Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Meaning of Human Life

Man's life is a mystery. Scholars, historians, and philosophers through the centuries have sought to understand man and the meaning of human existence. Despite man's endeavors to probe into the secrets of the universe, the universe remains a mystery. Although many consider the universe and man's purpose on this earth to be an insoluble riddle, the Bible, one of God's greatest gifts to mankind, unlocks this mystery. The Bible is God's revelation to man. It reveals the reality concerning God, the universe, man, the relationship between man and God, the relationships among men, and man's obligation to God, as seen through creation and the Scripture.

THE PURPOSE OF MAN

God's Word tells us that He is self-existing and ever-existing. In eternity past God was there. At a certain point He made a decision to create man. God's desire was to have this man express Him in His image and represent Him with His authority on earth ( Gen. 1:26-28).
This is quite meaningful. Before God created man, He made billions of items in this universe. He created the plant life, the animal life, and finally the highest life, the human life. We can easily see that the plants were created for the animals, and the animals were created for mankind. However, it is not easy to realize that man was made for God's purpose. The Bible tells us in the very first pages of Genesis that God's creation of man was different from His creation of all other things. He created man in His own image. Let us illustrate this matter by using a glove. In the regions of the world where there are long, harsh winters and extreme cold, most people are accustomed to wearing warm gloves. A person's hand cannot fit into a handkerchief because it does not have the image or form of the hand. Because the glove is in the image, the likeness, and the form of a hand, it is able to contain the hand. A glove is made in the form of a hand for the purpose of containing the hand. In the same way, the human life was created according to the image of God so that God could dispense Himself as the divine life into the human life.
Man was created not only to express God but also to be God's representative authority. God wanted man to rule over this created earth with His dominion. Although God judged and sentenced His enemy, Satan, the created man was committed with the responsibility to execute this judgment. Man was to rule over a vast territory for God.
The unique way for man to express God and represent God is to receive God as his life that man may become a counterpart of God. Man was created with the capacity to receive and contain God's divine life. All of man's human virtues, such as love, honor, and goodness, were created by God so that man may have God's life and live out the divine attributes.

THE CREATION OF MAN

Man's life is the highest created life, much higher in quality than the plant life or animal life. Not only so, man was created after God's kind. The animals in God's creation were created after their own kind. Thus, the animal life cannot contain or express the human life. However, man was made after God's kind, with the ability and capacity to receive another lifethe divine life. In this respect man is unique in all God's creation.
Not only so, man is a vessel, a container (Rom. 9:21, 23). Because we are vessels of God, God wants to be our content. Just as bottles are made to contain milk and beverages, we are made to contain God. This is the reason that knowledge, wealth, material possessions, and accomplishments can never satisfy us, because we were created to contain God.
All human beings, regardless of their race or nationality, are vessels of God. The Bible, the word of God, divides this vessel into three partsthe spirit, the soul, and the body (1 Thes. 5:23). Everyone is aware of his own physical body. It is tangible, concrete, temporal, and lends itself to scientific investigation. If we were to ask a chemistry professor, What are the physical properties that constitute man's physical makeup? he might produce an analysis chart and point out that human beings are composed of so many percent water, nitrogen, carbon, and various other elements. As a professor of chemistry, he would be correct, no doubt, according to his field of research. However, his research would be limited to the physical part of man's being, the part that is made up of the elements of the earth. Since the beginning of history man has sought to be free from the imprisonment of his body. He has tried to find new ways of pleasing his overworked senses, only to find that it all has been done before. Although man has managed to prolong biological life, every man comes to the point where he has to admit that the body is a dead end. God's purpose for man does not focus on man's physical body.
After examining man according to his view, a psychologist might say that besides man's body, man has an inward, hidden composition. Man has a mind, a thinking organ. He also has emotions, the faculty of inner feeling, capable of loving, hating, and being depressed and elated. He might also point out that man has a will, a faculty for making decisions. In short, man is a living, thinking, feeling, and deciding entitynot mere animated dust but a real, living person, having a unique and distinctive personality. He would say that our inner self, our psychological self, is our real self, while our body is merely the outward shell of our being. Psyche, the root of such English words as psychiatry and psychology, comes from the Greek word meaning soul. Psychology is the study of the soul. The three faculties of mind, will, and emotion compose the personality and are merely the components of the human soul.
The last two centuries of human history have seen the spectacular rise of the soul's powers. The great minds such as Churchill, Einstein, Emerson, and Dostoevsky have contributed an abundance of thought. The great wills have produced an abundance of decisive action in government and culture. Without a doubt the soul has soared to its peak in the past few decades. Yet in spite of man's great accomplishments, the sense of inner emptiness remains. We can conquer the moon, but within ourselves there remains some uncharted territory. We can study the world's great philosophies and still not find the answer to the great questions concerning our human existence. We can obtain the highest education and yet remain restless and dissatisfied. Within the soul of man, the search for the meaning of human life will always end in frustration.
Hidden and obscured, there is a faculty deep within man that has remained a mystery throughout all the ages. It is deeper than the soul. Just as the life-giving marrow is hidden within the bone, hidden within the soul is the human spirit. The spirit of man was made specifically to contain God Himself, to be filled with God. Man is never satisfied because this deepest part still remains to be filled. Through the mind man is able only to consider God and know God objectively, but through the spirit man is able to contact God, contain God, and enjoy God.

