Introduction
On our second trip to Russia, we went to the city of Voronezh, and we received a telephone call from Moscow informing us that a young man who had been converted in Moscow had moved back to his home in Voronezh since his graduation from a university.
His name was George. He was of tremendous help. Some trips later he visited me and said ‘he could no longer believe the stories related in the Bible. It would be hypocritical to pretend he was a Christian believer.’
Why Do So Many Disbelieve In God?
For the most part, science has always been at odds with God. We are so smart and intelligent scientifically speaking. After all, we put two men on the moon, a technological marvel. To admit there is a God would be to admit there is someone who is greater and knows more than all of man’s scientific geniuses.
Some are looking for a 100% God they have created. A loving God would never allow disease, starvation, crime, abuse, or natural disasters to happen to innocent people. These are the ‘God in a box’ people who want a God who fits neatly into their box of prerequisites. Thus, they create a God that does not exist.
To have this kind of perfect world everything would have to be programmed to be perfect. Humans would be nothing more than programmed machines, that is, robots.
When there is no choice, there is no opportunity to demonstrate faith or to show love. God doesn’t want to force us to follow Him, He wants to know that we believe in Him, and trust Him regardless of what the circumstances may be. He wants to know we love Him, John 14:15 / 1 John 4:19.
If we were programmed, we would have no ability to make decisions that demonstrate faith and love. If God made Himself visible in some spectacular way to convince us He is truly the God of the Bible, it eliminates the possibility of faith and love.
If we are free moral agents there are always risks. People take advantage of this freedom. Adam and Eve had a perfect place to live in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:8-14, but blew it, Genesis 3:23-24. Why? Because they took advantage of their freedom.
If there is no God, then I am left with the question how did this universe get here? There is always the old question, how can something come from nothing? Nothing is incapable of producing something. The universe could not have caused itself.
For the Christian, the following verse offers the best answer. “By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:3.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Notice what the verse says.
“In the beginning” (the universe when it came into existence, the beginning of time).
“God” (The Hebrew word is “elohiym,” a plural noun, indicating the Godhead). All three were involved.
“Created” (to bring into existence, a singular verb).
“The heavens” (the vast extent of the universe).
“The earth” (our planet, the earth we live on).
What Was Involved In Creating The Heavens And The Earth?
Until recently cosmologists and mathematicians thought the universe was static. It had just always been here. This theory, like so many scientific theories, would all change in 1929.
Edwin Hubble, viewing a portion of the sky from a large telescope observed some distant planets were moving away from us at a tremendous speed. He invited Einstein to visit and see this himself.
His reaction was “Now I know there is a God. I would like to know what he is like.” Hubble proved the universe was not static but is expanding. Some force had set it in motion. This led to the “Big Bang” theory first proposed by Russian physicist George Gamow. It is accepted by most scientists today.
This theory says the universe first started from a point of amazing energy, 13.6 billion light years ago. A light year is 5.9 trillion miles. A point of energy infinitely smaller than an atom exploded, resulting in particles that compacted together to form stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and solar systems. The scale of our universe is impossible to grasp.
For example, our sun which is a star is just one of the 200 billion stars in our universe. Our earth (planet) is a part of the Milky Way. Scientists once thought that our Milky Way was the only galaxy but there are 400 million galaxies.
To realize our universe is beyond comprehension, just consider one star, our sun. It is 93 million miles in diameter and its temperature is 22 million degrees.
The Big Question For The Scientist Is, Where Did This Amazing Point Of Energy Come From?
Did it come from nothing? It had to have an origin. Some would say from God. Einstein and Hawkins have intimated it must have started with God. Probably most would say they do not know.
What do we as Christians believe? I believe God is the creator of the universe and how long this took He does not say.
I have thought about George a number of times. George’s problem is his God is too small. He thinks that the miraculous events of the Bible are just too much, too great, and too impossible for our human scientific minds to believe.
If I Can Believe Genesis 1:1, Then Nothing In The Bible Is Impossible
What is a universal flood compared to creating our sun 93 million miles in diameter with a temperature of 22 million degrees plus the millions of other suns out in space beyond our sun?
What is the crossing of the Red Sea compared to the creation of gravity? Gravity is essential to holding the Milky Way in place. If it were off just a little the result would be a total collapse. Gravity even controls our tides. Who fully understands and can explain what gravity is? What causes it?
What is space? Space is not empty; it is a false vacuum. It is made up of particles. It also is expanding.
The sun standing still, Joshua 10:12-13, the walls of Jericho falling down, Joshua 6:20, are nothing compared to the creation of millions of Galaxies. All the miracles of the Bible are a small matter compared to the creation of the heavens and the earth. To be surrounded by God’s creations is proof enough that He exists.
The Spy Plane Pilot
A spy plane used during the “cold war” was called the Blackbird. It was the fastest plane ever produced. One of its pilots tells of an experience he had while flying at night at a speed of 2,125 mph with his reconnaissance officer seated behind him.
“While flying a routine training mission one moonless night I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000 feet if the cockpit lighting were dark. I slowly turned down all the lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky. Within seconds, I turned the lights back up, fearful that the jet would know and somehow punish me. But my desire to see the sky overruled my caution. I dimmed the lighting again. To my amazement, I saw a bright light outside my window. As my eyes adjusted to the view, I realized that the brilliance was the broad expanse of the Milky Way, now a gleaming stripe across the sky. Where dark spaces in the sky had usually existed, there were now dense clusters of sparkling stars. Shooting stars flashed across the canvas every few seconds. It was like a firework display with no sound. I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly I brought my attention back inside. To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge, lit by starlight, in the plane’s mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit incandescently illuminated in a celestial glow. I stole one last glance out the window. Despite our speed, we seemed still before the heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power. For those few moments, I felt a part of something far more significant than anything we were doing in the plane.”
David of the Old Testament was amazed at the heavens with all of its multitude of stars. He wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Psalm 19:1.
The above story reminds us of Romans 1:20. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Paul says all you have to do is just look around you and you see evidence that there is a God.
How Big Is Your God?
Most Christians wrestle with their faith in God and the devil has a field day planting doubts in our minds as he did with Eve, Genesis 3:1-4.
The good news is that many of our Bible heroes wrestled with doubt too, including Abraham, Genesis 17:17, Zechariah, Luke 1:20, the apostles, Luke 24:38 / Luke 17:5.
If you are wrestling with your faith, don’t rely on your feelings, they can be misleading, Proverbs 14:12, pray about it, Philippians 4:6-7 / 1 Peter 5:7.
Read the Scriptures which will help you change your thought process, Colossians 3:1-2.
Look up into the night sky and see how vast the universe is and remind yourself that only God could have created it all, Genesis 1:1 / Psalm 33:6 / John 1:3 / Colossians 1:16-17.
Talk to other Christians about your doubts and you will soon discover that have probably gone through similar doubts.
Remember the following song.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that He cannot do.
The rivers are His, the mountains are His, the stars are His handiwork too.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that He cannot do.
If you are a Christian, ask yourself, do you restrict God to a box? Or do you honestly believe that there’s nothing He cannot do? Genesis 18:14 / Matthew 19:26.
