In today’s post, I will be answering two listener questions that arrived in the WCSK inbox over the past few weeks. This should alert all readers that yes, when you write in your questions to our email address⎯[email protected]⎯we do receive your questions, we do read them, and we do respond to some of those queries that we understand. Sometimes, our inbox gets flooded with questions, but providence only permits us to respond to a few.
Consequently, what I would encourage all readers to do before submitting your question is to consider first if you have an inquiry that requires information or if you have a question that requires analysis. You see, if you seek mere information, what you are asking for is more data on what something is or what it means. An example of such questions would be, “What is sin?” or “What does atonement mean?” Generally speaking, we would not respond to such questions in light of such easily accessible, information-rich online Bible study tools as OpenBible.info, Theopedia.com, and Ligonier.org. However, if you ask a question that demands analysis⎯typically a why or how question that requires synthesis of parts into a whole⎯then your chances of getting a response will increase exponentially. The final thing I will mention about email questions is to encourage everyone to be as precise as possible.
All that being said, in this post, I will answer two questions. First, Philomena asks, “Why are human beings not satisfied?” Second, Thomas asks, “These days I am talking to an atheist about God. How can I convince him about the existence and meaning of God?”
The first question is, “Why are human beings not satisfied?” The initial response to this question is to refine what Philomena is asking. That is to say, we can’t assume that all human beings are unsatisfied. So, I will answer the question, “Why are some people not satisfied?” The superficial answer to this question is simple: some people are unsatisfied because what they desire is unsatisfying.
Now, why would this be? Why would human beings⎯who are hard-wired for self-pleasing⎯choose to pursue things that ultimately don’t give them what they want, namely satisfaction? The big reason is sin. In fact, that’s the essence of sin. Sin rebels against the Lord and “misses the mark” of God’s truth; that is, sin aims for something that’s not God. God is all-satisfying (Psalm 16:11), so if you neglect Him, you will not be contented with what remains.
Another reason people are not satisfied is that they ignore who they are and for what purpose God made them. I am in middle age now, so I’ve been around long enough to know a few things about myself and to learn from my mountain of prior mistakes. There have been so many things that weren’t God upon which I set my desires. I would tell myself, “That thing is something I just need to have.” But guess what? Once I got the thing, either immediately or after a time, it became unsatisfying. The thrill was gone. There was no longer any happiness or contentment from something that was now plain and ordinary. You see, reality was made by God and thus follows His order. So, even if a person were to doubt that God is the best there is, as He reveals in His Word, real life will soon enough teach a palpable lesson in displeasure whenever a person seeks satisfaction in things of this world. How could I have fallen into such a trap? Because I ignored who I am and the purpose for which God made me. The problem all sinners have is not that we desire or that our desires are too strong; our common problem is that our desires are aimed at the wrong thing.
The Bible tells us that we are made in God’s image and that we were made for a distinct purpose: for God’s glory (Isaiah 43:7). Accordingly, if a person were to ignore the reason for which they were made⎯God⎯and then pursue contentment, joy, or satisfaction in something else, dissatisfaction is the inevitable result. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in the hearts of all people. Which means what? That we all have an eternity-sized hole on the inside and only God can fill it. Thus, by divine design, all our desires ought to be Godward to move toward the fountain of living water. Even when we desire earthly things like bread, companionship, recognition, or praise, all these things are mere crumbs that fall off the table of God’s supreme goodness. All these crumbs are in fact pointers to God as the final, ultimate satisfaction. Hence, in his Confessions, Saint Augustine once wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Isaiah 58:11 says:
And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Psalm 37:4 says:
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
And Psalm 107:9 says:
For [the Lord] satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
So, why are some people unsatisfied? One answer is sin. They don’t seek God and His glory, and typically, they are seeking their own glory. Another answer is that people forget who they are⎯image-bearers of God⎯and neglect why they were made: for God’s glory. Our heart will weep when it neglects its design and turns its desires away from God.
What I will now do is take Philomena’s question one step further. She asks about what people are doing that gives them a negative result (being unsatisfied). This then begs the question, how are we to pursue satisfaction biblically and gain a positive, God-focused result? What does God mean when He speaks of satisfaction? And, what kind of experience is the Bible referring to when it mentions satisfaction?
In addition to those verses I already read, for more examples of the Bible’s use of the concept of satisfaction, consider the following verses. Psalm 90:14 says, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Psalm 63:5 says, “My soul will be satisfied [in the Lord] as with fat and rich food.” Psalm 65:4 says, “We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” Psalm 103:5 says, “[The Lord] satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
In all of these Scriptures, the roots of both the Hebrew and Greek words for satisfy refer to a sense of filling. And in each of those verses, God is the causal agent in a person’s satisfaction. So, biblically speaking, being satisfied is synonymous with having satisfaction in God. The experience of satisfaction therefore means that all our desires are filled because God is satisfying. It’s also interesting to note that to be filled suggests that a vessel is at capacity: not lacking and not overflowing, just enough so that the tank is totally full and not one drop more. Filling matches capacity.
