If you can acknowledge the existence of the God I have just described, you may want to continue on to the next section of this tract, entitled "Purpose". If, on the other hand, you do not acknowledge God’s existence, I have an important principle to convey to you. The principle is both profound and profoundly simple. It states: Whatever reason you advance against God’s existence constitutes the most solid proof that He does exist. Although you may think the statement preposterous, I hope you will read on so that I can explain to you what I mean.

First, let us back up a little to contrast the basic views of the universe necessary to atheism and to Christianity. The atheist believes the universe "just is’ with no intelligent design or reason behind it - reality is ultimately non-rational. The Christian sees the universe as ultimately rational -- the product of God’s intelligent, purposeful, creative act. In other words, the atheistic belief system rests upon ultimate nonreason, while Christianity looks to ultimate reason to explain the world around us. This places the nonbeliever on the horns of a dilemma.

When the Christian believer appeals to reason, he does so in perfect accord with his basic assertion that reason -- God’s reason -- lies behind everything. When the nonbeliever trys to use reason or logic to disprove God, however, his faith in ultimate nonreason leaves him no basis on which to justify his use of reason. He is trying to use reason to prove ultimate nonreason. But by acknowledging reason, he is denying what he is trying to prove (nonreason). To say this another way, the nonchristian must borrow something (reason) from the Christian’s worldview in order to argue against Christianity’s God. Therefore, any and every reason you may try to use against God’s existence actually testifies to the fact that He exists.

Whether someone claims to hold to atheism or not, he and you and I have all resisted God in some fashion. The Bible tells us we do so because of an inborn bias against God, called sin. You can find out about the origin of that bias in the next segment.

One of the great nagging questions of life appears as some form of, "Why am I here?" "Does my existence have a purpose?" "Do I have a destiny?" A look into the Bible will reveal the answer to these questions by leading us to the works of God Himself.

At the creation of man and woman the Lord God declared man’s function and purpose. He said,

God created mankind in His image, then He appointed them to rule over all else He had made. He originally fashioned us as a race of kings and queens, His royal representatives over the rest of creation (Genesis 1:28).

Had not a drastic change taken place at that early point of history, the landscape today might take the form of a series of park-like gardens, each one ruled over by a husband and wife serving as vice-regents of the King of Heaven. The change came over the issue of who would determine the laws that should govern the newly created earth. The Lord had placed man in the garden to cultivate it and keep (or guard) it (Genesis 2:15), and in addition He gave man specific instructions not to eat of a particular tree that represented the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). In other words, God reserved for Himself the authority to determine what constitutes right and wrong in the world He had made. Man would acknowledge this as God’s domain alone by not eating from that particular tree. But then a problem arose. A trespasser entered the garden -- the tempter who came in the form of a serpent. He challenged the heavenly King’s decree regarding the tree. Mankind could, at this point, have ejected the serpent from the garden under the authority which God gave him to guard the garden. Instead, the man and woman ate and became rebels against their God and King. Moreover, they voluntarily placed themselves and their offspring under the rule of the tempter, Satan. Since that time human beings have entered the world as sinners and subjects of the kingdom of Darkness.

Each of us has exercised his will to confirm that act of rebellion in the garden. Even though we utterly depend on God -- even for the mind and will we have used to reject Him -- we show our bias against God as we try to live our lives independent of Him. Regardless of our respective stations in life, each of us stands before the High King of Heaven as a rebel. From the beginning of rebellion, though, God gave mankind hope in the form of a promise.

In His word of judgment on the serpent the LORD said,

The progressive expansion and fulfillment of that promised Seed makes up the bulk of the Bible record. You can read about some of the highlights under the next heading, "Promise".

3. Promise: At Various Times and in Different Ways God Told That a Ruler Would Come to Undo the Disaster of Sin.

The King of Heaven spoke not only to Adam and Eve, but also to and through men like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets. He told them of One Who would come to redeem men from their sin (their inborn bias against God), and Who would restore the holy reign of God in human hearts and throughout the earth.

