Many non-believers argue that the idea of God is just a manipulative strategy religion came up with to keep people under its influence. Why?
Some go on to say, “If God is real, then why can’t we see Him?” In fact, even though He is there, why don’t they see His miracles in most churches?
Are they lying? No. But are they correct?
For even God says: signs and wonders shall follow them who believe. He goes on to say He will prove His word. Mark 16:20
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Some things may indeed sound true, but are they the truth?
It’s like a couple coming to you, to help solve an argument between them, and you only hear the wife’s story. It may actually be true, but is it fair for you to judge the husband without listening to his side first?
The Shocking Truth
Even though God has made Himself manifest and visible—which He already does in different ways—many would still not believe!
Yes, even some so-called Christian believers wouldn’t believe. For how many miracles have we seen happen to us daily, yet we dismiss them as mere luck or “the universe”? What do you mean when you say “universe”?
God making Himself visible may not make a big difference because He already did—through Jesus. And the most ironic part: the people He wanted to save (the Israelites) did not—and some do not—believe in Him who was sent!
What then shall we say?
Israel walked with God all the way from Egypt (in pure slavery) to Canaan (a land flowing with milk and honey) until it became a great nation under the days of David and Solomon. However, even when God personally escorted Israel in the wilderness through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, shockingly, some of them did not believe in His sovereignty. They went on to question, test, and tempt Him. And so many among them failed to make it to the promised land!
If people who physically saw God’s miracles through Moses—from the separation of the Red Sea, getting water out of a rock, a stick turning into a serpent, food falling from heaven, and many more—still had doubts about the Lord, what difference would it make now that wasn’t possible then?
And many non-believers claim there is no way we have an afterlife. They believe we live once and for all—that when you die, that’s the end.
Can a dead man really change your perception of the Afterlife?
Many go on to argue that if a dead man came back and told them what he saw on the other side, perhaps they might have a change of view. But would they really?
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and [h]fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with [i]the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
Surely, even though a dead man came back and warned non-believers vigorously of what is to come, many would not believe him. Why is this so?
Why Most Israelites Never Believed in Jesus!
The things of God are not of this world, and so they can only be discerned by the Spirit and not by a carnal mind. For what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 NKJV?
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the [d]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The things of the Spirit can only be understood by the Spirit. And many, being carnally minded (lovers of self), are blinded from the things of God, lest they should see and be persuaded to turn, and God will have to heal them.
37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:
“Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
Is God deliberately trying to avoid healing His own people by blinding them?
What shall we say? Is God unjust? Does the clay tell its potter, “What have you done?” Isn’t it His right to make whatever He wishes of the clay?
What does the Lord tell Moses when he asks for mercy for the disobedience of Israel?
15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
This is not only to show God’s sovereignty but also His endless mercy. The same God, many years after Moses had passed, came down to die for every single one of us—on the condition that we believe in Him. He even answered Moses’ wish that each one of us would have the Spirit of God within us.
But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place his Spirit on them!” Numbers 11:29 CSB
Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 12:7
The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.
Shall we then say that God has abandoned some and picked a few? Hasn’t He made salvation free entry—all you have to do is believe? Shall you say they never knew Him, yet He has sent prophets, teachers, and apostles to them? Do they ever listen to them, or do they rather ridicule, persecute, and even kill some?
Who then is unfair? Is it God, or is it the non-believers who claim He should first come down physically—as if His messengers, the prophets, pastors, teachers, and apostles came out of thin air?
Who sent these to the unbelievers in the first place? Do they send themselves, or does God personally send them?
If people aren’t enough proof, then what other sort of special proof are you looking for?
Who would believe Him then… if He did appear?
Only those who have the Spirit of God within.
(For more on this topic, see related articles on How to see God…)
