Estimated Read Time: 8 minutes

Supporting Text: Hebrews 11:6, Genesis 1:1, Colossians 1:17, Genesis 1:26, Psalm 19:1

Does God exist? That may seem like a strange question for a Christian to consider. After all, belief in God is foundational to the Christian faith. Yet Scripture does not treat this belief as insignificant or unworthy of consideration. Look at what the writer of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

The writer tells us that anyone who draws near to God “must believe that He exists.” It may seem like an obvious observation, but it is a necessary one: You cannot be a Christian unless you believe that there is a God and, more specifically, that Jesus Christ is God.
Our faith must therefore be firmly grounded in the reality of God’s existence. For me, this is not merely an abstract theological question. During a season of doubt, as I was seeking the face of God, the Holy Spirit brought this verse to my remembrance. It strengthened my faith then, and it remains a verse that I cherish today.

With that in mind, I want to accomplish two things in this article:

• If you are experiencing a season of doubt: If the enemy is whispering in your ear, I hope to strengthen you through the testimony of Scripture and the evidence within the world around us that God certainly exists.
• If you find it difficult to articulate the case for God’s existence to those who are questioning, I hope to better equip you to answer their questions.

We will begin with Scripture because it clearly identifies who God is and what He has done. God is not presented as merely one possible explanation for the universe. He is revealed as its Creator and Sustainer.

• Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
• Colossians 1:17 tells us concerning Jesus, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” 
• Furthermore, Scripture teaches that human beings were made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26).

Yes, I am beginning with Scripture (I am a Christian, after all). Scripture provides the foundation for how Christians understand reality: There is a Creator, there is a creation, and human beings occupy a unique place within that creation as God’s image-bearers.
However, Scripture does not teach that evidence of God is confined to the pages of the Bible. It tells us that creation itself bears witness to its Creator. Therefore, let us consider the evidence within the world around us that supports what Scripture has already declared:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).

Greg Koukl argues that a belief is true when it corresponds to, or “fits,” the way reality actually is (Koukl, 2023). Therefore, when considering whether God exists, we should ask which explanation best accounts for the universe as we actually encounter it.

How did the universe come into being? Why does anything exist at all? The simplest and most reasonable explanation is that an all-powerful, all-knowing, self-existent, and eternal Being brought the universe into existence. That Being is whom we call God.

At this point, some may appeal to evolution as an alternative explanation. However, evolution is a proposed explanation for the development and diversification of life after life already exists. It does not explain why the universe exists, how the first life arose, or why there are natural laws capable of sustaining life in the first place. Before any evolutionary process could occur, there had to be a universe in which that process was possible.
Consider the cell phone or other device you are using to read this article. Whatever else we may say about how it was made, we know that it did not create itself. It had a cause outside itself. In the same way, the universe could not bring itself into existence because it would have had to exist before it existed in order to create itself. Something beyond the universe must account for its existence.

Scripture identifies that cause in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The universe did not arise from nothing by nothing and for no reason. Rather, it was intentionally brought into existence by God.

Some may respond, “If God created everything, then who created God?” However, that question misunderstands the argument. The claim is not that everything must have a cause. The claim is that everything that begins to exist must have a cause.

The universe is bound by space and time and had a beginning; therefore, it requires a cause. God, by definition, is not a being who came into existence within the universe. He is self-existent, uncreated, and eternal. Therefore, God does not require a creator. God always has been, is, and always shall be. After all, if He were a created being, He would not be God.

What I have just given you is the cosmological argument: Everything that begins to exist requires a cause; the universe began to exist; therefore, the universe requires a cause. That first cause is God.

Now let us move on to another argument known as the teleological argument, the design argument, or the fine-tuning argument. While these terms emphasize different aspects of the evidence, each asks a similar question: Does the order we observe in nature point toward an intelligent cause?

A general design argument states that when we encounter order displaying purpose or specified complexity, intelligence is a reasonable explanation. We already apply this principle in other areas of life. When we recognize information arranged into a meaningful pattern, we naturally ask whether a mind produced it.

Consider, for instance, the SETI project, which searches for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Its researchers understand that certain types of organized signals could indicate an intelligent source rather than an unguided natural process. However, we do not need a telescope to search for signs of intelligence. We can also look through a microscope.

