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NRS
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God
created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void
and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the
face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light";
and there was light.
NRS
Psalm 19:1 <To the leader. A
Psalm of David.> The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament
proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night
to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there
words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has
set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his
wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; 8
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the
LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is
pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous
altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine
gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 11
Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13
Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion
over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
One of
the fundamental questions of all time is, Is God real. Religious folk like you
and me would easily say that yes, there is and that it is faith that causes us
to know that. Why should there be such doubt—such confusion—about the existence
of God? For thousands of years, people have debated whether God exists. Most
conclude that it cannot be proven—one way or the other. It is surmised that the
correct answer lies in the area of abstract philosophy and the metaphysical. Others
become agnostics, asserting that they “don’t know” if God exists. Those
who do accept God’s existence often do so passively, merely because
they were taught it from childhood. Some do not even care. Such people probably
cannot be moved from their apathy. Atheists have concluded that God
does not exist. These people represent a special category that God
describes as, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm
14:1). This scripture is repeated in Psalm 53:1.
Personally,
I find it tales more faith to believe in the evolutionist creation theory than
to say that faith alone proves the existence of God. Why? When I study the
evolutionist creation theory, they have no proof, no plausible justification
for their theory and the scientific evidence does not exist for making the
steps from amoeba, to sea creatures to humans walking on the earth. Now mind
you, I believe in evolution. There is scientific evidence to support it and I
fully believe the evidence that says that we are evolving creatures, all the
time. It is that beginning thing that I have trouble with. One way that science
thinks is by trying to disprove to find the answer. So let us say for a moment,
there is no God.
Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous
explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This Big Bang
began creation itself if you will. Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a
self-described agnostic, states, "The seed of everything that has happened
in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and
every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events
that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe
flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen."[i]
Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the
moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousand
million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light."[ii]
So scientist all agree on the “Big Bang” theory of
creation. They all agree in that moment there was intense heat and light. Hmmm!
Sounds like our scripture, the heavens were formless and dark and God said let
there be light.
A number of years ago I attended a men’s seminar on
creation. There were Astrophysics people, astronomers, physics and a few
religious folks. They all shared their theories of creation and all of them
agreed that the Big Bang is the essence of the creation story. All of them agreed,
except the religious folk, that no explanation, scientific that is, could
explain the creation of the Big Bang. Science has gotten it down to a billionth
of a second after the Big Bang but no one can explain how it happened. At
least, those who do not believe in God cannot explain it. One of the
presentations stated that without a third party influence to create the Big
Bang, there is no scientific explanation for how it came to be.
But it goes much deeper than that. Science can show how
things have evolved but no one can explain how the complex brain was formed. No
one can explain how DNA happened. Natural biological causes are completely
lacking an explanation how programmed instruction could have evolved; rather
their explanation is that somehow it was intentionally designed into our makeup
and the makeup of the universe. Someone or something had to have created it in
us.
I remember a story I heard about scientist in the lab
taking sand, water and electricity and suddenly they were able to create life.
They were so excited. They began to shout and dance. One of the scientist
looked upward and said, See, we don’t need you after all for we have figured
out how to create life on our own. A booming voice filled the space and said,
next time, make your own sand.
Let us look at the makeup of the earth and part of our own
makeup. The earth is a fragile sphere in the middle of the universe. Fractions
of an inch in any direction in our orbit, in the placing of the atmosphere, in
the makeup of the water would mean that meaningful life, you and I, would not
be possible. And yet here we are. Water is colorless, odorless and without
taste and yet without it we cannot survive. The temperature, as long as we
don’t mess it up, is regulated so perfectly that life exists and thrives.
Coincidence? It would hard to convince ourselves of that and yet science would
have us believe that is exactly the explanation. There is no logical
explanation as to why the universe operates with rules and order since the
truth about things is chaos, not order. Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner
for quantum electrodynamics said, “Why nature is mathematical is a mystery…The
fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle.”[iii]
One study by Dr. Dean Hamer, in 2008, suggest that we have
a gene, he calls the VMAT2 gene, that predisposes us to sense the presence of
God or know that there is a God. His study was not well received by the
scientific community. And yet, there is evidence is there not that we believe
in some higher power, something greater than what we can see or perceive.
So where are we? Well we have used science to disprove God
and unfortunately, that science has left us with more questions than answers.
What we have is a need for a third party to create the Big Bang, we need to
understand how it is possible to have a chaotic universe that operates under
rules or order, how we can have such an intricate brain, makeup and mathematics
without some guiding influence and yet those asking the questions still
proclaim there is no God.
Here is what I do know. No one writes a book about our
mistakes, screw-ups and hatefulness to one another unless the stories within
that book are true. No one would suggest that a man taken to a cross to die,
dies on that cross, is buried and is historically witnessed as having been
raised from the dead unless there is truth there. Men and women throughout the
last two thousand years have gone to their deaths proclaiming the truth of it.
In a day and time when we cannot trust the news or what comes out of politician’s
mouths as true, how is it possible that this message has been shared with
millions of people throughout the two millenniums? Unless of course, it is
because it is true.
My own experience is simple, the more I open my sense to
God, the more I see God at work around me. I can feel the love of God, who is
constantly pursuing me into relationship when I stop and surrender myself to
that love. I see the miracles, little ones and great ones that occur that have
no scientific explanation and yet they happen. If there is no God, then there
is no purpose, nothing greater than what we see, nothing to anticipate or look
forward to. And yet we do!
I cannot see the wind and yet I know it is real because I
can feel it and see its effects. I cannot see God and yet I know that God is
real for the same reason. I see the world around us and how intricate and
balanced it is. I see the workings of good and evil in the world and how good
always seems to come out on top, even in the most horrible of situations. I see
the balance of nature, the song of the birds, the bubbling sound of a creek and
I sense the presence of something greater than anything I can imagine. I may
not be able to see God, but I know that God is real.
[i]
Robert Jastrow, “Message from Professor Jastrow”, LeaderU.com, 2002
[ii]
Steven Weinburg, “The First Three Minutes: A modern view of the Origin of the
Universe”, Basic Books, 1988
[iii]
Richard Feynman, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, Basic
Books, 1998
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