In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. 2 Corinthians 5:19

The young Marxist looked his guest in the eye as he said, “Do you mind if I ask you three questions?  First‑‑how can you be so sure there is a God?  Can you prove God’s existence?  Secondly‑‑how do you know that the Bible is true?  Thirdly‑‑if there is a God, why does He allow so many people to suffer?”

If you were confronted with those three gripping questions and had one minute to answer each, what would you say?  I would be tempted to point out the fact that apart from God‑‑ not just any god, but the revealed God of the Bible‑‑there is an emptiness in the heart of man that can never be filled.

The French philosopher, Blaise Pascal wrote of the vacuum in the heart of every man which could only be filled by Jesus Christ.  Having traveled in Communist countries, and having enough contact with people who have grown up in those same countries, I am convinced that there is an empty place in the hearts of men and women, and the three questions asked by the 17‑year‑old honor student are without answers apart from what God has revealed through His Son and the written, incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

I would like to tell our friend of the letter which came to our Cambodian associate—a letter from a Communist soldier who wrote the following, “I listen to your programs every day morning and evening….  I would like to be a Christian like you, too.  How can I become a Christian like you?  Please help me.”  Pointing out the fact that a political system does not answer those questions does not tell what Christianity’s answer is, either.

Attacking the deficiency of one system does not prove the superiority of the other.  How can you prove God’s existence?  Were the Russian cosmonauts right who went into space saying they looked for God and did not see Him in outer space?

Strangely enough, the Bible never attempts to prove God’s existence‑‑it merely accepts His existence and proceeds to tell us of His involvement in the affairs of men. I can give some logical reasons for God’s existence‑‑reasons that have spoken to the hearts of men for centuries, such as the cause-and-effect relationship of our world, the design which demands a designer, the moral sense of rightness which causes men to worship a Creator‑‑whether a pagan deity or even a human figure like Mao Zedong or Lenin.  There are other reasons, too, but those, of course, are reasons, not proofs.

Technically, I cannot prove God’s existence. Neither can you disprove His existence; but I can demonstrate how it is much more logical to accept His existence than to reject Him.  I would like to point out the fact that God is not a philosophical abstraction as many religions teach, but a Person, a Father who has revealed Himself to men.  Striving to understand all there is to know about God before they can ever believe in Him, some men fail to grasp the central fact of His existence and the truth of His revelation to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, the irony of my answer is that I cannot prove God’s existence; yet, I can introduce you to Him by letting you meet His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and proved His deity by rising from the dead.  Jesus did rise from the dead, authenticating the very heart of the New Testament. He demands not only my worship and acknowledgment, but my life and existence.  How dare we short-change divinity!

Resource reading: Isaiah 40:6-31