BIG QUESTION:  DOES GOD EXIST? Pt. 2

     It is important for believers of every generation to think about their faith.  We need to be able to defend what we believe.  The truth is you do not have to commit intellectual suicide to believe the claims of Scripture.  God’s Word has and will stand the test of time.  With that in mind, I want to continue our thought about the existence of God.  We are really looking at arguments that believers over the centuries have held as to why they believe in the biblical affirmation that God does exist.
     Last time we looked at the “cosmological” argument or the law of “cause and effect”.  That if we see the effect then there must be a cause.  The truth that when we see and experience creation it is reasonable to believe in a Creator, in fact, creation cries out to us that our God is real (Romans 1: 19-20).
     The second argument we will look at has been called by theologians the “teleological” argument or sometimes called the design and order principle.  The essence of this challenge is found in a very important question “How do you account for the intricate design of the universe?”  This though was first articulated by Plato but made popular by William Paley.  This argument is pretty simple.  All design implies a designer.  If you find a watch, you would understandably imagine a watchmaker: …if you see a building, you would assume an architect; …if you view a painting, you would take for granted that there was a painter.  In fact, the greater the complexity of the design and order of something the more a Designer begs to be recognized.  I once read it this way, “ it is one thing to see a log jam and wonder if there was a beaver behind it; …it is another to see Hoover Dam and question whether there was intentionality and purpose behind its creation.”
      The fact is, there is staggering design and order to the universe.  Therefore, it stand to reason that there must be a “Great Designer” of the universe.  The human body is a very intricately ordered machine, and the idea that we came about by chance—over time—is hard to fathom.  Astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle wrote that if you would compute the time required to get all 200,000 amino acids for one human cell to come together by chance, it would be about 293.5 times the estimated age of the earth.  James White says “It would be like having Windows 7 created—by chance—through an explosion in a computer warehouse.” I know there are some Mac users who think that is exactly what happened.  This is not about whether one believes or does not believe in evolution.
     You can be a Christian and believe in Theistic evolution—meaning that God created, and used some sort of evolutionary process as the means.  Those who believe in God want to point to the idea that naturalistic evolution—meaning an evolutionary process not helped along by an outside and guiding force—is highly illogical and improbable.
     The bible suggests that the intricate creation of God is a reason for faith.  “The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of His craftsmanship.  Day and night they keep on telling about God. Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to the world” Psalm 19: 1-2 (LB).
     Related to the idea of design and order is the thought that our world is uniquely suited to human beings and carbon-based life, the only form of life known to science.  The argument is that there are so many incredible details which, if they were changed just slightly, would make it absolutely impossible for human life to exist, that it compels us to consider that somehow, this world was intentionally created for this very purpose.  A place the Creator has created for His creation.
     Many of you know the story of Lee Strobel.  He was an atheist, and he liked his life just the way it was.  He had a good job as the legal affairs editor at the Chicago Tribune.  He used his legal and journalistic skills to explore and investigate the evidence of God’s existence and the Christian faith.  He became a Christian.  He has written many books defending the Christian faith.  Including THE CASE FOR CHRIST, THE CASE FOR THE BIBLE, THE CASE FOR FAITH…. And many others.
     So when you say you believe in the God of the bible.  Think it through… it makes a lot of sense ….
 
Pastor Scott
 
Sources
 
Christian Theology   by Millard J Erikson
 
Can I Believe?   Message by James Emery White