Saturday, July 18, 2015

Dear Pastor Charles: I have been reading your articles for the past few months and I thank you for taking the time to respond to the all the questions you must receive. I never gave much thought to the subject of God until I started reading them. I am almost convinced that God is real and that the Bible really is the ‘Word of God’, as you call it. I even started to read the Bible for myself but I didn’t get very far. My question is this; how can we be sure that God really did create the universe as Genesis claims? Thank you for your response. Sincere Searcher…

Dear Sincere Searcher:
      Thank you for your question. My, you really didn’t get very far, did you? It is best that you settle this question first as it is the foundation to the entire Bible and to your future understanding of who God really is. The Word of God stands in direct conflict with the theory of evolution. The bottom line in the debate is that either God created everything visible from nothing or it magically appeared from nothing and randomly evolved into everything that is visible. Your entire belief system will rest on the foundation of your choice. Since no human being was present at the beginning, and everyone agrees there must be a beginning, then it is a non-observable event. Hence, the ‘theory’ of evolution. Either choice that you make involves a theological decision. Either God is who He says He is and created everything from nothing, or He does not exist and only random chance stands as our creator thus freeing us to become our own gods. Romans 1:18-20 tells us, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”  So you see, God’s Word makes it plain that we must be sure about creation in our own minds.

      For all of us it comes down to one word, FAITH. Hebrews 11:3, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” The fact that you are searching for deeper meaning reveals to me that there is something missing in your life. Perhaps you feel incomplete and hopelessly adrift because you are not anchored to the truth. The fact is that God did create you. The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 139:13-16, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  As you can tell from this writing, God deems you to be of infinite worth to Him. When He created you, God made a very special place deep inside of you that only He can fit into. When you ignore Him, the loneliness of that special place calls out to you for filling. You may try to fill it with other things such as relationships, money, drugs, alcohol or possessions but you will come up empty every time. Only a lasting, personal relationship with your loving Creator will satisfy your soul.

      In order for you to have that relationship, there are some things that you need to know. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” To believe that God exists is to believe that He is responsible for creation. Otherwise, the Bible is just another fairy tale and so is your hope for anything more than eventually becoming food for a future generation of earth worms.

      You say that you are almost convinced. Please tell me what it will take to convince you? Obviously God is working in your life and He is calling you to a personal encounter with Him. Why not just ask Him to come into your life and give you the faith to believe? I assure you that you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. Choosing to believe that the universe was created by an all knowing, all powerful God will not make you a hero with the evolution crowd but it will open eternal doors for you that can give your life purpose and meaning. My prayer for you is that you will stop struggling with God and put all your faith and trust in Him. May God richly bless you as you search for understanding.

                                                                                                           God Bless,
                                                                                                              Pastor Charles…

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