How Do We Know God Isn’t Imaginary?

　　God wasn’t real until the night His presence overwhelmed me in the emergency room. As staff and police officers fought to save my life, God fought for my soul.

　　Until this moment, I was a young woman who wanted to scorch my existence off the face of the Earth, and God…well God was just a crutch or imaginary friend for adults.

　　But God, in His loving kindness and patience, revealed Himself to me in a way that there is no way I could ever doubt His existence. Since then, He’s done this countless times in my life. He didn’t show up as a burning bush or as a pillar in the sky but there have been visits with angels and miracles.

　　To me, He is just as real as the Earth rotating on its axis. He is just as real as an atom, and certainly just as real as the mitochondria in your cells. He is just as real as the breath in your lungs. He is just as real as the night sky with its millions of stars and His love for us outnumbers them all.

　　The most basic proof is the world that exists around us. But skeptics resort to the accusation that God does not exist. In fact, entire websites exist solely to advance this kind of thinking, but just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true.

　　

If God Is Imaginary — What about the Bible?

But the Bible is true. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It contains no errors and was written over a period of 1,500 years by 40 or so different authors. But here’s the interesting part, while some people don’t believe Jesus existed or that Jesus was just a man, most agree the Bible is true.

　　In fact, history, philosophy, science, and archaeology have shown Scripture to be factual and reliable. God provided the Bible to us as evidence of His miracles, His love for us, and who He truly is.

　　Since God is our Creator, He is also our authority, and His Word has the final authority over all of us because it explains His purpose, our purpose, and the purpose of Jesus Christ. It is also our compass and road map; it gives us an understanding of right and wrong.

　　God also revealed His existence through His Son, Jesus. John 14:6-11:

　　Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

　　Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

　　Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

　　When Jesus walked the Earth, He managed to flawlessly keep all of the Old Testament law and fulfilled all the prophecies concerning the Messiah (Matthew 5:17).

　　

What or Who Created the World

The most basic proof of God’s existence is simply what He has made. Even those who live in third-world countries, who have not had the opportunity to hear about Jesus inherently know God exists because God created us to know Him — to walk with Him.

　　And all we need to do is look around us to confirm that God is not imaginary. Throughout Scripture, His existence isn’t questioned:

　　In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

　　God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14).

　　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 (Romans 1:20).

　　The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Psalm 19:1).

　　The world around us reflects a Creator but if God is imaginary, then what about the complexity of the coded information inside every human cell? What about the ecosystem? How can we have seasons like summer and spring?

　　I used to think there was no way the Earth could have been created in six days. Not only did He create the world around us, but He also weaved a sense of eternity inside the heart of every person.

　　Recommended

　　9 Ways the Bible Defines True Manliness

　　Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

　　

Having Faith That God Is Real

Some think that because God didn’t answer their big prayers of curing cancer worldwide or famine or having world peace — it proves God imaginary. But there are two things wrong with this thought. It is tempting God and we all have free will, living in a fallen world that we humans created.

　　Matthew 4:7 says, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” If you are not willing to believe Him but would rather test Him, why would He answer that kind of prayer?

　　Free will is defined by the ability to make our own choices. God doesn’t want us to worship Him without a choice, so He created free will where we want to put our selfish desires on the throne of our hearts instead of God.

　　But God lovingly pursues us and those who reject Him are hostile, Romans 8:7-8 says, “The mind of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” We cannot believe in Jesus while we still treasure our human glory.

　　

God’s Gift of Faith

Philippians 1:29 says, “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” However, no matter how much you and I share our faith, there will always be skeptics.

　　Our job is to understand the Bible, study it, and then learn how to engage with those who doubt Jesus, and even then, some arguments won’t be won. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

　　They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” A great resource for both Christians and non-Christians is a book by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.

　　God has given us a saving faith through the salvation of Jesus and “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see,” (Hebrews 11:1).

　　This faith is like a muscle — the more we exercise it, the more our confidence grows in Christ. Those who seek God will find Him and discover that He is real indeed when they seek Him with all their heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

　　For further reading:

　　Is the Bible a Fairy Tale?

　　Does Proof of Jesus Other Than in the Bible Exist?

　　How Can I Identify Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament?

　　Can Someone Be Saved by Just Seeing Creation?

　　Why Is it Important to Have an Eternal Mindset?

　　How to Live Out Faith Found in Hebrews 11

　　How Do We Know There Is a God?