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unsurpassed by any other existing historical documents.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historical document.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.
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.