09 - The first fact: God is real

When arguing with skeptics about whether God is real, many Christians waste their time by focusing on the “classical proofs” of God’s existence – arguments of logic that are defeated before they start because the Christians have accepted the skeptics’ ground rules: the definitions of ‘fact,’ ‘know,’ and ‘prove’ that we discussed in the previous chapter. The discussion is pointless because no proof can meet the skeptic’s impossibly high standard of absolute proof.

The fact is, every person on the face of the earth knows God is real, whether or not he is willing to admit it. The Scripture tells you as much.

In Romans 1.19-21, the Bible says that in creation itself God has left enough evidence for people to know he is real and powerful and that he deserves the respect a creature owes its Creator. Theologians have called that “general revelation.” It means that every person in the world knows enough about the Creator to be responsible on Judgment Day for not living a life that honors God, regardless of whether he has ever heard of Jesus.

Until the emergence of modern science, few people doubted the reality of Creator God. They had differing explanations about how the world came to be, but the vast majority of people throughout history have acknowledged that the Higher Power is real.

It was only with the emergence of modern science that men saw the prospect of explaining how the world came into being without the Creator.

For example, the 19th-century scientist Charles Darwin noticed that animal species apparently change over time. He theorized that one member of a species might survive when others don’t because it is stronger, faster or better adapted in some other way. If it passes on the advantage to its offspring, a whole species might change significantly over time.

That was Darwin’s theory of evolution – “micro” evolution. We all know it as “survival of the fittest.”

The scientists of Darwin’s time were excited about this insight. Some educated people wanted an explanation of the world that didn’t involve Creator God. Darwin expanded on the theory, stretching it past the limits of science to satisfy the desire to believe that God is just a figment of the superstitious imagination.

Toward that end, Darwin sketched out a theory of “macro” evolution. He argued that all the diverse life forms we see around us today – both plants and animals – emerged from a single, accidental spark of life in a prehistoric pool. He argued that, over very long periods of time, simple life forms evolved into complex life forms.

That’s impossible.

All creatures have complex parts that cannot be the product of evolution. Even the most basic part of living things – the cell – is too complex to have evolved.

In Darwin’s defense, he didn’t understand how cells work because the scientists of his time didn’t have microscopes strong enough to reveal the secret. Today’s scientists, however, understand that each cell is a very complex collection of machines made of molecules. The first cell would never have evolved because the different pieces of the machines would have had to evolve separately – right next to each other – and then somehow start working together as a cell. And each tiny cell teems with machines like that.

The parts of the machines couldn’t have evolved separately because only features that serve a survival purpose develop through evolution. By themselves, the pieces of the machine serve no survival purpose. It takes all of them, in mature form, working together, to make a working cell. Something as basic to life as a cell could never have evolved, even over billions of years. The first cell had to come into being full-blown, intelligently designed to work the way it does.

One impossibility like the complex nature of the cell is enough to discredit the notion that earth’s life forms emerged by chance. Today, irrefutable challenges to macro evolution - filed under the heading of “Intelligent Design Theory” – are piling up left and right. The leading edge of research in virtually every field of science reveals compelling evidence that our world had to have been designed by an intelligence far beyond ours. 

For the better part of a century now, researchers have been realizing that every aspect of the universe is finely tuned to an astounding degree. The slightest variation in any one of millions of situations would make life in the universe completely impossible:

–- A tiny change in the force that holds the atom together would leave you with a world that either has no hydrogen or has only hydrogen – and no possibility of life either way.

–- If the force of gravity was slightly weaker or stronger, the sun would not be able to sustain life on earth.

–- Adjust the rate at which the universe expands, and either solar systems cannot form or the whole universe collapses in on itself – bad news for life either way.

–- Change the wavelength of sunlight ever so slightly, and plants could not process it to feed themselves.

–- Change the size or location of Jupiter just a little, and cosmic rubble would rain down on earth, making survival difficult for life forms.

–- Trade the amazing orderliness of the physical world for a little more unpredictable disorder, and even science itself is impossible.

The list could go on and on. The idea that our incredibly complex and delicately fine-tuned world emerged by chance is preposterous.

The belief that all the diverse forms of animal and plant life evolved from one primitive ancestor requires a leap of faith that boggles the imagination.

The skeptic says, “I don’t believe God exists.” God’s reality, however, is not an issue of personal belief. Not believing that God is real doesn’t change his reality, any more than not believing the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning will keep it from happening.

God’s reality is an issue of fact – and whether that fact is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The best evidence in every field of science leads to the conclusion that this amazing world is the work of an intelligence far beyond anything we can imagine. The only person who denies it is someone who has not genuinely considered the evidence – or someone who made up his mind ahead of time to deny the reality of Creator God, regardless of the evidence.

The scientific evidence, however, proves beyond any reasonable doubt that God is real.

Think about it!
If everyone knows God is real, why don’t they live lives that honor him? What does Romans 3.10-18 say about it?

Get involved!
Ask an unbelieving friend to read this chapter and share his thoughts about it with you.

Next installment
10 - The second fact: Jesus is alive

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