Does God exist?
The profound question that most of us have pondered at least at one time or another in our lifetimes. It's a question that we all must seek the truth in simply because of just how greatly important of a question it is... whether we want to acknowledge the fact of its importance or not.
Our pursuit and discovery for truth all begins right back at the beginning of our lives, where as children we are all just about led to believe anything and everything that comes from the mouths of those close to us. Whether this be our parents, carers, relatives, friends, teachers, local priests, pastors or any other person we come into contact with. And for quite a while this is what we do, we believe them in the sweet innocence and naivety of our youth, which is a good thing, but usually there does come a point as we grow older that we eventually start reaching an age where we are able to make greater reason then times previously. For most of us this happens in our teenage or early adulthood years, but for some of us, life's biggest questions just don't seem a priority in our lives ever.
Firstly, some background information about me.
For myself, I was born and raised into a Catholic family, where I came to believe in God for most of my childhood years, it wasn't really until I reached my late teen years after a few years of wandering in my faith that I really did find myself questioning the world around me. This included my faith and I'd started asking myself those big questions like, "what is the meaning behind all these Catholic faith practices and beliefs I've been taught to believe?" Or, "how do I know God wants me even living as a Catholic compared to any other denominational/religious system?" And "is God even real?!"
In this new time of my life with the help of God's intervention and his many graces being thrown right in front of me, things didn't only become very clear to me, that he was showing me just how very real is, but even more than that, he was showing me how much he loves me and how much he desires union with us as his most marvellous work in creation.
The only God I now know to be real the true living God is without a doubt, the God who makes himself known through The Catholic Church as The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit. All the other world belief systems, religions and even all the the other thousands of Christian denominations out there today as great as they all are in many ways, are unfortunately still one of these things...vain, that centres worship to materialism, twisted truth or one's own self glorification OR at least for the other Christian denominations, they only know parts of him, as they still reject his church. But even in light of this bold proclamation for truth I am making, we still all as one people must put greater emphasis on loving one another regardless of what we choose to believe as this is by far our greatest duty and is in fact Jesus' greatest commandment for us.
So after all that, my simple, yet bold statement I'm making here is, yes God does exist, and so thats why I'm going to reveal to you the top three ways God does show his existence for us. These three ways have deeply influenced my belief and also that of the church up until today's age and I'd love to share them with you. Let's take a look! :)
1st Way - The formation and reality of creation, the physical existence of things and spiritual existence of things.
God shows us he exists in many ways but one way is certainly clear, that is creation. For myself, whether I'm observing and understanding more about the formation and reality of the physical things like observing the vastness of space, or the intricacy of the human eye or experiencing spiritual feelings such as love, joy and peace or anything else, creation is just too good. All of creation isn't just a simple accident thats lead to where we are today because of one simple accident that has happened over billions of years, no way! Believe it or not faith and science can together actually prove to us that God exists, as everything there is always has an original source or maker of its existence, there is so much we still don't know about God and reality but believe me, its much much harder to be an atheist than a believer!
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.". (Genesis 1:1-2), The Holy Bible.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8) , The Holy Bible.
"God created the world to show forth and communicate his glory. That his creatures should share in his truth, goodness and beauty - this is the glory for which God created them." Catechism of the Catholic Church.
2nd Way - God using the prophets, the saviour Jesus, and then his established church to reveal himself more profoundly.
i. People.
For me, in learning about the lives and works of prominent christian figures in history, it really made me really see how God was using them in their lifetimes to not just to bring good to help others, but to also in a special way share God's beautiful truths and plans in one way or another. Whether this was when God used Moses to save his people the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and to bring them the ten commandments, or whether it be God actually manifesting himself within the figure of Jesus Christ the saviour, who came from heaven to save us from our sins through his sacrifice, calling us to live his commands, here in all his people we can very easily see God's Holy Spirit working in action to do his holy will.
ii. The Church.
After exploring my own family faith for some time to get some of the answers I was chasing, I discovered how incredible the Catholic Church is, and just how much God reveal's his existence through the formation and works of the church. God showed me that the Catholic Church is the only church today that has his authority and reliability like no other denomination or religion on the Earth, where this authority was first handed down by Christ himself to the first church leaders which were his disciples.
He commanded them as his church to do things in his name and with his authority given which included: forgiving people of sins, baptising, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising people from the dead and teaching the world his gospel message for the most part. The great faith book of our world today which is called The Holy Bible, is a book that is compiled of the old and new testament scriptures which was formed by the Catholic church in the late 300'sAD believe it or not and this is one of the greatest ways we in the world today can come to know God.
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it, in this age or in any age to come." Jesus to Saint Peter The Apostle from The Holy Bible (Matthew 16:18).
3rd Way - The reality that only God is our greatest help to make us truly live.
The last main point I'll make today regarding how we can know God exists, is through identifying the obvious power and influence that God has in touching and transforming people's lives, relationships and souls for the better. This is clearly identifiable in people that live out a devout Catholic-Christian faith, that are living in his will and not their own will that leads to their own destruction.
God doesn't want to just simply reveal his existence to us, but he also calls us to live for him in the real meaning of life which is to know, love and serve him in all that we do.
So that brings us to the conclusion of this blog today! I think the main takeaway message I have for all of you after reading all of that, that I know ultimately has worked for me in finding truth and finding God, was humility. I strongly believe that if any person reading this seeks God and truth out in all humility, then and only then will God help you see how real he is. A prideful heart and closed mind will never bring a person into the light of truth. When you find God he will firstly give you a strong desire to confess and repent from past sinful living, where from there he will lead you into his other wills in due time. You will then want to only live for him and believe me if you live in this way you will be promised with the free gift of eternal life in heaven which is amazing.
I hoped this message helped you today in one way or another, God bless and love you, see you in our next blog! :)
- Benjamin Burridge, Creator, Founder & Author of 'Light Of The World Ministries'.
Kramarik, A. K. (2021).
References:
- Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Genesis 1:1–2 (NIV). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%28Genesis+1%3A1-2%29&version=NIV
- Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Revelation 1:8 (NIV). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%28Revelation+1%3A8%29&version=NIV
- Catechism of the Catholic Church. (n.d.). Catholic Culture. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/catechism/cat_view.cfm?recnum=1775
- Kramarik, A. K. (2021).“Light” [Painting]. Akiane Gallery.
URL: https://akiane.com/product/the-light/
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