I was once so convinced that:
– there was no ‘god’
– if ‘god’ existed, ‘he’ was a mongrel
– people who believed in ‘god’ were brainwashed and/or evil
Everything I did, everything I read, everything I watched, everything I listened to, all seemed to confirm these beliefs: I knew I was right and would avoid, argue with or attack anyone who was Christian or Bible-believing.
Now however, when I look back, I can see that my assumptions were not based in evidence, facts or even dependable logic. Although I wasn’t aware of it I simply didn’t *want* there to be a ‘God’. I didn’t *want* any credit going to people who had done (what I saw as) the wrong thing to me…in fact I *hated* them too.
This hatred & hurt literally blinded me – I was unable understand or see any differently to what my presumptions were. No one could convince me otherwise, not many were game to try.
I can see that there are two main reasons people don’t ‘want’ there to be a God:
1) We *love* sin (the things that God says are ‘bad’)… NO WAY can we accept some ‘god’ telling us we can’t do something – how dare ‘he’??!
2) We have had bad / painful / abusive experiences when young from people who were religious or supposedly represented God. (This can be from a father figure too as we are hard-wried to think God is like our earthly father – mine left / was non existent so I thought God didn’t exist either).
We often have lots of other arguments (why is there suffering, how could a God of love send people to hell etc), but these are normally merely justifications for #1 and #2…
These two reasons are often invisible to us, are incredibly powerful and will cause us to deceive ourselves.
The Bible says it pretty clearly: ‘our hearts are desperately wicked’.
We are born spiritually dead & blind and will remain that way unless God opens our eyes…
Everything we see, hear, touch, feel and understand is tainted by our own assumptions and false conclusions.
“God does NOT exist…and I hate Him!“
We sub consciously accept the ideas or ‘facts’ that affirms our position, despite any evidence that supports or contradicts.
And we have no shortage of things in our culture that condition us to hate ‘god’:
– Virtually every TV series, sitcom or show makes a mockery of Christians, portraying them as out of touch, religious, selfish and / or hypocritical.
– Media reports present ideas, theories and unfounded conclusions about the age of the earth, fossils, alien life, the origin of the universe, cultures and more.
– The education system teaches theories as fact, uses false findings and hides the assumptions or discrepancies.
– News outlets continually demonise Christians and Christian churches, giving most other religions (including atheists) a free ride
This leads to people believing some incredibly outrageous claims:
– Matter came into existence with no cause, from none matter. (Nothing became Everything)
– Information came into being without an intelligent Mind
– Beauty and Order came from an explosion
There are many more that I go into more detail in other posts, but suffice to say, belief in any of these things takes a *lot* of faith, a lot of rejecting research, a lot of counter-intuitive ‘logic’ and a lot of acceptance of assumptions.
Thankfully, God can reverse all of that in an instant through Jesus.
“I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
This is not merely a change of mind or religion, but a spiritual re-birth.
From night to day, from death to life, Jesus has been opening the eyes of those born blind for thousands of years.
I, for one, am eternally grateful. If you would be willing to put Jesus to the test say the below prayer to Him…
God, I don’t know if you’re there, but if you are can you please show me. If you do, you can have my life – I will live for you.
NOW – go look for Him in the Bible.
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 29:13-14 (NLT)
The Bible is God’s love letter to you – read it as if He is speaking directly to you – because He is!! The goal is to meet the Author as this will change *everything*. Then do what he tells you…He will never let you down!
https://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/john/1.html (Bible Study Tools – NLT version). You can read or even listen for free. There is also a free phone app called YouVersion.
#thankYouJesus #life #atheism
