Does the immensity of creation ever overwhelm you? Does the fact that when you lay your hand on the cold hard surface of a table there is actually more space than matter in the table numb your mind? When you’re sitting on a beach letting the sand run through your fingers have you ever reflected on the thought that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the earth? Has the image of reality extending as deep through a microscope as it does through a telescope make you grasp for understanding when all you can possibly understand is that you can’t understand this immensity at all?
Science tries to explain it all.
Back in the 1890s Albert Abraham Michelson an American physicist known for his work on measuring the speed of light who received the Nobel Prize in Physics, becoming the first American to win the Nobel Prize in a science put it this way, “While it is never safe to affirm that the future of Physical Science has no marvels in store even more astonishing than those of the past, it seems probable that most of the grand underlying principles have been firmly established and that further advances are to be sought chiefly in the rigorous application of these principles to all the phenomena which come under our notice. It is here that the science of measurement shows its importance — where quantitative work is more to be desired than qualitative work. An eminent physicist remarked that the future truths of physical sciences are to be looked for in the sixth place of decimals.”
In other words the deepest thinkers came to the conclusion there was nothing new to be discovered in physics. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
Since then the theories of Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics have shown us that we know a lot less than we thought we did. I guess it took a genius like Einstein to discover that we aren’t as smart as we think we are. And yet most of us who figured that out by about eighth grade continue to listen to these geniuses when they tell us they can figure out everything else.
And while science is pretty good at explaining the “how” of things they always leave out the “Why.”
They can tell us there was a BIG BANG (the “Let there be” experience for believers) they even try to tell us how there was BIG BANG, but they never even attempt to tell us why there was BIG BANG.
And to my mind and my heart the why is more important than the how.
Science is great at identifying things. They are passable at explaining things. Yet, when it comes to this ultimate question of why, science never utters a sound.
Look at life. Scientists can identify it. They can quantify it. They have attempted to tell us how it became so diversified. They now even say they can create it. But they never tell us why there is life.
Have you ever wondered why?
Life is the essence of the universe. Life is the ultimate goal and it’s the meaning of everything.
The Bible is the why book. It is the operating manual for life. It not only tells us how … God created everything. It tells us why … as a dwelling place for the crown of His creation … humanity.
Why?
In the Old Testament God is specifically called the Father of the nation of Israel (Deut 32:6 ; Isa 63:16 ; 64:8 ; Jeremiah 3:4 Jeremiah 3:19 ; 31:9 ; Mal 1:6 ; 2:10) or the Father of certain individuals (2 Sam 7:14 ; 1 Chron 17:13 ; 22:10 ; 28:6 ; Psalm 68:5 ; 89:26) fifteen times. At times the father imagery is present although the term "Father" is not used (Exod 4:22-23 ; Deut 1:31 ; 8:5 ; 14:1 ; Psalm 103:13 ; Jer 3:22 ; 31:20 ; Hosea 11:1-4 ; Mal 3:17).
In the intertestamental literature the term is also used. In the Apocrypha (Wis 2:16; 14:3; Tob 13:4; Sir 23:1, 4; 51:10); and in the Pseudepigrapha (Jub 1:24; 19:29; 3 Macc 5:7; 6:8).
The teaching of the Fatherhood of God takes a decided turn with Jesus, for "Father" was His favorite term for addressing God. It appears on His lips some sixty-five times in the Synoptic Gospels and over one hundred times in John.
Because of Jesus' use of this metaphor, it is not surprising that the rest of the New Testament also emphasizes the Fatherhood of God. In the Pauline letters God is described as "Father" over forty times. It occurs in blessings (Rom 1:7 ; 1 Cor 1:3), doxologies (Rom 15:6), thanksgivings ( 2 Cor 1:3 ; 1 Thess 1:2-3), prayers (Col 1:12), exhortations (Eph 5:20), and creeds (1 Cor 8:6 ; Eph 4:6). For Paul this fatherhood is based not so much on God's role in creation but rather on the redemption and reconciliation he has made available in Jesus Christ. This is why Paul refers to "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 15:6 ; 2 Cor 1:3 ; 11:31). It is through the work of Christ that God invites us to call him "Abba, Father." It is through Christ that grace and peace have resulted and we have become God's children (Rom 8:12-16 ; 1 Peter 1:3-4 ; 1 John 3:1).
This is not to say that God is male. He is spirit and as such is neither male nor female. It is not to denigrate motherhood. For who among us would desire to live in a world without a mother’s love. When God is referred as a father, this is simply the use of a metaphor in which he is likened to a kind and loving father. And if we were to tip our hat to the political correctness of the day by avoiding the metaphor of father as a description and designation for God we would lose sight of the fact that Jesus chose this as His metaphor to address God and that He taught this as the metaphor by which His disciples should address God.
It also loses sight of the continuity established by the use of this metaphor with those who have called God "Father" over the centuries. These include the disciples; the earliest congregations (Rom 8:15 ; Gal 4:6); the earliest church councils ("I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth "); and Christian churches all over the globe who over the centuries have prayed together "Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name."
Because of God’s Fatherhood the heart of the Eternal Father longed for children. This is why He created Adam and Eve and gave them the power to go forth and multiply. Unfortunately they sinned and fell short of the glory of God. There was no way back. They had surrendered their place as God’s companion, the gardener of Eden to Satan and were cast out.
But God in His infinite mercy and love made a way back.
He sent Jesus to live a sinless life and then die as the sacrifice, the payment for all our sins so that all who have faith in Him can be counted as righteous and thus re-united with God.
It’s all summed up in this; if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
We are born lost and rejected, children of sin and children of the devil. If we turn away from the world and accept Jesus as our Savior we are born again and we become children of God in Christ.
This is the why. All of creation is for one reason and that is to bring children to God and fulfill the Father’s love that is His heart.
So science may try to tell us how but you see the why is more important than the how.
A short story to highlight the what, the where, and the how:
A scientist says to God, “You’re not so much we have figured out how to make life in our laboratories.”
God says, “Oh, you have.”
The scientist, swelling with pride then says, “Come on let’s have a contest and see who can make life the quickest and the best.”
God smiles and says, “All right.”
God reaches down and picks up a hand full of dirt and starts molding it gently.
The scientist adds some chemicals to a couple of test tubes and starts mixing them back and forth.
God looks over at the scientist and says, “Hey! Get your own dirt.”
From atom to Adam God has done it all. So if you find yourself hung up in the how just remember the why is more important than the how. And if you find yourself questioning God just remember, “He’s the Father that’s why.”
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2018 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
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