One of the clearest prophecies of redemption came through Isaiah the Prophet, who recorded the following about God’s sin-bearing Servant:

The Lord gave the prophet Daniel a clear vision of the Coming One as Ruler over an everlasting kingdom. Daniel wrote:

Jesus, in fact, began His public preaching with a quote from one of the prophecies about the Kingdom of God:

As you can see, the Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill God’s promises of a Redeemer/King. You can read about His ministry under the heading "Presentation" in the next section.

The Lord Jesus Christ came as God’s Anointed One (Christ means messiah or anointed). God anointed Jesus as the ultimate Prophet, Priest and King. From His miraculous conception and birth to His proclamation of the Kingdom of God which were accompanied by a host of supernatural signs -- from His death for sinners to His glorious resurrection and ascension into the presence of His eternal Father, the life of Christ demonstrates His goodness, His power and His authority. He is Lord of all.

He turned water into wine, multiplied a few loaves of bread to feed a multitude and walked upon the surface of a storm-tossed sea. He showed His compassion when He healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, made the lame to walk and raised the dead. He assaulted the strongholds of the evil realm as He cast out demons and restored the victims of the Dark Lord to their right minds. As He spoke to the heart of the multitude, He spoke words of comfort, words of grace and healing, and words that called men to change their hearts and lives. He astonished His hearers, "for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:29). After He rose from the dead He proclaimed to His disciples, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:19).

The Apostle John described Him as "Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5). Peter and the other apostles made a similar declaration when the rulers in Jerusalem issued an edict that directly contradicted a command they had received from the risen Christ. They said, "God has exalted [Jesus] to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31). On another occasion Peter had preached, "God has made this Jesus...both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). He well knew when he said it that the title Lord held particular significance in the Roman Empire.

The Apostle Paul wrote to certain subjects of Rome, "God has highly exalted Him [Jesus] and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2: 9-11). Paul’s bold words flew in the face of Roman imperial tradition, for the emperor required his subjects to acknowledge him as the supreme authority in all matters by means of an oath that simply stated, "Caesar is Lord." The apostles, on the other hand, set forth Jesus’ claim to exercise authority over all kings, potentates, presidents and premiers. In order for the apostles to consider someone a Christian, that person would have to confess, "Jesus is Lord."

Upon confession of Jesus as Lord, the Church baptized the new citizen of the Kingdom along with his children and admitted them to the communion table.

When the Church has taken the meaning of that confession seriously, and when earthly powers have recognized its import, bloody persecutions of the heavenly King’s subjects have often followed.

Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? The next section -- "Proclamation -- tells you more about it.

[N}ow God commands all men everywhere to repent. (Acts 17: 30)

The Lord God sent His Son to redeem a people and to rule over all the world. To all of us -- who are born in the realm of darkness, -- He issues the command to abandon our willful resistance and give full allegiance to the One Who is King over all Kings. The Bible informs us that the two elements of repentance and faith form the core of this new allegiance.

Although even a mature and seasoned disciple of the Lord Jesus will not have every aspect of his life in full submission at any given time, he fully acknowledges Christ’s rightful claim to his full compliance, and he hates any remnants of disloyalty or disobedience which he finds within. This is strong evidence of true repentance.

The term faith, as used in the Bible, encompasses two important concepts. First, faith takes God at His word. In other words to have faith in the Lord Jesus means that we simply accept the truth of what God says about Him in the Bible. We believe that He came into the world born of a virgin, lived a holy and sinless life, healed the sick, performed miracles, died for the sins of His people, rose up from the grave and now reigns from heaven at the right hand of God the Father. Beyond that, Biblical faith also means something very close to the idea of faithfulness, a pledge of faith.

In other words, for the Christian disciple his ultimate pledge of allegiance is not to a flag or a country, but to Christ, God’s Prophet, Priest and High King over all creation.

Why should you repent and put your faith in Jesus the Christ? Some preachers try to induce a "commitment" on the basis of the hope of heaven or the threat of hell or the promise of emotional benefits, etc. In the final analysis, however, the gospel message does not center on us and how we do or do not benefit.

God in His grace has given His people forgiveness and pardon from sin, the promise of life forever in heaven with Him and grace to face the trials of this life, and we ought to show our gratitude for His might and mercy. However, the plain fact as stated in Scripture remains: now God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). In the final analysis, no one can provide a better reason for following the Lord Jesus than that the Almighty Ruler of heaven and earth demands it.