Dear brothers and sisters, peace be to everyone! In the previous episode, I shared on the topic, ‘Does God exist?’ God’s existence is not determined by our decision that He exists. On the contrary, our existence is determined by His decision for us to exist. God is not the outcome of our imagination. He is God because from the beginning, He is God. Just like my father is my dad because originally, he is my father; the fact that he is my father is not the figment of my imagination. The heavenly father loves me and He is a righteous God so He will reveal ungodly and unrighteous things in time to come. He will do this through His wrath and righteousness so that people know of His existence and that He is in control of history.

The conscience of humans testifies to God’s existence

In the same way, how do I know that God exists? According to Romans 1: 19 from the ESV Bible: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” The human heart is a ‘heart that distinguishes right from wrong’. It can also be our ‘conscience’.

‘Conscience’ is derived from the word ‘conscious’ in Latin. ‘Con’ means ‘together’ and ‘scious’ means ‘science’ or ‘to know’. Our conscience “knows” and “testifies” against evil together with us. When I do good, it will say “Good”; when I commit evil, it will say, “This is evil”. Immanue Kant once said, “There is a bright morning star in the sky and there is a light of God in the heart of man.” Therefore, the conscience testifies to God’s work; it is the result of God writing his laws on the hearts of men.

Romans 2: 15 from the ESV Bible says: “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” However, after mankind had sinned and fallen, their once clean conscience became polluted. If people continually resist the voice of their conscience, it may possibly lose its normal function and even be seared by a hot iron so it becomes “numb”. This is written in 1 Timothy 4: 2.

Therefore, our conscience testifies to the existence of God. The animals do not have such functions of conscience like those of humans. Even if they do, it is very little and cannot be considered as a conscience. When the tiger eats the rabbit, it does not regret it. Even if it regrets doing so, it is only because the rabbit is too small. However, as humans, after we have wronged someone, we probably will not be able to sleep well at night as our conscience tells us that it was wrong for us to reprimand and rebuke that person. The conscience in our hearts, therefore, is a gift from God. It tells us that God exists.

The creation of the natural world testifies to God’s existence with us

Apart from it, this part of the passage tells us that God uses His book on the revelation of nature to show us that He has created heaven and earth. Romans 1:20 from the ESV Bible tells us: “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” This natural world is like a book that speaks of the glory of God so we call it the ‘Book of Nature’. Everyone who ‘reads this book’ understands that God reveals Himself through it. If we ‘read this book’ with hearts that revere God, we will know that he truly exists. The natural world has numerous wonderful things, just like how the human body is amazing. For instance, our nose. The nostrils point downwards, not upwards. If they point upwards, we will catch a cold when it rains. When the nose breathes in hot air, it will become cold air as it enters our body. If the air is too cold, it will get warmer. Such capabilities are fascinating! The structure of human body tells us that God truly exists. How can this be a natural occurrence?

Now let us talk about the mystery of water and some phenomena in the natural world. We know that two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, combine to produce water. Oxygen is the main component for aiding in combustion of substances while hydrogen is easily combustible. However, after these two gases combine to give water, it becomes a substance for extinguishing fire instead. Don’t you think it is incredible? Let us look at it again. After water has turned to ice, it is hard like a rock which would sink to the bottom of the sea. But if ice really sinks, the sea and river will freeze from the bottom up. As a result, the underwater creatures will be destroyed and be non-existent.

In reality, ice floats on water so the underwater creatures can still survive. This is because it differs greatly from the general laws of physics. According to such general laws, substances should expand when it is hot and contract when it is cold. However, when the temperature drops till near freezing, it will suddenly go against the general laws of physics and expand instead. If we observe the process for freezing of ice under the microscope, we will see that the lower the initial temperature, the smaller the volume of water. If it continues to shrink further, it should freeze to become ice and sink to the bottom and the underwater creatures will die. However, an unbelievable thing occurs at this point! When temperature reduces to 4°C, the contraction of water suddenly ceases. From 4°C to freezing point of 0°C, its volume is not only restored but also increases by one sixth of it instead. Therefore, ice can float on water and the underwater creatures can survive. Is this natural? It is a deliberate design!