As John Piper once said in an episode of Ask Pastor John:
“[N]otice that the experience of satisfaction corresponds to desire and longing and yearning in the human heart. There would be no such thing as satisfaction if there were no such thing as desire. God created human beings as desire factories. Everybody has desires, longings, yearnings, wantings. God made us that way. . . . Satisfaction in God is the experience where God is enjoyed as the perfect fullness that corresponds to the God-shaped desires of our hearts.”
Seeking after a God who is unseen and not of this world would certainly be a daunting task. This is one of the multitude of reasons that God became flesh and pierced the vale of our earthly reality. The Lord came to meet us where we are so we would come to Him. Accordingly, Jesus says in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” In John 6:35, He says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus also says, “‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4; quoting Deuteronomy 8:3).
Hence, we find satisfaction biblically by finding Christ to be the bread and the water that our souls have always longed for. In Him, all our searching and longing are over. We don’t look for anything better because He is our all-satisfying treasure. And, the best news is that our connection to Him isn’t dependent on our performance or the subjective experience of satisfaction; we are in union with Him because of His grip on us. He holds on to us, all the while remaining constant in His all-satisfying nature.
The final note I will make on this question is that I don’t want to give the impression that when it comes to satisfaction, you will have your best life now. The reality is we live in a broken world in which our satisfaction will never be full, total, or complete. Why? We live in a sinful age, so our experience of divine satisfaction will always be imperfect, incomplete, and subject to change.
Our own suffering and the suffering of others play a huge role in this. Even more, our satisfaction in the Lord does not turn a blind eye to those who don’t treasure Christ. This is what makes biblical satisfaction distinct from the worldly idea of satisfaction, which is focused on the self. The biblical idea grieves over those who were made for God yet are not satisfied in Him. John Piper refers to this never-complete-right-now-satisfaction as a “dissatisfied satisfaction.”
The great hope for all believers in the age to come is that we will all be 100% satisfied in God, all the time, forever. In Paradise, there will be no unfulfilled needs, no unmet longings, and no dissatisfaction. Every desire that we have will be purified and satisfied in the Lord.
That will take care of the first question. Now on to the second. Thomas asks, “These days I am talking to an atheist about God. How can I convince him about the existence and meaning of God?”
Thomas asks about what practical steps he could take to engage with his atheist friend. I will provide ten answers, moving from theological to practical. In an ideal situation, I would know who this atheist is, such as his name, what he does, and what his story is. These are all things that would facilitate honest, open, and meaningful conversation. I don’t know any of these specifics, so I will have to speak in general terms.
1. The first thing I would suggest Thomas do is pray. You and I are helpless without God. So, we pray as an expression of our faith, recognizing that we desperately need help in whatever we do. I Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” In Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord speaks through His prophet and says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” And in Philippians 4:6, it says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Accordingly, I would pray with gratitude that the Lord has given you the opportunity to speak with an atheist about God. I would pray that the Lord helps you by the power of the Holy Spirit to have the wisdom to know what to say, when to speak, and when to listen. I would pray for the maturity to exalt Christ first and foremost and for the love to know how to speak truth with the other person’s long-term spiritual benefit in mind. I would pray that your godly character in conversing with the atheist serves to be a persuading witness in addition to your words.
2. Second, Thomas, recognize that you cannot convince anyone. Again, Thomas asks, “I am talking to an atheist about God. How can I convince him about the existence and meaning of God?” I realize that your question has good intentions behind it. That being said, we have to understand that unbelief is much deeper than an intellectual argument or a volitional decision. It’s a spiritual matter. Consequently, the apostle Paul tells us in II Corinthians 4:4 that, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Of what use is a gate to a blind man who cannot see it? Regardless of your words, he would remain like the sightless men of Sodom wearying themselves trying to find the door (Genesis 19:11).
When it comes to faith in Christ, none of us can ever think that we have the power to persuade or convince anyone based upon our own charisma, the breadth of our knowledge, the strength of our intellect, or the cleverness of our responses. Biblically speaking, faith does not come from wittiness! Men cannot create faith where there is none. Someone who is fully persuaded of the existence and meaningfulness of God can do so exclusively because they have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3). God is the agent who ultimately creates faith through the new birth and God has told us that the Spirit uses the medium of the Word to do so: as it says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” We can never know who God intends to save. Our job is to be faithful witnesses and trust that the most effective tool we have when evangelizing is the Word of God. This brings me to my next piece of advice.
3. Third, use the Word. Who will convince our atheist friend? Only God. What weapon do we have to cut through his unbelief and its lies? The Word of God is a weapon “sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
All Scripture is inspired by God and is therefore profitable to use (II Timothy 3:16). However, any verses from the Gospel of John I believe are particularly profitable because the apostle John tells us his gospel was written “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). Again, I don’t know your atheist friend, so I have no idea if he will clench his fists if you open a Bible or he will be agreeable to reading through a passage with you. All I can say is that you can incorporate Scripture into your normal conversation so that he will be hearing Scripture whether you have an open Bible or not.
