The fact that God was there “in the beginning”-that He was there before the universe ever existed-disproves, refutes, and destroys six beliefs of men.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2
1. God’s existence disproves atheism and skepticism or agnosticism. Atheism is the belief that there is no God, no Supreme Being. Skepticism or agnosticism is the belief that a person just cannot know whether or not there is a God. Atheism and skepticism are wrong. The Bible, God’s written revelation, declares unequivocally: “In the beginning God”-God does exist. He is the Sovereign Majesty of the universe, the Supreme Intelligence and Force of the universe.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” Psalms 14:1
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” Psalms 53:1-3
“Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth” Psalms 83:17-18
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right” Isaiah 45:18-19
2. God’s existence disproves pantheism. Pantheism believes in God, but not in a personal God. God is nothing more than the force and energy of the universe, the basic, underlying force and energy of all things. Stated another way, pantheism says that God is not a person, but rather that God is within everything, within everything as the force and energy that gives life and being to all things. For example, take a tree. The force and energy that makes a tree live and grow is said to be God. God is nothing more than the impersonal energy and force that gives life to the tree and causes it to grow.
The Bible strongly denies this belief. The Bible unequivocally declares that God is a person, the Supreme Person and Majestic Lord of the universe, and that God existed before the universe. God existed before the forces and energies of the universe ever came into being or were activated. Therefore, God is above and beyond all matter and all energy. God is both before the universe and supreme over the universe. And God longs for a personal relationship with man.
“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” Psalms 86:9-13
“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let [hinder] it?” Isaiah 43:10-13
“Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” Isaiah 44:6-8
3. God’s existence refutes and destroys polytheism. Polytheism is the belief that there are many gods. But the Bible is clear: “In the beginning God.” There was God and God alone-one God, not many gods. The Lord God is one God. He and He alone is the Sovereign Majesty of the universe. Polytheism is a false belief of man, formed by man’s own imagination and human ideas about God.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” Ex 20:3-5
“Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him” Deut 4:35
“Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” 2 Sam 7:22
“We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be [many] that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things” 1 Cor 8:4-6
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” 1 Tim 2:5-6
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” Eph 4:6
4. God’s existence disproves and destroys materialism. Materialism is the belief that the universe is all there is; the world and the things of the world are all that exist. The basic, underlying energy and force of matter, whatever it is, is the supreme energy and force. Materialism says there is no god, not a personal God. The greatest and most supreme thing in the universe is the very basic energy and force that causes all matter to exist and function. Therefore, the universe and its forces and energies are all there is. Beyond this universe, beyond the material and physical world, there is nothing. There is no other world, no spiritual world, and no heaven or hell. There is only this world, only the material and physical world. The Bible declares in no uncertain terms: “No! A thousand times no!” “In the beginning God.” God existed prior to the material and physical universe. There is more to life than just this world and its materialism, more to life than just the things of this world. There is God, and man is answerable to God. The belief of materialism is wrong.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” Matt 6:19-21
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [shelter, food, clothing] shall be added unto you” Matt 6:33
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt 16:26
“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Luke 9:25
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” 1 John 2:17
“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” Rev 3:16-17
5. God’s existence disproves and destroys humanism. Humanism is the belief that man himself is the ultimate being in the universe. There is no God, no supreme being who rules over man and the universe. Man is his own authority and determines his own destiny, and man has the reasoning power to control and rule over both himself and nature. Humanism declares that man himself is his own supreme being.
The Bible is emphatic: “In the beginning God.” God existed before man ever appeared on the scene. Therefore, God is before, above, and beyond man. God is far, far superior to man. The Bible emphatically declares that God is the Supreme Majesty of the universe, not man. Humanism is wrong, dead wrong.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me [not even oneself]. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” Ex 20:3-6
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God [not oneself] with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” Deut 6:4-5
“Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” Isaiah 40:21-26
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” Mark 12:29-31
6. God’s existence disproves and destroys secularism. Secularism is similar to humanism. It is just another name cloaked in the same belief as humanism. It is the belief that this world and the things of this world are all there is. Man is not a spiritual being, and he is not answerable to a supreme God. Therefore, man is to focus upon this life and this life alone. He is to make himself as comfortable and as happy as he can, and he is to get as much out of this life as he can. Man is to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow he dies.
But again, the Bible disproves secularism: “In the beginning God.” God exists; God has always existed, He exists now, and He will always exist. Therefore, man is answerable to God. Man must live for God, not for this world and its possessions and pleasures.
“For thou shalt worship no other god [many worship the world itself]: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” Ex 34:14
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [self-indulgence], and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” Luke 21:34
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” 2 Cor 6:17-18
“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” Titus 2:12-13
-Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible – Commentary
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Using the Bible to prove the Bible is akin to using a word in its own definition; it is circular reasoning and holds no logical value. The fact that the Bible says something doesn’t automatically disprove something else.
Hinduism’s Vedas, for example, teach a panentheistic (not pantheistic) or monist view of God and the universe, and the Vedas are held by Hindus to be the inspired word of God. So, by use of the same logic employed in this post, I could say that Hinduism’s teachings disprove the Christian view of God, simply because they say so. This is the weakest argument possible, and nobody should ever seriously use it to try to argue a point.
The Bible is the authoritative word of God for all humanity. Though many do not believe this; it’s the Truth.