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I believe God is because of the law of Cause and Effect
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Why are we here? What is
the purpose of life? |
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a) |
Summary of how life began
“without the Cause being
God" |
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i) |
There are teachings in the
secular world that all we
see and are, came from
nothing, or that everything
which is material is
eternal. Such teaching
propagates that everything
is void of any cause or for
being, which is not only
contrary to the scriptures
of truth, but also there is
no purpose in anything.
Since this is, on both
counts, contrary to the
scriptures, it is wrong.
There are also those who
teach that all we see and
are, began with the Big Bang
but then this just shifts
the question back to where
did the substance for the
Big Bang come from? As far
as life, whither it is
animal, vegetable or human,
the best that those who
reject the Biblical account
of creation can say is that
everything may or possibly
came from outside by an
unknown mechanism, or from
an outside ignition by a
meteorite, or from inorganic
matter, or by spontaneous
generation. It is of no
account that all their
arguments against God are
built on imaginary ideas,
being without any scientific
or historical evidence. |
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ii) |
Such teachings reduce all we
see and humanity to being a
causeless combination of
molecules which have no
purpose in being, and
are the result of accidental
happenings and exist in a
sphere of no purpose. As
Richard Dawkins said,
"Humans have always wondered
about the meaning of life .
. . . life has no higher
purpose than to perpetuate
the survival of DNA . . . .
life has no design, no
purpose, no evil and no
good, nothing but blind
pitiless indifference”. |
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b) |
Summary of how life began
“with God” |
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i) |
When life is considered
beginning with God and an
individual reads Genesis
1:1-2:3, a number of truths
are clear: |
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1. |
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There is the Causeless
Cause, namely “God”. The
argument is if God created
all things including
humanity, where did God come
from for He also must be an
effect? Since the cause is
always greater than the
effect, the argument then
becomes God had to come from
someone or somewhere. |
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(a) |
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If there was a somewhere,
nothing would ever have come
into existence. That is an
unassailable fact. God is
not part of creation nor was
He ever made. Consequently,
God is not an effect, He is
the Cause. For things to
come into existence there
had to be a power that
caused all else to come into
existence. The choice is
there is no God and nothing
by mysterious unknown forces
brought all complex things
into existence, or a Person
outside of this universe
created all things. |
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(b) |
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Looking at Genesis 1:1-2:3
it does not say God created
the earth in seven days. It
simply says, “In the
beginning God created the
heaven and the earth, And
the earth was without form,
and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep”.
There is the assumption that
all was done almost in quick
succession but Job 38:4-7
makes it clear that the
heavens were made and
populated before the earth
was created. Furthermore,
there is no way of knowing
how long the earth was
without form and void before
the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. To
make it clear, I believe all
the various layers of rocks
etc. of the geological so
called ages are a direct
result of the flood, and
while the earth may, as a
planet, be untold years in
existence, the rock strata
does not prove such a
thing. All we know is at
one point after earth was
created God began to work
with it. Then it is
observed that: |
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(i) |
On day one it reads: “And
God said, Let” (only once)
and light began (Gen.
1:3-4). |
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(ii) |
On the second day it reads:
“And God said, Let” (only
once) (Gen. 1:6) |
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(iii) |
On the third day we read
twice over: “And God said
Let” (Gen. 1:9, 11) (Note
not just the word “let” but
the clause “And God said
Let” |
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(iv) |
On the fourth day we read:
“And God said “Let” (Gen.
1:14) |
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(v) |
On the fifth day the same
words are repeated (Gen.
1:20) |
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(vi) |
But, on the 6th day, as on
the 3rd day, we read: “And
God said Let” twice over
(Gen. 1:24, 26) |
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(vii) |
This informs us of two
truths that every time we
read, “And God said Let”,
each time there is indicated
a distinct creative act,
independent on that which
had been already created or
made. Furthermore, in each
successive step of life
becoming more complicated,
does complexity come from
simplicity, from disorder,
or life from death,
or God consciousness from
ignorance? The established
second law of thermodynamics
rejects such a notion |
What is cause and effect?
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Cause and effect is a well
established principle of
life and with it is the fact
that the cause is always
greater than the effect.
Illustration:
When I was a young fellow we
played marbles trying to hit
one of the opponents or get
mine closer to the circle.
