If you wonder if God is real, you aren’t alone. I’ve heard countless stories of people who found themselves in a broken state desperate for an answer crying out either literally or in their heads asking, “God, if you are real, please, I am begging you, just make yourself known to me. Show me.” What followed after that might vary a bit, but usually included a promise to change one’s life and follow God if they did, in fact, have enough proof God exists.
THE QUESTION ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS JUST THE BEGINNING
There are so many other big questions that flow out of that one question. Is there a meaning to our lives? Do we have a purpose? If so, what is it? What do I make of the suffering in this world around me? How does this impact the way I see God? Is there a true standard of morality? Is it absolute? Is anything absolute, including truth itself? If so, what? And what about my future? Where is all this headed? Where am I headed? Is this life all there is? I don’t want to overwhelm you before we even get into this first discussion, but I think we do need to be honest that what we are about to discuss is just opening the door to a loooooong journey of thought we have to walk through. It’s a worthwhile journey, but even if you left today sure of whether or not God exists, you still have so much more you have to work through. We all do. I hope to walk with you through some of that in coming days, weeks, months, and years in various ways. For some of you, it will be in blogs and videos. For others, it will be in person as your pastor, brother, and (hopefully) friend. However it may work out, my prayer is that I’ll have something here that can help you on your journey.
AWKWARD NICKNAME MUCH, BRO?
I’m about to start a Bible study group so I’ve been digging into the Gospel of Luke. The book is written to a person named “most excellent Theophilus.” Theophilus basically means “friend of God” in Greek. That’s a pretty interesting name to yell out in public if you ask me. “Hey! Most excellent Friend of God! What’s going on man! What are you doing tonight? Wanna grab a bite?” But that’s their name. Side note: “Most Excellent” is a title that means this person is likely a political leader like a Roman governor in the first century. So, it may or may not be their real name.
Theophilus seems to have a problem, a problem that a man named Luke has been employed to address. Luke says he wrote his book to give an orderly account of the things that were fulfilled (by God) among mankind that have been documented by other historians and taught to Theophilus. Theophilus wants to be sure of what he has been taught. Luke says he has gone to eyewitnesses and put a trustworthy account in order so that Theophilus can be sure of what God has done, so he can know the “exact truth about the things you have been taught.” Seems like a pretty weird problem to have if you are a friend of God, right? I mean, wouldn’t you know what your friend did? Wouldn’t you be sure of what you believed about God or wouldn’t you have another more accurate nickname?
FINDING YOUR FAITH IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY CAN BE CONFUSING
Now I don’t know who you are, but chances are if you are an American, you’ve heard some things about God. You’ve also heard things about Jesus. Then there are things about the church and the Bible and Christians that people will tell you. There can be significant differences in what one person says and what another says, even if they both claim to follow Jesus! How do you know who to trust? And then there’s the reality that none of them seem to be like the Jesus you have likely heard about or the God you might believe exists. What do you do with that? See, most of us are a lot like Theophilus at some point in our lives if we are honest. We know enough about God to be aware of what other people teach about Him, but we just aren’t really sure if it’s true enough for us to believe. We aren’t sure if it’s true enough for us to commit our lives to follow.
I think that’s one of the things that makes the Gospel of Luke so helpful. We get to go to the source and learn the truth about Jesus and about God from people who knew Jesus and heard God. We get to read the Word of God, words written by a man who was moved by the Holy Spirit of God, to make sure we have the trustworthy account that has stood the test of time. And we can be honest about our doubts and concerns because we aren’t alone. God knows we have them and God creates faith in us by coming down to our level to reveal Himself to us and teach us about His great love through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Luke investigated it all from the beginning. He wrote it at a time when people who were there would know and could argue against it. He lived in a culture that had rigorous qualifications for documenting history and Luke was a historian of historians. He did the hard work. And now we can all benefit from it.
YOU ARE…HERE!
So if you want to know if there is a God, the short answer is Yes! And now you can begin digging in to all those other questions that unpack who He is and what His existence means for you and me!
DON’T WALK ALONE, WALK WITH US!
If you are in the Twin Cities Metro, I’d like to personally invite you to connect with me to join one of our Bible Study groups. The best way to do that is by email. You can email me at mike@nnccmpls.com.
You can also contact us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FMBCTwinCities
Or, you can check out our calendar on our website: https://fmbctwincities.com/calendar
May God bless you and continue to reveal His great love for you this week!
In Christ,
Mike Strong