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What are the most important questions you will ever ask yourself? I ask this every month to a group of teens who gather to learn about Christian apologetics. The young adults who have been with me for a while know the answer. “Is there a god?” “Who is he?” and “What does he want from me?” Considering that our lives are just a vapor, and ten out of ten people will face death, it’s important to know the answer to these questions.
“Is there a god?” is an easy question to answer. I often tell the class that I can prove God exists in 5 minutes.
“When looking at a painting, how do you know there was a painter?”
“When looking at a piece of art, how do you know there was an artist?”
“When looking at a building, how do you know there was a builder?”
They always ascertain that these designed objects are absolute proof that there is a designer. It is intellectually dishonest to say that buildings, artwork, cars, watches, computers, and everything else must have had an intellectual designer, yet all of creation (the universe, our world, nature, animals, and mankind) came from nothing. Look at yourself in the mirror. The human body is the most marvelous machine. It is complex and the most orderly arrangement of matter in existence. Creation is absolute proof of a Creator. Yes, there is a God. He is the only Being who has always existed. He is the Creator and Preserver of all things.
The second question, “Who is he?” is just as imperative as the first. This is where we turn to the Bible. Some might ask why we should believe the Bible. Pastor and author, Voddie Baucham explains it like this. “I believe the Bible to be true because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report to us supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim to be divine rather than human in origin.” There is no greater book on earth. All scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16). “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit,” 2 Peter 1:21. It is in these Holy Scripture that we are told who God is. “We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life,” 1 John 5:20.
Many people ask and answer the first two questions with ease. But I believe the third question, “What does He want from me?” isn’t asked enough. God’s Word reveals His will for all mankind. It shows us how to have eternal life and how to live in this life. Some are content to accept Christ as Savior and gain eternal life, but hesitate to truly give Him our lives and call Him Lord. The truth is that you cannot have one without the other. Whether a person recognizes Christ as Lord or not, He is Lord of all. He is our Master. Over 120 times we see the Greek word doulos in the New Testament. The word literally means slave. We were all once slaves to sin (Romans 6:17), but those in Christ have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 7:23) and are now slaves to Christ.
As my Master, His authority and Lordship over me should be my motivation for everything I do. Yet, to my shame, I admit there are times I don’t want to ask what He wants from me. What if He asks me to do something that costs? Or, what if He asks me to give up something? These are reasonable questions, but the truth is that often that “something” is just the sin we love. The only thing God asks us to give up is that which hurts and harms us. As the late Adrian Rogers once said, “It would be like saying ‘Boy, I’d love to get healed, but I just don’t want to give up my cancer.’ That would be foolish!” Don’t be scared to ask this question. What does He want from me? He is the perfect Master and He loves us with an everlasting love. “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee,” Psalm 84:11-12
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