In our last presentation, I gave one overall reason for believing in God. I described the complexity of our world and of ourselves (Psalm 139:14). Only a Being like God can stand at the head of something like our world with all its complexities. Reality is complex, not simple. The theory of evolution is an insult to the nature of man, to his ability to think and contemplate his existence.

If evolution is so obviously false, someone might ask, why do we keep on referring to it as if it is important and carries weight? I do not hesitate to say that evolution is bankrupt and close to being cast aside. The reason that we keep talking about it is that there is not another contending philosophy or theory out there to consider. This is the best that unbelievers have to offer. This is all that they have to console themselves and to justify their rejection of God.

Evolution’s threefold failure. There are many failures in the theory of evolution, but as a broad sweep there are three that I would point out. 1) Evolution does not deal with the beginning at all, but changes with matter after it is in existence. 2) The missing links have not been found even after 200 years of modern scientific discoveries. 3) Evolution does not address the spiritual needs of man. It only talks about the physical nature of man, concerning which evolution is not sufficient to address even the marvels of our physical make-up. Evolution is mute when trying to address the spiritual needs of man.

We should tell "evolution" to be seated. It has nothing to say when man cries out for purpose and direction in life. Beside the open grave, it has no hope to offer. One may as well be standing by the open grave of an animal, because to the atheists there is no difference between man and the beasts morally or spiritually. It is the last of the three failures of evolution that I want to present this morning. I believe in God because He is a sufficient Being when considering the full nature of man with his spiritual nature.

His conscience and guilt. The Bible says that man was made in the image of God.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea. . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them." (Gen. 1:26-27.)

Critics of Christianity want to limit man’s morality and spirituality primarily to the area of guilt, but there is much more. Unbelieving psychologists want to attribute our guilt to our past, to parental failures, and even to failures of people before we were born! We can all testify to the existence of guilt, a sense of failure, and a sense of ought. Unbelievers cannot give a sufficient explanation for this "sense of ought" that exists within man. There is something within which compels us to do the right.

"For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel." (Rom. 2:14-16.) Some Gentiles were compelled by their conscience to do the right, not the wrong deeds.

Why did Adam and Eve hide in the garden among the trees? Because of a sense of shame, guilt, and a sense of ought. They knew that they had done something that they should not have. They had disobeyed God. They hid even after they had made aprons of leaves to cover themselves. (Genesis 3:7-11.) This sense of guilt is universal among men. The sense of ought is so strong that men often lie to cover up their wrong deeds. There is, at least, something good about trying to cover up wrongs. It testifies that we have a sense of right and wrong. We know that we should have done differently.

This feeling of guilt and sense of ought is an indication of man’s moral nature. It is not morally wrong for a snake to bite animals and men. They were made that way, and I doubt that snakes feel any sense of guilt over striking a man. I do not feel any sense of guilt over killing a snake! But there is almost an unbearable load of guilt over killing a fellow human. Man is able to discern between two deeds, whether there is a moral responsibility and accountability.

I understand that the US government has "a conscience account." Millions of dollars are paid into this account each year. Those who have not been honest about paying their taxes can send what they owe to this conscience account. Those who violate their conscience hurt their moral and spiritual makeup, just like cutting the body with a knife. It is real and painful.

Man’s ability to choose. With a conscience to guide man, he makes moral choices in life. Even the atheists choice to reject God is a right that he has as a man created in God’s image. If there were no unbelievers in the world, if no one could choose to do wrong and reject God, then man would be like a mechanical robot or an animal. Man’s ability to choose morally and spiritually is a marvel. I believe in God because man has a moral nature with a sense of responsibility. Man can even choose to reject God.

What man might choose is unpredictable. We know that man has the capacity for doing tremendously brave, selfless and humane deeds. He also can, on another occasion, choose the lower path and possess base motives. For example, in the beginning of the church many sold their possessions to benefit others. They showed great faith, selflessness, and spirituality. But Ananias and Sapphira lied about their gift saying that they gave all the money from the sell of their possessions. (Acts 5.) This unpredictability proves that man is making a genuine, personal choice in the matter. No one can know ahead of time what man might choose. Even the same person can, on one occasion, show great faith and devotion; yet on another occasion choose the wrong path.

Last Sunday, I talked about the complexities and even tragedies of our world. Sin exists in our world because of the ability of man to disobey God. Adam disobeyed and brought calamities upon himself and all of mankind. There are many things in our world that we cannot control. We do not have control over our own bodies, illnesses, and diseases. We cannot control all the physical events of our lives. But we do have a choice concerning the most important matters of our existence. Steve Flatt, minister of the Madison Church of Christ, said, "The things that are least significant (physical, financial, earthly things) are not under our control. The eternal, the spiritual, the most important are given to us to control by choice." This is an extraordinarily important statement.

We experience some anxiety because we cannot control what will happen tomorrow in our lives. We know not what a day may bring forth, said the Preacher. (Proverbs 27:1.) But we can control where we are in relation to God by our own choice! James indicated this difference in our choices. He wrote about man not knowing what shall be on the morrow. Man ought to say, If the Lord will, we will do this or that. Then he added, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17.) We have a choice concerning moral and spiritual matters in our lives. This is the most important area of all.

I believe in God because man can choose his spiritual state. Christianity does not deny that man has a moral nature, but rather addresses it directly. Only God can satisfy the needs of man spiritually. No one else or anything else can do so.

An objection considered. C. S. Lewis was an effective apologist for the Christian faith. Once while making the above arguments on the BBC about man’s moral nature, a listened objected saying that the moral law within man is nothing more than herd instinct. These feelings about right and wrong have been developed just as all other instincts which belong to man, he said. Lewis responded by telling the following story:

He told about a man standing on the bank of a river facing an emergency situation. Someone in the swift moving stream was drowning. Two instincts or impulses immediately were felt by the man on the bank: 1) the desire to plunge into the water and help save the man’s life, 2) the desire to avoid danger and not to risk your own life. I imagine that those on the bank of the Potomac River felt both of these impulses when a plane plunged into the frozen water. But Lewis continued. You will find inside of you, a third thing which tells you that you ought to follow the impulse to help. Now this thing that judges between two impulses or instincts, that decides which should be encouraged, cannot itself be either of them. If two thoughts are in conflict, will the stronger of the two win out? No, not if that third thing (moral law or conscience of right and wrong) has something to say about it. Some standing on the banks of the Potomac River chose the weaker impulse because it was the right thing to do. Men do not always choose the right, but they have both the right to choose and moral law which encourages the right. This unique quality in man demands a moral architect and designer. (I Believe Because . . . , Batsell Barrett Baxter, 49.)

Man’s tendency to worship. There is a universal longing for and seeking after God. No culture has ever been discovered that does not believe in some kind of Supreme Being. Paul addressed the philosophers at Mars Hill in Acts 17. He began his message by saying that he observed their devotions. They were very religious. (17:22.) There were many altars to many gods. The problem was not that they did not worship at all; the had too many gods and did not know the One Supreme Being. Paul preached that God that they did not know. Concerning man’s relationship to God, Paul said several good things: a) We are His offspring, even as their own poets had said, b) In Him we live and move and have our very being.

Immanuel Kant is known for making this statement: "Two things fill the mind with ever increasing wonder and awe. The more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness."