The Ultimate Question

‘In the beginning, God ...’ (Genesis 1:1). This we believe. Before anything else existed, there was God. This is the foundation of our faith. Everything we know and understand; everything we don’t know and do not understand emanates ultimately from God. He is the creator of all things, visible and invisible, and by Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).

We also acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who is widely accepted as a well-known historical figure. But disputes arise over His true identity. Was He truly the Son of God, a wise teacher and founder of the Christian faith, or an impostor? How do we respond to such arguments? The point is of course, we don’t have to defend Him. In our heart we know Him in whom we have believed, and hopefully our lives reflect some of our understanding of who He is and all He means to us. He is our life, on whom we place our trust, our faith and all He has shown us. He is our Saviour and Redeemer, reliable and dependable. Many who have gone before us have given their lives for their faith, as He gave his life for ours. For the Christian this is the truth and nothing can take it from us. Our life, death and eternity we confidently place into His hands, and by our lifestyle we aim to demonstrate His character to the sceptic.

How do we know Him? “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:7). We have a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that He lives within us by the Holy Spirit. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). Many millions of people around the world have known a personal encounter with the Jesus Christ.

Of course, all this is backed by Scripture, the infallible word of God. The word enhances our belief and our own personal relationship with the living God. The word of God and our experience of Christ are inextricably linked. The one confirms the other, so there is no doubt.

In our lives we can be challenged over much of what we believe. Scripture tells us we must be prepared to give a convincing account for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15). But we must also be ready for what seems to be the inevitable unanswerable question: “Who created God?”

How can we deal with this? We may search the Scriptures to find an answer that would satisfy the sceptic. But there is none - because the question is meaningless.

God was not created.

‘Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God’ (Psalm 90:2).