Case For A Creator (Part 5) Series

The Case for a Creator (5)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 5/5/2013

In his book Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Charles Swindoll tells a story about the 19th century agnostic Thomas Huxley, who was sometimes called “Darwin’s Bulldog” because of the ferocious way he promoted Darwinism and attacked Christianity.

One day Huxley was in Dublin and was rushing to catch a train. He climbed aboard one of Dublin’s famous horse drawn taxis and shouted to the driver, “Hurry, I’m late. Drive fast.” Off they went at a furious pace as Huxley sat back in his seat and riffled through some of his papers. After a while Huxley glanced out the carriage notice that they were going in the wrong direction. Realizing that he hadn’t told the driver where to take him he called out “Do you know where you’re going?” The driver replied, “No, your honor, but I am driving very fast.”

That’s just where a life without God will take you—the wrong direction very fast. And yet, as I’ve mentioned several times over the last few weeks, studies show that atheism and agnosticism are on the rise here in America and all around the world. This culture-shift is due in no small part to outspoken atheists like Richard Dawkins and his book The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens and his best-seller God is Not Good: How Religion Poisons Everything.

In a world where best-selling books peddle atheism, where many university professors seem bent on destroying the beliefs of young Christians, and where the media often portrays believers as ignorant, bigoted, villainous hypocrites, it’s increasingly important for all of us to be able to able to articulate the reasons why our faith makes sense! In fact, God expects nothing less of us. The Bible says, “Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. However, do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15-16 HCSB).

Maybe you have a friend or family member that thinks science has proven there is no God. Or maybe there’s a co-worker who is always challenging or making fun or your faith. Or maybe you’re skeptical about God’s existence yourself. Maybe you’ve got some doubts of your own that creep in from time to time and you’ve been afraid to admit it. That’s why I’ve spent the last five week laying out the case for a Creator and equipping you with five good reasons to believe in God. I’ve asked you to think of these as a series of lights. And if you or someone you know is skeptical about God’s existence, then these five lights should light the path to personal faith in God.

1. The Light of Cosmology

Cosmology, as you may know, is the study of the cosmos or universe. And modern cosmology can now say with certainty that our universe had a beginning. In 2003, three leading cosmologists, Arvin Borde, Alan Guth, and Alexander Vilenkin, were able to prove that any universe which has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past space-time boundary. Vilenkin has been blunt about the implications: “It is said that an argument is what convinces reasonable men and a proof is what it takes to convince even an unreasonable man. With the proof now in place, cosmologists can no longer hide behind the possibility of a past-eternal universe. There is no escape, they have to face the problem of a cosmic beginning.” We also know that if the universe had a beginning, it must have a Cause. Like the Bible says, “Every house is built by someone, but the builder of everything is God himself” (Hebrews 3:4 NCV). Houses don’t just pop into being by nothing and from nothing; likewise, the universe itself must have a builder.

Since space and time literally came into being at the beginning of the universe—commonly called the Big Bang—then whatever caused the universe to come into existence must transcend space and time. It must be unimaginably powerful since it created all matter and energy in the universe. Finally, it must be a Personal being possessing free will because it chose to create the universe at a specific time in the finite past. Therefore, the light of cosmology reveals a timeless, spaceless, immeasurably powerful, personal Creator.

2. The Light of Creation

The light of Creation demonstrates that there is evidence of design in the natural world. The Bible makes this remarkable claim: “Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20 RSV). From the earliest times, philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, wholly apart from the Bible, have concluded that God must exist, based on what they perceive in the created world.