What do I do if someone asks me, "How do you know God created the world?" or "How do you even know there is a God?"
Universe in a Box
Sometimes we are asked, "When did God begin? How can God not have a beginning?"
The answer is that God is outside of time. Think of the universe as a box. Contained inside are height, depth, and width (what we call the three dimensions) - but God stays outside the box. God can't be measured - he does not have a height, or depth, or width. The 4th dimension inside the universe is time - but God is outside of time. He does not age, and he does not have a starting point - all of time is contained in the universe, and God is not contained by the universe.
Rolling Ball
If I see a ball rolling, what do I know had to have happened to it? That someone or something acted on the ball to start it rolling. In the same way, I can look at the universe, which exists, and know that something had to be the "first cause", coming before it.
The Watchmaker
If I see a watch on the ground and pick it up and examine it, does it cause me to think, "These parts must have come together by accident"? No - I automatically assume someone was behind the design of it. It is simply too complex to be an accident. We can look at the universe and all things that live in the same way. It is too complex to have come together by accident.
Who Wrote the Rules?
There are always "rules behind rules" ... and it usually comes down to: it's wrong to hurt other people, wrong to hurt yourself, wrong to take what doesn't belong to you, wrong to be selfish, etc. Who wrote those rules? Are those human-invented rules? Could the rule-maker - the parent, the teacher, the principal - re-write the rule and suddenly it would become ok to hurt others? Or to take their things? No...and that's an argument that moral truths came from something other than humans, making them up.
1 Peter 3:15 - In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
Why should we answer questions with gentleness and respect?
1. People belong to God - to speak harshly to them is to disrespect them
2. If you are rude, they will stop listening to what you say
3. You want people to continue asking questions - a conversation is better than an argument
