Bible Basics

How Do I Know God Exists?

By Pastor Ben Berger

The fool says in his heart, 'There is no god' (Psalm 14:1). WOW! That's quite a bold statement. God says that only a fool denies his existence. How could God make such a harsh statement? Why does God expect everyone to know about him? God expects everyone to acknowledge his existence because God has revealed himself to all people.

Almost every nation and people throughout the history of the world have acknowledged the existence of some god. All people on earth have a natural knowledge of God. Such knowledge comes from two things. First, the world itself begs for a Creator. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Psalm 19:1). When people stop to look at the vast oceans, the majestic mountains, the blue sky, trees and grass and animals, the first instinct is to thank God for his wonderful creation. 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). God reveals himself to us through his creation.

Second, all people know about God because something inside of them points to him, especially when feeling guilty. All people have a conscience and that conscience tells us that we are accountable to someone, to God. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them (Romans 2:14-15). Without being taught, most people know by nature the basic differences between right and wrong. The conscience tells us that it's wrong to steal or to hurt others. Our conscience tells us that if we do wrong, we must answer to God. God reveals himself to us through our consciences.

Unfortunately, while the natural knowledge of God tells us that God exists, it does not tell us who that God is. It does not tell us what that God is really like. It does not tell us what that God thinks about us. At the very best, our natural knowledge would only tell us that a wise and powerful God created this world and now wants to destroy us for the wrong we have done.

So, God chose to tell us more about himself in the Bible. The Bible is God's own word by which God chose to tell us who he is and what he has done for us. The Bible is the revealed knowledge of God. The Bible more fully reveals God to us. The Bible confirms that God made the world. The Bible confirms that we must answer to God for our sins. The Bible also tells us that God loves us in spite of our sins; it also tells us that God provided a solution for our sins. The Bible tells us, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). God reveals himself to us through the Bible.

God expects all people to acknowledge his existence because he has revealed himself through creation and conscience. However, without the Bible no one would know how much God loves all of us or how he showed his love by sending his Son to die on the cross for our sins.