'I AM' is sovereign and supreme over His creation. He is not made of the stuff that He made the universe out of, nor is He subject to anything. He is the loving, personal authority with the wisdom and ability to create life on this planet using a design language we can understand and then sustain it's journey through time and space. We are a tiny part of it with a big purpose. In the words of John Piper, "God made man small and the universe big to say something about Himself." Despite attempts by some to alienate Him with pagan fables and humanist origin stories, our 'introductory' life on earth will soon lead us face-to-face with this beautiful Creator.
From Isaiah 40:22(and about 8 other places in The Bible) we learn that God stretches/spreads out the heavens, possibly the very fabric of space-time itself, which continues to challenge our perceptions with it's nonlinear nature and intricate quantum connections exhibiting extremely bizarre behavior. We cannot, at the same time, both measure and observe these quantum particles, and we still do not fully understand the differences between those which have mass and those which do not(like the photons which make up light).
The hallmarks of our Father are beauty and complexity which, while not always fully comprehended, are recognized and admired by us as an intricate tapestry full of complementary elements which only a perfect craftsman could create. Charles Kingsley said "Beauty is God's handwriting." Indeed, we should be more impressed when we gaze into the universe and take in the tiniest part, than we would for the greatest and highest earthly panorama.
Large scale surveys have revealed that we seem to appear slightly off-center of a series of filamentous or shell-like formations of galaxies clustered together periodically to form an inconcievably massive and meticulous assembly. Massive amounts of information and energy have been incessantly transmitting across it since time began, over the whole electromagnetic spectrum.It seems ridiculous that we could, to any degree, inspect this incredible structure unless it was intended, as we do not know as much as we ought to about the things which are right in front of us. The familiar E=mc² when arranged as m=E/c² to solve for mass, becomes a model of how matter is but a small condensation left by immense energy in action. It was produced by an immensely powerful entity which exists outside of the constraints of time and place(which are part of His creation).
Man has been tinkering with created things for some time now, but we have a long way to go in our understanding. God has not given us a book of conjecture or mere poetry, but a record of what He said He did and He is incapable of deception. William Paley said, "It was to be expected beforehand, that what related to the economy and to the persons of the invisible world, which revelation profess to do, and which, if true, it actually does, should contain some points remote from our analogies, and from the comprehension of a mind which hath acquired all its ideas from sense and from experience." We are incapable of grasping the immediate and full extent of our Creator's workmanship nor should we expect Him to reveal everything to us. These issues should not serve to divide us and take our focus off of Him who is obviously competent to design and sustain it.
The Truth has always been plain before us regardless of our response. The ancient scriptures have always provided an orderly starting point for our study of the world, and the ones He entrusted with His message were not a disorderly group of opportunists. They faithfully transmitted the scriptures to us through the chaos of history.
An ancient man named Job had access to knowledge prior to 1800-1500 BC that was the basis for the pursuit of modern science. Many times God speaks to us in very simple and quiet ways, but in Job 38 God speaks to Job out of a powerful storm after much irreverent blathering by Job and his friends.
'Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?' (NLT) God mentions several interesting things here while reminding us who we are talking to!
It is not possible for the most powerful computers we have to produce a truly random number as they only execute instructions given them, though they may do so in a way that is somewhat unpredictable to us due to ever-increasing complexity being built into them. They typically use algorithms to simulate randomness and even 'true' randomizers are based on non-random processes and created by finite human minds. It would be less specious to refer to these concepts with terms like predictability or potentiality.
A weather forecaster does not give us the actual chance of rain falling at a location, but their potential to accurately predict it beforehand based on observation. There is always a 50% 'chance' because it will either rain or it will not, and there would be no predictions unless we could observe weather patterns. There is always a pattern and no chance, whether we can readily see it or not.
We know from data remanence, that it is quite difficult to completely eliminate intelligibility because information is persistent by nature and our brains are designed to notice information and appreciate design. In addition, we almost intuitively feel that there is a way we might live forever- that there is an infinity that can be known. It's why we ponder meaning and what will happen when we die. Yet most of us won't recognize the means to escape death.