THE TRAGEDY OF MAN - MAN'S FALL

Before man partook of God's life and nature in the tree of life, he was seduced by Satan, God's archenemy, and thus became corrupted and fell into sin. The fall of man is the greatest tragedy in the universe. Its effects are still with us today as we witness the war, injustice, poverty, crime, oppression, and sickness around us daily.
Because man disobeyed God's word, he fell under God's condemnation, became separated from God, was deprived from fulfilling God's purpose, and is destined to an eternal death in the lake of fire.
Not only so, because of the fall, man was corrupted inwardly in nature. Although man was created in the image of God and thus possesses a good nature that matches God's nature, with virtues such as truthfulness, goodness, holiness, wisdom, kindness, and valor, through man's fall an evil nature entered into man and now wars against his good nature. Because sin is in man, he is unable to carry out his good intentions. Furthermore, man cannot escape his evil nature. The Bible says that in man, that is, in his flesh, nothing good dwells (Rom. 7:18). Man wills to do good, but he simply cannot do it.
Through the fall of man Satan as sin entered into man, corrupting his body and causing it to become the flesh, contaminating his soul so that it became the self, and deadening man's spirit. Sin damaged man in three ways: it caused man's spirit to be deadened; it caused man's mind to rebel against God; and it caused man's body to sin.
In his fallen state, man is like a damaged and untunable radio that cannot receive and play music, but rather makes meaningless noise. He is also like a beautiful and well-formed cup that has fallen into the gutter and become covered with mud. Throughout history man has tried every possible way to escape sin, only to find that good works, education, ethics, ideologies, and materialism cannot save him from sin. Man has been fully usurped by Satan and is under his control, totally helpless and unable to save himself.

GOD'S REACHING OF MAN

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Savior sent from God into the world to solve the problems of fallen and sinful men. He came almost two thousand years ago to the Middle East as the embodiment of the Triune God. The Bible says that in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). Not only so, He is God incarnated. Hence, He is both the complete God and the perfect man. He is more than a good man, a great man, a moral man, or a holy man. He is the God-man. This God-man was nailed to the cross to accomplish the work of redemption. According to the Bible, He died as 1) the Lamb of God to take away man's sin ( John 1:29), 2) the bronze serpent to destroy God's enemy, Satan (John 3:14-15), and 3) a grain of wheat to release the divine and eternal life of God and impart it into us ( John 12:24).
Hence, God took two steps. First He became flesh, born as a man called Jesus. After living a perfect and sinless life and dying on the cross to redeem sinful man, He rose from the dead and in resurrection changed His form from the flesh to the Spirit. Hence, the Lord Jesus became the Spirit. This Spirit is called the life-giving Spirit. A crucial verse in the Bible tells us that the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). God the Father is unapproachable. Although He came in the Son to dwell as man among men, God the Son was still not able to enter into man because He was in the form of a man with flesh and blood. By the Son's death and resurrection, His form was changed from a physical one into a spiritual one. As the Spirit, that is, as the spiritual air that we can breathe in, Christ was able to enter into His disciples. Thus the entire Triune God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit reaches man. In other words, when the Triune God reaches His redeemed people, He is the Spirit.
Let us use a few illustrations to explain this. Although the sun is unapproachable in itself due to its extremely high temperature, it reaches us as rays of sunlight. The rays of the sun are the reaching of the sun to us. In other words the essence, nature, and characteristics of the sun are found and included in its rays.
We may also use the illustration of ice, water, and vapor. Although the essence of all three are two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, their outward forms can change without altering any of their essential characteristics. Vapor may be likened to the Spirit, which is the easiest of the three forms to be received by man. The Spirit is the very divine breath or air that can be readily received and experienced by man.
Furthermore, in the modern world nearly every home has electricity installed in it. Although the source of the electricity may be a hydroelectric power plant situated on a river, the electricity reaches the homes by wires or cables. Christ the Son is the heavenly wire, coming from God the Father, the divine power plant, to bring the supply and power of the Spirit as the heavenly electrical current to us. Just as the current of electricity is the electricity itself in motion, so the Spirit of God is the flowing and reaching of God Himself to man. In other words, the Spirit transmits God Himself to us. The application of the Triune God to us is the Spirit. The Spirit is the current of the Triune God for us to apply; He is the Triune God in motion.
Furthermore, it is vitally important to realize that the Spirit is the entire Triune God. The Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the Son or the Father. We may easily separate the two elements of oil and water, but it is impossible to separate tea from water after the tea bag is steeped in the water.
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God reaching us. When the Lord Jesus took the step of being transfigured into the form of the Spirit, that was the final step of His process; He could change no further, for He had reached His goal. This was His full development. We should not think that when the Holy Spirit reaches us, only He, the Third of the Godhead, comes, and the Father and the Son remain in heaven. According to the Bible, when the Spirit comes, the Father and the Son also come with the Spirit. We can say that the Father is the source, the Son is the course, and the Spirit is the flow. This is truly marvelous!
God today is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). If you ask people on the street or in the shops who God is, some may say that God is the Creator, and others may reply that He is their Redeemer and Savior; however, not many will say that God is the Spirit. God is not merely the Spirit; He is the life-giving Spirit.
To be a Christian is to receive the Holy Spirit into our human spirit. Man can be likened to a radio, and the Spirit of God can be likened to radio waves. Within a radio there is a receiver. Likewise, within every man there is a human spirit as the recipient for man to receive the Spirit of God. If a radio is turned off or the receiver is not functioning properly, the radio waves will not be received by the radio. Today many human radios do not function because their owners do not switch on by exercising their spirit. People today are unable to contact God because the receiver within them, the human spirit, is out of order.

MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD'S REDEMPTION AND SALVATION

In order for us to receive and enjoy this wonderful One, we must turn our heart to God and repent. The meaning of repentance is to turn to God. Previously, we had our back toward God. Whether we were doing good or evil, we were turned away from God. In order to receive God, we must first turn to Him. We must then believe in and receive God. God requires that our heart believe and that our mouth confess. The Bible tells us that if we confess with our mouth, Lord Jesus, and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Rom. 10:9).
The Christian life is a life bubbling with the Lord every day, all the day long. As soon as we awaken in the morning, we can call on the Lord and use the Bible to contact the Lord by praying in spirit. Since there are three hundred sixty-five mornings in a year, we can have a new beginning every morning by being revived in our human spirit. Not only can we be revived by ourselves, but it is also good to speak with others concerning what we have enjoyed of the Lord. This can be done face-to-face at home, in the market place in town, or at work in a factory.
Such a wonderful all-inclusive Spirit brings into us the divine, eternal, uncreated life of God. This life enables us to enjoy Him, experience Him, and live Him out in our daily life. Whether we are factory workers, housewives, farmers, professionals, or laborers, we can enjoy such a Spirit and live by the unsearchable riches of this divine life. May the Lord bless you and cause you to live according to God's purpose.
Copyright (C) 1993 Living Stream, Anaheim, CA, USA. All rights reserved
 
 
 


This page, and all contents, are Copyright © 1996 by Amana Christian Bookstores.
email: amana@hightruth.com

What Happens After We Die?



