“I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Isaiah 46:9-10
When we look at the world around us we see evidence for design. Life is full of complicated systems with many parts that work together. Life is extremely improbable and therefore could not have come about by chance. There must have been a designer who made all things. Behind every cause, there must be another cause, and so on forever. For the Christian this endless chain of causes leads to God and may be traced no further. He is the cause of everything.
Christians make no attempt to explain or analyse the origin of God’s existence. The Bible teaches that he is an infinite, eternal spirit, who is not dependent on anything outside himself: he did not come into existence by some process, and is without beginning and without end, eternally the same. To expect otherwise is to mistakenly treat God as part of his own creation and subject to its limitations.
God Is the Cause Behind All Causes
Atheism is a belief system which starts with the idea that there is no God and tries to make all the facts fit this idea. It requires great faith to be an atheist, because there are so many extraordinary ideas to be believed. It is then hypocritical of the atheist to complain that believers in God merely accept things on faith, when he has already swallowed so many doubtful and controversial theories himself.
When speaking of orderly, rational laws of nature, do we imagine that they could have been produced by pure chance? In a chance universe, there is no reason why the laws of nature should be rational at all, nor any reason why we should assume that they remain the same from one day to the next.
It is God who is the ultimate cause behind all the causes we are aware of, and because he is continuously at work through these, his superintending activity is not immediately obvious. Though we cannot tell how he intervenes, we know that he has complete control of all events, for all that happens forms part of a plan which he has declared far in advance.
Nature is full of evidence of God’ s work, but we will not find him personally unless we come to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, who died for sinners.
The Reliability of God As a Witness To Himself
Christians pay a great deal of attention to evidence of the work of God from history and geography, from physics and biology, and especially from human behaviour and society. God is the author of logic and he does not ask us to believe anything that contradicts reason or evidence.
Christians, therefore, do not shut their eyes to evidence, but they learn about God from his self-revelation in the Bible. Faith is about the reliability of God as a witness to himself. We gain knowledge through our five senses, and also through the testimony of others. We hear about places we have never visited in person, but we believe they exist. Yes, the Christian believes in the existence of things he has never seen for himself, and he does so because he trusts God’ s Word.
Atheism is a position that tries to set man free from any accountability to God. Amazingly, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world to die on the cross for many who have denied the existence of God; he brings them to see the enormity of their sins and to repent with shame before him. So great is his love that he laid down his life for stubborn, self-righteous and arrogant individuals who wish to banish him from the world he made and who have spent their lives trying to create a world without God.
Don’t Leave It Until It Is Too Late
His grace towards the undeserving is beyond comprehension. He is willing to receive even atheists who humble themselves and ask for mercy, who repent of their sinful lives and trust in him. Mankind is naturally full of suspicion towards God, and doubts the sincerity of his invitation, but we have God’s absolute promise that not one of those who seek his pardon will be turned away. They will be blessed with everlasting life and the love of God will be poured into their lives.
But let us not leave it too late to come, for we have a limited opportunity to repent and we do not know when it will end. Go to Christ, tell him what you have done, plead his mercy and if you mean it with all your heart, then he will hear you, forgive you and bless you with everlasting life.
Written: Robin Compston
Extracted From: © R. Compston “Richard Dawkins’ Fictional World”
Acknowledgement : SWORD & TROWEL, METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, LONDON.
Photo: Jodie Nash (Jona Photography)