Best Thing Ever 5 – God Exists

Pastor Chris FluittSermons

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Every good and perfect gift comes from God!  God gives the best things ever! So many things that this sermon series could go on forever…
But let’s take a step back from the great gifts to talk about the giver.  The fact that there is such a good generous God.. is the Best Thing Ever.

God exists and that is the best thing ever

But how do you know God is real?  That is something you need to come to grips with. You need to weigh the information and come to a decision.  In this sermon we look at the Cosmological, Teleological, & the Ontological information that is around us and within us to proclaim that God exists and is absolutely worth searching for.

Best Thing Ever 5 – God Exists from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Best thing Ever 6 – God Exists

Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt

Redemption Church Plano Tx

Vid Bumper
You are at Redemption Church in Plano, Tx.  My name is Chris Fluitt and I am glad to have you with us. Internet people, thank you for reaching out to us this week.  We received your comments on youtube as well as our anonymous text line.  It was so encouraging to hear from you.  Reminder – our anonymous text line is 214 856 0550.  Ask us questions or just say hi.
Let’s look at our Scripture memory verse for this month.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.(NIV)
James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.(NIV)
What an incredible claim this is.  It does not say SOME GOOD GIFTS… MOST GOOD GIFTS… it says EVERY GOOD & PERFECT GIFT comes from God!  There are no tricky qualifiers.. there is no fine print like… offer only available in Hoboken, New Jersey… during a solar eclipse… on Fridays… that occur on leap day… and coinciding with A Cubs World Series Championship.
It simply says everything.
It doesn’t even say – For Christians only… for republicans or democrats only, for Americans only..
God gives us every Good & Perfect Gift.  He gives to all. And gives constantly.
We have been talking about some of the Best things that God gives us in this series, Best Thing Ever…
Best Thing Ever
All this awesome things God has given us…

  • On our good Friday service we said God gave us the BEST FRIEND EVER
  • On Easter Sunday we said the Resurrection was the Best Thing
  • Forgiveness, repentance, & Baptism are Best things
  • Last week we studied the Holy Spirit as the Best Thing

We certainly have not run out of things to declare BEST from God. After all.. every Good & Perfect gift comes from Him.. But today let’s kind of go back to step 1… building block A..
The fact that such a good generous God exists.. It is the Best Thing Ever.
God’s Exists and it is the best thing ever!
Are you thankful that God exists!?  You ought to be.  I am Glad that God is my God… but before that I so blown away that there is a God who would ever accept me, love me, bless me, keep me, heal me, forgive me, restore me, empower me, call me, never forget me, never forsake me.
Does anyone think that such a God is the Best Thing Ever.
 
But how do you know God exists?
This is more than a fair question.  It is an honest question and we are going to take some time to dive into it.  With a subject like this we could never be exhaustive… If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us… Text Line Hint Hint 214 856 0550
I have 3 big words.  Do not be afraid of these words or turn your brain off. Here are the 3 words…
Cosmological, Teleological, Ontological
So what in the word do these words mean?  No seriously.. can someone help me?  😉
Cosmological
Cosmology is a study to explain the nature & structure of the universe.  It seeks to give the best explanation for the existence of the universe.  Why does the universe exist? How was it created? What is the best explanation?
The word cosmological is two words stuck together… Cosmos the universe and world and Logical Reason and understanding.  What is the REASON for the WORLD?
When you woke up and looked outside your window you saw stuff!  There was a world waiting outside your window.  Why?  For what reason is all this here? Why is there a sun, an earth, galaxies… why are their birds, trees, & humans? For what reason is all of this here?  What is the best explanation?
I believe that God is the best explanation for the existence of the universe.
The Bible in very basic terms told us that God spoke it all in to existence.   Now there are other explanations for why there is a world, a galaxy, and a universe. They are numerous and real complicated.
Big Bang theory.. There was a bunch of SOMETHING and something ignited it creating chemical reactions and changes… through this explosion it somehow created the universe…
From their one would likely add Evolutionary theory.  A thought that the right sequence of DNA, RNA, & amino acids chained together creating a single cell organism.  This one single cell organism then replicates over & over for millions, billions of years and became different species through changes in environment.
This is a very scaled back simplistic explanation.  It is way more complicated then how I just tried to explain it. Is this the best explanation for the universe & life?
Is this a better explanation that God creating the universe?  It is so good that we all get to decide for ourselves isn’t it!?
Where did God come from? Who created God?
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.(NIV)
 
