God's Not Dead...He's Alive!!! There is a GOD!

Psalms 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. (NIV)

            God! The name, the subject, the belief in this powerful being Who created the whole world and man, has been debated for centuries. Some acknowledge Him as their reason for living, while others deny even the remote possibility of His existence. Many worship Him in Spirit and in truth, while some do everything in their power to erase the very essence of Who God Is. Why is there so much debate about God? Why is it that some would search heaven and earth to prove that He DOESN’T exist? Why is it that some would rather disbelieve in God, and believe in the theory of evolution from a mortal man than to have faith that there is Someone powerful enough to create the human race?

            It all started from Lucifer when he wanted to be like God. Matter of fact, he not only wanted to be like God, but he seemed to have wanted to be God.

 Isaiah 14:13-14 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”(NIV) Lucifer in an act of jealousy wanted to overthrow the government of God. Therefore, he tried to set himself up for his plan to go into action. However, God did not allow that to take place, so Lucifer and 1/3 of the angels were kicked out of heaven. There was no room and never will be 2 Gods in heaven.  There always has and always will be just 1 True Living God.

            The name “atheist” did not come to light until the eighteenth century. However, there have always been those who fought against and resisted the idea of the true God. We see this in the case of Pharaoh when God had given instructions for Moses to tell him to let His people go. Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” (NIV) Pharaoh was correct when he said that he didn’t know God. Only a person who really doesn’t know and understand Him would dare to defy Him.  But why is it that so many are willing to put off the notion that there is a God? I recently had a conversation with a few atheist online and here is of the comments that someone had to say. Please excuse the misspells, but I copied it as she wrote it.

Sparkle said:

Jesus was a great Prophet and was the beloved of God and near to Him and honored, but he was only a man. It does not consider it necessary for salvation that the burden of a sinner should be placed upon an innocent one, nor does reason permit that for the sin of X, Y should be held responsible. No government has ever followed this principle. It should be borne in mind that where human nature possesses many excellent qualities, it is also subject to the defect that on account of its weakness it is prone to commit sins and defaults. The Almighty Who has made human nature has not invested it with the inclination to commit sins so that He might condemn man to torment, but so that His Attribute of Forgiveness might be manifested. Sin is doubtless a poison, but the fire of repentance and istighfar converts it into an antidote. Thus after repentance and remorse, sin becomes the means of progress and roots out from inside a person the feeling that he amounts to something and stamps out arrogance and pride and self-exhibition.

It is the eternal natural law of God that He forgives sin through repentance and istighfar and accepts the prayers of the virtuous by way of intercession, but we have never observed that X should strike his head with a stone and this should cure the headache of Y. Then we do not know by what law the suicide of Jesus can remove the inner disease of others. Nor are we aware of any philosophy on the basis of which the blood of Jesus can wash out the inner impurity of anyone else. Indeed observation contradicts this.(Salvation)

            This is my actual response to Sparkle as I come from God’s word regarding what was written.

1.)“Jesus was a great Prophet and was the beloved of God and near to Him and honored, but he was only a man.”

Matthew 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my (beloved KJV) Son whom I love; with him I am well pleased. (NIV) This scripture lets us know that Jesus was not just beloved of God, but he was His son.

Luke 1:30-33 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. The Lord god will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end. (NIV) This scripture clearly lets us know that Jesus birth was of God and therefore, he was not just an ordinary man. Jesus came down in the form of a fleshly man in order to save us from a world of sin. This is why he was born of a virgin birth because there was no sin in him and therefore, God needed a pure vessel to be used for his coming.

2.)“It does not consider it necessary for salvation that the burden of a sinner should be placed upon an innocent one, nor does reason permit that for the sin of X, Y should be held responsible.” The Bible absolutely disagrees with this statement. Hebrews 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (NIV) It was necessary for Jesus to come and die for our sins so that we might have eternal life. Without the shedding of his blood, we would have been eternally lost. The animal sacrifices were only temporary leading up to the Ultimate Sacrifice, which was Jesus.

3.)No government has ever followed this principle. Well, it is irrelevant if a government did not follow this principal because God made it a mandate that sacrifices were to be done. However, this mandate was given to the Children of Israel and not the other heathen nations. When they disobeyed God, there were rebuked. Mark 7:8-9 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “you have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! (NIV) The government’s law never out ranks God’s law.

4.)It is the eternal natural law of God that He forgives sin through repentance and istighfar and accepts the prayers of the virtuous by way of intercession, but we have never observed that X should strike his head with a stone and this should cure the headache of Y. This reminds me of when Satan quoted the scripture to Jesus while trying to tempt him.

Luke 4:10-13 For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ “Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ “ When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (NIV) Jesus paid the price for us (X) to cure the “headache” of sin by way of the cross (Y).

5.)                        Then we do not know by what law the suicide of Jesus can remove the inner disease of others. Nor are we aware of any philosophy on the basis of which the blood of Jesus can wash out the inner impurity of anyone else. Well, Jesus did not commit suicide. John 19:15-16 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify you king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priest answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. (NIV) Jesus did not put himself on the cross, but this act was done by mankind. When soldiers enlist in the military, are they committing suicide when they decide to defend their country? No! Even though military men and women know that there is a chance that they will be called to war and possibly die, they are not signing documents upon entry of suicide. They would be remembered as heroes having died for their country. Jesus did the same thing. He signed up for a battle knowing that death would come, but He decided to be our world’s hero.

6.)  Indeed observation contradicts this.(Salvation) I need not have seen The actual death of Jesus to believe that it happened just like I didn’t see George Washington was ever the president of the United States. Faith is the only thing that is needed if you have a mind for God. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (NIV).

I pray that one day, you will see and understand Jesus and what it took for him to save us from our sins. I pray that you will have an encounter with God that will answer the questions that are in your mind. I pray that you are open to the hearing of God’s voice and that He will show you the truth in what you seek. I pray that you will turn your heart to Him and seek after Him whole heartedly. I pray for you. To---Sparkle.

            What I have found having had conversations with some atheist is that they pretty much have their minds made up. Many are not truly interested in knowing that there is a God, but strike up conversation for debate purposes only. There is so much evidence as to the existence of God. I told one atheist that every time you look in the mirror, you are staring directly at the proof that God does exist. However, this was not enough to convince him. I’m not sure that much will. However, we must love our atheist community and try to guide them to the true knowledge of Jesus Christ.

            There was recently a lot of hype when Pope Francis said that good works can get atheist into heaven even if they don’t believe in God. Well, this is not Biblical and Jesus said something different. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way  and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (NIV) You can only get to the Father unless you come through Jesus, but if you don’t believe in Jesus, how can you get to the Father? Atheist cannot enter heaven if they don’t believe. Ever more so, good works do not get you into heaven. Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; (NIV) There is no way to “earn” your way to heaven. We don’t get rewards points for heaven’s entry. It is a free gift, but first one must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only then can heaven’s gift be redeemable.