Do We Need God
Contents
1. Do We Need God COVER SUBJECT Why the Question Are you good without God Millions are So read a recent billboard message paid for by an atheist group They evidently feel that they have no need for God On the other hand many who claim to believe in God make decisions as though he did not ex ist Salvatore Fisichella a Catholic archbishop said of members of his own church Looking at us probably no one would recognise we are Christians today because our style of life is the same as non believers Some are too busy to worry about God They consider him too remote or inaccessible to play any meaningful role in their lives At best such individuals turn to God only when they are in trouble or need something almost as if he were a servant at their beck and call Others see little practical value in religious teachings or at any rate fail to practice what their church preaches To cite just one example 76 percent of the Catholics in Germany believe that it is acceptable for a man and a woman to live together before marriage a view contrary to the teachings of both their church and the Bible 1 Corinthians 6 18 Hebrews 13 4 Of course Catholics are not alone in perceiving a discon nect between their religious affiliation and their way of life Clergymen of many denominations lament that their congregrants behave like prac tical atheists These examples logically lead to the question Do we rea2. esults As with any well written instruction manual the Bible alerts readers to practices that may compromise the safe and reliable operation of the product our life Advice or shortcuts that others offer might sound appealing even expe dient but is it not logical to think that we are going to get the best results and avoid problems if we follow the Maker s directions Though Jehovah God provides directions and instructions he does not force us to accept them Rather as a loving Benefactor he warmly ap peals to us I Jehovah am your God the One teaching you to benefit yourself the One causing you to tread in the way in which you should walk O if only you would actually pay attention to my commandments Then your peace would become just like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea Isaiah 48 17 18 In short if we heed God s direction we will live well To put it another way to live well and be happy we need God Isaiah 48 17 18 We Need Answers to Life s Problems Some feel that they have no need for God because they find many puzzling issues in life incompatible with belief in a loving God For example they may ask Why do good people have to suffer Why are some innocent babies born deformed Why is life so unjust Those are serious questions indeed and finding satisfy ing answers to them can have a deep impact on our life But instead of quickly blaming God
3. for such problems let us see how God s Word the Bible can shed light on this subject In the third chapter of Genesis we find the ac count of Satan who under the guise of a ser pent attempted to get the first human couple to go against Jehovah God s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad You positively will not die Satan told Eve For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God knowing good and bad Genesis 2 16 17 3 4 5 By those words Satan not only asserted that God is a liar but also implied that God s way of governing is unjust The Devil contended that if mankind listened to him things would work out better for them How could those issues be re solved Jehovah chose to allow events to take their course in order to enable all to see whether the accusations leveled against him were true or DECEMBER 1 2013 5 false God was in effect giving Satan and those who have taken his side the opportunity to dem onstrate whether humans can live well without God What do you judge to be the answer to Sa tan s assertions Can humans live well and gov ern themselves successfully without God The suffering injustice sickness and death as well as the crime moral breakdown wars genocides and other atrocities that have plagued mankind throughout the centuries are undeniable evi dence that man s attem
4. he former things have passed away Revela tion 21 4 How will God bring about these won derful conditions and how can we benefit from this promise God s Son Jesus Christ taught his followers to pray for God s will to be done Many people are familiar with or often repeat that prayer which some call the Lord s Prayer It goes this way Our Father in the heavens let your name be sanctified Let your kingdom come Let your will take place as in heaven also upon earth Mat thew 6 9 10 Yes God s Kingdom is the means by which Jehovah God will do away with the woeful results of human rule and bring about the righteous new world of his promise Daniel For more information on how the Kingdom will cause God s will to be done on earth see chapter 8 of the book What Does the Bible Really Teach published by Jehovah s Witnesses and avail able online and for download at www jw org 2 44 2 Peter 3 13 What must we do to benefit from God s promise Jesus Christ points to the simple step that we must take This means everlasting life their tak ing in knowledge of you the only true God and of the one whom you sent forth Jesus Christ John 17 3 Yes with God s help unending life in the promised new world is within reach That prospect might well convince you of yet another reason to answer yes to the question Do we need God Time to Look to God Two thousand years ago at the Areopagus or Mars Hi
