This question has been on the minds of men for generations. It was first discussed by Job’s friends 3,400 years ago.
We today can ask the same question, not in idle curiosity, but with reverence, for in our Bible we read “a book of remembrance was written for those who feared the Lord and thought upon His name.”
With just a little searching we find Paul telling the Athenian idol-worshippers to “seek the Lord, for He is not far off, for . . . in him we live and move and have our being.”
The Deity, speaking in Jeremiah (23:23, 24) asks “can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? . . . do not I fill heaven and earth?”
The visible evidence of the divine presence is manifest in our daily experiences. Many events we take for granted reveal the hand of God.
When Paul and Barnabas, at Lystra, healed a man born blind, the idolaters said the gods had come to them in the likeness of men. But Paul in disgust said, (Acts 14:14-17) “Why do ye these things? Ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, the earth, the sea and all things that are therein; who hath not left himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
Ordinary rain is a constant witness to the wisdom of a benevolent Creator. It descends from heaven, nourishing our fields, refreshing our thirst and later providing a medium for navigation.
Always seeking its sea-level and then ascending as vapour to the clouds, during this process it obeys the force of gravitation. At Niagara Falls it falls some 170 feet, turning giant turbines to provide electricity for a vast area. We marvel at the skill of mankind and his creative ability. But who created gravitation. who arranged this operation and provided the rain ?
Scientists call it nature, but nature is an inanimate name. Did nature make our hydro-electric plants? Where there is a creation there must be a Creator, an intelligent Creator, more intelligent than the electrical engineers And His system continues to operate day after day throughout the ages — no power failures, no electrical black-outs.
“Oh Lord, how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made them all” (Psalm 104).
Everyday events are evidence of the Deity’s presence. As Paul told the Athenians, “He is not far from everyone of us.”
The circulation of our blood is a marvelous function, that continues night and day under normal conditions. When we cut our finger or break an arm there is an immediate healing action to remedy the break.
Our very life depends on the mercy and grace of God, for “if he withdrew his spirit and breath all flesh would perish.”
If we continue to search, even a little, we can find out many things that cannot be accounted for except they be the work of a divine Creator.
In Proverbs 25:2 we read, “it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and the honour of kings to search out a matter.”
Many of our modern utilities, such as radio, electricity, oil and nuclear power have been latent for generations. Their discovery fulfills Daniel’s prophecy of the latter days, “knowledge shall be increased.”
Leaving the field of physics we daily observe the evidence of an all-wise Creator in the solar system, which gives us our seasons and daily portion of light and darkness, for labour and rest.
Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.”
The exact length of our years and our days is a marvellous witness to the accuracy of the divine intelligence.
When we look at any of man’s mechanical devices, the camera, the radio, the watch, we readily acknowledge some one made it. Where there is a creation, there must be a creator.
Most of our appliances require an exterior motive power to keep them going; even our watch will stop from neglect, and cannot start of itself; neither can we, when we cease from our labours, hope to live again unless we believe that “He that raised our Lord shall quicken our mortal bodies.”
Every generation has had atheists, infidels and sceptics. Paul found them at Lystra, Athens, Ephesus and Rome. In Romans 1:20-25 we read “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead . . when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; . . . they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to a corruptible man, to birds and four-footed beasts . . . they changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator.”
The recognition of an eternal Creator, who provides for his creatures, maintains his handiworks, rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will, is seen in the life of Daniel (chap. 5). He told the king of Babylon that the most high God gave his father a kingdom, but when his mind was hardened with pride, he was dethroned from his kingly throne, “and thou his son hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knew all this. Thou hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven, thou hast praised the gods of silver, gold, brass, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear; and the God in whose hand thy breath is and who knows all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.”
It is commendable in the sight of God for us to observe His hand and to recognize how dependent we are on him for life, and the life that is to come, “when God shall be all in all.”
By a little searching we can find God, for “whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there, if I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me.”
“‘Search us, O God, and know each heart,
With every idol bid us part;
Help us to keep thy holy ways,
And live to utter forth Thy praise.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One