We also know that animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Plants on the other hand, use light and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. All living creatures are interdependent on such a cycle for survival. Birds use their wings to fly, fishes use their bladders to float and earthworms, crawl on their stomachs. The bees and butterflies help the male and female flower buds to pollinate. The gas acts as a medium to transmit sound and the light shines on the living creatures. It is the same with the eyes. The cows and horses need to look at the front horizontally for a broader view. While rabbits and mice stand tall because they need to look backwards. It is likewise for the stomach. It is easy for carnivores such as tigers and leopards to digest their food so their stomachs are small and narrow. It is difficult for animals that eat grains to digest so their stomachs are thick and strong. For example, the stomachs of the birds contain sand as a result of grinding debris. Even if they eat glass, they will not get hurt. Cows and deer eat grass. Thus, they have four stomachs for chewing the cud. Did you design such awesome creation? Are they a success by chance? Dear brothers and sisters, God’s existence is revealed everywhere. There is an amazing designer.

Even though humans have knowledge about God, why don’t they worship and treat him as God?

We have to ask this question. Even though humans have knowledge about God, why don’t they worship him as God? Romans 1: 21-24 from the ESV Bible tells us: “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” It is because of sin that we do not worship Him as God. First of all, sins have caused us to have an ambiguous understanding of God. Sins have destroyed our powers of reasoning. Thus, we cannot know God clearly through our logical reasoning. Just like a blind who touches the elephant and thinks that it is a fan (because he has touched the elephant’s ear) or a pillar (because he has touched the elephant’s leg). This is the reason that some people worship idols as gods. They say: “It is powerful and effective.” However, what is powerful and effective may not be true and good.

Secondly, humans elevated themselves and built the tower of Babel because of their sins. Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God. Also, they did not thank Him but wanted to be god or seize the glory that God deserved. This was very scary!

Thirdly, although people know that God is holy, they still relish living in darkness and are unwilling to take a step to know God due to their sins. After mankind had sinned, they are numbed and indulge in sins. Thus, they do not how to repent and are reluctant to repent so they do not worship him as God.

It is not just the knowledge of the mind but the true experience of His presence

Christians know that God truly exists. We not only depend on the ‘Book of Nature’ or the ‘revelation’ of the natural world to know God, but we also know him through the ‘Book of Scripture’. The Bible clearly tells people about God – His existence and also a step further to know about His attributes and work.

Through the Bible, Christians know the Trinity God who possess life and communicate with people. Many people know the existence of God but they are unable to talk to Him and receive life from Him. This is because, to truly know Him and His existence is achieved through reading the Bible and coming to know Jesus Christ. Christians get to know God, receive Him into their lives, pray to Him, read His Word and experience His real presence in their daily lives.

In other words, we do not establish human relationships with our minds, knowledge and logical reasoning. The relationship with my father does not start with the fact that I know he is my father and thereafter, I communicate with him through logical reasoning. No! I continually know my father based on our relationship and my interaction with him. We truly know one another through building our relationships. In the same way, it is only when people are willing to humble themselves, accept God, believe in Him and build a relationship with Him that they can truly know Him and continually build harmonious relationships with Him. Jesus Christ proclaimed that He is the way, the truth and the life. It is only through Him that we can truly know God. Therefore, He is willing to give and hope that we accept His invitation. The Bible tells us in John 1: 12, “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” May God help us to open our hearts to pray to Him willingly so that He can enter our lives because He not only exists but also “takes delight in your existence”. Amen!

Let us pray together!

Dear Heavenly Father, we are thankful to you because you, not only reveal yourself to us through the Book of Nature, enable us to know your existence through our conscience. Throughout history, we saw your righteousness continually revealed in this world. Your loving kindness has never departed from mankind. This is the grace of God. We are very thankful to you for letting us know who God truly is through the Bible, the book of revelation, and the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Indeed, we receive salvation and establish a wonderful relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Today, may the heart of every listener be opened to you so that we can receive the Gospel. May we confess that you exist and we are willing to let you enter our lives to be our Lord. We pray this in the holy name of Jesus Christ with thanksgiving and praise. Amen.