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Lesson 2

Is There Anyone We Can Trust?

In a home where I was visiting some time ago, I met a very bitter and disillusioned young man. He was quick to inform me that he was an
atheist. He had seen the confusion and trouble in the world and was convinced that there was no God, for how could a God of order and
love permit so much trouble, deceit, confusion, and chaos in the world. He said that he had learned well in his science classes at a large
university that God was just an invention of man to help himself psychologically.

His bitterness and unhappiness were evident. He had decided there was no God, but had not found anything to take the place of God. He
was empty. Many others in this world are empty, searching for Someone they can trust, Someone who is strong enough to help them run
their lives and solve their problems.

 

After visiting with that young man I was happy that I had learned to know a very real God who is alive and well. I had been able to trace His
footprints in the universe and had found enough evidence of His existence and love that I could trust Him with my life.

 

Not many years ago many of us thrilled to see the amazing feat of the first moon landing. We saw the rocket ignite, then the supporting
mechanism fall away as the mighty power in the engine lifted that vehicle heavenward. Most people in the United States listened with keen
anticipation to regular reports that were given on the capsule's progress as it separated from the rocket and continued on its way in space.

 

The radio messages from the astronauts and the detailed descriptions of the working of the various parts of that intricate program
reminded us of the years of research and planning that had been necessary to build and design the rocket and capsule to make that trip
through space and safely return to earth. If anyone watching the launching and direction of this rocket and capsule had declared that the
whole project was the result of blind chance, he would have been labeled as insane.

 

When we walk out at night and look up at the heavens and realize that the stars above us are numberless and yet are guided in their
assigned orbits with such precision that the astronomer can predict the exact location of each heavenly body thousands of years into the
future, we begin to realize that a Master Intelligence obviously has been involved with the design and creation of the complex universe in
which we live.

 

Understanding the laws of nature does not diminish our awe of the Designer of the Universe -- it only increases this admiration. And
whether we consider very small units of matter or giant galaxies that speed through space, we find that such incredible design and order
clearly indicates the work of an intelligence. This Master Designer and Operator is the God that I have learned to trust. I would like to have
you meet Him if you have not already done so.

1. How does the Bible introduce God to man? Genesis 1:1

The very first doctrine recorded in the Bible is that there is a God. "In the beginning God." Here we find the foundation of all existence. The
Bible doesn't attempt to prove God, it simply declares His existence.

That God exists is overwhelmingly indicated by our own existence and by the existence of all the things we see around us. Creation witness
to a Creator. The things that are designed attest to the fact that there has to be a designer.

 

Dr. Arthur Compton, Nobel prizewinning physicist, commenting on Genesis 1:1, wrote in the Chicago Daily News, "For myself, faith begins
with a realization that a supreme intelligence brought the universe into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to have this faith, for it
is incontrovertible that where there is a plan, there is an intelligence -- an orderly unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most
majestic statement, "In the beginning God."

2. How long has this God of creation existed? Psalm 102:24-27 & 90:2

3. Where does God dwell? 1 Kings 8:30 & Daniel 2:28

4. What evidence has God given to men of His existence? Romans 1:19, 20

These texts plainly state that the natural world testifies to the existence of the creative power of God. We see evidences of God and His
creative power wherever we look in this world. In the story of Robinson Crusoe we find that he was concerned by some fresh footprints that
he discovered in the wet sand. By the footprints he knew that there was another person on the island, even though he had not seen that
person with his eyes. He knew that they were not his own footprints. Therefore, he could conclude from the evidence that some other
person was nearby. "If one print of a bare foot in the sand is absolute proof of the existence and presence of a human being, what are we to
think when we see the prints of the Master's shoes, as John Bunyan calls them, covering the whole world?" (Does God Exist?, p.5)

5. What are some of the Master's footprints that we can see in this universe?

a. Psalm 19:1 -- b. Isaiah 40:26 -- c. Psalm 139:14 -- d. Job 12:7-9

"Nature speaks to our senses without ceasing. The open heart will be impresses with the love and glory of God as revealed through the
works of His hands. . . . The green fields, the lofty trees, the buds and flowers, the passing cloud, the falling rain, the babbling brook, the
glories of the heavens, speak to our hearts, and invite us to become acquainted with Him who made them all." (Steps to Christ p. 85)

6. What statements does the Bible give us about God and the creation of this earth?

a. Genesis 1:1 -- b. Genesis 11:1 -- c. Genesis 2:7 -- d. Jeremiah 51:15

7. What makes the God of the universe different from the other gods that have been worshipped by man? Psalms 96:5

8. Why is God worthy to receive our praise and honor? Revelation 4:11

"The duty to worship God is based upon the fact that He is the Creator and that to Him all other beings owe their existence. And wherever                 in the Bible His claim to reverence and worship above the gods of the heathen is presented, there is cited the evidence of His creative power.
. . . Says the psalmist: 'Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.' 'O come, let us worship and bow
down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker' (Psalms 100:3; 95:6)" (The Great Controversy, pp.436, 437).

9. How is God characterized in the Bible?

a. 2 Chronicles 2:5, 6 -- b. Mark 10:27 -- c. Psalm 147:3-5 -- d. Malachi 3:6 -- e. James 1:17

With a God like this in control of the world, what have we to fear? "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

10. What is God said to be? 1 John 4:8

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16)

11. How great is God's love for this world? John 3:16

"The matchless love of God for a world that did not love Him! The thought has a subduing power upon the soul and brings the mind into
captivity to the will of God. The more we study the divine character in the light of the cross, the more we see mercy, tenderness, and
forgiveness blended with equity and justice, and the more clearly we discern innumerable evidences of a love that is infinite and a tender
pity surpassing a mother's yearning sympathy for her wayward child." (Steps to Christ p. 15)

12. How long will God's love continue? Jeremiah 31:3

13. What can separate us from God's love, which is in Christ? Romans 8:38, 39

14. How did God describe Himself to Moses? Exodus 34:6, 7

15. To how many does God extend His goodness and mercy? Psalm 145:9

16. What keeps man from being destroyed each day of his life? Lamentations 3:22, 23

17. What is the ultimate relationship that God plans for all of us? 1 John 3:1

18. How can we become the sons of God? John 1:12

How big is your God? Perhaps as you have read the description of God in the Bible you feel like saying with the songwriter, "My God, how
great Thou art!" When traveling in Egypt, I was impressed with the variety and size of the gods that the ancient Egyptians worshipped. Most
of those gods were small objects made by their own hands and fashioned after the animals they saw about them. They worshipped the
creature rather than the Creator. God says that they changed His glory into things made by man's hands (Romans 1:22-25). They were
corrupted and became vile because their god was even smaller than they were.

What you believe about the God that you love and serve will influence every action of your life. In the Bible we discover a God who is bigger
than our ability to fully comprehend. He is the Creator of the Universe, a God of miracles who uses His limitless power to provide for the
needs of the creatures He made. Unlike the gods worshipped by the heathen, the Creator is concerned with the happiness and well-being
of His creatures, and He is anxious to save, not destroy, each of us whom He claims as His sons and daughters.

If this God who reveals Himself in the Bible had the power to create and sustain this universe, He has the ability to communicate with us
through the Book that He has so marvelously given us. Let's take time to discover His plan for our life as we seek to get acquainted with
Him by a study of His Word.

19. Do you feel this study has helped you in your understanding of God and His love?

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