Why if this omnipotent being God exists, did he create the world and us? Why would he want to maintain it? Why would he send Jesus to save us? It's all very hard to grasp and understand.

I think this is one of the major reasons I have difficulty in beliving in God and Jesus. The idea that everything is the result of serendipity and natural evolution is much easier to believe and that when we die we return to nothing, than the fact that there is this one omnipotent being that created it all.

What you are asking about is the meaning and purpose of life itself.
Let me present an amazing theology that I learned in an incredible
book called "Destined For the Throne" by Paul Billheimer.

God has always existed. He lives outside of time in the Spiritual realm.
God the Father desired to create an eternal companion for his one and only
son Jesus. So God created the entire universe (including time) for the sole purpose of creating his son's eternal companion, which is called the
Bride of Christ.

God's desire is that we choose him, believe him and trust him. This was true for the people who came before Jesus. For example, Abraham is called
the father of faith, and his faith is credited to him as righteousness. It is this faith that brought him salvation.

For the past 2000 years, in order to choose God, we must believe and trust
that God sent his son Jesus to die for our sins and that he was raised again. When we do this, an amazing transformation takes place. God actually puts his Holy Spirit into us and we begin a lifelong training program. We are being trained to become part of the eternal Bride of Christ! This means that in our life, we slowly die to our own wants and desires and become more like Jesus and let his love shine out of us. On the outside this sounds boring, but nothing could be further from the truth! Our lives become much more exciting as we see God working in them
and we are often amazed at what God does.

We have the ability to practice and use amazing spiritual gifts to glorify
God that increase our faith and draw us closer to God. God tests our
faith to see if it is truly genuine and allows us to go through some hard
times, but he is with us every step of the way and after the testing we
we understand more and become even more like Jesus.

Most Christians can testify to all that I am saying. I myself have been
given totally unexpected gifts from God in a totally supernatural way
that astounded me when they happened.

It turns out that the more we allow God to transform us to be like
Jesus, the greater our reward is in heaven! For our part, the main
things we need to do is to read the bible and pray. The Holy
Spirit in us will work in us to lead us into a life of praise (for God),
thanksgiving (to God), worship, and a desire to seek fellowship
with other believers in Jesus. We will also have a desire to share
with people like you the reason that putting our trust and faith
in Jesus is the way that starts this transformation where we
ultimately are part of the eternal bride of Christ!

I hope that this helps, and I pray that you take the step and
believe God and start your amazing journey.

In Yeshua (Jesus),

Dan Olds

All this is in the Bible - God knew people would ask questions like yours so he explained a few things and had them written down.

...

God created us because he wanted a relationship with us. If you read Genesis you will see that when God first created people, he had very intimate relationships with them, He would walk with them and provide for their every need.

And because He loved us, he gave us free will - that is the ability to obey or disobey Him. And He gave Adam one simple commandment, and a warning that breaking it would lead to death.

The Devil (a fallen angel) who hated us, because God loved us, encouraged Adam and Eve to break the commandment, promising them that we would be like God Himself, and they broke it. And so we rebelled against God, destroyed the relationship between God and man and brought death and suffering into the world. But God didn't give up on us.

God chose a people, the Isrealites, and gave them the Law, so that they might lead lives pleasing to God. He blessed them, looked after them and gave them prophets. Alas though, Isreal soon turned it's back on God, and started disobeying the Law and killing all the prophets. But God still didn't give up on us.

God sent His only Son, Jesus, into the world to restore the relationship between God and man. Jesus healed the sick and preached about the salvation God had now made possible.

The world did not recognise Him however, and nailed him to a tree between two criminals. There were two groups of people at the foot of Jesus' cross as he died. Those who came to mourn the death of their saviour, and those who who came to mock Him, and be glad that Jesus was out of their lives.

But after 3 days God raised Him from the dead. And God has promised that ALL who put their faith in Jesus, will also have eternal life, with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven.

...

I don't tell it very well - you should read the original - it's much better

God Bless

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Rowan / GODCENTRIC Christian Demoscene

[This message has been edited by rowanseymour (edited December 18, 2002).]

But to me there is no doubt that we were created, we did not evolve.

