God's Not Dead

"Living Proof"

3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
- Acts 1:3

Jesus Resurrection is the linchpin of Christianity

We’ve all been skeptics at some point

1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.
- Mark 16:1-4

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
- John 20:1-2

10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
- Luke 24:10-12

The Bible documents their unbelief

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,[a] Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
- John 20:19-20

God’s People were scared and hid

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
- Luke 24:44-48

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
- 1 Peter 1:3-4

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
- 1 Peter 1:18-19

Your witness is enough to reach the lost

"Life is No Accident"

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
- Psalm 102:25

Scientific Evidence

  1. Cosmology - The study of the origin of the universe

  2. Physics

  3. DNA

13For you created my in most being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
- Psalm 139:13-14

Philosophical Evidence

“Whatever begins to exist has a cause behind it.”
- William Lane Craig

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
- Genesis 1:1-2

Psychological Evidence

We are made in the image of God 

I now believe that the universe was brought into existence by an infinite intelligence. I believe that this universe’s intricate laws manifest what scientists have called the mind of God. I believe that life and reproduction originate in a divine source Why do I believe this given that I expounded and defended atheism for half a century? The short answer is this. This is the world picture as I see it that has emerged from modern science. “
- Dr. Antony Flew

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
- Genesis 1:26

“In the Beginning”

The Universe began, and it was caused by God’s command.

“Almost everyone now believes that the universe, and time itself, had a beginning at the Big Bang.”
- Stephen Hawking

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- Genesis 1:1

The Cosmological Argument

  1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.

  2. The universe began to exist.

  3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.

The “Uncaused Cause” Must Be…

  1. Eternal: Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 40:28; 1 Timothy 1:17; Romans 16:26; John 1:1.

  2. Omnipresent: Jeremiah 23:24; Psalm 139:7-10; 1 Kings 8:27; Proverbs 15:3.

  3. All-Powerful: Jeremiah 32:17; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17; Job 37:23.

  4. Immaterial (Spiritual): Genesis 1:2; John 4:24; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17.

The Universe began with human life in mind.

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
- Hebrews 1:3, NIV

“A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.”
- Fred Hoyle, Cosmologist

God made the Universe from nothing, and He can make great things from our lives too.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
- John 1:1-3

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
- 2 Corinthians 5:17

“An Answer for Evil”

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.
- 1 Peter 3:15, NIV

Good and evil confirm God’s existence.

“These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in”
- C.S. Lewis

“Without God all things are permissible.”
- Fryodor Doestoevesky

If God is absent, then evil abounds.

17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life…
- Genesis 3:17

Evil in Two Forms:

1. Moral Evil

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness…
- Romans 1:28-29

2. Natural Evil

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
- Romans 8:20-21

God’s cure for evil is revealed in the Gospel.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
- 1 Peter 2:24

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
- Revelation 22:3-4