City Life Starter

I. The Word

1 Peter 3:13-16 (NIV)

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Isaiah 1:16-18 (NIV)

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

II. Reflection Questions:

1. Do I like the idea of God’s existence only when I sense a need for comfort, and see God as restrictive when I want to do my own thing?

2. Do I supress the truth, or embrace the truth?

By Jason Scherzer

God has actually given us enough reasons to believe that He exists and that He is involved in the lives of people. However, faith is the only response to God that is satisfying and fulfilling of our deepest needs. Faith is quite different from scientific investigation, but it is not mutually exclusive of science either.

1 Peter 3 encourages us not to fear the criticisms or threats of anyone opposed to God’s kingdom. Instead, we should be ready and able to explain the reason for our hope and the source of our hope, the Lord Jesus Christ. When believers keep a clear conscience and integrity in public, then unbelievers are ashamed to have criticized them, or otherwise, are silenced.

Evidence for the existence of God, the activity of God, and the benevolent character of God are extremely abundant in our world. Some people see evidence in the creation and the overwhelming factors pointing toward intelligent design. Others see evidence throughout world history of God’s involvement by His directing human affairs. In this area we can speak to God causing some kingdoms to rise at certain times and causing others to fall or decline at other times; we can also look into the miraculous preservation of the Bible, which far exceeds the preservation of any other ancient text. Still, other people do not accept the faith that followers of Christ confidently hold. Some people look upward when they walk along the road, while some look downward or despondently.

The human authors of the various books of the Bible apparently had no intention to write a textbook on science. They were guided by the Spirit of God and their minds were illuminated to hear the voice of God and to express in human language what God was speaking through them. But wherever the Bible does contain subject matter describing scientific phenomena, no scientific error has ever been successfully proven. Nor will it ever be proven to be scientifically inaccurate in any matter, small or large.

Consider, for example, the scientific accuracy of the shape of the earth described in Isaiah 40:22: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” A flat earth theory does not hold any credibility today, but the early Egyptians described the earth as a disk that floated on the oceans, and many philosophers before Socrates held to a flat earth view. The biblical prophet Isaiah wrote long before the Greeks.

While there is plenty of evidence for God, yet people will not be able to prove His existence to you. Instead, you must act upon faith by placing your trust in the God who created you, gave you life, and who reveals Himself to you. When we have entered into a relationship with God through His Son, we are then compelled to make His glory known to others, with reasons for the hope that we have.

V. Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the wonderful God that You are – You are real and present in our world and I can see You moving in amazing ways. Although I cannot see You with my eyes now, I know that You reward those who seek You with all of their heart. Help me to do that, and to be a blessing to people in my life who want to seek You. Jesus, I believe with all of my heart that You are Lord, yet I ask You to help me when my faith is weak. In Jesus’ mighty and wonderful name, Amen.