When it seems like people and events are conspiring around us, it is because they are not random but full of purpose as God allows us opportunities to make choices in the face of these circumstances and experience the results. He, being infinite and noncontingent, knows the state of every particle in His creation and precisely what amount of periodicity will allow for all who will find Him to do so. His mercy is bigger than we can imagine.
There are circles inside of circles inside of circles from the smallest thing we can detect to the largest. The circle we live on is tailored for us and maintains this perfect balance of sustainabilty of life that is found nowhere else that we know of and our young and unique sun is too mild-mannered to be just another star. Maybe Psalms 19:6 refers to the bigger circle that the sun takes through space at 600,000 mph and which would take 200 million years to complete one orbit. The water cycle on earth(mentioned in Ecclesiastes 1:7) as well as our seasons, life cycles, and air and ocean currents are other examples.
Alas, the universe is winding down as it states in Hebrews 1:11. We wouldn't last 5 minutes without God's providence at work in and around us, all the time, continually providing heartbeats, insights and powerful change. The corruption introduced by our sin has made us less like God and increasingly impaired in our physical and mental abilities. Everything is slowly devolving into chaos and disorganization rather than becoming more specialized and functionally complex, as His purposes for this world near fruition.
Our genome is comparable to an enormously powerful base-4 operating system, optimized to run on a biological computer which is also host to other biological systems with their own sets of code. This software can reconfigure itself(sometimes in a matter of minutes) to run in almost any array with high precision. The OS's that man has made by comparison, degrade in only a few years and require extensive patching over their 'lifetime'.
The subroutines in this 6ft long string of literary genius are so complex that the author of this code must possess exceptional intellect. There was no testing or patching and it is woven into a variety of compact architectures(Chromosomes) that behave like individual bots, producing custom scripts(RNA) to deal with a variety of inputs like protein interactions, diet and developmental changes. In the conception of a new system, the hardware and software are being assembled simultaneously and are 'booting' as brain neurons are created at the rate of 100,000 per second.
If we could make a single living cell the size of a city, we would still be amazed by how much more complexity there was to be seen in it with it's huge number of interrelated molecular pathways and interconnected mechanisms for building proteins and decoding information. The DNA which produces these cells contains code for it's own editing system and the information the DNA contains is translated by enzymes which are themselves also encoded in the DNA.
Each of the 3 billion base pairs in our genetic sequence rely on those near it in the packed chromosome to produce the correct amino acids needed to construct all of the proteins(at the right time and amount, and which also must be made in concert with other systems) necessary to support the incredible array of biological processes in a human who can then study molecular biology and seek to understand the influence of each pair on the incredible amount of architecture derived from it. His task is made further complex by the built-in feedback loops of these systems, some of which are amazingly multigenerational.
The DNA of the first couple, Adam and Eve, was capable of healthy replication in a small starting pool and did not contain the mutations common today(about 200 generations later) which frequently express their strange and intractable conditions in us. These early people and animals also had traits that were responsible for much more variability in appearance and physiology. The distinctions now seen in different people groups, such as eye shape and skin tone, were a result of the separation into smaller groups at Babel(2242 BC) and the further isolation due to the language barrier. Certain combinations of genes dominated these groups, but we are all still part of a single race with much in common. There has been 0% improvement in the human genome.
Only He who created us can restore His creation back to the impressive state that can inspire the great admiration He deserves. He doesn't need us to defend His authority or validate His character. He desires us to love Him and reveal the glory which is His in a world that He loves infinitely but which is free to disregard Him.
Though we are vessels for His Spirit made from dirt and water, insignificant to the vast and intricate realms that surround us, we have been given a position of honor among His creation. Just as a butterfly must spend some time as a caterpillar, we were made for more than consuming stuff. He created in us some of His own Spirit, manifested in ways such as in the use of language, creative expression in art or decision-making and the intense altruism we sometimes display in the face of danger.
The Bible is axiomatic and the a priori evidence is all around us, but the proof is in our hearts as certainly as the knowledge that we are loved by friends or family. It is the only narrative that gives meaning to the full spectrum of life. God authenticates His Truth for us as we read and pray. There has been no human bright enough to make something up this coherent and compelling or able to perpetrate and entrench it so deeply in history.
