Many believe that there is no God. Others believe that even if God does exist, man is capable of surviving and prospering without Him. But could we survive, let alone prosper, without God? If God did not exist, or if He did not have any concern for man, how would our lives be different?
In this brief article, I would like for us to consider this and ask the question: What would our existence be like without God?
There would be no love – John wrote, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love is one of the fundamental qualities of God. John did not say, “God loves,” but instead, “God is love.” Without God, there would be no love for we only know love because of Him (1 John 4:19).
There would be no light – John also wrote, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Light provides one the benefit of being able to see where he is going. Without God, the source of light, we are not able to properly direct our steps (Jeremiah 10:23).
There would be no truth – John the Baptist said, “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true” (John 3:33). The Hebrew writer also said, “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). Truth is from God. Without God, there would be no truth.
There would be no good – When Jesus was called, “Good teacher,” He responded: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). God is the source of “every good thing” (James 1:17). Therefore, without God, there could be nothing good.
There would be no life – Paul told Timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus…that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach” (1 Timothy 6:13-14). Paul told the Athenian philosophers that God “gives to all people life and breath” (Acts 17:25). Without God, there would be no life.
There would be no hope – Paul told the Gentile Christians in Ephesus, “Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Without God, our existence would be hopeless since He is “the God of hope” (Romans 15:13).
Existence without God is Hell – I am not using the term Hell as many do. It is often used flippantly to describe anything that is even remotely unpleasant. It is also commonly used as a curse word. I am using the term Hell in its literal and Scriptural sense. Paul said this of those who would stand condemned at the Lord’s return: “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Hell will be a place devoid of love (hatred will not be found in eternal life – 1 John 3:15), light (it is a place of “outer darkness” – Matthew 22:13), truth (it is a place prepared for the devil, the “father of lies” – John 8:44; Matthew 25:41), goodness (it is a place of agony with “weeping and gnashing of teeth” – Matthew 22:13), life (it is “the lake of fire” which is “the second death” – Revelation 20:14), and hope (it is a place of “eternal punishment” with no second chances – Matthew 25:46). All of this is true because Hell is a place that is completely separated from God. This is the miserable fate that awaits “those who do not know God and…do not obey the gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
If you understand that this fate must be avoided at all costs, then learn of God and obey His word so that you may instead be rewarded with a home in Heaven.
