One Thing An Atheist Can't Explain

An atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of a God or gods. I remember occasionally talking to an atheist at our local Starbucks coffee shop. He was very confrontational, and very adamant about defending his position and disproving the existence of God, Jesus, and blind faith. He thought my belief system was foolish. But in reality, who is the fool? Psalm 14 talks about such a person. 

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”  (Psalm 14:1a)

The atheists I have talked to do not understand why we would believe in something or someone we cannot see, namely having blind faith and total trust in an invisible God. 

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.  (Hebrews 11:1)

I often wonder why someone would be an atheist? Could it be that their opinion is just based on ignorance or lack of knowledge? Or could it be that atheists do not believe in a God because of some negative circumstance that happened to them in the past? Perhaps they got burnt by religion, or some traumatic event happened in their life and they question why a God would allow such a thing to happen. Whatever the case, they have turned off God, and it's a sad situation. 

However, the good news is this: It's possible for even the most staunch atheist to be transformed into one of the most convincing believers in God. But I'm not writing this blog to come up with ways of trying to convert an atheist to a Christ follower. That's for another time. I'm just proposing that there is one question that an atheist can't answer -- one thing an atheist can't explain that will blow holes in their theory of a non-existent God. 

Here it is........"Where did all matter come from?"

Matter, the physical stuff that the universe is made up of -- the planets, the stars, the earth, as well as all living and non-living things on earth. Matter can't just come from nothing. Or can it? It can, only by a Creator God. The universe itself proclaims the existence of an invisible God. 

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. (Psalm 19:1)

An atheist cannot explain how the universe began and how all matter was created out of nothing. Even scientists can't explain it. They come up with ridiculous theories such as the big bang theory. But what was before the big bang, and where did the big bang come from? 

Atheists seem to hang everything on science and knowledge, trusting that all things can be understood and explained without the existence of God. Their denial of God is based on human reasoning. And that's the problem.      

Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. (Galatians 1:11)    

Atheists are deceiving themselves if they believe there is no God. 

Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. (1 Corinthians 3:18-19a)

Here's the bottom line. There truly is a God, who exists, who is interactive with us, who is a real-time God, who wants to be in a loving relationship with us which is made possible only through the cross of Jesus. And to answer the question where did all matter come from? -- here's the answer: Our God created all matter from absolutely nothing. It's the only possible answer!

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. (Hebrews 11:3)

The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command. (Psalm 33:6-9)

How Could The Apostles Remember Every Word That Jesus Said?

Most Bible scholars agree that the Gospels were written many years after Jesus died.  According to Bible Gateway, Mark and Matthew were written 50-60 A.D., Luke 60-61 A.D., and John 80-90 A.D.

How could John, for example, remember everything Jesus said, word for word, after 50 years? How could he quote Jesus accurately? And John quotes Jesus a lot! In John chapter seventeen, 25 out of the 26 verses in that chapter are direct quotes of Jesus praying. Have you ever wished you could hear Jesus praying? This chapter is like listening to a recording of His words. 

I am old enough to at least try to remember discussions from 50 years ago, and I can remember bits and pieces. But to accurately quote word for word a detailed discussion I had back then - forget it. I know there are, in rare cases, people who can recall events to the minute detail. But there are only a few dozen in the world. It's a condition called hyperthymesia. One such person is Marilu Henner who was once interviewed on the TV program 60 Minutes. She said she could remember almost every day of her life since she was 11 years old! At least the events. But what about the conversations?

The Apostles did not have the condition called hyperthymesia. When Jesus chose them, they were just uneducated, ordinary men!

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:17)

There are many clues in the Bible as to how they were able to recall word for word what they had seen and heard long after it happened, with absolute and perfect accuracy. The first clue is in the verse above. They were "with Jesus." And being with Jesus, they became believers, followers, and were eventually given a supernatural gift -- the Holy Spirt. 

And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:22)

They were not ordinary men anymore! Then after Jesus resurrected and ascended into Heaven, the Apostles were given another outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower them. 

Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.  And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. (Acts 2:2-4)

Earlier, Jesus had promised this would happen.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Yes, they received the Holy Spirit which gave them special powers to discern, cast out demons, proclaim the Word of God, heal the sick, and even raise the dead! Wow! But does this mean they could recall conversations, word for word, from decades earlier? Yes, the Holy Spirit, also referred to as the Spirit of truth, guided them. 

 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. (John 16:13a)

If that's not enough, there is one more powerful clue that is the most important one of all! And the most convincing one as far as the Apostles ability to recall the words of Jesus accurately, without error, so they could write it down decades later. It's a promise that Jesus gave them while He was still on earth with them.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

So, as you can see, what may be impossible for you and I, was not impossible at all for the Apostles. They could, in a supernatural way, recall everything Jesus did and said. And because they wrote down what they saw and heard, we can have an understanding of who Jesus is and what His expectations are of us. And we can be confident that the Bible is God-inspired, and the source of absolute truth.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

Actually, all of the authors in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, were inspired by the Holy Spirit. That's why we can be assured that the Bible is "God-breathed". Yes, men wrote the Bible, but they were men who were divinely inspired -- the Holy Spirit placing in their minds what words to write. The Apostle Peter affirms this:

Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:20-21)