Last month we began a series of “What We Believe” articles beginning with the Bible itself. We believe the Bible’s truth and integrity as the inerrant Word of God. This month we look at God Himself as the Bible reveals Him. We get to know God by knowing the Scriptures He authored.

Yet this does little to convince those who do not believe in God. The classic argument has always been: “Show me the proof,” the need for tangible, convincing, empirical evidence to show God’s existence, not just a book. Yet what the unbelieving world fails to recognize is: God has shown Himself, and this response means more than seeing God in creation or nature. If we return to the Bible, we see this book as not only religious philosophy, but as actual history, the account of God present and involved in salvation history. And most of all, we see God present through Jesus, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, born of Mary and made man. Who is Jesus? God in the flesh. During His ministry, before the cross, Jesus was asked, “Show us the Father [God] and that will be enough for us.” To which Jesus responded, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father… Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” John 14:9-10. Jesus also said, “I and the Father are one.” John 10:30.

God has shown Himself in the person of His Son made flesh, through His ministry, through His miracles, and through His death and resurrection that made peace with us to God as payment for our sins. There were over 500 witnesses to the resurrection, as this and the whole story of salvation are captured, God inspired, in centuries of Scripture. Granted, we were not there, and we take this on faith, as defined in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Yet others were there, and did see! Today we take on faith that Columbus discovered America, that George Washington was our first president, that Abraham Lincoln wore a stovepipe hat. Why is believing in Jesus, God made manifest any different? We weren’t there for any of these aforementioned events, yet history books teach us what we know. The Bible, as evidenced by those who were there, teach us of God, of Jesus, and this book has no less credibility just because it’s older.

Besides what the Word of God reveals, we also know of God as something innate to us and God planted. To be self-aware, and aware of a higher power to which we are accountable is in our DNA, we are wired to an awareness of God, and whether that awareness produces knowledge of and faith in God is subject to our sinful nature and the reception of the Gospel as revealed in God’s Word. To some, seeing is believing; to others, believing is seeing. To be in tune with the Holy Spirit working in us, to be in the Scriptures, to have faith in our living God, to see prayers answered, this allows us to see God manifest in our lives, answering prayer, giving us blessing, correcting us when we err for our own faith building, and guiding us in the path that leads to eternal life. We believe; therefore we can see!

To learn more about what Christians believe, visit one of our churches: St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fredonia (672-6731), Immanuel Lutheran Church in Gowanda (532-4342), and Trinity Lutheran church in Silver Creek (934-2002).