No. 11 in the Series, Most Frequently Asked Questions Concerning God

Many people are concerned about what happens after death. Some say death is the absolute end of life, therefore, they live a life without fear of consequences. Others say that after death there will be a coming judgment for which people must prepare by living properly now.

There Will Be Judgment and Life after Death

The Bible tells us that God exists and a life other than our physical, tangible realm of here and now also exists. What we can see is temporal and is created by God, whom we cannot see. It is the eternal and invisible God who, for a purpose, created what is visible, including the earth, the trees, the animals, and human beings. Just as God is in the realm of eternity, so the life after death determined by the coming judgment of God is also after this presently visible realm.

Two Main Types of Life after Death

1) Those who fulfill God's purpose of creation, that is, those who believe that Christ died for their sins and resurrected for their justification and who take God in as life to become one with Him, will be with God, one with God, and ruling with God over the whole earth. This is the best possible thing that can happen to someone after death.
2) Those who are without God today will be apart from the loving God for eternity. They will suffer pain in the lake of fire, being burnt together with Satan (the devil) and his fallen angels. The lake of fire was not prepared for man but for Satan and his angels. However, all mankind became one with Satan as a result of the fall of Adam. Because some do not turn back to God in spite of many warnings and opportunities, God will have to give them up to spend eternity with Satan and share in his torment. This is the worst type of life after death. We hope that as many as possible will turn to God and be spared, especially you who are reading this.

The Deciding Factor for which Type You'll Have

In order to live a life that will prepare us to face the coming judgment, we must first find out what will be rewarded and what will be disapproved. Many people have the misconception that a person who does good deeds while living on earth will go to heaven, whereas a person who does evil things will go to hell. This concept is not according to the Bible. If you read the two types of life after death carefully, you will see something different. The deciding factor for what one's life will be like for eternity is not one's behavior while on earth but rather whether or not one has believed Christ's death and resurrection and received God as life.

Man's Problem

Although man was created by God to contain Him, man was still given the choice to take God as life or to take Satan. Man chose to take Satan, who then entered man and became the sinful nature in man. Man became a sinner in his constitution and full of sins in his actions. There is now an element within man which loves unrighteousness and hates righteousness, which loves sin and darkness and hates light. All that God desired man to be, man is not. Man without God remains in sin and is dead in his spirit, the very part of man which was created to contact and contain God. If man does not repent, man is doomed to remain with Satan for eternity.

God's Salvation

But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loves man, is not willing to see His created man become a victim of Satan and end up in the lake of fire with Satan. It is this love which motivated God to become a man to join in with victimized humanity, to die as the perfect substitute to rescue man from destruction. He then resurrected to become a life-giving Spirit to give life to all who would believe and receive Him.
When you receive Him into you, He will bring the life of God into you. God will be your life and be one with you. Then you must allow Him to grow in you to fill your whole being. This will deliver you from the Satanic nature that has been in you since your birth. The more He grows in you, the more you'll be free from Satan's tyranny. You will love as God loves. You will be righteous as God is righteous. You will express all God's divine attributes, such as love, light, holiness, righteousness, kindness, etc. After living with God, in God, and one with God on the earth, you will certainly be approved at the judgment. You will definitely have a life with God, because you already will have been enjoying His eternal life during this physical life.
If you have not yet turned back to God and received His life through Jesus Christ, your life is still filled with Satan, and you are condemned already. It does not matter how much good you try to do, you will never be that good. You may be righteous sometimes, but not all the time. You may show love to all people, but you may actually hate some of them secretly inside your heart. This is not because you have no desire to be an upright person, but because you lack the empowering of the divine life. God is God and Satan is Satan. If you have Satan but not God, you can never be perfect in this life, and you will definitely be in the lake of fire with Satan after the judgment. If you have God living inside of you, you may be as perfect as God in this life, and you will definitely be with God and one with God eternally. What you need is to receive Jesus by calling on His name and admitting to Him that you are a sinner and that you need Him as your salvation.
Pray this way: "O Lord Jesus, I know that You have created me. I know that I have sin and do not have Your life. I believe that You died for me. Lord Jesus, come into me to be my life. I want to be with You now and forever." Then you need to read the Bible and pray every day and meet with believers in oneness so that you may grow up into Him and be built with God's people. By this, you will be assured of your destiny.

Bible Verses for Your Reading:

2 Corinthians 4:18 The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Ephesians 3:9,11 They may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things... According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Colossians 1:16 Because in Him all things were created... the visible and the invisible,
1 Timothy 1:17 The King of the ages,... invisible, the only God
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is reserved for men to die once, and after this comes judgment,
John 3:16-18 Every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life... he who does not believe has been condemned already,
Romans 5:8 But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification.
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Revelation 22:5,7 The Lord God will shine upon them; and they will reign forever and ever. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.
Ephesians 2:12 You were... apart from Christ, ...having no hope and without God in the world.
Matthew 25:41 Go away from Me... into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Romans 1:28 They did not approve of holding God in their full knowledge, God gave them up
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 You turned... to serve a living and true God and await His Son... who delivers us from the wrath which is coming.
Genesis 2:9 The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life
Romans 5:19 Through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners,
Romans 7:20 If what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
John 3:19 This is the condemnation, that the light has come... and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil.
John 12:46 I have come as a light into the world, that every one who believes into Me would not remain in darkness.
Ephesians 2:1-5 And you, though dead in your offenses and sins... we also all conducted ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh... and were by nature children of wrath... but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God
Romans 5:18 As it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.
1 Corinthians 15:45 The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
John 7:39 This He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow...
Ephesians 4:15 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.
Mark 10:18 No one is good except One God.
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, not even one
Philippians 4:13 I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.
Matthew 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Romans 10:13 Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:38 Repent and... baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Can You Prove God Is Real?


