The God Question, Part 3
The God Question is a series of devotionals from John Maisel. Read Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.
The Ultimate Design
As we continue to look at issues many unbelievers struggle with, let’s revisit the question: Does God exist?
If the universe is not eternal, the atheist has a choice to make. If he is being honest about the laws of physics, he will have to answer the question: “Where did the universe come from?”
His answer would be, “The universe created itself.” But that’s a logical absurdity. Something cannot create itself without first existing.
One of the basic laws of science is: “nothing comes from nothing.”
The atheist must see that the universe is not eternal. And if this non-eternal universe exists, he can’t conclude that it created itself from nothing.
Atheists could argue that everything is an illusion. In other words, “I’m not really here. This building is not real. It’s all an illusion.” But we know that’s not true. We can schedule events and make predictions about the patterns of comets, sunrises, and sunsets. Upon examination, most atheists conclude that the illusion theory cannot be true.
The last option that the atheist has is this: the non-eternal universe was created by something that is eternal.
We know that “eternal something” is actually someone. That is the Christian view. He is an infinite, personal God who created this universe and human beings.
To demonstrate this there are two key factors that we can appeal to:
1. Cause and effect
2. Principle of design
First, for every effect there has to be an equal and greater cause. As I look at this natural universe, there’s nothing to explain the existence of the universe. Nothing exists in the universe that is sufficient to cause this effect. So it’s reasonable to assume that the ultimate cause must be outside the universe.
Second, I also like to look at design. When I observe the universe, I assume the universe had a designer. You know, a wrist watch doesn’t just happen on its own. You can’t take the pieces of this watch, put them in a box, shake it up, and out comes a watch. A watchmaker makes a watch.
I look at a building. The wind didn’t create the building. There was an intentional design behind it.
All of scientific investigation is based upon order and design.
A Russian cosmonaut went into space and said, “I see no God here.” To me, that’s like going into an art gallery and seeing a beautiful painting and saying, “I see no artist.” The painting of the Mona Lisa didn’t paint itself. There was a master artist—Leonardo da Vinci—behind it.
The universe is intricate and beautiful. To say that it all “just happened” one day makes no sense.
In closing, I realize that these thoughts about creation touch on just a few of the scientist’s thoughts. None of us have all the answers, but in examining the evidence before me, I believe it is safe to conclude that there is a God.
And for those who are seeking answers and longing to fill the void in their lives, you are on solid ground when you seek this infinite, personal God’s answers for your existence.
