by Hugh Ross, Ph.D.

"... Since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that man is without excuse." These words from Romans 1:19-20 make clear that every person has the opportunity to know God based on the evidences in His creation. The evidence for His existence is staggering both in quantity and in quality–especially to this generation.

More than speaking merely of God's existence, the creation, according to Romans 1, also reveals our need to form a right relationship with God and points the way to forming that relationship. As an illustration of the accessibility of the essential information, the Bible includes an account of an ancient character, Job, who without the aid of scriptures and opposed by the religion of his peers, discerned all the elements of what Christians call "the gospel," meaning the good news. The following is a review of those elements:

There must be a Creator. Things do not make themselves. No animate or inanimate object may be observed to spontaneously generate. Some things do form from other things, but the formation always is attended by a loss of information.

The Creator must have awesome power and wisdom. The power output and quantity of material within our universe is mind-boggling. The information or intricacy manifest in any living organism is beyond our ability to comprehend. And this is only what God has shown us within our dimensions of space and time!

The Creator must be loving. The simplicity, balance, and beauty seen throughout the whole of the creation demonstrates that God is loving and not capricious. Further, the capacity and desire to nurture and protect, seen in so many creatures, only make sense if their Creator possesses these same attributes. Finally, it is apparent that God cares for all of His creatures in that He provides for their needs.

The Creator must be just and must require justice. Inward reflection and outward investigation affirm that human beings have a conscience. When conscience is violated, shame and guilt result. Our conscience and our struggles with guilt reflect the reality of right and wrong and the necessity of obedience.

Each of us falls hopelessly short of the Creator's standard. We incur guilt when we violate any part of God's moral law in our actions, our words, and our thoughts. Who can keep his thoughts and attitudes perfectly pure for even an hour? If each person falls hopelessly short of his or her own standards, how much shorter of God's?

But, because the Creator Is loving, wise, and powerful, He must have made a way to rescue us. When we come to this despair, we can begin to understand from the creation around us that God's love, wisdom, and power are sufficient to deliver us from our otherwise hopeless situation.

If we trust our lives totally and only to the Rescuer, we will be saved. The one and only path is to give up all human attempts to satisfy God's requirements and to put our trust solely in Him and in His means of redemption.

The creation, thus, reveals all the necessary steps to develop a right relationship with God. The Bible reveals the specific means–God's only Son sent to earth to live a sinless life; to die on our behalf, taking on Himself the full penalty for our offenses against God; and to rise from the dead. By trusting Him for forgiveness and giving Him control of our lives, we receive eternal life.

REASONS TO BELIEVE, P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena, CA 91117 (626) 335-1480.

Copyright 1987, Reasons To Believe

Sword & Spirit Ministries
P.O. Box 712 • Murrieta, CA 92564

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