A recent issue of Discovery magazine dealt with the origin of the Universe. The main article dealt with the very extreme beginning before matter and energy existed. The article discussed the time before there was space or even a vacuum.
Virtually all astrophysicists and astronomers agree that the Universe had a beginning. The "Steady State" theory of the Universe has long been discredited. The abandonment of the steady state theory of the universe was a great victory for creationism.
What caused time, space, energy and matter to suddenly spring into being? Some theorists make the absurd presumption that matter created itself. For this to take place however, matter would have to both nonexist and exist at the same time and this is a blatant violation of logic.
The more generally accepted view is that if anything exists it was brought into existence by an entity that has "being" in itself. This entity or being was not created but necessarily must have always existed and its existence is therefore independent of all other entities in existence. If anything exists, something must have always existed. That something that always existed must have had intelligence to design all things. Hence, the very existence of things proves that God exists.
Most people regardless of their faith or their background or their political persuasion believe in God. Even the most nonreligious people are willing to concede that there has to be a Supreme Being behind all that exists. Atheists are a very small percentage of the populace and I've heard statistics that indicate that even most atheists pray occasionally! Most people are willing to believe that God created the Universe yet many are unwilling to acknowledge the profound philosophical implications of this one foundational truth.
This brings us to what I call the philosophical cascade of truths that emanate from the fact that God created the universe.
The first implication is that God has "being" in Himself.
Second: The fact that God has "being" in Himself and His creatures do not have "being" in themselves means that God is of a different higher order than His creatures. (This is the concept of transcendence.)
Third: Since God created all things He owns all things which means that all star systems, planets, Earth, land, sea, you, me, this computer I'm typing on, everything is all God's personal property.
Fourth: Since God owns all things He can do whatever He wants with all things and He is not accountable to anyone other than Himself in how He handles all things.
Fifth: Since God owns all things He has the right to govern all things as He sees fit and this includes the fact that He has the right to govern human beings and to be the ultimate determiner of what is right and wrong for human beings.
Sixth: Since God created all things and owns all things and is of a higher order than all things it is His character alone that is the very measure of goodness and His actions are always right because He alone has the right to be the ultimate determiner of righteousness and justice.
By virtue of being creator, God has all of the above listed rights. This exalted view of God is the traditional basis for all sound philosophy. One wise person said: "Philosophy is the handmaid of theology." Philosophy simply defined is: the way human beings should live their lives. Philosophy must always begin with a proper understanding of God and submission to God. This is the traditional Christian view of the foundation of philosophy and this view was shared by the Pagan classical philosophers including Plato and Aristotle who referred to an "unmoved mover" (Supreme Being) in their writings. Even Plato and Aristotle acknowledged the Creator.
Modern philosophy by contrast is convoluted, contradictory and confused because it has rejected God as the starting point. It has no ultimate foundation. Most scholars recognize that modern philosophy began with Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes' novelty was that his foundation or starting point was the self ("I think therefore I am") rather than God. This was the birth of modernism and was a radical intensification of man's departure from God. As modernism gives way to the even more radical postmodernism we see the stage being set for the rise of the man of sin who is the antichrist prophesied of in the Bible in Revelation chapter 13.
So then, as always, we have a choice. We must choose either to follow God or to follow self. Your decision will determine your ultimate destiny!
The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
- Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
- Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
- Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
- Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
- Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."
If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!
Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA
(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given
Read Bill Nugent's award winning Christian book, Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws. For more information and to order click here.
e author's award winning Christian book, Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws. For more information and to order click here.
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DEFENDING THE FAITH
APOLOGETIC ARTICLES
Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world.
The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel.
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