No. 1 in the Series, Most Frequently Asked Questions Concerning God

According to a recent national poll, 93% of all Americans believe that there is a personal God or a Spirit of power. However, nobody has ever seen God with their eyes, and most people agree that God's existence cannot be proven by logical arguments. As many confirmed atheists say, if God's existence cannot be proved, why should anyone believe that He exists?
The ones who believe in the existence of God, especially Christians, have written many long books, short articles, and everything else in between trying to prove God's existence to the doubters. They have used examples from nature; they have constructed logical arguments using scientific facts and theories and philosophical considerations. The nonbelievers have also written many books and articles trying to show that God does not exist. The believers remain believers; the doubters remain doubters. Usually, nothing much is gained for either side by these arguments.
But we have found that human beings actually can prove to themselves the existence of God.

Finding a Common Ground to Meet God

In order to find a person, we need to find where the person is. In order to contact something, we need to know the realm in which that thing exists. Where is God? What realm is God living in? Where is man? What realm is man living in? Is there a common realm in which the two may meet?

God Cannot be Contacted by Physical Means

It is nearly without dispute that God, if He exists, is invisible to physical eyes. The Bible tells us that God is Spirit, living in unapproachable light. Although the heavens manifest His glory, He Himself cannot be detected with a telescope, microscope, or any other instrument. He is in another sphere and of another realm. Using our five senses to look for God is like looking for sound waves with our eyes, listening for color with our ears, or trying to touch a fragrance with our hands. It is as futile as trying to watch a television broadcast without a television set. The physical sensory organs are not the proper organs with which to contact God, for the physical realm is not the realm in which God can be found. We must contact Him on His "wavelength."

God Cannot be Substantiated in the Psychological Realm

It is also impossible to substantiate God in the mental or psychological realm. His wisdom is too great for the limited mind of man to comprehend. Mankind has not fathomed the wonders of nature; we can fully grasp neither life, nor death, nor existence after death. We have not yet explored all the different forms of life on this planet, including micro-organisms and mammoth creatures of past and present. We have not yet fully explored the microcosm and macrocosm of this universe. We have not yet fully unearthed our own past history, nor can we be certain of what will happen in our future, even in such simple matters as the weather or the timing of the next earthquake. Mankind does not even understand himself, so how can we ever begin to understand the Designer and Creator of the universe, or comprehend the purpose for which all things (and we ourselves) were made? God is too colossal, universal, and multifarious in wisdom; no matter how long we ponder, we can never imagine what He is really like and what He wants. Finite beings have a natural limitation comprehending the infinite One. It is harder for a man to understand God than it is for a worm to understand man.

Contacting God with the Human Spirit

Man lives in the physical and psychological realms, but God is in the spiritual realm. Therefore, man cannot physically sense or logically prove God, but we are not saying that it is impossible to contact God or to verify His existence. No! It is possible when we use the right organ. Whoever seeks Him will find Him.
As we have pointed out, God is Spirit. God desires that man contact Him; this is why He made man with three parts--body, soul, and spirit. The body is for contacting the physical world, such as sights, sounds, tangible objects, etc. The soul, with which we think, feel, and decide, is for contacting the things of the psychological world. But it is the human spirit which is created especially for contacting God the Spirit. Although we have used our physical senses and psychological abilities all our lives, most people have never used their spirit. The human spirit is similar in nature to the Spirit of God. Just as a light bulb shines when it is in contact with the generator through the transmission line, even so, when we contact God the Spirit with our human spirit, we get filled with God and God may shine through us. Once we touch God in this way, nobody can convince us that God does not exist. At that moment, we not only know that God exists but we believe and He is real to us. This is not blind faith, but seeing faith. It is no longer a philosophical question but a firsthand experience.

What Type of Person Are You?

Different people have different considerations before contacting God with their human spirit for the first time. It may be that you are one who has been seeking God. If such is your case, you know that there is a God out there somewhere, but you do not know how to contact Him. All you need to do is begin talking to Him. The Bible tells us that God became a man called Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. He lived a perfect and righteous life which qualified Him to die for our sins. Then the Lord Jesus resurrected to become a life-giving Spirit so that He could come into us. Now all you have to do is to say, "Lord Jesus, I want to contact You so that I may know that You exist. I want to have a living contact with You so that I may experience You firsthand." By talking to Him in this way, you will find Him, because He said that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and that he who seeks shall find.
If you are one who doubts His existence, you also can say to Him, "Lord Jesus, I do not know if You are God or if You even exist at all. If You are real, please reveal Yourself to me. I want to know You and contact You." If He is non-existent, there will be no answer. If He is real, you will get your answer, because He will reveal Himself to you. If you are one who wants to know more about God, His purpose for man, and the relationship He wants to have with man, you can read the Bible and talk to believers to find out more. Briefly, He is a God of love and righteousness. His purpose is to have man express Him and rule for Him in a corporate way. The way He wants to accomplish His purpose is to enter into man to be man's life by first entering man's spirit, then saturating man's soul, and eventually transfiguring man's vile body of humiliation so that man may be one with God. In this oneness of God and man, God lives in man and man lives in God, God is man's life and man is God's living, God is man's content and man is God's expression, and God is man's authority and man is God's representative. This wonderful relationship is possible when the human spirit is mingled with God the Spirit. Say to God, "Lord Jesus, use the Bible and believers to tell me more about You and reveal Yourself to me that I may know You."
If you want to prove God's existence for yourself and begin to have a relationship with Him, you can do so right now by telling Him whatever is on your heart, in your own words. If you are sincere and open with Him, He will reveal Himself to you. You will never again say that nobody can prove God's existence, because God Himself will have proven Himself to you. You will have contacted Him for yourself, just as we have. Nobody can argue with our experience and your experience.

Bible Verses for Your Reading:

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
1 Timothy 6:16 Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see.
Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalms 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! in wisdom have You made them all: the earth is full of Your riches.
Deuteronomy 4:29 You shall find [him], if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Zechariah 12:1 The LORD, which stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame.
Ephesians 3:19 That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
John 1:1 The Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh.
Matthew 1:20-21 For that which has been begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.
Hebrews 4:15 But One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God.
1 Corinthians 15:45 The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving Spirit.
John 20:22 He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 11:6 For he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
1 John 4:16 God is love.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion... over all the earth.
2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit.
Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith.
Philippians 3:21 Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
John 15:4 Abide in Me and I in you.
Galatians 2:20 It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

What Is The Meaning Of Baptism?



No. 14 in the Series, Most Frequently Asked Questions Concerning God

The word "baptize" means to dip into or to immerse. Hence "baptism" is immersion. This term has been used by Christians for many years to denote a ritual of sprinkling some water on new believers, "christening" babies, or immersing people into water upon conversion. However, this word has a much deeper meaning and significance.

Crossing the Red Sea Symbolizes Baptism

The story in Exodus fully symbolizes baptism. When the people of God, the children of Israel, were enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt, God sent Moses to bring them out of bondage into Canaan, the good land which He had promised them. Pharaoh signifies Satan, usurping and enslaving the God-created people. Egypt signifies the Satanic world, which is the means by which Satan possesses, distracts, and enslaves the God-created people so that they are not able to come to God. People toil all their lives in this world. Some are successful in accumulating riches, power, status, fame, etc. Many more have mediocre achievements. Yet all accomplishments and achievements may be chains that bind. Most live in poverty and strife, having no peace or rest. This, too, is a form of bondage. Rich or poor, all are under slavery all their lives, and all are dying and die, bringing nothing with them. This world is a gigantic system of slavery. Both the "bond" and the "free" are under Satan's usurpation.

The Good Land Signifies God as Everything to Man

The good land signifies God being the complete enjoyment for His people. God's people, as His kingdom, should live in and labor on the good land so that they may have God as their food, drink, clothing, housing, and protection.

Moses Signifies Jesus being Our Salvation

Moses signifies Jesus Christ the Savior coming to defeat Satan to free His people from this enslaving world. Christ wants to redeem all the God-created people and bring them into Himself as the good land so that they will live in Him and He will live in them. He and they will become a mutual abode. He will be their life and they will be His living. He will dwell and act in them and they will be His habitation and expression.

God's People were Saved through Water

In order for Moses to save the children of Israel from Pharaoh and his pursuing army, he needed to bring them across the Red Sea. By the power of God, he opened up the Red Sea for the people to pass through. When Pharaoh and his army tried to follow after them, the water closed up and they were drowned. Thus the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt. The Red Sea was a picture of the water of baptism. The crossing of the Red Sea by God's people signifies baptism. The drowning of Pharaoh and his army signifies the destruction of Satan and his power of darkness over the believers.

Believing and being Baptized Is the Way of Salvation

We were born in sin with a sinful nature, the controlling power of Satan within us. We were also born in this Satanic world under his slavery in our outward circumstances. In order to be saved, we not only have to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ, we also have to be baptized so that we may be delivered from the world and so that the hold of Satan on us may be removed. Therefore, the Lord said in Mark chapter sixteen verse sixteen, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved." Believing is half of salvation and baptism is the other half. If the children of Israel only believed that God would deliver them and did not take the step of passing through the Red Sea, they would still be in Egypt in slavery. Some people say that it is enough to believe, but according to the word of the Savior, we need both to believe and to be baptized.

Being Baptized into God

The water of baptism also signifies the Spirit. To be baptized, immersed, into water signifies being dipped, immersed, put into God, who is the Spirit. The Spirit is invisible, but water is visible. When the baptizing one puts you into water, by faith, he is putting you into the Spirit. Visibly, you are being immersed into water, but invisibly, you are actually being immersed into God. When you believe and receive the Lord by prayer, the Spirit enters into you to regenerate your spirit so that you will have God as your new life. When you are baptized, you are put into the Spirit so that you will have the Spirit as power for you to have a new living. God comes into you and you go into God. Then you will have a new life within and a new living without. Inside, you will have Christ as your life; outside, Christ will have you as His living. Therefore, baptism is not a ritual for people to perform. It has an intrinsic significance that is beyond human eyes and minds.

Being Transferred into God's Kingdom

The Lord Jesus also said, in John chapter three verse five, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." To be born of the Spirit means to receive the Spirit into our spirit. To be born of water means to be baptized. By being born again of the Spirit and of water, one may be transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God, from being enslaved by Satan to being set free by the Spirit in Christ.

Believing is Before Baptism

We need to consider the "baptism" that many people received when they were babies. That was a ritual their parents chose to perform on their unwitting babies with the good intention that their children would be for God. God gave man a free will to choose to receive Him or reject Him. Therefore, when those babies grow up they need to choose for themselves. If they choose God, then they have to believe and be baptized. According to Mark chapter sixteen verse sixteen, they need to believe first before their baptism can be effective. If you are in this category, then you must decide for yourself once and for all whom you would choose. If you choose God, then you need to believe into Christ and be baptized into Him.

Practical Points concerning Baptism

Today, most people think that they can only be baptized after a certain waiting period, on certain important days, in big designated buildings, with special water, by ordained persons. These concepts are not biblical and do not have to be followed.
When should we be baptized? According to the Bible, there is no need to set a time or a waiting period. In Acts chapter two, when three thousand people believed, they were baptized that day. There were many similar cases. People were baptized immediately upon believing.
Where should we hold baptisms? According to the Bible, baptisms may be held wherever there is water. Examples in the Bible include the Jordan River, people's homes, and water by the roadside.
Who may baptize? Traditionally, the clergy, such as priests, ministers, and pastors, were "ordained" to baptize people. But according to the Bible, there is no ordination or restriction to a certain class; rather, all the Lord's disciples have been commissioned to baptize. Anyone who has the faith to preach the word also has the right to baptize, because baptism is not a matter of ritual but a matter of faith.
Whenever you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and life and be transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God, pray and ask the Lord to come into you, and be baptized immediately wherever you find water by anyone who has the faith to immerse you into God. The person who had enough faith to give you this article should have enough faith to baptize you.
You may pray, "Lord Jesus! I want to be delivered from the slavery of this world. I want to be freed from Satan's hold on me. I believe that You came to save me. Come into me that I may have You as my eternal life. Amen. Thank You, Lord."

