1. Most Important Question?
“Where did I come from?” “Where am I going?” “Who am I?” “What is the meaning of life?” “What must I do to be saved?”
What is the most important question?
Actually, it is none of these…but this question***
“Does God Exist?”

2. DOES GOD EXIST?
This one question is paramount because it makes all the others either RELATIVE or IRRELATIVE!
If God does not exist then these other questions are pointless to ask or answer - it doesn’t and won’t matter.
But if God does exist, then the answers to all truly important questions come from Him.
For a quick refresher on why we should consider ant talk about such things…consider
2Pet.1:3***

3. DOES GOD EXIST?
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
(1Pe 3:15 NKJV)
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
(1Pe 3:15 NKJV)
But we will need to go outside the Bible for some our evidence of God’s existence.
Let’s start with the “Law of the excluded middle”***

4. Law of the Excluded Middle
Simply stated, it says that a thing either is, or is not - that there is no middle ground.
There is a principle in logic called the “Law of the Excluded Middle.”
Simply stated, it says that a thing either is, or is not- that there is no middle ground.
So it is with God. He either is or is not, but there is no middle ground.
But many otherwise logical people cannot seem to really make up their minds whether or not God truly exists. They want to believe that He does exist in some ways, yet do not want to obey Him as God, cf. John 12:42.
Joh 12:42 NKJV Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;
Others even become agnostics and say “You can’t really know whether or not God exists.”
If He does exist, then all have a duty to believe and obey Him, Heb.11:6. If He does not exist, then nothing else matters- “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die!”
So let’s consider the available proofs outside the Bible that God exists***
First we need to under stand that this proof is not “scientific”

5. Nature of Proof of God’s Existence
Is not “scientific” proof…
It is not scientific proof.
One cannot demonstrate the existence of God to the human senses in the same way as you could prove the existence of the Gulf of Mexico- through experimentation and observation, Acts 17:24-29 and Isa.40:12-17.
Act 17:24-29 NKJV God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. (25) Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. (26) And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, (27) so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (28) for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' (29) Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.
Isa 40:12-17 NKJV Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? (13) Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him? (14) With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? (15) Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. (16) And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. (17) All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
If it is NOT “scientific” proof, then what kind is it***

6. Nature of Proof of God’s Existence
It is PRIMA FACIA proof
“…self-evident; legally sufficient to establish a fact or case unless disproved”
(Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
It is Prima Facia Proof:
This is a legal term derived from Latin which means “….self-evident; legally sufficient to establish a fact or case unless disproved” (Websters New Collegiate Dictionary).
***
Which means, unless it can be disproved…

7. Nature of Proof of God’s Existence
Which means that, unless it can be disproved, adequate evidence exists to establish the presumption of the fact.
Which means, unless it can be disproved, adequate evidence exists to establish the presumption of a fact…
Which is exactly how the Bible approaches the subject. Consider Romans ***

8. Nature of Proof of God’s Existence
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…
Rom 1:18-20 NKJV
Rom 1:18-20 NKJV For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
So we see readily that the Bible begins with a presumption of the existence of God***

9. Evidence of God’s Existence…
No effort to establish reality of God in Scripture…Gen 1.1
But does declare God’s existence logically through Cause and Effect…
For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.
(Heb 3:4)
The Bible itself makes no formal, concerted effort to establish God’s reality directly- the fact of God is merely stated, simply and powerfully, Gen.1:1.
***
But the Bible does manifest God’s existence very logically through Cause and Effect, Heb.3:4.
So why is it that this is the case. Is there such overwhelming proof that God exists that it is beyond doubt? ***
The “Problem” of the Universe…

10. The “Problem” of the Universe…
The Universe exists…
Therefore there must be some ADEQUATE explanation for it’s existence:
It is eternal…or
It is NOT eternal, but self-created from nothing…or
It is NOT eternal, but Created by Something exterior and superior to itself.
The “Problem” of the Universe.
***It exists
***Therefore there must be some adequate explanation for it’s existence.
***There are only three possible explanations:
****1. It is eternal
****2. NOT eternal but self-created
****3. NOT eternal by Created by Something exterior and superior to itself.
Which leads us to consider the first possibility***