The arrogant say they know the truth, but cannot see beyond their own pride. G.K. Chesterton said, "One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star." If anyone wants better signs, it is because they are stubbornly resisting authority like a child, already opposed to the subject because of selfish interests and unwilling to submit or believe. Chesterton goes on to say, "We have all forgotten what we really are. All that we call common sense and rationality and practicality and positivism only means that for certain dead levels of our life we forget that we have forgotten. All that we call spirit and art and ecstacy only means that for one awful instant we remember what we forget."
We all worship some kind of passion or person, committing our thoughts and resources to it, whether it has merit or not. None of us are neutral bystanders, but inconsistent at best and commonly weaselly. Rather than exhibiting behavior that benefits the community as a whole, we have throughout history, shown that we naturally make choices based on how it affects my status or needs or ends. But My Story is not all there is. We are responsible for more than that.
A new belief system obtained without influence from any given philosophy is still a philosophy in itself and will be based on some assumptions and biases. A worldview based on evolution is not using science, but is based on personal interpretations of select indications which are appealing. At first glance they will appear compelling, but upon closer inspection, the flaws begin to show. Attempts to eliminate from schools any genuine scientific evidence which opposes evolutionary naturalism only serves to reinforce the truth- that there is no evidence for any of the fluff.
This faith can be equally as ardent as that of any philosophy, and it's believers will passionately try to convert others to their religion and dogma as they try to further their agenda of selfishness and delusion. They may claim that conciousness is an illusion, just not while they are speaking about naturalism and philosophy. Perhaps they will claim that religion is a construct except when they are explaining their beliefs. They will try to assume much authority but act with little or no responsibility, preaching tolerance and acceptance for their way of thinking while remaining intolerant and indignant toward Christians(whom they often mischaracterize) and The Bible, which has solid basis. This eliminates all possibility of declaring something as wrong or sinful, or engaging differing opinions and discussion. Hypocrites, they would argue, should not only live immorally but promote it. Noam Chomsky said, “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”
It shows that the real issue is not about what is true and right, but about choosing to remain ignorant or satisfying selfish desires because we do not like the claims that are made on us by goodness and morality. Those who don't want God are preoccupied with trying to either usurp Him or erase reminders of Him, which is in either case, impossible. Those who have 'left' likely never did truly belong, and people seem to think that Christians are the only examples of inconsistent or insincere people. Many are willing to give up searching for truth and real fulfillment because it takes the proving of time and effort, but they will eventually admit that the emperor has not been wearing any clothes all this time. We mistakenly believe that freedom means no accountability when it is the commitment that makes the loved free. Love does not fail, people do.
Where does altruism and love come from? Any discussion about right and wrong or good vs. evil will imply that there is a morality that can only be due to a just and perfect Creator who is, Himself, the very definition of goodness, love and justice because He is also a father and friend. He defines it, not us, and He uses it to reveal His glory to us. As C. S. Lewis states in The Problem Of Pain, “To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God: because He is what He is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labor to make us lovable.” Evil is not something that He created, but is a corruption of the things God created that causes them to rot and die. Without the ocassional corrections upon public morality from Christianity's fixed moral system, it would inevitably drift into most any territory, causing general lawlessness and death. For some, the conscience is indeed merely a reflection of public opinion rather than part of God's image in us. If there is no objective morality, there is no meaning for truth or reason, and no reason for living. If we should not believe in God, then why believe in logic and science? He made them.
We are soon faced with a sort of Cretan paradox, because the denial of God's truth proves it. Consider the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence- that you have rights and value by virtue of your being a human created by God. If we are blind to something, it is, nevertheless, there to be seen. You cannot know light without darkness, and to ask why there is evil is to assume there is good. Love is only possible where there is both.
Science is not based on what you don't believe and consciousness does not expand in a void. God created time and space and science and order, so He is not bound by them. Hell is real too and probably different than you think. The One who started the clocks is neither impulsive, nor can He be delayed. Thomas Watson stated, “God’s knowledge is foundational. He is the original pattern and prototype of all knowledge. God’s knowledge is instantaneous. He knows all at once. Our knowledge is successive. We know one thing after another and argue from the effect to the cause.”
God has been distorted in so many ways by people and the only way we can know the real and unprejudiced truth is to listen to who He says He is and what He has done.
Your heart itself proclaims Our God is! Take notice, Jesus is The Way.
