Believing Is Seeing: A Physicist Explains How Science Shattered His Atheism and Revealed the Necessity of Faith

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I would not like to be in the shoes of any of those Jesus Seminar “scholars” at the last day. “There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My word -- the very word which I spoke will condemn Him at the last day.”

But that is where true faith comes in. Faith that is not swayed by new ideas, impressive people, or eloquent preaching. Faith that will not die because something easier comes along. Faith that is based on the belief that He was, is and will be the Savior of the world. Faith that can withstand the pressure of difficulties in life. Today I want to talk to you about seeing and believing. We often say that “seeing is believing.” In the spiritual realm, however, the reverse is also true: “believing is seeing.” Believing helps us see things with our spiritual eyes and senses. The unbeliever, the one who rejects and will not accept the words of Jesus – those very words will judge and condemn that unbeliever at the last day. Your decision now counts forever! For all of those who yammer that "the science is settled" on any subject in science - he offers Einstein who argued that the point of science is that it is always testing existing knowledge. It is never settled. That is the point.

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Our Lord's encounter with a man who was born blind, and the question put to him by the disciples concerning the man's blindness, is a wonderfully helpful passage. It helps us face the question that all of us have asked at one time or another, either about ourselves or someone else: Why does God permit such suffering to occur? On television the other day I saw a handsome little boy who had been born without arms or legs, and it was hard not to ask that question. Why would a God of love permit handicaps to helpless children, or permit horrible accidents to those who are already well-developed, perhaps beautiful young people? That is what we are confronted with here in this account in the ninth chapter of John. Genesis records that God appeared to Abraham and made him a promise: Through your seed shall all peoples of the earth be blessed, (Genesis 22:17-18). The immediate seed was Isaac, born of Abraham's old age; but the ultimate Seed is Christ. It is through faith in Jesus Christ that this promise is fulfilled, and all the peoples of the earth are blessed in Abraham. This promise was later confirmed by an oath, God swearing by himself that he would fulfill what he had said. The writer is simply pointing out that Abraham believed God's promise and his oath. Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me” (v44).

man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." So the Lord was saying to the crowds in the Temple courts, “Do you want to know what God is like? Look at me! I have come as a Light into the world, so that anyone who believes in Me will not remain in spiritual darkness. If you don’t believe in me, you can’t see God - you’re in darkness!”

This is true on many levels of life. Albert Einstein did not come to the knowledge of relativity by performing a series of experiments which ultimately convinced him that relativity was true. He gradually saw the idea of relativity, and, convinced in his own mind that this was the secret of the physical universe, he performed experiments that he might demonstrate it to others. This is the way of truth. Believing is seeing.

The disciples had evidently been taught, through their upbringing in Judaism, that sin and hurt, injury, and handicap are linked together; that human hurt is the result of human sin. Notice that Jesus does not deny that. It is helpful to note right from the beginning that he recognizes there is such a link. However, it is not the one that many people think, as he will make clear. But the fact that he does not deny the link will answer many questions.As a defense of the Christian worldview, Believing is Seeing is a bit of a mixed bag. First, there are some excellent bits: The cold hard fact is that we live in a world that thrives on proof. As a result, Christians will face pressure to doubt that God is real and alive. We will face opportunities to turn away from God and believe in other religions, which may seem trendier, more appealing or visually legitimate. We will face ridicule for believing in the unseen. As a thermal engineer, I rely on the laws of thermodynamics to make nearly all of my analyses and designs. I use them to put bread on the table. I appreciate their beauty and revel in their elegance.