Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)

Astro physicist Dr Hugh Ross references (when he speaks) other books concerning the attempted creation of Life in the Lab written by other authors. The fact is that man has never been able to create life in the lab.

The Phylum record shows the evidence for life, from its beginning. See his site: Reasons.org/Ross to get a free chapter on any of his books.

You may also be interested in: The Case for Christ, by Dr Lee Stroble

Lee says many people die for their religion, but nobody will die for what they know to be false. The Disciples were the only people to die for a religion, who had actually known if what they were dying for was really true or not. They were there for both Jesus death and to witness His Resurrection and His ascension. They each one except for John died a cruel death for their faith.

His statement that no man dies for what he knows to be a lie, is worth consideration. Could a man die voluntarily for what he knows to be a lie? Possibly one could die to protect someone, but would 10 of the original twelve, who all eventually ran and hid after the Crucifixion, be willing to die for a lie? And each in very separate and different circumstance for this lie?

So, what gives you and I the faith to if necessary die for Jesus, and is that faith no different than the faith that man places in other religion’s, which are not founded upon The Gospel? Is your faith, and is my faith, and is our willingness to die for Jesus if necessary, based upon Truth we know, or a false hope, as the Atheists claim is the basis of all religion and the sacrifices made for them?

Men do, and have throughout history died for an idea. Men sign up to fight for country, and to die if necessary for the country they serve, or the principle they fight for. There is always a motivation for such dedication. Some are motivated by their own strength believing themselves to be above anyones ability to defeat them. This would be a very stupid motivation.

Some will go in fear and trembling believing in the cause that drives them. This motivation is justified in the mind, and one found in this position fights not just for himself but for a cause. This person can be right or he can be just ignorant and or brainwashed, and that can be true for any one of us.

So how do we know that our belief is right? Being right and therefore righteous in our cause, and in our beliefs will only come in our relationship to the Truth behind our motivation.

Jesus claimed to be the Truth, and He promised to provide His Holy Spirit as our guide and counsel when He left this earth. That counselor was to be One, Who would lead us into all Truth. Jesus’ claim would be worthless without the keeping of this His promise. You and I either have experienced His keeping of His promise or else we are deceived, and we believe absent the evidence of things not seen.

Atheists have asked us to prove to them that there is a God. You will hear pastors tell you that the knowledge of God must pass from your head to your heart, before you will know that you are saved. Knowing something is quite different than belief that can be challenged with a different logic of equal value to that upon which one bases his or her belief.

One can tell of what they have experienced in a court of law; but to have your witness of that experience believed is not up to you. In that case the jury must decide if you are a credible witness. The jury comes to believe one way or the other based on the evidence presented, but what they come to believe is based purely upon evidence not upon experience. What becomes Truth to the jurors brings them to belief, but the process itself is their experience. They can only experience what the witnesses saw through the witnesses eyes. They can never say that they actually witnessed what happened. The witnesses could conceivably all be colluding.

Jesus made a profound statement to Thomas, who actually would not believe in His resurrection certainly not just because of what he had heard from those, who said that they had before witnessed Jesus in a risen state. So Thomas required his own experience in order to know. The statement that Jesus made to Thomas was: “you believe because you see, blessed are those who have not seen, yet they believe”

Belief is very important, but it is not the evidence of things not seen. People believe something, thus because of their faith in the witnesses. But with God, we can and do experience Him when our belief causes us to call out to Him for forgiveness because His Holy Spirit is confronting us with our need to turn from our own sinful way to follow Him. It is then that the promise of Jesus to send His Holy Spirit becomes reality, and this experience with the creator God becomes a major part of our testimony. Our faith in that experience; then becomes for us the evidence of things not seen, which in this case is the evidence for us of God Himself.

The Atheist asks us for this evidence, of this God, whom both we and they do not see. But we can only offer to them what we ourselves have experienced, as proof of God. They must experience the risen Christ for themselves — just like Thomas; otherwise the proof of God will come too late for them.

This also is true for you. James told us the devils believe and tremble. If you have not sought for God because of your belief, you will not experience Him. Without your experience you have no proof for yourself of things not seen.