deny it. I adored this message.

Today we must also diligently seek God through reading, and have faith and simply obey his word and believe that he is a rewarder of our diligence.

Another key to understanding God a little more is a study of His attributes. These characteristics, as revealed in the Bible, are crucial to understanding the truth about God, who He is, what He is like, and what He does:

Wisdom of God
Infinite God
Sovereignty of God
Holiness of God
Trinity
Omniscience of God
Faithfulness of God
Love of God
Omnipotent God
Self-Existent God
Self-sufficiency of God
God is Just
Immutability of God
Mercy
Eternal God
Goodness of God
God is Gracious
Omnipresence of God

Another way of understanding God is to study the life of His Son, Jesus. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” In the Person of Jesus, God became man (John 1:14) and provided a way for us to have forgiveness of sin and eternal life with Him (2 Timothy 2:10).

Believing is much more than the intellectual recognition of what is written is true. Believing is also more than having the confidence that the Bible is inspired by God. To really believe, means to have faith that God lives, that he is active and is very interested in me today.I definitely love your SK Knight sermons, it's really gratifying to read this. the omnipresence of God, we pray and he is there even though we do not see him.
www.steemchurch.net
DM

Nice picture DM.

There are many things that are real that we can’t actually see. We can’t always see air, for example, but we know it’s real. While we can’t see the air around us, if you blow on my arm, I can feel the air. That is “evidence” (a clue) that air exists even when we can’t see it. God has given us clue to His existence

First, nature is evidence of the existence of God. The fact us that the earth is so amazingly made to provide humans and animals a home.

Psalm 19:1 in a whole new light, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Second, people, however imperfect accept a universal standard of right and wrong. If there is no God in the world, if there is no Author of life who can distinguish right from wrong, why is it universally accepted that there is such a thing as right and wrong?”

God is the Creator of all things. In other words, the fact that you can see, hear, and feel anything is evidence of the God who created them.

All such things are limited. God is not temporal. None of this can be experienced by the limitations of the senses.

"The natural man cannot receive the things of God because they are spiritually discerned."
1 Corinthians 2:14

"That which can be seen is temporal. That which cannot be seen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

In Pauls letter to romans“since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

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