Proofs for God? III

Friday, April 24, 2009. We are talking about proofs for God. We formulated many questions: What is the basis for our ideas about God? How can we relate to someone we do not know? How can we know about God? How do we know?

The answer of Jesus has a number of components. We know about God from nature. Nature is the creation of God and it reflects the wisdom, power and ideas of God about life and purpose. Second, we know God from our conscience. Our conscience tells us what is write and wrong. It tells us to be fair to other people. Our conscience has been shaped by God, the creator. Third, we know about God from the people who talked about him, from prophets and his messengers. The Jewish faith and the Christian faith is based on his revelation. God is telling people about himself. God is showing his grace, love, truth and character. Thus, we can read the bible today, the Jewish and Christian book about God and his history with mankind and many people throughout world history. Further we can read the books of a large number of Christians, who have lived with faith in Jesus for many years. They testify and confirm the experiences of the early disciples, throughout all times of human history until today.

How do we know that the things we think about God are correct? How do we know that there is a God we could believe in and relate to?

This question is quite interesting. Do I “know” there is God? I have been a Christian for 20 years now. I know so many things about God, and still do not know so many other things. But I have studied the bible intensely, I have obeyed many times (and disobeyed many other times). I have listened to so many other people of faith (and to the criticism of others who could not find faith). Do I “know” there is God? Yes, somehow I know. How could I doubt the things I see so clearly? On the other hand I cannot completely deny my own questions and insecurity. I can trust God, but not trust myself and my own faith. Summing up I would say you can never know that the things you believe are correct. Humans tend to be wrong at least occasionally. But you can trust that God is trustworthy. You can be sure that he will not let your down. His proofs have been historical events, not repeatable experiments of natural science. Jesus went to the cross to show God's justice and love. It is not a proof we could repeat. It establishes a particular kind of certainty. It asks us to believe and to trust him. Only when we start to move in this direction, certainty will rise and truth will grow. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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