Why God Matters

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Why God Matters
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Can Man Live Without God?

• No Acts 1725, 28
• . . . since He gives to all life, breath, and
  all things.
• 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.

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Can Man Live Without God?

• Yes
• He can rebel against, ignore and deny God and
  still live
• BUT, he cannot do so without consequences!

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• More consequences for thoughts and actions
  follow from the affirmation or denial of God than
  from answering any other question.
• Mortimer Adler, co-editor of Encyclopedia
  Britannica

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• The person who believes in God and the person
  who does not believe in God do not merely
  disagree about God. They disagree about the very
  character of the universe.
• C. Stephen Evans, Quest for Faith

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Worldview

• The sum total of our beliefs about the world
  (What we believe about the world.)
• Our worldview affects every aspect of our lives
  because our choices are shaped by what we
  believe is real and true

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Some Implications

• God Exists God Does Not Exist
• Intelligent creation Blind chance
• Life has meaning Meaninglessness

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• If one puts aside the existence of God and the
  survival after life as too doubtful . . . one has
  to make up ones mind as to the use of life. If
  death ends all, if I have neither to hope for
  good nor to fear evil. I must ask myself what I
  am here for, and how in these circumstances I
  must conduct myself. Now the answer is plain, but
  so unpalatable that most will not face it. There
  is no meaning for life, and thus life has no
  meaning.
• Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up

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• It was true, I had always realized itI hadnt
  any right to exist at all. I had appeared by
  chance, I existed like a stone, a plant, a
  microbe. I could feel nothing to myself but an
  inconsequential buzzing. I was thinking . . .
  that here we are eating and drinking, to preserve
  our precious existence, and that theres nothing,
  nothing, absolutely no reason for existing.
• Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea

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Some Implications

• God Exists God Does Not Exist
• Intelligent creation Blind chance
• Life has meaning Meaninglessness
• Heaven Hell No Heaven, No Hell
• Death is not the end Death is the end
• Man is accountable No accountability

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Christian Worldview Acts 17

• God exists
• God created the world
• It is product of intelligent action
• It has purpose
• It is orderly
• God is lord over all
• God can be known
• Man instinctively longs for God

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Christian Worldview Acts 17

• God will judge the world
• Man is accountable to Him
• Redemption is possible through Jesus Christ

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God Can Be Known
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Romans 118-20

• 18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
  against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
  men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
  19because what may be known of God is manifest in
  them, for God has shown it to them. 20For 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 . . .

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Acts 1416-17

• 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations
  to walk in their own ways. 17Nevertheless He did
  not leave Himself without witness, in that He did
  good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful
  seasons, filling our hearts with food and
  gladness."

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Clues to Gods Existence

• Existence of world
• Cosmic Welcome Mat
• Design of human body
• Sense of moral obligation

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The Choice To Reject GodRomans 121-28

• They knew God but . . .
• They did not honor Him
• They did not give Him thanks
• They exchanged the truth of God for a lie
• They worshiped the creature rather than the
  creator
• They did not see fit to acknowledge God

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Consequences of Rejecting God

• Ones thinking is affected
• Became futile in their thinking (vs. 21)
• Foolish hearts were darkened
• Professing to be wise, they became fools
  (vs. 22)
• God gave them over to a reprobate mind (vs. 28)

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Futile Thinking

• Order arose by chance from chaos
• Non-living matter by random chance gave rise to
  living matter
• Non-conscious matter gave rise to conscious
  beings (even painfully self-conscious)
• Non-thinking matter gave rise to rational beings
• Non-moral matter gave rise to moral beings
• Non-religious matter gave rise to incurably
  religious beings

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Consequences of Rejecting God

• Ones conduct is affected
• Given over to uncleanness and dishonor (vs. 24)
• Worshiped and served the creature (vs. 25)
• Given over to vile passions (vs. 26)
• Given over to things that were not fitting (vs.
  28)

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• "Chance" a post-script
• If chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster
  is his rainbow in the sky, and when you hear
• State of Emergency! Sniper Kills Ten! Troops
  on Rampage! Whites go Looting! Bomb Blasts
  School!
• It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.
  
• Steve Turner - Creed