God is not like you and me. We exist in time. We can’t hardly comprehend existing outside of time…  How could God be outside of time?
Does God need everything that we need?  Does God need Oxygen, or food & water?  We need those things, but does God need those things?  He operates outside the limitations of needing oxygen… just like he operates outside the limitations of time and space.
There is nothing in the universe like this… which is admittedly difficult for science for science that operates on the observable & replicatable. Because we have not observed or replicated God’s existence does that mean we should dismiss this possibility?  Well many theories like the Big Bang & Evolution are not observable or replicatable either
When it comes to the creation of the universe, no human has ever witnessed an observable or replicatable event. Every human that has ever lived has had to grab hold of a theory IN FAITH.
Cosmological
Why does the universe exist?  That is Cosmology.
Teleological
Teleological seeks the best explanation for the purpose & precision of the universe.
We live in a complicated yet coordinated world. All your numerous cells & molecules come together and work together to form you.  You are right now forming new cells to replace the old ones and you don’t even have to think about it.
Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.(NIV)
When the psalmist wrote this he had no idea the complexity of the human body. It was beyond their knowledge.  Millennia later we still are outdone by the complexity of the human body. It is still beyond our knowledge.
Every time we look deeper we find a greater depth.
It appears that there is an unmistakable precision in the universe.  We can understand why people would come to the conclusion that the universe must hold purpose.  That such an amazing design calls for an amazing designer.
Let’s pretend that we are out in Northern Africa on a nice friendly desert expedition upon camels.  We have this day dream often right?  No?  Well just go with it.
We are out just having fun and trying not to die… when we see this.
Ancient Egypt
It is natural to ask… “How did this get here?  WHO put this here?”  None of us would look at the sphynx and the Egyptian pyramid and say “wow, look what naturally formed according to nature over time.  Look at this interesting rock evolution.”
We would take one look at this and we would see a precision that had to be created by a sentient being.  We would see purpose in the design.
Why is the universe here is Cosmological.  Why is there an apparent precision and purpose to the universe is the Teleological.
What is the best explanation for the precision of the human body and its amino acid sequence? What is the best explanation for the perfect environment to foster life on this planet?  Why does the universe seem calibrated for life’s existence?
What is the best explanation for those pyramids?
Like we would look at those man made pyramids, the psalmist looked at the sky and declared…
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.(NIV)
Psalm 19:2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.(NIV)
Psalm 19:3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.(NIV)
Cosmological, Teleological, and…
Ontological
Ontology is the philosophy of existing. How did we get the notion of God?
 
The Arch Bishop of Canterbury, Anselm was born in 1033 AD.  He proposed a philosophical argument that many have since built upon.  Here is a barebones descript.
 

  1. God is a being that which none greater can be imagined.
  2. This God concept exists as an idea in the mind.
  3. A God that exists in the mind and also in reality is greater than a God who exists in the mind only.

Now remember.. God is a being that which none greater can be imagined. We can’t imagine something greater than God..

  1. It is a contradiction to suppose what we can imagine a being greater than the greatest being that can be imagined.
  2. Therefore God exists.

 
It can be complicated for sure.  It can spark heated arguments We just want to point out that it all hinges on the first point.
 
If there is a God… He is the greatest being in the Universe.  He would literally be the BEST THING EVER.
God is THE BEST THING EVER.
Can you imagine something greater than God?
 
In every culture throughout history people have come to the conclusion that there is a God. And they have done it independent of each other.  Almost all people in the history of mankind have believed in a Deity.  They will have come to different conclusions, but they all seem aware of the same imagination THAT THERE IS A GOD AND NOTHING GREATER COULD EVER BE IMAGINED.
In today’s culture it feels like we who believe in God are swimming against a prevailing stream of human thought declaring that no God exists. But that is not true.  The entire observable history of man is filled with the thought that God exists. The voices of the last century that declare there is no God are the ones that are swimming against the prevailing amount of human thought.
How can everyone know about the idea of God?
If God never existed, how did we get the notion of Him?
When you ask this you have to be ready to answer this question.
How can we all know about the idea of Superman?
We have a notion of Superman and we know that He isn’t real (and will probably never be popular again since we lost Christopher Reeve).
But Superman is very different from a historical belief in God.
Superman was created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. They take credit and trademarked the creation.
Superman is promoted through conversation, culture, comic books, tv shows, & movies but you don’t find a universal belief in Superman in cultures that are completely independent of each other for millennia of human history.
But with God you do!  Every culture seems to be aware of a God notion.  There must be something to this notion.
Cosmological, Teleological, & Ontological
Those are some big words that represents some arguments for God’s existence.  Many will respond to these arguments by asking “Where is the empirical evidence?”
Empirical – Verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic
Do you believe in an observable God?  Do you believe in a God that can be experienced?
I don’t know what kind of church you think you wandered into today or happened upon a sermon on the internet.  But you are in a church that believes God is more than a theory.  God can be observed & experienced. God is empirical.  God is more than just words on the page of dusty book or a logical argument.
It stands to reason that there is a Best being somewhere in this universe.  Someone that is the strongest, wisest, and truest.  What don’t you seek this being today?
Ask God to let you observe Him and to Experience Him.  I believe God will do just that. It requires you to search Him out.
Hebrews 11:6 …anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV)
 
Do you believe it is possible for God to exist?
Do you believe that a search for God will be rewarded?