The Great Chasm

Some atheists, when you ask them, “What will it take for you to believe in God?” they reply with something along the lines of some immediate writing in the sky, or that “There is no evidence that will change my mind.” They claim that there is no evidence for God, yet what are they standing on? We will get to that in a moment.

In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who trusted in his wealth, both in money and power to get himself to heaven, but was clearly mistaken. The rich man and the poor man both died and went their separate ways; one on each end of the Great Chasm. I’m sure by now that you know the two extremes of the Great Chasm are Heaven and Hell. The poor man went to heaven, and from the other end of the Great Chasm, the rich man saw the poor man. This is a parable, remember.

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

The rich man asked a prominent figure, Abraham, who was with the poor man in heaven and asked him if the poor man could dip his finger in water in order to cool the rich man’s tongue. Think about it. This rich man knew that the poor man was gross, dirty and a diseased mess, outside the gate, not even welcome inside the gate. Yet the rich man wanted this poor man to cool his tongue… even the slightest and most temporary ease of pain meant the world to the man in Hell.

It is explained that the Great Chasm has an ultimate purpose, which is to separate those two extremes of Heaven and Hell. With this understood, the rich man in Hell tries to negotiate with Abraham. He begged him to send Lazarus, the poor man, to his relatives on earth, that they may be warned that Hell is a real place, and the path they are on is not going to keep them out of it.

But Abraham told the rich man that they already have enough evidence. He explained that Moses and the Prophets wrote about the way, the truth and the life. The man in hell argued that it wasn’t enough evidence. That his relatives on earth needed to see a dead man raised to life in order to believe. Abraham was smarter than that. He knew that “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (See Luke 16:19-31). What is ironic about this story is that Jesus was telling it. He knew full well what was going to happen to Him.

What does it take for us to believe? How much evidence is enough? Would the person who demands to see writing in the clouds that say, “YES, I AM REAL. –GOD” be convinced? What amount of evidence would it take in order for you to consider the evidence?

You who say “There is no evidence for God” are you being academically responsible and honest with yourself? Have you actually sat down and truly read the Bible? What about all of the people in all of the history of the world who believed in God? Does that mean that all of them were wrong? I know that this could be considered on some level and appeal to population, but there has to be something to the billions upon billions of people in the history of the world believing in a higher power. What about the scientists who are alive today who believe? Does it mean that they are not scientists if they do believe? Or they do not practice science well with the belief that God exists? What about the scientists in the past who discovered so many things about the world we know today? What is the Great Chasm that separates you from belief?

When we look at something, we think right away that we can know if it is designed or not. Think about the difference between a rock and a computer. There is no comparison, right? But the problem with that is, the computer, as a system, really is no comparison to a rock. The reason is that the rock is an abiotic component in a larger system called the ecosystem. The point is, how do we determine that the ecosystem is not designed, yet the computer system is designed? Even the name, ecosystem, denotes design. How could any system be brought about by randomness?

Have you ever taken seriously, the question, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” We might try to argue that the vacuum of outer space is nothing, but space IS SOMETHING! Now why, for one, would the earth exist in this space-time continuum, and secondly, why would the space-time continuum even exist at all? It is a larger system full of systems. Solar systems to planetary systems to ecosystems to computer systems. So why do things exist rather than no things at all? It is a simple question.

In any event, there is not more evidence for the existence of God because He desires for us to have faith. If the massive amounts of evidence that He provided is still not enough for a person to believe in Jesus, then it is likely that he or she will never be persuaded.

Our faith as Christians is not blind trust. It is evidence based faith. We believe because of the historical events that took place. 1 Corinthians 15:16-19 says, “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Think about what this is saying. Paul is telling people that if Jesus was not historically raised from the dead, then Christianity is false. Everything hangs on the Resurrection.

Explore it. Discover it. Understand it.

“If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” NIV John 5:46-47.

“He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” NIV John 8:47.

“But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." NIV John 10:38.

“I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” NIV John 13:20.

"If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." NIV Luke 16:31.

Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus

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