When I look at everything around me, I find it impossible to believe that random chance could ever produce what I see, even in an infinite number of years. Even the most simple bacterium is extremely complex from a chemical and biological point of view and man hasn't even begun to come close to reproducing such things, let alone something as complex as a human being. Everything from paramecium to people just screams out that there was a designer behind them.

Here's an interesting article that you might like to read that talks about the human eye, and how its design flies right in the face of evolution theory: http://answersingenesis.org/docs/1146.asp

If you're sincere in your quest, then you should first pray. Even something along the lines of "if you're really up there, help me to find my way to you, help me to believe". God hears the prayers of non-Christians too. Then make an effort to learn more (which you've already begun by posting here). If you have a Bible, try reading the New Testament. If not, there are many online bibles around. Visit a few sites like http://answersingenesis.org and http://christiananswers.net and read the articles. Then pray some more, even if it's just "if you're for real, show me you're there through these articles".

And we'll all be praying for you here.

Dr. Russel Humpherys, author of Starlight and Time, had a major problem with the "Big Bang" theory as well - why shouldn't gravity keep all that stuff together in one huge black hole?

-although the black hole idea has been answered by "Big Bang" supporters - read the link above.

Creation of a single cell isn't as simple as it sounds on the surface either - where did the first self-replicating and information-containing molecule come from? How many base pairs? What are the chances of all those base pairs coming together just right to produce a self-replicating molecule? Even the simplest known life forms contain enough base pairs to make coming together "just by chance" very, very remote.

We haven't even touched organelles and other celluar structures yet. It's not enough to have a self-replicating molecule - we are made of cells - we need a plausible explanation for the creation of an entire first cell!

And the chances of an earth-like planet? The last time I heard about planets, we discovered gas giants around a star orbiting too close for comfort - hardly canidates for life! I've heard that more planets have been discivered, but I need to do research to see if any have been even close to being life-sustaining.

Yes, "natural evolution" has its difficulties as well. The "How?" questions loom as large as your "Why?" questions . . .

Look around Answers in Genesis, You should be able to find articles on these problems.

I've got a small list of creationist articles and webpages on my Backflip public folders.

Yes, this is a small list - see Ashby Camp's list of articles for a much larger list . . .

As for "why" - see previous posts, as well as searching A Christian ThinkTank
and Tektonics. These sites will take you into some pretty deep philosophy, BTW (Glenn Miller wants a doctorate in philosophy )

Here's an article from A Christian ThinkTank that's a good start. Not as deep as his other articles, but it attempts to answer your questions.

EDIT: added statement about black holes already being answered - after reading one of the articles more carefully . . .

[This message has been edited by CobraA1 (edited December 19, 2002).]

thanks again for the replies. I have been looking at some of the articles you suggested. Though to be honest the more I read, the more questions seem to be raised on both sides of the argument(though this could be a good thing )

It's great to be able to talk to you guys, my husband is a total atheist and although he tries his hardest to be supportive, obviously can't understand my dilemma.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to me

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It's not seeing is believing, it's believing and then seeing.
http://www.twoguyssoftware.ca

quote:

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Originally posted by Mack:
Don't think, ask God, listen to your heart.

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quote:

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The only way I can really answer your question is that God is diverse, creative and has an endless scope of wisdom, happiness, care and a host of other things. Why would He create us? Why would be care about us even though we've hurt Him over and over and over again? Why would He send His son to be killed to save us? Why, even now, thousands of years later would He still care for us? Love, love, love, He will never, ever stop loving us, He will never, ever leave us, He longs for us so passionately, He longs to be close to us, to talk to us, to have fun with Him. If you've ever been in a relationship and you have that burning, passionate feeling because you miss your loved one, He feels that 'all' the time for us. Why do I believe God exists? Because I feel Him everyday, I see Him everywhere, I hear Him everyday, I have more of a hard time accepting that people can't believe in God because of these things. Whitecat, God wants to know you, everytime you post a message I get this feeling in my heart that Hes excited and happy that your asking these questions and wondering about Him. I know it might sound corny or 'I've heard this a thousand times' I said the same thing for years until I broke down some personal barrier, let God have a chance and just listened. It's hard to be in a marriage with someone who doesn't have the same believes as you, but I'm glad he's trying his hardest to be suportive! Keep strong! My Fiance and I are prayin' for ya!

