So What?

…has God got to do with me?

 

 

 

So what, if some people decided to believe in a God, and a man called Jesus?”

 

So what, if Jesus died on a cross supposedly for someone's sin?”

 

So what, if God spoke to a bunch of men thousands of years ago?”

 

“What has that got to do with me?”

 

But if God would speak directly to me…

“Maybe if God were to speak directly to me, I'd believe in Him.  But just relying on a bunch of ancient documents is too far removed.”

 

If God were to come down and speak to you directly, you would probably tell everyone you knew what God said.  Some of your friends might believe you.  Most everyone else would think you're nuts.  Using the reasoning that God needs to speak to you directly— why should they believe you?  Shouldn't God need to speak to them directly too?

 

Let's say you decided to write down your experience with God so others could benefit from what He told you.  How many years would have to pass before what God said to you would no longer be true?  You see, the passage of time does not change the truth of the message.

 

This is precisely the situation facing you right now from the opposite perspective. 

 

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the creator of the universe who completed his creation in six days approximately six thousand years ago.  God wanted true fellowship with man, and therefore gave him free will.  He created a perfect world for man, and asked man to show his appreciation by respecting two simple rules.  Man decided he didn't have to obey, and rebelled.  The whole world was thereby cursed because God removed His regenerating presence.  This world was forever changed and began to degenerate from that day forward. 

 

Throughout the centuries that followed, God spoke to various ones who believed in Him.  These men then recorded God's messages and their encounters with Him into written works.  The reliability of the documents recording these encounters is unsurpassed by any other existing historical documents.  These documents have been collected into a single volume we today call the Bible.

 

“Although it is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 or more different men over a period of 2,000 years, it is clearly one Book, with perfect unity and consistency throughout.” [1]

 

The Reliability of the Bible

The reliability of the Bible meets the Bibliographic historical tests of quantity, quality, and time-span from the original better than any other ancient historical document.

 

Dr. Henry Morris has this to say about the Bible's validity:

 

“Only the Bible manifests [such] remarkable prophetic evidence, and it does so on such a tremendous scale as to render completely absurd any explanation other than divine revelation.”

 

“The historical accuracy of the Scriptures is likewise in a class by itself, far superior to the written records of Egypt, Assyria, and other early nations. Archeological confirmations of the Biblical record have been almost innumerable in the last century.”

 

“It is significant also that no real mistake has ever been demonstrated in the Bible, in science, in history, or in any other subject.”

 

 

“The Bible is unique also in terms of its effect on individual men and on the history of nations. …No other book has ever held such universal appeal nor produced such lasting effects.” [2]

 

What about Science?

What about all the facts that disprove the Bible?  What about all the scientific discoveries that contradict the Bible?

 

Actually, there are none.  Facts and discoveries don't draw conclusions; people do.  All facts must be interpreted.  How you interpret the facts depends on the presuppositions—the stories and ideas—you bring to the facts.  These presuppositions form your world view.  The world view you adopt will affect how you see everything. 

 

We all live in the same world, so we all have the same set of facts. Since all facts require interpretation, it is up to each person to decide whether the interpretation attached to the facts best describes reality.  You have to decide which world view makes sense of the facts. 


 


Ultimately, there are only two world views.  We will not go into detail here comparing the two ultimate world views.  It is sufficient to say that each have, at the core, an essential belief about God: Either He exists, or He doesn't. 

 

All scientific facts can be interpreted to fit either world view.

 

One example: Dating Methods

What about the great age of the earth—the millions of years Scientists tell us about? 

 

Most scientific dating methods produce young-earth results.  However, since these contradict the predominant world view in the secular “scientistic” orthodoxy, you don't hear much about them.  Primarily the dating methods that yield great ages are the radiometric dating methods.  Yet, all dating methods are fallible because we weren't there and we don't know everything. 

 

With any radiometric dating method, there are at least three assumptions:

1. Known initial quantities.

2. Constant rate of decay.

3. No contamination of the sample.

 

None of these assumptions can be proven.  So any “age” derived from these methods would only be correct if the assumptions are correct and the age is therefore inconclusive at best.

You might say, “But the world looks old.”  Well, it is old.  Six thousand years is a long time.  “No, I mean it looks millions of years old.” How do you know what millions of years of age looks like?  Can you tell the difference between a six thousand year old rock and a six million year old rock?  No.

 

Remember, God told us how old the world is.  Is it His fault if we don’t believe Him?  Is it His fault if we see His creation and reach an incorrect conclusion based on our preconceived ideas?  If we conclude the world is older than God said it is, it's not God's fault.  That’s our own misinterpretation.

 

Our own fallible interpretation of the facts leads some of us to conclude great age.  When people assert a date of more than 6000 years, it’s based entirely on their assumptions.

 

Do we know what six million year old world looks like vs. six thousand year old one?  No.  Can you conclusively say the world evolved over millions of years instead of being created in six days?  Were you there?  Shouldn’t we take the word of someone who was there? 

 

But do we have the word of someone who was there?  Absolutely!  God was there.  God is infallible.

 

 

This is just one example.  I could go on and on, but we don't have the space to even begin to do so.[3]

 

It's about faith.

Ultimately, whether you believe in God or don't believe in God requires faith.  You base your world view on beliefs.  Beliefs about the past cannot be proven because you were not there, so any belief about the past requires faith.  You must either believe statements based on fallible assumptions, or on statements from someone who was there.

 

You see, God is giving you every opportunity to know Him.  He does not force anyone to believe in Him.  But God is holy, and cannot tolerate sin.  Those who reject His Son have got to go to eternal punishment.  Those who believe in His Son will receive eternal life. 

(Matthew 25:46; John 3:16 & 36; 5:24; 6:40; 12:25; Romans 2:7–8; 6:23; Galatians 6:8)

 

 

 

 

God has got to do something with each and every one of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what has God got to do with me?”

You decide.  God exists.  He has called you to acknowledge Him.  He sent His Son to die so you could be brought back from the state of rebellion.  Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect and holy life, was crucified and took upon himself the punishment for our sin.  He was raised back to life, and ascended into heaven. 

 

The completion of that work left all mankind in the following state:  All have sinned and are in need of salvation.

1. Man is in a hopeless state. 

Isaiah 53:6; Romans 1:18-22; Romans 3:23; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 1:12

2. Salvation cannot be earned.

Proverbs 14:12; John 14:6; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9

3. We have hope through faith in Jesus, and we know that we have eternal life.

John 3:36; Acts 2:38;
Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 2:8; 1John.5:13

 

Now it's up to you. 

 

 

What you decide to do with Jesus will determine what God has got to do with you—for eternity.

 

 

smg@smgolden.com

 

Copyright © Stephen M. Golden, June 15, 2004

Modified date: March 17, 2023



[1]Excerpt from The Bible Has the Answer, by Henry Morris and Martin Clark, published by Master Books, 1987

[2]Excerpt from The Bible Has the Answer, by Henry Morris and Martin Clark, published by Master Books, 1987

[3]For more information on these issues, you could start with www.creationscience.com, www.answersingenesis.org, and www.icr.org.