The Bible is axiomatic and the a priori evidence is all around us, but the proof is in our hearts as certainly as the knowledge that we are loved by friends or family. It is the only narrative that gives meaning to the full spectrum of life. God authenticates His Truth for us as we read and pray. There has been no human bright enough to make something up this coherent and compelling or able to perpetrate and entrench it so deeply in history.
We all worship some kind of passion or person, committing our thoughts and resources to it, whether it has merit or not. None of us are neutral bystanders, but inconsistent at best and commonly weaselly. Rather than exhibiting behavior that benefits the community as a whole, we have throughout history, shown that we naturally make choices based on how it affects my status or needs or ends. But My Story is not all there is. We are responsible for more than that.
A new belief system obtained without influence from any given philosophy is still a philosophy in itself and will be based on some assumptions and biases. A worldview based on evolution is not using science, but is based on personal interpretations of select indications which are appealing. At first glance they will appear compelling, but upon closer inspection, the flaws begin to show. Attempts to eliminate from schools any genuine scientific evidence which opposes evolutionary naturalism only serves to reinforce the truth- that there is no evidence for any of the fluff.
This faith can be equally as ardent as that of any philosophy, and it's believers will passionately try to convert others to their religion and dogma as they try to further their agenda of selfishness and delusion. They may claim that conciousness is an illusion, just not while they are speaking about naturalism and philosophy. Perhaps they will claim that religion is a construct except when they are explaining their beliefs. They will try to assume much authority but act with little or no responsibility, preaching tolerance and acceptance for their way of thinking while remaining intolerant and indignant toward Christians(whom they often mischaracterize) and The Bible, which has solid basis. This eliminates all possibility of declaring something as wrong or sinful, or engaging differing opinions and discussion. Hypocrites, they would argue, should not only live immorally but promote it. Noam Chomsky said, “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”
It shows that the real issue is not about what is true and right, but about choosing to remain ignorant or satisfying selfish desires because we do not like the claims that are made on us by goodness and morality. Those who don't want God are preoccupied with trying to either usurp Him or erase reminders of Him, which is in either case, impossible. Those who have 'left' likely never did truly belong, and people seem to think that Christians are the only examples of inconsistent or insincere people. Many are willing to give up searching for truth and real fulfillment because it takes the proving of time and effort, but they will eventually admit that the emperor has not been wearing any clothes all this time. We mistakenly believe that freedom means no accountability when it is the commitment that makes the loved free. Love does not fail, people do.
Where does altruism and love come from? Any discussion about right and wrong or good vs. evil will imply that there is a morality that can only be due to a just and perfect Creator who is, Himself, the very definition of goodness, love and justice because He is also a father and friend. He defines it, not us, and He uses it to reveal His glory to us. As C. S. Lewis states in The Problem Of Pain, “To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God: because He is what He is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labor to make us lovable.” Evil is not something that He created, but is a corruption of the things God created that causes them to rot and die. Without the ocassional corrections upon public morality from Christianity's fixed moral system, it would inevitably drift into most any territory, causing general lawlessness and death. For some, the conscience is indeed merely a reflection of public opinion rather than part of God's image in us. If there is no objective morality, there is no meaning for truth or reason, and no reason for living. If we should not believe in God, then why believe in logic and science? He made them.
We are soon faced with a sort of Cretan paradox, because the denial of God's truth proves it. Consider the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence- that you have rights and value by virtue of your being a human created by God. If we are blind to something, it is, nevertheless, there to be seen. You cannot know light without darkness, and to ask why there is evil is to assume there is good. Love is only possible where there is both.
Science is not based on what you don't believe and consciousness does not expand in a void. God created time and space and science and order, so He is not bound by them. Hell is real too and probably different than you think. The One who started the clocks is neither impulsive, nor can He be delayed. Thomas Watson stated, “God’s knowledge is foundational. He is the original pattern and prototype of all knowledge. God’s knowledge is instantaneous. He knows all at once. Our knowledge is successive. We know one thing after another and argue from the effect to the cause.”
God has been distorted in so many ways by people and the only way we can know the real and unprejudiced truth is to listen to who He says He is and what He has done.
Your heart itself proclaims Our God is! Take notice, Jesus is The Way.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
