No Excuses | Romans 1:18–25
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God Has Made Himself Know
God Has Made Himself Know
One of the Big questions facing our world today is whether or not God exists. But Paul makes clear in the text, God is Real. In fact, he says that the truth of God is self-evident, this means that it doesn’t need proof, it can be “clearly seen from what is made.”
One of the truths that the Bible begins with is the assumption of the existence of God. The purpose of scripture is never to prove the existence of God. It begins with the truth: In the beginning God...
One of the vanities of humanity is our refusal to believe in God. We think that we can explain the universe apart from God.
But God has made himself known. He is know in creation.
We can see this in the reality of all that we see.
As Ray Comfort notes, we know that there is a creator because there is a creation. When I see a painting I naturally want to know who the painter is. I don’t look at a painting and say, “Ah, look at the complexity of the way the rains formed the perfect image of the Mona Lisa on this canvas grown by flax knitting itself together.” No, I say, “Look at the artistry of Leonardo Davinci! What an amazing artist.”
In the same way when I see a building, I wonder at the builder.
When I see a clock, I look for the clock maker.
This is known as general revelation, the fact that there is something rather than nothing proves that there is a God.
Those who deny this do so to fulfill their own vain desire to be gods in control of their own lives, their own fates.
God exists, this is plainly seen in creation.
God Eternal Power is Revealed in Creation
God Eternal Power is Revealed in Creation
One of the truths that we find as scientists look at the universe is this: The universe seems to have been fine-tuned, set up perfectly, for life to exist. This is more than just the existence of oxygen, etc, but it gets into so extremely detailed stuff.
Here are some examples:
Gravitational force constant (large scale attractive force, holds people on planets, and holds planets, stars, and galaxies together)—too weak, and planets and stars cannot form; too strong, and stars burn up too quickly.
Electromagnetic force constant (small scale attractive and repulsive force, holds atoms electrons and atomic nuclei together)—If it were much stronger or weaker, we wouldn’t have stable chemical bonds.
Strong nuclear force constant (small-scale attractive force, holds nuclei of atoms together, which otherwise repulse each other because of the electromagnetic force)—if it were weaker, the universe would have far fewer stable chemical elements, eliminating several that are essential to life.
Weak nuclear force constant (governs radioactive decay)—if it were much stronger or weaker, life-essential stars could not form.
Cosmological constant (which controls the expansion speed of the universe) refers to the balance of the attractive force of gravity with a hypothesized repulsive force of space observable only at very large size scales. It must be very close to zero, that is, these two forces must be nearly perfectly balanced. To get the right balance, the cosmological constant must be fine-tuned to something like 1 part in 10120. If it were just slightly more positive, the universe would fly apart; slightly negative, and the universe would collapse.
Ratio of masses for protons and electrons—If it were slightly different, building blocks for life such as DNA could not be formed.
Velocity of light—If it were larger, stars would be too luminous. If it were smaller, stars would not be luminous enough.
Mass excess of neutron over proton—if it were greater, there would be too few heavy elements for life. If it were smaller, stars would quickly collapse as neutron stars or black holes.
And on and on. If any one of these constants were off, life could not exist. And we still cannot explain why things like gravity work, or how it works. What made objects of great mass attract other objects? We cannot answer that.
The universe was almost made for life on this small rock in space.
Another example is the cosmological argument for God.
In its simplest form, the argument goes like this: Whatever begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe has a cause.
Just as our painting demanded a painter, so creation demands a creator.
God’s Divine Nature is Revealed in Creation
God’s Divine Nature is Revealed in Creation
A second argument for the existence of God is the argument from morality. The fact that there is such a thing as objective moral proves that there is a God.
We all believe in objective morals. Every culture in all of history has believed that murder is bad. That stealing is wicked. That rape is awful.
Sure, you can point to outliers, but an exception doesn’t negate the rule. All cultures in history had moral values. And these morals are objective. Regardless of your politics, we all agree that murder is wrong. But why?
If we believe as the evolutionists believe that we are all a bunch of random accidents. As the famous astronomer Carl Sagan once said on the famous show Cosmos, ““The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
But if we are all just “starstuff” the why does it matter if I kill stardust. I don’t get angry when someone smashes a rock, it’s starstuff too.
If the survival of the fittest is true, then if I can dominate you, or rape you, or hurt you then I am just more fit than you. It doesn’t matter, it’s just one bigger ball of starstuff dominating a small, weaker sack of starstuff.
It is this philosophy that allows mothers and doctors to destroy clumps of cells in the womb, that allowed African slaves to be called subhuman and sold into slavery, and that fueled the gas chambers at Auschwitz and Treblinka.
But, if there is a moral law that is universal. If it really is evil to murder someone. If it really is hateful to enslave others, or to steal, or to rape, then there must be a moral lawgiver or our laws are just subjective and really nonsensical.
But Paul said, that creation reveals God’s divine nature. When I realize that murder is evil, it reveals God’s goodness. When I understand that prejudice is wrong, it shows God’s impartiality and mercy. When I accept that the clump of cells is a baby, it shows that GOd is a faithful father and creator.
All of creation screams, GOD IS REAL.
We are Without Excuse
We are Without Excuse