Bible Verses for Your Reading:

Exodus 3:7-8 And the LORD said... And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
Matthew 11:28 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 19:23 Only with difficulty will a rich man enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is reserved for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.
Hebrews 3:5-6 And Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant... But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house, whose house we are.
Colossians 2:6 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God.
Ephesians 2:22 In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.
1 Corinthians 10:1-2 All passed through the sea; And all were baptized unto Moses... in the sea.
Psalms 51:5 In sin did my mother conceive me.
Romans 5:17 For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13 In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body... and were all given to drink one Spirit.
John 3:5-6 Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God... that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Colossians 3:4 Christ our life is manifested.
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance.
Acts 22:16 And now, why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.
Acts 8:36 And as they were going along the road, they came upon some water, and the eunuch said, Look, water. What prevents me from being baptized?

What Happens After We Die?



No. 11 in the Series, Most Frequently Asked Questions Concerning God

Many people are concerned about what happens after death. Some say death is the absolute end of life, therefore, they live a life without fear of consequences. Others say that after death there will be a coming judgment for which people must prepare by living properly now.

There Will Be Judgment and Life after Death

The Bible tells us that God exists and a life other than our physical, tangible realm of here and now also exists. What we can see is temporal and is created by God, whom we cannot see. It is the eternal and invisible God who, for a purpose, created what is visible, including the earth, the trees, the animals, and human beings. Just as God is in the realm of eternity, so the life after death determined by the coming judgment of God is also after this presently visible realm.

Two Main Types of Life after Death

1) Those who fulfill God's purpose of creation, that is, those who believe that Christ died for their sins and resurrected for their justification and who take God in as life to become one with Him, will be with God, one with God, and ruling with God over the whole earth. This is the best possible thing that can happen to someone after death.
2) Those who are without God today will be apart from the loving God for eternity. They will suffer pain in the lake of fire, being burnt together with Satan (the devil) and his fallen angels. The lake of fire was not prepared for man but for Satan and his angels. However, all mankind became one with Satan as a result of the fall of Adam. Because some do not turn back to God in spite of many warnings and opportunities, God will have to give them up to spend eternity with Satan and share in his torment. This is the worst type of life after death. We hope that as many as possible will turn to God and be spared, especially you who are reading this.

The Deciding Factor for which Type You'll Have

In order to live a life that will prepare us to face the coming judgment, we must first find out what will be rewarded and what will be disapproved. Many people have the misconception that a person who does good deeds while living on earth will go to heaven, whereas a person who does evil things will go to hell. This concept is not according to the Bible. If you read the two types of life after death carefully, you will see something different. The deciding factor for what one's life will be like for eternity is not one's behavior while on earth but rather whether or not one has believed Christ's death and resurrection and received God as life.

Man's Problem

Although man was created by God to contain Him, man was still given the choice to take God as life or to take Satan. Man chose to take Satan, who then entered man and became the sinful nature in man. Man became a sinner in his constitution and full of sins in his actions. There is now an element within man which loves unrighteousness and hates righteousness, which loves sin and darkness and hates light. All that God desired man to be, man is not. Man without God remains in sin and is dead in his spirit, the very part of man which was created to contact and contain God. If man does not repent, man is doomed to remain with Satan for eternity.

God's Salvation

But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loves man, is not willing to see His created man become a victim of Satan and end up in the lake of fire with Satan. It is this love which motivated God to become a man to join in with victimized humanity, to die as the perfect substitute to rescue man from destruction. He then resurrected to become a life-giving Spirit to give life to all who would believe and receive Him.
When you receive Him into you, He will bring the life of God into you. God will be your life and be one with you. Then you must allow Him to grow in you to fill your whole being. This will deliver you from the Satanic nature that has been in you since your birth. The more He grows in you, the more you'll be free from Satan's tyranny. You will love as God loves. You will be righteous as God is righteous. You will express all God's divine attributes, such as love, light, holiness, righteousness, kindness, etc. After living with God, in God, and one with God on the earth, you will certainly be approved at the judgment. You will definitely have a life with God, because you already will have been enjoying His eternal life during this physical life.
If you have not yet turned back to God and received His life through Jesus Christ, your life is still filled with Satan, and you are condemned already. It does not matter how much good you try to do, you will never be that good. You may be righteous sometimes, but not all the time. You may show love to all people, but you may actually hate some of them secretly inside your heart. This is not because you have no desire to be an upright person, but because you lack the empowering of the divine life. God is God and Satan is Satan. If you have Satan but not God, you can never be perfect in this life, and you will definitely be in the lake of fire with Satan after the judgment. If you have God living inside of you, you may be as perfect as God in this life, and you will definitely be with God and one with God eternally. What you need is to receive Jesus by calling on His name and admitting to Him that you are a sinner and that you need Him as your salvation.
Pray this way: "O Lord Jesus, I know that You have created me. I know that I have sin and do not have Your life. I believe that You died for me. Lord Jesus, come into me to be my life. I want to be with You now and forever." Then you need to read the Bible and pray every day and meet with believers in oneness so that you may grow up into Him and be built with God's people. By this, you will be assured of your destiny.

Bible Verses for Your Reading:

2 Corinthians 4:18 The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Ephesians 3:9,11 They may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things... According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Colossians 1:16 Because in Him all things were created... the visible and the invisible,
1 Timothy 1:17 The King of the ages,... invisible, the only God
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is reserved for men to die once, and after this comes judgment,
John 3:16-18 Every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life... he who does not believe has been condemned already,
Romans 5:8 But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification.
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Revelation 22:5,7 The Lord God will shine upon them; and they will reign forever and ever. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.
Ephesians 2:12 You were... apart from Christ, ...having no hope and without God in the world.
Matthew 25:41 Go away from Me... into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Romans 1:28 They did not approve of holding God in their full knowledge, God gave them up
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 You turned... to serve a living and true God and await His Son... who delivers us from the wrath which is coming.
Genesis 2:9 The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life
Romans 5:19 Through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners,
Romans 7:20 If what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
John 3:19 This is the condemnation, that the light has come... and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil.
John 12:46 I have come as a light into the world, that every one who believes into Me would not remain in darkness.
Ephesians 2:1-5 And you, though dead in your offenses and sins... we also all conducted ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh... and were by nature children of wrath... but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God
Romans 5:18 As it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.
1 Corinthians 15:45 The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
John 7:39 This He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow...
Ephesians 4:15 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.
Mark 10:18 No one is good except One God.
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, not even one
Philippians 4:13 I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.
Matthew 5:48 You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Romans 10:13 Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:38 Repent and... baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Is there God? You Be the Judge!



by Watchman Nee

I will make this place a law court. I will ask you to be the judge, and I will be the prosecutor. The work of a judge is to make decision, to approve or disapprove the truth of statements. The work of a prosecutor is to present all the evidence and arguments that he can possible gather.