4. Fourth, preach the gospel. As it says in I Corinthians 15:1–4, “Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
The gospel is good news because there’s bad news. The bad news is that without Christ, your atheist friend will die and go to hell because of his sins. He will pay the penalty for his own transgressions forever. There’s nothing he can do by himself to get right with God. God, however, has solved the sin problem. The only way a person can get right with God is through Christ, who lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and then rose again on the third day. The gospel is of first importance for Mr. Atheist because he cannot go about life thinking his status before God is a casual, peripheral matter. It is the most important matter he will ever have to deal with.
5. Fifth, understand that God doesn’t believe in atheists. I don’t know what your friend believes (or doesn’t believe), but I do know that if you search the Scriptures, there are no true atheists. Thus, God doesn’t believe in them because they do not actually exist. As it says in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” “Fool” does not refer to someone who lacks intellectual ability; they may actually be amongst the most intelligent by the world’s standards. What makes this person a fool is that they have the wrong assumptions about life and have neglected some basic tenets of reality (Ecclesiastes 2:13–14). As a result, they have a desire for God to not exist, but in fact know that He is real. This is what Romans 1 unpacks for us: that a God-given conscience makes all people aware of the Almighty, but some respond to this awareness with the sin of truth-suppression. In other words, they shove the fact of God’s existence way down deep inside and cover it over with untruths. The fool believes they can silence their conscience with truth-suppression, but the endeavor is futile. Consequently, atheists may not want God to exist, or they may not like God, but at the end of the day, they all know He is real. The more militant the atheist, the fiercer their rebellion against a nagging conscience. As it says in Romans 1:18–19:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
6. Sixth, listen more, speak less. I am fairly certain that if I asked Thomas why he believed what he believed, he could give me an answer. So, what about the atheist? There must be a reason he arrived at the conclusion, “There is no God.” One purpose of your conversation then, Thomas, is to discern why he believes what he believes. It is then that you can begin having a more meaningful conversation.
You see, not only are there no real atheists, but atheism as a worldview is also unsustainable. Meaning, because atheism is defined by the absence of something⎯no God⎯it routinely comes up empty in helping people to inform their thoughts and actions. In fact, if an atheist were being honest, they would realize the futility of their atheism, since an honest conclusion of atheism is that regardless of what a person believes now, none of it will matter in the end!
Additionally, an atheist can’t consistently live as one unless they begin to borrow and steal from biblical Christianity. For example, if there is no universal foundation for rationality, then how can we trust what we’re thinking? If there is no objective, transcendent basis for morality, then what’s stopping anyone from being as evil as they desire and there being absolutely nothing wrong with that? If there is no God, then why is there something rather than nothing? For the atheist who is truly thinking, the inevitable result is despair.
So, Thomas, one of your responsibilities as a Christian in this atheist’s life is to shine a light on his darkened thoughts. This means spotting the inconsistencies in his worldview and lovingly and gently unraveling the falsehoods that cloud his mind while pointing him to the One and true living God.
7. Seventh, don’t assume. If I have done a good job of explaining by now, I think is it clear that an atheist has a worldview distinctly different from the Christian. They have different thoughts and ideas about reality, and this distinction isn’t to be taken lightly. As a result, don’t assume. Don’t assume that the atheist has the same understanding of ideas, concepts, and words as you do. Examples of such terms would be, “God,” “truth,” “sin,” “right,” “wrong,” “good,” and “evil.” The last thing you want to happen is to get into a debate over something when the two of you don’t actually understand what the other is saying.
8. Eighth, ask lots of questions, especially, “What do you mean by that?” and “How did you arrive at that conclusion?” Your goal is twofold: one, to nudge him to earnestly think about and be accountable for what he claims; two, to be able to explain the atheist’s worldview so well that when you recite it back to him, he will agree with your summary. Of course, the second goal emphasizes that you’re not asking the questions for questions’ sake; you are asking and then earnestly listening.
Consequently, repeatedly asking, “What do you mean by that?” and “How did you arrive at that conclusion?” will not only help you to understand; it will also give you insight into whether they really believe and can support what they profess. You’d be amazed how many people (both theists and atheists alike) have never taken the time to think through why they believe what they do. And you’d also be amazed how many so-called atheists are just mislabeled, actually being functional theists. So, ask lots of questions and gather as much information as possible. It is far easier to witness to someone when they trust they are being heard but then come to the realization that the ground they are standing on is shifting sand.
9. Ninth, keep the end in mind. You never want the atheist to walk away angry and say things like, “Thomas was a jerk.” If things get combative and argumentative, you have lost. So, keep the end in mind. Don’t aim to change the world in one meeting but plan to establish a cordial relationship so that even while the atheist may not agree with you, they have no reservations about conversing with you again because you are an honest, considerate, decent, and loving person.
10. Tenth, as I began with prayer, I will close by praying for you, Thomas.
Heavenly Father, I pray today for my brother Thomas. He is in need of your help, and I know you will hear all those who humbly call upon you to advance your kingdom. I ask that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you grant Thomas the wisdom to know what to say, when to speak, and when to listen. I ask that you cause him to be an effective witness and evangelist in whomever he speaks to. I also ask that you renovate his heart and mind so that in all things, he will consider you first, Lord Jesus. It is in your name that I ask these things, Amen.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal