Let’s start with this: How would you prove your existence? If there is a person who doubts your existence, how would you prove to them that you really exist?
An easy way to prove your existence is to appear before them so that they can see you and hear you. They can’t logically deny your existence when you are standing right in front of them. Also, if you participate in and influence people’s lives, then you are proving your existence.
The same is true of God. Throughout human history, there has been debate over whether or not God exists. One way God has answered this is by appearing to various people over the centuries and letting them see HIm and hear Him. Also, when He appeared, God influenced their lives. An example of this is found in Genesis 35. Notice the word “appeared” in the following verse.
Gen. 35:9 ¶ Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.
The word “appeared” tells us that God made HImself visible so that Jacob could actually see Him with his eyes. In the next verse, notice the word “said”.
Gen. 35:10 God said to him,
“Your name is Jacob;
You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”
Thus He called him Israel.
God spoke to Jacob in an audible voice so that Jacob could hear God with his ears. God spoke so that he could give Jacob a new name. At his birth, through his childhood, and during all the years he lived with Laban, Jacob’s name was Jacob. Now as he was returning to his father, God was giving him the name “Israel”. For the rest of his life, Jacob was known as both Jacob and Israel. (“Jacob” is the Hebrew word for “heel”. “Isra” is the Hebrew word for “strive” and “El” is the Hebrew word for “God”; thus, “Israel” means “God strives”.) This is an example of God appearing to a person and influencing the course of their life.
Notice the words “nation” and “land” in the next set of verses.
Gen. 35:11 God also said to him,
“I am God Almighty;
Be fruitful and multiply;
A nation and a company of nations shall come from you,
And kings shall come forth from you.
Gen. 35:12 “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac,
I will give it to you,
And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”
Gen. 35:13 Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.
Gen. 35:14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.
Gen. 35:15 So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.
God promised that Jacob would produce a nation and possess the land. Eventually Jacob’s descendants possessed the land and became a nation with a king, just as God had decreed. Again, this is an example of God appearing to people and influencing the course of human history.
Has God proven His existence? Yes, He has. God has made Himself visible to people at various times in human history. People have seen God, they have talked with God, and they have had their lives influenced by God. Just as we can prove our existence by appearing to those who doubt our existence, so too God has proven His existence by appearing to human beings and affecting the course of their life.
Further Reading
What happens if we ignore God?
How do we know that God exists?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.”