## Questions

## Hebrews 11:6

Life is full of questions. Some are trivial, some more serious, and some tremendously important.

Even as we sit here this morning, with the beginning of a new year, you may have questions about your health, your financial situation, your job, your family or your future. What will 1995 bring forth?

These are important questions, but the greatest questions are about God and your relationship to him. Nothing in life is more important than this. Good health, financial stability, secure employment, a contented family and a hopeful future are all things that people want. Yet even these are temporary and eventually pointless unless you have a living relationship with God, one that is clear and certain -- and will last for ever.

This morning it is my desire that you will discover why such a relationship is so urgently needed -- and how it is possible.

The questions that we will discuss are the most serious and important that anyone could ask. The answers are those that everyone needs. Questions about God.

I. Is anyone there?

A. This is the fundamental question.

B. If God does not exist searching for Him is pointless.

C. Hebrews 11:6b, "...for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

D. While it is impossible to ‘prove’ God in a mathematical sense, the evidence is very convincing.

1. Take the existence of the universe.

a. To call it the result of an ‘accident’ raises many questions - and answers none.

b. The same is true of the ‘Big Bang’ theory.

1) Where, for instance, did the raw materials come from?

2) Not even a ‘big bang ‘ can make something out of nothing!

c. The evolutionary idea is wide spread, but just as weak; how can ‘nothing’ evolve into ‘something’, let alone earth’s amazingly complex life forms.

d. All other theories are equally fragile.

2. The only satisfactory explanation is this:

a. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

b. Our world is not the random result of a gigantic fluke involving ingredients that were ‘always there’.

c. Instead the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." cf Heb. 11:3

d. Creation had a beginning, and it was God who brought it into being.

"For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." cf Ps. 33:9

3. This is reinforced by the amazing order and design seen everywhere and by the universal laws which hold everything together, from the vastness of outer space to micro- scopic organisms.

a. But design demands a designer and laws a law-giver - and God is both!

b. "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" cf Acts 17:24

4. The strongest ‘creation evidence’ is man himself.

a. Unlike the animals, man has something we call ‘personality’; he makes intelligent choices, has a conscience and can distinguish between right and wrong.

b. He is capable of love and compassion.

c. Above all, he has an instinct to worship.

d. Where did he get these qualities?

1) Neither evolution nor an avalanche of accidents could have produced them.

2) The clearest answer is this:

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." cf Ge. 2:7

3) Man is not an accident; he is fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the universe.

II. Is God Speaking?

A. God is beyond our understanding and we need Him to reveal Himself to us.

1. Left to ourselves we are totally ignorant of God.

2. Creation is one of the main ways in which He reveals Himself to us.

3. The sheer size of the universe and its amazing balance, variety and beauty reveal a great deal about the God who made it.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.." cf Ps. 19:1

4. In creation God shows his great power, awesome intelligence and brilliant imagination.

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" cf Ro. 1:20

B. When we communicate with one another we rely heavily on words.

1. God also speaks to men through words - the words of the Bible.

2. Nearly 4,000 times in the Old Testament alone (500 times in the first five books) you will find phrases like 'the Lord spoke', 'the Lord commanded' and 'the Lord said'.

3. This is why it is claimed that Scripture never had its origin in the words of man.

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." cf 2 Peter 1:21

4. In no other literature can we find scores of clear and detailed prophecies made by men claiming to speak from God, and later fulfilled to the letter.

5. The odds against this happening by chance are too vast to be taken seriously.

C. Then there is the Bible's impact on people's lives.

1. No other book has had such a life- changing power.

2. Millions of people, over thousands of years, have proved by personal experience that:

"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." cf Ps. 19:7

"The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes." cf Ps. 19:8

3. After 2,000 years no expert in any field has ever disproved a single statement in the Bible.

4. The reason is this: All Scripture, God-breathed .

5. We should therefore accept it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God.

III. What is God like?

A. God is personal.

1. He is not a 'thing', a power, or an influence.

2. He thinks, feels, desires and acts in ways that show him to be a living personal Being.

3. But he is not just 'the man upstairs' or some kind of 'superman'.

4. The Lord is the true God; He is the Living God, the eternal King.

B. God is one.

1. There is only one true God.

2. " Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." cf Is. 44:6

3. And yet God has revealed himself as a 'Trinity' of three Persons - the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit, each of whom is truly, fully and equally God.

C. God is spirit.

1. He has no physical dimensions.

2. He does not have a body, nor does he have any characteristics that can be defined in terms of size and shape.

3. John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

D. God is eternal.

1. God has no beginning.

2. In the Bible's words He is "from everlasting to everlasting".

3. There never was a time when God did not exist and there never will be a time when he will not exist.

4. God describes Himself as the One "who is, and who was, and who is to come".

E. God is independent.

1. Every other living being is dependent on people or things, and ultimately upon God - but God is totally independent of his creation.

2. He can survive on his own.

3. God doesn’t need us - we need Him!

F. God is holy.

1. He is majestic in holiness, awesome in glory.

2. Exodus 15:11, "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?"

3. There can be no comparison with the holiness of God.

G. God is just.

1. The Bible says that the Lord is a God of justice and that righteous- ness and justice are the foundation of his Throne.

2. God is not only our Creator and Sustainer; he is also our Judge, rewarding and punishing, in time and eternity, with a justice that is perfect and beyond any appeal or dispute.

H. God is perfect.

1. His knowledge is perfect.

2. God knows everything in the past, present and future.

3. Including all our thoughts, words and deeds.

4. His wisdom is perfect and utterly beyond our understanding.

Ro. 11:33, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"

I. God is Sovereign.

1. He is the sole and supreme ruler of the universe, and nothing whatever is outside of his control.

2. The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth.

3. With God there are no accidents or surprises.

J. God is omnipotent.

1. He is all-powerful.

2. Listen to what He says about Himself in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 32:27, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?"

As we begin this new year, do you have questions that need answers? Have you been asking yourself about God? Does He really exist? Does He speak to us today? What is He really like?

He does exist...He speaks to us through His Word, the Bible...and He is a loving Father who wants to fellowship with His creation. The only way for that to take place is for us to, by faith, accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, spend time daily with Him in the Bible, and learn more about Him.

Christian, will you determine this new year to know Him better than you ever have before. Truly, to know Him is to love Him...and to love Him will lead us to serve Him.