A certain young man who was long overdue for a haircut decided to go to the local barber one day. While sitting in the barber's chair the young man and the barber began conversing. Near the end of the haircut, the conversation turned to the subject of God. The barber, as nonchalantly as one with scissors can be, said, "I do not believe God exists."
The young man, being a believer, was taking aback at the barber's atheism and so he asked the barber, "Why do you say that? What makes you believe that God doesn't exist?" The barber paused mid-cut and, with gusto, replied, "Just look around, son. There is evil and sadness all over. If God exists, then there shouldn't be any of that. It seems so clear to me. Maybe when you're a little older you'll understand."
The barber finished the cut and the young man paid him for his services, even leaving a nice tip. While walking out the door, the young man turned back to the barber and said, "You know, I don't believe barber's exist. I am sure of it that barber's just do not exist." The barber, a little surprised, said, "How can you say that? I just worked on you!" The young man sharply replied, "But barbers can't exist because their are so many disheveled, messy, and long-haired people in the world, so barber's just can't exist."
The barber smirked, shooting back at the young man, "But barber's do exist! That's just what happens when people do not come to me!" "Exactly!" harkened the young man, "That's exactly the point! God does exist. The pain and suffering and evil is just the evidence of a world that has not gone to Him for their trim!" The young man turned and left, leaving the barber dumbfounded in his own disbelief.
How do we know God exists, really know that He is who He claims to be? This is a difficult but absolutely necessary question. The consequences for neglecting it are dire and eternal. For, if God is who He claims to be and Jesus is who He claims to be, then to know Him are of the utmost importance. We are not left without testimony, though, in this discussion. The Scriptures themselves attest to the knowledge of God. And we should find comfort in their witness, for its truth is both self-attesting and authoritative.
At the onset of such a discussion, a brief note about knowledge must be made. Knowledge refers to knowing someone or something. True and definitive knowledge, though involving the intellect is a holistic endeavor, requiring all of the faculties of a person. This is the necessary starting point for knowledge, particularly when discussing matter of spiritual and eternal significance.
While there are many verses to support the knowledge of God, Paul's definition of spiritual knowledge in matter of receptive revelation in his first letter to the Corinthian church seems to cover the topic quite well (1 Cor. 2:6-16). In this comprehensive statement Paul indicates that not only is the knowledge of God a spiritual ordeal, but more more importantly, it is revealed by the Holy Spirit. The relevance of such a truth is that although people, like the barber above, would prefer to use their physical sensory perceptions to know God, who is Spirit, the way to know God begins with the spirit of a person.
Additionally, unless we recognize that our knowledge of God is revealed and not earned, we will fail to know. Because of this reality, we need to come to God in humility for Him to reveal Himself to us. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, indicates that God has revealed Himself in creation, His eternal power and invisible qualities, and that the only appropriate response to such revelation is praise and thankfulness (Rom. 1:18-23).
In the end, the matter is a spiritual one. Our knowledge of God is based on our spirit's malleability to be affected by the Holy Spirit revealing Himself in our hearts. If we are hard of heart and deaf of ear, we will not receive that revelation, for to accept God's revelation one must first have faith that revelation is in fact possible. But this knowledge is of a holistic and transformative nature, meaning that to know God forms the backbone of all knowledge.
Therefore, let us start the conversation of the existence of God where it needs to begin: in the spirit. Starting there and working itself outward through every facet of our person, the knowledge of God will transform us. But we must receive that revelation in order for it to take its affect within us. But praise be to God that He has revealed Himself and that we can know Him!
Showing posts with label existence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label existence. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Self-Existent God
One a normal, sunny Saturday afternoon, a father is driving the car to do some errands, his toddler-aged son sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Weeks ago the toddler got a new baby sister that mommy is at home caring for, giving the boy some much-needed daddy-time. Bouncing in his seat, fiddling with the door lock and the window, it's clear that he's excited at the prospect of spending some alone time with his father away from her.
After some more fidgeting and squirming, the boy rights himself and, with an innocent look to his father, aks, "Daddy where do babies come from?" The father, not totally shocked by the question, actually expecting it, surprised that it hadn't come sooner, answers the toddler, "Well, son, it came out of mommies tummy. Daddy and Mommy put it there." The boy, not missing a beat, shoots back, "Where did you get it?"
Although the father had anticipated the first question, the second had catches him off-guard, and he stutters for a response, still stammering as his son unloads his clip of machine-gun questions, "But where did you come from? Did Grammy and Gran Gran put you in Grammy's belly too? But where did it all start? Who put the first baby in the mommy's belly?!" The boy's agitated but sincere inquiry causes the father to quiet in contemplation at the profundity of his toddler's honest but challenging questions.
The determined, dependent, and created nature of humanity is one of those great and difficult realities of life. Man, for ages, has had to face his own nature which is ever-contingent upon others for being and identity. Think for a moment of the toddler's questioning: every human is born to parents who were born to parents who were born to other parents on and on till before time, each living in a different scenario, in a different culture, in a different time. All in all, humans must recognize that we do not exist in and of ourselves. The postmodern ideal of autonomy simply does not cohere to reality.
In fact, only God is self existent. The only self-existent being is "I AM," the One who was, and is, and is to come (Ex. 3:14; Rev. 1:8), by whom all of creation exists as a result of His hand of creation and sustaining, done so in and by His Son (John 1:3, 10; Psa. 33:6; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16). In truth, this is the fundamental truth of all existence, put forth by the first words of the Bible, "In the beginning God...(Gen. 1:1)."
Recognition of God as who He is should compel us in so many practical ways, not the least of all being our identity. Because God is the Creator of the whole universe, including each one of us, and His identity is not derived from anything but Himself, He is the One from whom we receive our true identity. This means both repentance and humility but also the highest of sincere devotions, meaning that we will come to God to receive our true self, from the One who is truth.
Therefore, when answering the toddler's questions, we will be clear and concise that the beginning and end of all things is, unequivocally, God. Let us then, when pressed with our own limited, finite, dependent nature, draw close to the Holy Lord Almighty through faith in His Son, Christ Jesus!
After some more fidgeting and squirming, the boy rights himself and, with an innocent look to his father, aks, "Daddy where do babies come from?" The father, not totally shocked by the question, actually expecting it, surprised that it hadn't come sooner, answers the toddler, "Well, son, it came out of mommies tummy. Daddy and Mommy put it there." The boy, not missing a beat, shoots back, "Where did you get it?"
Although the father had anticipated the first question, the second had catches him off-guard, and he stutters for a response, still stammering as his son unloads his clip of machine-gun questions, "But where did you come from? Did Grammy and Gran Gran put you in Grammy's belly too? But where did it all start? Who put the first baby in the mommy's belly?!" The boy's agitated but sincere inquiry causes the father to quiet in contemplation at the profundity of his toddler's honest but challenging questions.
The determined, dependent, and created nature of humanity is one of those great and difficult realities of life. Man, for ages, has had to face his own nature which is ever-contingent upon others for being and identity. Think for a moment of the toddler's questioning: every human is born to parents who were born to parents who were born to other parents on and on till before time, each living in a different scenario, in a different culture, in a different time. All in all, humans must recognize that we do not exist in and of ourselves. The postmodern ideal of autonomy simply does not cohere to reality.
In fact, only God is self existent. The only self-existent being is "I AM," the One who was, and is, and is to come (Ex. 3:14; Rev. 1:8), by whom all of creation exists as a result of His hand of creation and sustaining, done so in and by His Son (John 1:3, 10; Psa. 33:6; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16). In truth, this is the fundamental truth of all existence, put forth by the first words of the Bible, "In the beginning God...(Gen. 1:1)."
Recognition of God as who He is should compel us in so many practical ways, not the least of all being our identity. Because God is the Creator of the whole universe, including each one of us, and His identity is not derived from anything but Himself, He is the One from whom we receive our true identity. This means both repentance and humility but also the highest of sincere devotions, meaning that we will come to God to receive our true self, from the One who is truth.
Therefore, when answering the toddler's questions, we will be clear and concise that the beginning and end of all things is, unequivocally, God. Let us then, when pressed with our own limited, finite, dependent nature, draw close to the Holy Lord Almighty through faith in His Son, Christ Jesus!
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