Why Do I Need God? Should I Spend Time Finding Out?

When I was younger and asked internally if God existed, I didn’t know for sure. We aren’t born knowing if God exists or not. It is a valid question though. It takes time for us to even begin to know how to answer this question. We can learn from our life experiences, failures and successes, from others, from prayer. It is a journey.

In this article, we will try to focus on some facts about time to try and answer the question. The short answer is If heaven is eternal and our life in this world lasts 100 years or less, It is worth it to spend our time to get this question sorted out.

Let’s contemplate eternity for a few minutes by comparing it to what we know in our universe.

Age of the Past

How old is the universe? Some of the young age scientists might say 6,000 – 8,000 years. Some of the old age scientists might say 13.8 billion years. For our discussion here it does not matter exactly how long. The point is that the earth and the universe are quite old. It is difficult for us to see back to the beginning with precision and understand the immensity of it all, but it is safe to say it is a very long time.

Age of the Future

Now, how old is the universe going to be in the future? Here we will get a greater variety of answers since we can’t see ahead, but we’ll quickly take a look at some theories. Many scientists theorize it would be even longer than the age of the past universe…

The Big Crunch
One theory is the universe would have to slow down, stop, and reverse itself into back to one point. Assuming the halfway point would be when the universe slowed to a stop, and we don’t see signs of that happening, it could be much longer than the age of the past.

The Big Rip
One theory is that the universe would keep expanding until the stars, planets, and even atoms themselves are moving so fast and so far apart from each other that everything tears itself apart and the universe vanishes into the void. No worries though as some scientists who surmise this say it would not happen for billions or trillions of years.

The Big Freeze
Another theory is that the universe will get slower and slower until all the energy is gone and it freezes. This theory would take billions of trillions of years also.

For our purposes here, the actual age does not matter. In each of those models, it is safe to say, the age of the future universe is also a very long time.

Length of Our Lives

So how long is our life in comparison to the universe? I think we will all agree by any of the above definitions of the age of the universe and the average lifespan of a person, our lives are very short in comparison.

This does not mean our lives are insignificant. On the contrary, it means that the time we have is very precious in deciding matters that could affect us for eternity.

We have not included religion or theology yet, this is just plain logic and reasoning; People die and the universe is a long time.

An analogy of Time: Ball of String

These kinds of time periods are sometimes difficult to comprehend, but they are real. It may help to imagine an imaginary ball of string and extend it out 1 kilometer/mile. Then place a pin on one end. The string represents the entire timeline of the universe while the pin represents present time, the length of our life in this world.

Our lives are very short in comparison to the age of the universe.

Just as a reminder, the pin is not insignificant. The past is gone and the future has not yet come. The present time is essential to you and me.

Now let us contemplate God and eternity.

Definition of God

When we are talking about God, almost all definitions of God enter into the realm of Eternity. If the creator of the universe was bound by time and had a beginning or end, that would not be God.

If we can think of an earlier time where God did not exist, then our idea of God is still imperfect. In order to be the Creator and Origin of all things, God would have to exist outside the constraints of time. We would conclude that He would be eternal. (For more see the UnCaused Cause)

Multiple Eternal Gods Not Possible.
There is only one eternal God. Why? The problem with multiple gods would be that one’s power would eventually reach a boundary of the other, thus making each one limited. If neither was all-powerful, then who determined each one’s limit? Which one came first?

The idea of multiple gods runs into contradictions and falls apart. Logically we can only have one eternal God (monotheism)

The Romans and Greeks eventually learned this and gave up their false gods.

Note: Monotheism was not an evolutionary idea after the demise of Greek and Roman gods. Belief in one God existed long before those cultures.

Heaven

Getting back to our Definition of One God, we also hear of an eternal heavenly state of life for us after this life. Let’s see if this idea is reasonable or not.

It would be unreasonable to say that an all-powerful being would create an elaborate universe with intelligent life, give people the ability to contemplate their own worth and meaning, give them a deep desire for more, but then abandon them at death for no purpose. This concept would be similar to the ideas of the Greek and Roman gods who used people cruelly as pawns. It is fiction.

Instead, with an all-powerful being with the intelligence and will to chose to create the universe with intelligent life, it is reasonable to believe that this God also already has a highly intelligent plan for eternity. That is why we have the built-in ability in our minds to ask ‘Is there more than this world?’, and ‘what happens to us after death?’, and to wonder about eternal life.

We are just getting started, so we won’t prove it all here, but the concept of eternal life is reasonable with an eternal God.

Length of Eternity

It is difficult for us to imagine eternity in heaven, but if God exists and invites us to be in eternity with Him in heaven, it is worth stretching our minds a little.

A longer String
Take the same string which represented the length of the universe and now expand it out further, perhaps a hundred miles, a thousand miles, or a million miles. Whatever length you can imagine that is longer than it was.

Congratulations you just expanded your mind beyond the age of our universe!

While we are physical beings within time, we also have souls and minds with the ability to think beyond the physical limits of the world. We just did it!

A Large Body of Water

Another analogy is to imagine a clear drinkable body of water the size of the ocean. Each day you can take a drink. Each time you take a drink your body is restored to 100% health; All injuries, tiredness, boredom, anger, and pain are cured. By the time you run out of the water, you are just beginning eternity.

I know… trying to contemplate eternity is not easy. We are currently limited, but it is amazing that we can contemplate things outside our present time and even outside our own lifetime.

Conclusion:

For purposes of getting to the answer to our question… ‘Should I Spend Time Finding Out Why I Need God”?, the answer is YES.

Consider this…

We have questions about the meaning of our life.
We can grasp time periods longer than our lives
The age of the universe is a very long time
God has to be ageless, beyond the universe
It reasonable for Heaven to be eternal
Our lives in this world are short in comparison but essential

When I consider these questions of eternal time and how a small moment in my life can affect us for eternity, I find it to be worth considering more.

This is not to scare or force anyone into believing this. I remember the moment when this question came to me. It took me a long time to reflect on and no one forced me, but it opened my eyes that learning about God, heaven, and eternity is reasonable.