Understanding God, Myself, and the WorldSample

Is there a God?

In the modern world, belief in God is often seen as something irrational or foolish. According to many atheists, only science can tell us what is true or not, not God.  

We also live in a post-modern society where truth is seen as relative to the individual. We often hear people say things like: “What’s true for me might not be true for you, therefore you don’t have any right to tell me what is right and what is wrong!” With the idea of relative truth comes the idea of moral relativism. Moral relativism means that the individual has the final say on what behaviour is good and what behaviour is evil. This leads to everyone deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong. It also means that as societies change, moral laws change.

But there are serious problems with both atheism and moral relativism. The Bible illustrates this problem in Psalm 14. 

Psalm 14 shows us the link between a loss of “the fear of God” and a loss of morality.  If we neglect, or reject, the Moral Lawgiver, we descend into chaos as individuals and societies. Psalm 14 indicates this decay with escalating parallelisms. As more fools deny God, they become corrupt and descend into abominable works. As more descend into moral decay, less do good until none is left. No one does good. History shows that civilisations that fall into moral decay also fall out of existence. 

If we then, as God’s image-bearers, reject Him and His laws in our lives, we will descend into chaos and cause our own demise. Therefore, belief in God is not foolish. But as we read in the Bible, “belief” usually means much more than just cognitively affirming the existence of God.  When we believe in God (according to the full Biblical meaning), we give our full allegiance to Him as King. He makes the rules. He says what is wrong and what is right and we adhere to His ways. That is what it means to truly believe in God. 

Take some time to read and reflect on Isaiah 1:21-31 and Revelation 21-22:5. Notice the contrast between the city that abandons the ways of the Lord and the city where the Lord is worshipped, honoured, and served by its people. What is the appropriate response when we realise that we have abandoned the ways of God? Ask God to help you, though the guidance of His Holy Spirit, to live according to the ways of the Lord all the days of your life.