Theology 101 (Lesson 1)
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
—Romans 1:20
The Great Continental Divide separates two macro-watersheds.
Extending from the Bering Strait in northern Alaska to the Strait of Magellan in southern Chile, it separates the waters that flow toward the Pacific Ocean from those that flow toward the Atlantic Ocean. The topic of the existence of a personal Creator is like a watershed issue that determines how people view the world and their place in it. It all depends on which side of the divide they fall.
If such a God does not exist, then everything becomes relative and ultimately meaningless. On that side of the divide, the pursuit of truth is futile, as is human value, meaning, and purpose. But if there is a personal Creator, then there is a reference point for truth and human life is valuable, meaningful, and purposeful.
According to the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:19-20, the evidence for a personal creator is undeniable.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.
Paul is saying that the evidence for a personal creator is like asking if the sun exists as it shines in the sky on a clear day.
The only way to miss it would be to suppress the evidence, denying the existence of the sun by refusing to look up.
In fact, the evidence of the intelligent design of the material universe by a personal creator God is sufficient to convince even the most brilliant scientists.
In an essay entitled, The Religiousness of Science, Einstein states,
The scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation… His religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.
Even Charles Darwin made a stunning confession. When he published On the Origin of the Species in 1859, he wrote,
If it could be demonstrated that any complex organism existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down…. Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record.
Yet the geological fossil record has not revealed a finely graduated organic chain. Scientific findings are just the opposite. Furthermore, the principle of irreducible complexity has demonstrated that there are numerous complex organisms, animals, birds, and insects that could not have been formed by successive, slight modifications.
To the contrary, modern scientific observation at both the macro and micro levels has confirmed that the laws of science, from physics to biology, to chemistry and mathematics, consistently reveal what the ancients knew.
There is a designer. And he is personal.
We know this personal God by name of Jesus.
Jesus is not just a human being but is the Creator incarnate as the Son of God. Fully human and fully divine, he came to the world to reveal himself, not only as Creator but as Savior. As Savior, he fulfilled the good moral law we rejected with our rebellion, which the Bible calls sin. In rejecting his ways, we rejected the Creator-King.
What is staggering about this personal God, the Creator-King, is that he intervened not to judge us but to save us by giving his own life for those who will receive him as their Savior-King.
Discussion Questions
How is the existence of God a watershed issue?
How does belief in a personal, creator God provide a reference point for truth and give human life meaning and purpose?
How would you defend the statement that there is undeniable evidence for the existence of God?
Why is the demand for evidence for the existence of God not unreasonable?
Why would Darwin not be a Darwinist today?
What are the eternal implications for the existence of a Creator God?
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the evidence of your existence that surrounds us in the beauty, complexity, unity, and order of the material world around us. Help us to see your hand in all things and to appreciate your infinite wisdom and power.
We thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus, who came to reveal your love and grace to us and to give himself as a sacrifice for our sins.
May we live our lives in a way that reflects your goodness and grace to us in Christ, with a desire to honor you in all that we do.
We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.