Inside you and me is a vast array of extraordinarily complex cells. Even more remarkable is our DNA, which contains immense amounts of genetic information used in the development, operation, and reproduction of living organisms. This raises an important question: How did that information get there? Is it merely the product of random, unguided processes, or does it point toward an intelligence that authored the genetic code and stored that information within our DNA?

This appearance of order is not limited to the information contained within cells. We also find mathematical patterns throughout the living world. Consider, for example, growth patterns that correspond to the Fibonacci sequence. A Fibonacci sequence is produced by adding the preceding two numbers together.

Example: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so forth.

Fibonacci-related numbers appear in plants in such features as the arrangement of leaves, seeds, and petals. These patterns demonstrate that nature operates according to intelligible mathematical relationships. That observation leads us to an even deeper question: Why is the universe mathematical at all?

Mathematics is not itself a physical object. We cannot weigh a number, place an equation under a microscope, or locate the laws of mathematics somewhere in physical space. Mathematical truths are abstract and intelligible realities that are recognized and understood by minds.

Nevertheless, the physical universe consistently operates according to these nonphysical mathematical relationships. Moreover, the human mind is capable of discovering and understanding them. It is through mathematics that we describe the laws of nature and discover the extraordinary order and fine-tuning of the universe.

The fine-tuning argument builds upon this observation. It states that the fundamental constants and conditions of nature fall within life-permitting ranges. If certain parameters fell outside those ranges, the complex chemistry, stable stars, and planetary systems necessary for embodied life could not exist. There are many examples that you can investigate for yourself, but the central point is that our universe possesses the conditions necessary for life when many other conceivable conditions would not permit it.

We find another level of apparent fine-tuning when we consider the specific habitability of Earth:

• Earth’s distance from the sun—the fact that we live within a habitable or “Goldilocks” zone
• The sun’s size and temperature
• The presence of liquid water
• Earth’s magnetic field
• Our moon

Taken together, these observations present us with a significant question: Why should a universe supposedly produced by unguided, non-rational causes contain complex biological information, operate according to elegant and discoverable mathematical principles, and possess the conditions necessary for life? Even more than this, why should the human mind be capable of discovering and understanding these things?

These features of reality point naturally toward a super-intelligence who created the universe and made human beings in His image, giving us the ability to investigate and understand His creation.

In summary, we live in a creation governed by consistent natural laws that can be expressed mathematically. Life contains vast amounts of organized information, and the universe possesses the conditions necessary for that life to exist. As human beings, we have the remarkable capacity to discover and understand these realities. This order cannot reasonably be attributed merely to random chance. Rather, it points toward a super-intellect, God, who created the universe and made us in His image.

Note: If you would like to explore this evidence further, you can visit Stand to Reason (str.org), Answers in Genesis (answersingenesis.org), or the Institute for Creation Research (icr.org). There are other ministries and resources available, but these should help you get started.

Astronomer Robert Jastrow describes the scientist as depending upon reason, climbing the “mountains of ignorance,” and, upon reaching the final summit, encountering theologians who have been there for centuries (Jastrow, 1978, p. 116).

Jastrow’s illustration captures an important point: The discoveries of science do not necessarily lead us away from God. When we investigate the origin, order, intelligibility, and fine-tuning of the universe, we encounter evidence that points beyond creation to its Creator.

This evidence gives us good reason to affirm what Scripture has declared from the beginning: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). The universe around us bears witness to the truth that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).

We can therefore return with greater confidence to the verse with which we began: “Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Christian faith is not a blind leap taken in opposition to reason. It is trust in the God whose existence and character are revealed in Scripture and reflected in the creation around us.

Yet creation is not the only aspect of reality that points toward God. There is another argument for His existence, and it may initially surprise you. Have you ever considered that the evil we see in this world may actually provide evidence for the existence of a holy and good God?

That is what we will explore in the next article: “How the Problem of Evil Points to a Good God.”

Jastrow, R. (1978). God and the astronomers. W. W. Norton.

Koukl, G. (2023). Street smarts: Using questions to answer Christianity’s toughest challenges. Zondervan.