5. ll in Athens the apostle Paul said this about God to the freethinking Athenians He himself gives to all persons life and breath and all things For by him we have life and move and ex ist even as certain ones of the poets among you God wants humans to be happy now and forever have said For we are also his progeny Acts 17 25 28 What Paul pointed out to the Athenians is still true Our Creator provides the air we breathe the food we eat the water we drink We sim ply could not live without the good things Jeho vah has provided for our sustenance But why has God continued to make such provisions for all people whether they give thought to him or not Paul said that it is for them to seek God if they might grope for him and really find him al though in fact he is not far off from each one of us Acts 17 27 Would you like to know God better that is to learn more about his purposes and his advice for living well now and forever If so you are urged to speak to the person who brought you this magazine or contact its publishers They will be pleased to assist you DECEMBER 1 2013 7
6. lly need God The issue is by no means a new one It was first brought up in the opening pages of the Bible In order to find the answer to the question let us give attention to a number of issues raised in the Bible book of Genesis gt Pr zy DECEMBER 1 2013 3 Why We Need God Mental health experts tell us that people need spiritual values in order to be truly happy We see this in the fact that people want to belong to something or serve someone or some cause greater than themselves To satisfy this need some devote their leisure time to nature art mu sic and so on Yet most find no deep or lasting fulfillment in such pursuits The fact that humans have an inborn spiritual yearning comes as no surprise to Bible readers The first chapters of Genesis indicate that after God created the first human couple he spoke with them regularly allowing them to establish a spiritual relationship with him Genesis 3 8 10 God did not design humans to live independent ly of him they have a need to communicate with their Maker The Bible refers to this need fre quently Jesus for example stated Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need Matthew 5 3 From those words we may conclude that an es sential ingredient of a happy and contented life is satisfying our innate spiritual appetite How can we do that Jesus pointed to the answer when he said Man must live not on bread alone but on every uttera
7. nce coming forth through Jehovah s mouth Matthew 4 4 In what ways do God s ut terances that is to say God s thoughts and in structions as found in the Bible make it possible for us to live a happy and meaningful life Let us consider three fundamental ways A THE WATCHTOWER We Need Good Direction Today there are countless experts and special ists ready to offer advice on relationships love family life conflict resolution happiness and even the very meaning of life Yet who is best qualified to give sound balanced direction in all these areas if not mankind s Maker Jehovah God To illustrate When you buy a new piece of equipment such as a camera or a computer you Like a user s manual the Bible is a guide for life I Jehovah am your God the One teaching you to benefit yourself the One causing you to tread in the way in which you should walk O if only you would actually pay attention to my commandments Then your peace would become just like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea expect it to come with an owner s manual or a handbook that explains how to get the best use and satisfaction out of your acquisition The Bi ble can be likened to such a handbook It is a manual for human life that God the manufactur er as it were has made available to us the users This user s manual explains what the product is designed to do and how it should be used for the best r
8. pts to govern himself in dependently of God have been a miserable fail ure Rather than showing God to be responsible for mankind s woes the Bible points to a major cause of them Man has dominated man to his injury Ecclesiastes 8 9 In light of this is it not clear that we need to turn to God not only for answers to the troubling questions facing humans but also for the solu tion What will God do We Need God s Help People have long yearned for freedom from sickness aging and death They have spent an enormous amount of time effort and resources in its pursuit but to little or no avail Some have hoped to find such freedom through the legend ary elixir of life the fountain of youth Shangri la and the like All these dreams have proved to be disappointing God wants humans to live well and be hap py That was his original purpose in creating hu mans and he has not forgotten it Genesis 1 27 28 Isaiah 45 18 We have Jehovah God s as surance that whatever he purposes to do will be done without fail Isaiah 55 10 11 The Bible tells us about God s promise to restore the Para dise conditions lost by the first human couple In the last book of the Bible we find these words He Jehovah God will wipe out every tear from 6 THE WATCHTOWER In the Bible we can find the direction and help that we need their eyes and death will be no more neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore T
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