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Answer
Contrary to the assertions of atheists and agnostics over the centuries, humans cannot survive without God. While a person can have a temporal existence without recognizing God, they cannot exist without the reality of God.
God, as the Creator, is the source of human life. Claiming that humans can exist independently of God is akin to suggesting that a watch can exist without a watchmaker or a story without a storyteller. Our very existence is owed to the God in whose likeness we are created “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”, (Genesis 1:27). Whether or not we acknowledge His presence, our existence is reliant on God.
In His role as the Sustainer, God continually bestows life (Psalm 104:10-32). He is life itself “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”, (John 14:6), and all of creation is upheld by the power of Christ “and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”, (Colossians 1:17). Even those who deny God receive their sustenance from Him: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” “that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”, (Matthew 5:45). To believe that humans can thrive without God is to imagine a sunflower flourishing without light or a rose without water.
As the Savior, God offers eternal life.Life is given to those who believe. In Christ is life, which is the light of men «In him was life; and the life was the light of men. », (John 1:4). Jesus came that we may have life “and have it to the full” «The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. », (John 10:10). All who place their trust in Him are promised eternity with Him (John 3:15-16). For man to live—truly live—he must know Christ «And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. », (John 17:3).
Without God, man has physical life only. God warned Adam and Eve that on the day they rejected Him they would “surely die” «but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. », (Genesis 2:17). As we know, they did disobey, but they did not die physically that day; rather, they died spiritually. Something inside them died—the spiritual life they had known, the communion with God, the freedom to enjoy Him, the innocence and purity of their soul—it was all gone.
Adam, who had been created to live and fellowship with God, was cursed with a completely carnal existence. What God had intended to go from dust to glory now was to go from dust to dust. Just like Adam, the man without God today still functions in an earthly existence. Such a person may seem to be happy; after all, there is enjoyment and pleasure to be had in this life. But even those enjoyments and pleasures cannot be fully
Life without a relationship with God is ultimately unfulfilling.
Some individuals who reject God lead lives filled with entertainment and enjoyment. Their worldly pursuits may provide a sense of carefree satisfaction. The Bible mentions that there is a certain level of pleasure in sin, as stated in Hebrews 11:25. However, this pleasure is fleeting; our time on earth is brief, as noted in Psalm 90:3-12. Sooner or later, those who seek pleasure above all else, like the prodigal son in the parable, realize that worldly enjoyment is not sustainable, as seen in Luke 15:13-15.
Not everyone who denies God is solely focused on seeking empty pleasures. Many non-believers lead disciplined, sensible lives and experience happiness and contentment. The Bible outlines moral values that can benefit anyone in this life, such as faithfulness, integrity, and self-discipline. Nevertheless, without God, individuals are limited to the present world. Simply navigating through this life successfully does not ensure readiness for the next life. Consider the parable of the rich farmer in Luke 12:16-21 and Jesus’ conversation with the wealthy (yet morally upright) young man in Matthew 19:16-23.
In the absence of God, individuals remain unsatisfied, even during their earthly existence. Lack of peace with oneself stems from not being at peace with others, which in turn results from a lack of peace with God. Pursuing pleasure for its own sake indicates inner conflict. Throughout history, pleasure-seekers have repeatedly discovered that temporary distractions in life lead to deeper despair. The persistent feeling that something is amiss is hard to ignore. King Solomon dedicated himself to exploring all the pleasures of the world, documenting his observations in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Solomon realized that acquiring knowledge and pursuing earthly pleasures were futile pursuits without a connection to God.Dge, in and of itself, is futile (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18). He found that pleasure and wealth are futile (2:1-11), materialism is folly (2:12-23), and riches are fleeting (chapter 6).
Solomon concludes that life is God’s gift (3:12-13) and the only wise way to live is to fear God: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (12:13-14).
In other words, there is more to life than the physical dimension. Jesus stresses this point when He says, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” «But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. », (Matthew 4:4). Not bread (the physical) but God’s Word (the spiritual) keeps us alive. It is useless for us to search within ourselves for the cure to all our miseries. Man can only find life and fulfillment when he acknowledges God.
Without God, man’s destiny is hell. The man without God is spiritually dead; when his physical life is over, he faces eternal separation from God. In Jesus’ narrative of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man lives a pleasurable life of ease without a thought of God, while Lazarus suffers through his life but knows God. It is after their deaths that both men truly comprehend the gravity of the choices they made in life. The rich man realized, too late, that there is more to life than the pursuit of wealth. Meanwhile, Lazarus is comforted in paradise. For both men, the short duration of their earthlyrthly existence paled in comparison to the permanent state of their souls.
Man is a unique creation. God has instilled a sense of eternity in our hearts «He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. », (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and that sense of timeless destiny can only find its fulfillment in God Himself.
