Dear Tiara

Many people are confused about God. But I think it’s encouraging that you are not content just to be confused but you want to find out more. It is always sad when people don’t think God matters. God does matter, because he made us and he loves us. He cares what we think about him.

We can know about God from several places. First is from the world around us. There is much about our universe and ourselves that akes us wonder about the existence of God. For example it is hard to believe that the whole universe came about by an accident. Our natural sense of justice and the ability love that all human beings have suggests that we have been made by a person (God) rather than just impersonal forces. Now science may have gone a long way to discover HOW it all happened but it cannot tell us WHY - which is a much more important question.

So if these things point to the existence of God, then what is this God like? The only way to know this is if this God reveals himself to us! And he has done this in the the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, while being fully man, was also God in the flesh. He proved this many times by doing things that only God could do like calming the storm (Mark 4). But he proved it most especially when he rose up from the dead. The apostle Thomas, when he saw Jesus alive after he had been crucified, called Jesus"My Lord and my God” (John 20:24-28). So by looking at what Jesus says and does, we can see what God is like. Again when the disciples asked Jesus to show them God - the Father - he said “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John14:5-14). So if you what to know what God is like then you need to look at what Jesus was like.

Not only does Jesus prove that there is a God, he shows that God loves us cares about us. Jesus came into the world not only to show us God but also to die for us on the Cross and take the punishment for the way we humans have ignored God. He did this out of his great love for us so that everyone who trusts and follows Jesus will also rise and live forever like Jesus (Romans 5:6-8).

So if you want to know more, the best place to start is by reading the Bible. Start with one of the Gospels (accounts of Jesus’ life). Luke would be a good one. If it seems a bit unreal to you, just remember as you read that Luke is writing about things which really happened, based on what he learned from people who saw it (Luke 1:1-4). Many of the place names, like Jerusalem, Bethany etc, and the people, like Herod (1:5), Augustus Caesar (2:1), and Pontius Pilate (23:1) are people who really existed and we know about from outside the Bible. It would also be helpful to have a look at God Makes Sense

Finally, as you read, pray and ask God that he will reveal himself to you. I have also prayed for you as I wrote.

Thank you for your question. I hope my answer helps a little.

Andrew