11. The “Problem” of the Universe…
Is the Universe eternal?
In the early 1970’s, many considered Dr. Robert Jastrow to be the finest science writer alive. He wrote:
“in science as in the Bible, the World begins with an act of creation. Only as a result of the most recent discoveries can we say with a fair degree of confidence that our Universe has not existed forever; that it began abruptly, without any apparent cause, in a blinding event that defies scientific explanation” (Until the Sun Dies, Warner Books, New York, 1977, p.5)
Is the universe eternal?
***In the early 1970’s, many considered Dr. Robert Jastrow to be the finest science writer alive. He wrote:
***“in science as in the Bible, the World begins with an act of creation. Only as a result of the most recent discoveries can we say with a fair degree of confidence that our Universe has not existed forever; that it began abruptly, without any apparent cause, in a blinding event that defies scientific explanation” (Until the Sun Dies, Warner Books, New York, 1977, p.5)

12. The “Problem” of the Universe…
Is the Universe eternal?
Other scientists must agree since so many try to assign an age to the Universe…admitting that it has an origin, and IS NOT ETERNAL.
Is the universe eternal? NO
Attempts to assign it an age are admissions that it is not.
So, if it is NOT eternal, then it must be created. But how? By itself?
***

13. The “Problem” of the Universe…
Did it Create Itself?
2nd Law of Thermodynamics excludes this possibility.
Matter/Energy cannot be created or destroyed…only it’s form can be changed.
Did it create itself?
So what about explanation for the Universe #2?
It is absurd to think that something material can create itself from nothing.
2nd Law of Thermodynamics excludes this possibility.
Matter/Energy cannot be created or destroyed…only it’s form can be changed.
“No material thing can create itself.” (The Evidence for God in an Expanding Universe; Dr. George E. Davis; p.71)
If material things could create themselves from nothing, wouldn’t we be able to see the process, or at least some stage of it, today?
With #1 and #2 scientifically implausible and therefore disproved, it seems we’re left with explanation #3***

14. The “Problem” of the Universe…
Then we are left with #3…It WAS CREATED
By Something that existed BEFORE IT
By Something SUPERIOR TO IT
By Something of a DIFFERENT NATURE THAN ITSELF
The only viable option is that:
***Something that existed before the Universe created it (some eternal uncaused Cause;
***Something which was superior to the material Universe created it, for the created cannot be greater than the Creator; and
***Something of a different nature created the Universe, for the finite and material Universe of matter could neither create nor explain itself.
But we have to accept another fact inherent in this conclusion, that is concerning LIFE itself***

15. The “Problem” of the Universe…
Not only the Universe, but physical LIFE itself is explainable ONLY if there is an exterior Force to cause it. Why?
The Law of Biogenesis: “Life begets life.”
The explanation for it cannot come from the Physical Universe!!!!!!
Aside from the material creation, physical life itself is explainable only by the realization of a eternal, non-physical Life Force (cf. Gen.2:7) which created “life” as we know it. Why?
The scientific Law of Biogenesis states that: “Life begets life.” From what other source could original life have come, based on this law, other than God?
Atheism is forced to assume that physical life, at some time or another, was spontaneously generated from inorganic (non-living) materials. But all the evidence and logic denies it.
Even evolutionists must admit that there is no scientific evidence to support this notion and that it does not occur in any known cases!
So, we come then to the only plausible conclusion...
***

16. The Only Plausible Conclusion…
One evolutionist estimated the probability for the chance formation of the smallest, simplest form of a living organism known as 1 X 10340,000,000. The entire Universe is said to only have 1080 electrons! Which requires “blind faith”- Atheism or belief in God?
One evolutionist estimated the probability for the chance formation of the smallest, simplest form of a living organism know as 1 X 10340,000, The entire Universe is said to only have 1080 electrons! You tell me: which requires “blind faith”- Atheism or belief in God?
There are only two options with no middle ground:
Life was spontaneously generated by accident from inorganic substances; or
It was purposely created by an eternal force called “God”.
All plausible evidence indicates life does not, and could not, begin spontaneously by mere chance.
Thus all evidence forces us to conclude that life originally created by the eternal force of God!
So, what now…
***

17. The Only Plausible Conclusion…
So… We need to examine and accept the Prima Facia evidence that “He is.” And believing him Him, we must seek to please Him – Heb 11.6; Luke 6.46.
Luke 6.46: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things I say?”