If you ask whether I have seen God or not, I would say "no." I am reading or demonstrating what I have gathered. My job is to search for facts and to call for witnesses. You are to arrive at a conclusion yourself.

Worthy of passing judgment?

Many people assert that there is no God. As a prosecutor I ask you first to check the qualification of these people. Are they qualified to make such claims? Are those who assert that there is no God moral or immoral? Do not just listen to their arguments. Even robbers and swindlers have their arguments. Of course, the arguments support them as robbers and swindlers. The subject of their arguments may be very noble; they may talk about the state of the nations and the welfare of society, but their opinions cannot be seriously considered. They are not worthy of passing such judgments.
If a man is upright in his conduct and moral judgment, we can give credibility to his words, but if not, his words lose their credibility. This is especially true when it relates to the question of deity. It is interesting to note that the moral standards of men are directly related to their concept about God. T hose who admit their own ignorance have a passable standard, while insistent atheists invariably have a low level of moral responsibility. I do not claim to know all atheists, but of the several thousand that I know, none of them possess a notably commendable morality. You may tell me that there was once a moral atheist, but if there was one, he is dead. Or you may tell me that there will be a moral atheist, but whoever he may be, he is not here yet. At least we can say that for now, we do not know a moral atheist.

"No atheist is moral"

Once at a gathering at a university, I remarked that no atheist is moral. There were many students on the campus who did not believe God. They were greatly offended by these words. The next day, while I was speaking, they came and shuffled their feet in and attempt to distract me and the audience. The next day when they came again, they made funny gestures and faces at me and carried on continuously throughout the speaking. On the fourth day the vice-president of the university, Dr. Williams, came and said to me, "We had better change the place of meeting. These students are infuriated by your assertion on the first day that atheists are not moral. Today they are not going to use their feet and lips only; they are going to use their fists. I heard that they will be waiting at the entrance f the hallway and will jump on you when you step in." I went along with the arrangement and conducted the meeting at another place.

They came to fight

On the way to the meeting I walked alongside many students and listened to their conversations. Although many did not agree with me and felt uneasy about my preaching, they wanted to come back. One among them remarked, "Mr. Nee said that people who have no God have no sense of moral responsibility. This is perfectly right. How can anyone with moral decency shuffle his feet and jest while others are delivering a speech? Yesterday they caused such a disturbance in the meeting, and today they are going to come to fight. This is surely not what an honorable person would do. There is no doubt that those who do not believe in God do not have moral decency. Let us go to the meeting regardless of what they plan to do?"
Once a young man told a preacher, "When I was young, I believed in God. But now that I am in college. I can no longer believe in Him." The fifty-year-old preacher patted the young man’s shoulder and said, "My son, you do not believe in God anymore! Let me ask you a question: Since you have been converted to be an atheist, have you advanced morally? Has atheism helped you become better? Has it made your thoughts cleaner or your heart purer? Or did it make you just the opposite?" that young man felt ashamed. He admitted that he had gone downhill morally since his denial of God. The preacher pressed on: "I am afraid that you are not really saying that you believe there is not God, you are just hoping that there is on God."

Hoping there is no God

Many people are not really convinced that there is no God; they merely hope so. They would rather that there were no God in the universe. For them it would be much more convenient with respect to many things.
I myself was one of those people. When I was a student I claimed that there was no God. Although I was extremely strong in my claim, something within me seemed to be protesting and saying, "There is a God." I knew deep in my heart that God exists. But my lips refused to admit this so that I could have an excuse for sinning. By declaring the nonexistence of God, going to sinful places was justifiable. If there were no God, I would become bold to sin. When you believe in God, you dare not do certain things. When you do away with God, you feel free to commit the worst sins without any fear whatsoever. If you sincerely hope to raise your moral standard by asserting the nonexistence of God, then your arguments are still plausible. However, the only reason men claim that there is no God is for an excuse for lawlessness, immorality, license, and indecency. For this reason, their whole argument is not worthy of consideration. The question is, "Are you qualified to claim that there is no God?" If your hope is merely for an escape from justice, you have lost your ground already.
The Normal Christian Faith, Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry

By Watchman Nee
 (This is the second article of a series where you are invited to be the judge to the question: Is there a God?  This is a “law court.”  The write is the prosecutor.  You make the decision, to approve or disapprove of the truth of statements.  In the previous issue the basis of selecting witnesses was established.  Now in this article, we have two witnesses of atheism with their “cross-examination.” – Editor)
 Witness No. 1 “Man is greatest."
One day a young man came to me and said, I do not believe in a so-called God.  Man is the greatest.  He is the noblest among all creatures.  There is no God in this universe; man is everything.”
 Cross-Examination: “How great is man? You are one of two billion.”
We were sitting opposite each other.  After hearing what he said, I stood up, went to one side f the room, stooped down, and gazed at him intently.  I said, “You are really great!”  Then I walked to the other side of the room and looked at him from another angle.  “That is right,” I said deliberately, “You are great!  In this area of the country there are thirty million who are like you.  There are at least four hundred million of your kind in our country.  The world contains only two billion who are the same as you are.”  [This was spoken to an audience in China in the 1930’s – Editor]
 “200,000 cannot stop the flooding of a river.”
“Do you realize that during the last few days there has been a flood in the south? The dykes along the river are in jeopardy.  The whole population in this area of more than two hundred thousand people has been recruited and rushed to the dykes in a panic.  They are carrying earth with them to reinforce the banks.  The repair work is still going on.”
 “How many earth does it take to fill the sun?”          
“Suppose that the entire world’s population is recruited to hollow out the sun.  A hole is drilled through the surface, and everyone has to remove a load from the inside.  Assuming that no one will be burned to ashes, do you think that they can do the job?  Even if all the people themselves were inside, they would not fill up the sun.  That is not all.  If you put several hundred planets the size f the earth inside and started shaking it, you would still find that the sun would be very empty inside.  How many suns are there in the universe?  Do you realize that the number of solar systems is in the hundreds of millions?”
 “How vast is the universe?”
I then said to the young man, “And here you are! You have not even walked through the whole earth, and yet you consider yourself greater than the whole universe.  Let me ask you, do you know how vast the universe is?  Take light for example.  Light travels at 186,000 miles per second.  Try to calculate how far light travels in one minute, or one hour or one day or a hear.  There are some stars whole light takes three thousand years to reach us.  Go and work out how far they are from us!  And you think you are so great!  I would therefore advise all atheists and young men alike to admit the incompetency of man not only morally, but intellectually and academically as well.”
 Witness No. 2: “There is no God!”
Cross Examination: “You must have traveled throughout the earth to know that there is no God.”
Another time . . ., I met another one of those young, stout atheists.  I walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, saying, “I saw God today!”  He stared at me in curiosity and demanded a further word.  I replied, “You are God!  If you know there is no God, the you have to be God.”  He asked for an explanation.  I said, “Since you are convinced that there is no God, you must have traveled over the whole earth. . . . If God is not in one place, He many be in another.  Therefore, you must have traveled throughout the world.  One never knows if God is hiding at the North Pole or the South Pole, or in the woods or in the wilderness somewhere.  So you must have combed through all those regions as well.  If God is not found on earth, He many be found on the moon.  You therefore must have been to the moon.  God may also be on other planets or in outer space.  This means that you have traveled through space and all the other galaxies as well.  If you can say that there is no God, it must mean that you have traveled throughout the whole universe.  If this is the case, you must be God yourself.”
 “You must have been ever-present to know that there is no God.”
“This is not all.  Even though you know that God does not exist . . . today, how about yesterday?  Perhaps God will come tomorrow.  You say that you know there is no God today, but what about last year?  And how do you know that God will not come next year?  You say that there is no God this year, but what about a thousand years ago?  Very well, you must be an everlasting one who knows everything about the past and future.  You have to be a being beyond time and space….You must be omnipresent from the east to the west, from the North Pole to the South Pole.  Who else but you can be the very God? If you are not God, you can never be qualified to say that there is no God.”
Some will immediately step back and say, “I have never said that I know there is no God.  One can never tell whether there is a God or not.”  Well, if you cannot give a conclusion, I will ask witnesses whom I consider trustworthy to present arguments to you and prove the existence of God.  Again let me say this, you are the judge, and I am the prosecutor.  I am presenting only the evidence before you.  Decide for yourself if there is a God.
(In the next issue is Witness No. 3: Nature)
 The Normal Christian Faith, Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry
 
 


 
I will ask witnesses whom I consider trustworthy to present arguments to you and prove the existence of God.  Decide for yourself if there is a God.  (This is Part 4 of a continuing series, in which you judge the existence of God.  We are in a low court.  I am the prosecutor.  You are the judge.  Out next witness is Man’s Heart. –Editor)
A Principle: Where there is a desire, there is an object for that desire.
An orphan who has never seen his father naturally has a desire for a kind of paternal love.   I have asked many people who were orphans, and they all have had this irrepressible yearning.   By this we can see that every desire of the heart arises out of an object in the world.
As human beings we have a need ford social belonging.  We need companionship and mutuality.  If you put a boy on a deserted island and he grows up alone, he still has the yearning for companions, for beings like himself, even though he has never seen a human being.  This yearning or desire is the very proof that somewhere in the world there is something known as “mankind.”  At a certain age, everyone begins to think about his posterity –he starts desiring children and grandchildren.  This is not a mere fantasy.  This desire stems out of the existence and possibility of having offspring.  Hence, where there is a desire, there is an object for that desire.
Deep in everyone there is a craving for God.
Do we have any desires other than social identity and self-propagation?   What other cravings do we have? Deep in everyone there is a craving for God.  Whether one is from a highly civilized race, an ancient civilization, or an uncultured tribe of aborigines, everyone has a common craving – God.  As long as they are human beings, they have a yearning for God, no matter what race or nationality.  This is a fact.  You cannot argue against it.  Everyone is seeking after God.  Everywhere man is craving for God.  This is very clear.
Since there is a need for God in the heart, there must be the existence of God in the universe.
By applying the principle that we just mentioned, we can see that since our heart feels the need for a God, there must necessarily be a God in the universe.  Since there is a need for God in the heart, there must be the existence of God in the universe.  If no God exists, we would never have such a craving in our heart.  We all have an appetite for God.  It would be impossible to live if there was only an appetite for food but no food.   Likewise, it would be impossible to live if there was a capacity for God but no God.
There is no one who has never thought about God.
Once an atheist rudely rebuked me in a loud voice: “You said that a man has the psychological need for a God.  But there is no such thing, and I do not believe in it.”  I said, “Well, do you mean to say that you never think about God?  In fact, even while you were talking, you were thinking about Him.  This indicates that you do have a capacity for God.  There is no one who has never thought about God.   He may try not to think much about Him.  Since this thought is in you, there must be such an object outside of you.”
You know in your heart that there is a God.
A young man once came to me to argue about God.  He argued vehemently against the existence of God.  He gave me one reason after another for saying that there is no God.  As he was enumerating the various reasons why God should not exist, I listened to him quietly without saying a word.  Then I said, “Although you insist that there is no God and support yourself with so many arguments, you have lost your case already.”  He said, “What do you mean?” I explained: “Your mouth can say as much as you want about there not being a God, but your heart is on my side.”  He had to agree with me.  Although one can give all sorts of reasons in the head, there is a belief in the heart that no argument can defeat.  A stubborn person may give a thousand and one reasons, but you can have the boldness to tell him, “You know in your heart that there is a God.  Why bother to look for evidence outside?”
The capacity for God proves that there is God.
All doubts come from within.  When a man is on the border of life and death, he calls on God. When danger is over, he argues and denies God.  In our heart we all know that there is God; there is no question about it.  We know it because there is a capacity for God.
The Normal Christian Faith, Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry