If God exists, and the evidence of His Being is so clear, why do some people find it impossible to see this evidence and believe?
One of the first principles of God is that He only reveals Himself to those who genuinely want to know Him. He does not make Himself known to the scoffer, or those who really have no desire to seek Him. The atheist frequently asserts that there is no evidence for God, when the reality is that there is overwhelming evidence, but it cannot be seen by those who do not want to find it.
Have you ever looked at one of those pictures that claims to have many faces of different people, but they cannot be seen by most people at first glance? Only those who really try to see, can see. The casual observer, and those who really don’t care to see, cannot see.
There are 13 faces in this picture, can you see them all?
If you genuinely want to know if God exists and you diligently search for Him, you will find Him.
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:13
If we will carefully think about this for a moment, why would a Being who has the capacity to speak the universe into existence, find it compelling to prove that He exists? What we find in the Bible is that nowhere does God seek to prove that He exists. He knows, that we know, that He exists, by the things that He has made. This is the point of many scriptures in the Bible that the writers place before us. The existence of God is understood; by the creation that we see before us.
“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, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:20-21 NKJV)
Many people believe that there is a naturalistic reason for the universe. What we discover when we seek to understand the Universe and how it came into being, is that scientists have many ideas about how they think it began, but they really do not know, conclusively. A greater question is: “Why does the universe exist at all? Scientists generally agree that about 13.7 billion years ago, suddenly the universe began. Before that moment, there was nothing. No stars, galaxies, planets; not even time or space, existed. How could an eternal past when there was nothing; suddenly produce this vast universe? Unless, an intelligence acted upon this “nothingness,” and created matter, expanded it into a controlled, and engineered universe where life could exist.
When scientists examine the construction of the universe, they find that it exists by a strict set of constants. In my book; “A Universe From God,” I describe 35 of these constants that are so finely tuned, that should any one of these be altered by less than one percent, all life on earth would cease to exist. These constants do not effect earth only, but the entire universe. What we find is that from the very instant that the universe came into being, it was controlled to exact a specific outcome, where life could exist, much later.
If the initial expansion of the universe was not strictly controlled, then the matter that rapidly expanded at the speed of light, would have been distributed in a disorderly fashion, throughout the universe. This would have made the formation of stars, impossible. Carbon based life, which included human beings, is only possible if second generation stars have formed in the universe. Under normal circumstances, an explosion expels matter in a distinct deformity, with matter being unevenly distributed in all directions. In our universe, scientists have discovered that during -430 seconds of the initial universe, matter was quickly stopped during its early expansion, distributing matter evenly in all directions, and then restarting its expansion. This even distribution of matter, is what made the formation of stars possible, and life, much later.
What power existed during those first picoseconds of the universe that stopped this rapid expansion, just long enough to distribute matter evenly, and then restarted it? There are several theories for this process, all of them requiring an infinite intelligence to make this possible. Most of us are aware that in any explosion, the distribution of material is not even in all directions. There is always large quantities in some places, and very little in other areas. During the largest explosion of all time, the universe ejected material evenly across space. It is impossible that this occurred by itself.
Scientists know today that life on earth was made possible because of the precise manner in which the universe began. Had it not formed in a specific way, no life would have been possible on earth nearly 13 billion years later. Given the conditions that were present at the beginning of the “Big Bang,” the universe we presently observe would have been impossible apart from an intelligence that directed the specific sequence of events—which would make life a reality many billions of years later. Francis Collins describes the unlikely chance that life would have ever taken place anywhere in the universe:
“The chance that all of these constants would take on the values necessary to result in a stable universe capable of sustaining complex life forms is almost infinitesimal. And yet those are exactly the parameters that we observe. In sum, our universe is wildly improbable.”[1]
Theoretical Physicists, Stephen Hawking described the impossibility of a universe existing at all, as a supernatural event apart from a naturalistic cause.
“The odds against a universe like ours emerging out of something like the Big Bang are enormous. I think there are clearly religious implications.” [2]
In the first picosecond (one trillionth of a second) of the universe, the precise balance between gravitational force and the expansion of energy, was precisely calibrated, within extremely narrow limits—necessary for life to exist on earth, billion of years later. The big question is why they were calibrated at all since the models that scientists have developed for how the universe should have expanded, reveal a universe drastically different from what actually occurred.
Stephen Hawking describes the models that scientists have developed for a universe which began under the conditions that were present at the moment of the Big Bang:
“Why did the universe start out with so nearly the critical rate of expansion that separates models that recollapse from those that go on expanding forever, that even now, 10 thousand million years later, it is still expanding at nearly the critical rate? If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in 100 thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size.”[3]
In fact, during the first trillionth of a second, during the initial expansion of gases, there were many essential elements and that were required if life would be possible on the earth. If, for example, the ratio of electromagnetism to gravity was either increased or decreased by 1040, we would have the wrong type of stars in the universe that would make life impossible on any planet.[4]
When we examine the entire process of the universe at its conception, we find that there were thousands of these carefully engineered processes in action. These are events that could not take place on their own, apart from an intelligence to determine their outcome. The very laws which govern the universe and allow it to exist, are evidence of a mind that determined these laws. An intelligence that determined how these processes would conduct themselves. These are but a few of the empirical evidences which science shows us, that prove the existence of God.
So, the question is: “If this is true, then why do some people lack the ability to see, comprehend, or believe this evidence is valid?”
The Bible states that God has hidden this knowledge from those who think themselves wise. Similar to the laws which govern the universe, there is a law of revelation that prohibits the insincere from seeing, knowing, or understanding God. He simply refuses to reveal Himself to those who really have no desire to know Him.
When Hebrew Scholar, Paul of Tarsus, wrote to the church at Corinth, he asked this question:
“For it is written (Isaiah 29:14): “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:19-21 NKJV)
Paul makes it clear that those who think themselves wise; asserting that there is no evidence for God, are made impotent in their ability to see the evidence that exists for His existence. Only persons who have a predisposition to seek God sincerely, can find Him.
If you sincerely want to know God (if He Exists), you can know the truth. If you have no desire to know Him, you will never be able to find Him.
The facts are: God does exist and the evidence is clear. Those who have a desire to find Him, do find Him. Those who constantly assert that there is no evidence for God and have no desire to find this evidence, never will.
This is the wisdom of God, and it is wise, indeed!
See Also:
The Singularity of God: His existence and Being
An Impossible Universe
A Universe From God
NOTES:
[1] Collins, Francis S. (2006-07-17). The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (p. 74). Free Press. Kindle Edition. ”
[2] 1. Collins, Francis S. (2006-07-17). The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (p. 75). Free Press. Kindle Edition.
2. I. G. Barbour, When Science Meets Religion (New York: HarperCollins, 2000).
[3] Stephen Hawking, A Brief History, Page 138.
[4] Davies, Paul. 1983. God and the New Physics. London, J M Dent & Sons
Categories: A Universe From God, Atheists, Atheists, Agnostics and Skeptics, Inability to perceive evidence for God
Robert Clifton Robinson 
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