The marble went rolling, it
did not do that on its own,
it was because I flicked
it. I was the cause, the
effect was it rolled along.
On another occasion the
marble seemed to roll on its
own but it only did so
because the place where we
played was on a slight
grade. The slight grade was
the cause of the marble
rolling. Everything made or
functioning has a cause, an
effect, and a purpose |
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a) |
Without God life is
meaningless. God is the
“Cause” of everything He
created, the result or
effect of His creating is
all we see around us and the
brilliance of the human body
and brain. The purpose was
for the fulfilling of His
own will. John wrote the
words he heard in Heaven:
“Thou hast created all
things, and for Thy pleasure
(will) they are and were
created” (Rev. 4:11). |
God and creation
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Since the universe is
orderly and since order does
not evolve from disorder, it
is evident that God is the
God of order. Furthermore,
in the most casual look at
the universe it is clear, to
have such a creation there
had to be an intelligence to
formulate it all and there
had to be an understanding
of all that was needed for
as long as man was on this
earth. Finally, He had to
have the power to create.
Reading the first creation
narrative again, the first
presentation of the Supreme
Being is God, Elohim. As we
read the scriptures
concerning Him, we discover
we have a God by whom: |
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a) |
All was created by His
powerful word: “Through
faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the
word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made
of things which do appear”
(Heb. 11:3). |
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b) |
It was created by His
wisdom: “To him that by
wisdom made the heavens: for
his mercy endureth for ever”
(Psa. 136:5) |
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c) |
He created it Himself: “Thus
saith the LORD, thy
redeemer, and he that formed
thee from the womb, I am the
LORD that maketh all things;
that stretcheth forth the
heavens alone; that
spreadeth abroad the earth
by myself” (Isa. 44:24). |
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d) |
He created it by power and
understanding: “He hath made
the earth by his power, he
hath established the world
by his wisdom, and hath
stretched out the heaven by
his understanding” (Jer.
51:15). |
Concluding Thoughts
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Even though cause and effect
are distinct, yet they
cannot be separated. It is
foolishness to argue that
whatever is a Cause but
there is no effect.
Illustration:
When the wind blows, that is
a cause, and the effect is
the leaves on the trees
wave. There has to be an
effect. Furthermore, to
have an effect without a
cause is an impossibility.
The waves of the sea will
not roll if there were no
tides or winds. This
universe and every aspect of
living organisms are the
result of a Cause, and that
is either God or accident.
The universe is not eternal,
it had a beginning, and
since the universe is an
effect, what is the Cause,
God or accident?
Stephen Hawking, wrote: “The
Universe did not create
itself. Such an idea is
absurd, philosophically and
scientifically.” I prefer
to place my faith in the God
whose: |
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a) |
Purposes are irresistible:
“For the LORD of hosts hath
purposed, and who shall
disannul it? and his hand is
stretched out, and who shall
turn it back?” (Isa. 14:27) |
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b) |
Characteristics are
invariable: “Every good gift
and every perfect gift is
from above, and cometh down
from the Father of lights,
with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow
of turning” (Jam. 1:17). |
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c) |
Promises are immutable: “For
all the promises of God in
him are yea, and in him
Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20). |
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d) |
Person is unchangeable: “For
I am the LORD, I change not”
(Mal. 3:6). |
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He is the God who is: |
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a) |
Eternal in His permanence
(Duet. 33:27) |
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b) |
Mighty in His power (Psa.
91:1) |
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c) |
Glorious in His person (Acts
7:2) |
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d) |
Sovereign in His abilities
(1 Chron. 29:11) |
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e) |
Incomprehensible by human
understanding (Job 11:7) |
When I consider the
awesomeness of the starry
Heavens, the magnificence of
the galaxies, the beauty and
delicacy of a rose, the
nutrition that comes from
the grasses and the marvel
of the human brain, I am
convinced that all of this
is not a gigantic accident
but the creation of a
magnificent God. Dr. John
Lennox sums up the overall
matter of the cosmological
argument well when he
writes: "There are not many
options – essentially just
two. Either human
intelligence ultimately owes
its origin to mindless
matter; or there is a
Creator. It is strange that
some people claim that it is
their intelligence that
leads them to prefer the
first to the second." |
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