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It's not seeing is believing, it's believing and then seeing.
http://www.twoguyssoftware.ca

The Bible also says that God's ways are above our ways - trying to wrap your head around the nature of God on a purely intellectual level is not going to work. You don't need to put your brain on hold, you do need to be willing to accept that you're not going to figure out the Creator in every way. What He most wants you to figure out is His love for you, which is why the Bible speaks so much of this Love.

The Bible indicates that Jesus came here to earth to live as the Son of God, die a blameless death and rise from the dead in order to repair the relationship between God and man. The reason for this is that God is *always* righteous, He is always fair. It is not fair that something be taken without the price being paid. Jesus said that the reason He had to die was to return to the Father and send the Holy Spirit, who is called the Comforter and who Jesus said would teach us all things. I personally went to church for many years before recieving the Holy Spirit, and when I finally did, the physical experience involved gave me a total confidence in the existence of God. I have believed it prior, but when I became a Christian, I *knew* it. So ultimately if you really want to know about God, I'd recommend finding a church that is willing to baptise you ( which means to be fully immersed in water and symbolises the willingness to bury the old way of life and rise in newness of life, provided by God ( in fact that is what repentance means, and baptism is the action we take that shows this )), and then God will fill you with the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, when people recieve this Holy Spirit, they know because of a consistent outward sign, namely, they will speak in tongues. The Bible says this is both the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and also a special language we need because otherwise we don't know what to pray for, so the Holy Spirit inside us gives us the words to pray.

I am able to recommend a church in England if you're interested in pursuing this further. The Bible says that there is no end to human study, you can keep thinking about God for a long time without coming to a natural conclusion, or you can go right to the source and let Him fill you in. :0)

I really want to believe it, but feel torn, unable to take that step. I feel like I'm fighting myself half the time, that I won't let myself believe it. I'm reading through the Bible again (I read it when I was a lot younger), and I'm reading through the articles you have suggested to me in the two threads I have started.

I really hope that I will be able to join you all some time soon in your faith.

Thank you all for your kind comments and help

But I think you should keep in mind to have times and ways to discuss with your husband, not hurrying too much or pressing it, but having a good discussion about something important to both of you, give and take and trusting each other to talk, whether it takes two days or ten years to completely agree. Ultimately seek truth by yourself as an individual, but it's also great to share things with your spouse in a positive way, in a way that isn't stressful but lets him see why it's important to you and how you want to look at it and talk about it together with him as well as reading on your own.

Curry

my husband is great, we talk about it at length regularly, and he never tries to dissuade me from persuing this path, in fact, he encourages me, he knows how important it is to me, even though he has very strong views of his own to the contrary.

You should read [url=]Mere Christianity[/url] by C.S. Lewis. C.S Lewis when he was an atheist, set out to disprove Christianity, but when he started studying it, he became a believer. The book is one of his best, and was written for those, who like yourself, want to believe, but find their intelect getting in the way. He follows simple logical arguments, using only what we know about ourselves, and the world around us, to show that there is a God, and that all we can deduce about Him, points to the Christian God.

God Bless

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Rowan / GODCENTRIC Christian Demoscene

I've ordered it, I will give it a good read

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Rowan / GODCENTRIC Christian Demoscene

yes I really want answers. To be honest I really want to believe. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting somewhere, but then the barrier of "No it can't possibly be true" snaps back into place. It's like I'm fighting against myself half the time.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate it.

quote:

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Originally posted by rowanseymour:
Heyo

You should read [url=]Mere Christianity[/url] by C.S. Lewis. C.S Lewis when he was an atheist, set out to disprove Christianity, but when he started studying it, he became a believer. The book is one of his best, and was written for those, who like yourself, want to believe, but find their intelect getting in the way. He follows simple logical arguments, using only what we know about ourselves, and the world around us, to show that there is a God, and that all we can deduce about Him, points to the Christian God.

God Bless

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That is basically the same story as John Clayton ... an atheist in trying to disprove the Bible and ended up believing because so much of it is true. He has some useful material at:
http://doesgodexist.org/

For me, it is amazing that so much evidence points to a designer, it is hard for me NOT to believe. That a look at this:
http://doesgodexist.org/Charts/EvidenceForDesignInTheUniverse.html

God is amazing!
Tim

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Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.