SCIENTIFIC PROOF FOR INTELLIGENT DESIGN

 

When the militant skeptic demands that I give him proof that God exist, I merely say:

·       We are surrounded by the evidences of His creations. Even the atom and planetary motion display intelligent design. If you are not willing to regard what your eyes see, there is nothing more I can tell you that might make a difference.

 He then demands, “I want scientific proof.” I therefore respond:

 ·       You already have scientific proof. Observations are the basis of science. Even the ancients were able to scientifically observe that if you planted a seed, it would have to be watered if it is to grow. If the seeds were simply scattered on top of the soil, the birds might eat them, or they might not receive enough moisture. It was even logically plain to them that the creation required a Creator. Any effect requires an adequate cause!

 ·       Besides, every scientist should know that without the unchanging laws of science there can be no science. However, there is no cause within our universe of molecules-in-motion to account for their stability.

The skeptic then repeats, “I want to see scientific evidence—peer-reviewed studies!” But where are their peer-reviewed studies to support their belief that anything is natural?

 

IS SELF-TRUST BIBLICAL

 

 
 

 

Should we trust and believe in ourselves? Not according to the Scriptures:

·       I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:6–7)

 

Compared to Creator and Sustainer, we are nothing. Without Him, we can do nothing of any value (John 15:4-5). While we are fellow workers with God (1 Corinthians 3:9), He deserves all the credit:

 

·       For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:3).

 

In contrast, our nature lusts after self-confidence. Why? In the short-run, it feels good to believe that we are in control, but it is self-delusion and a hardening to the truth about ourselves. Instead, God desires truth and perfects it in us:

 

·       Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. (Psalm 51:6)

 

True wisdom is so contrary to what we want to believe, especially about ourselves, that it must come from God, and He will provide!

 

It is painful to realize that we are so limited and needy. Instead, we want to feel that we have what we need and can manage the challenges of life. To learn dependence upon our Savior and to trust in Him, rather than in ourselves, self-trust must be burnt out of us. This requires suffering:

·       For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8–10)

 

Self-trust must surrender to God-trust, and suffering is the means to see ourselves as we really are—needy and broken. Consequently, Paul concluded:

·       For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:3)

 

Besides, Scripture assures us that to put trust in the flesh (ourselves) is deadly:

·       Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5–8)

 

Self-Trust rejects God-trust. The more we trust in ourselves, the less we trust in God. Once we despair of ourselves, we are forced to turn to God. However, I’ve found that the alure to trust in ourselves is powerful, and is often an unseen addiction, an addiction which can only be broken through suffering and the growing confidence that we can trust in a God who loved us so much that He died for us. In short, it is an addiction that can only be broken by God, and even then, this drug continues to entice us.

 

CHILDREN IN THE ARMS OF THE LORD

The weaker I become, the more I must trust in the Savior and appreciate the Biblical portraits of His love, for example

·       He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac…When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!” (Psalm 105:8–9,12-15)

Abraham had failed both Sarah, his wife, and the Lord by his practice of passing his wife off as his sister so that it might go well for him. He had even continued this practice after God had informed him that Sarah would give birth the following year to the long-awaited child of the promise, Isaac.

It was no surprise that the King of Gerar took Sarah for his Haram. However, God struck the entire nation down with a life-threatening disease, which prevented the king from consummating with Sarah. God then warned the king in a dream:

·       “Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” (Genesis 20:7)

Despite Abraham’s many failures, his God still owned Abraham as His prophet, and he would have to pray for the king’s healing.

Despite our many failures, we continue to have the same God as Abraham who promised that we remain His “anointed ones…my prophets.” This does not depend upon our worthiness, for we are unworthy of anything good from our Lord. This, according to Jesus, is the attitude of mind and faith we need to retain

·       So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)

Well, isn’t this depressing? I felt that way at first. However, in time, I found this understanding to be liberating. How? If our standing with God doesn’t depend on our worthiness, then we need no longer prove that we are worthy to ourselves, others, and even before the demonic attacks which tell us, “You are not worthy of the love of God!”

We aren’t worthy of His love, but He loves us anyway. His love doesn’t depend on us but on God alone. Based on what? His gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)! For we trust in Him:

·       Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5–8)

·       In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. (Psalm 22:4–5)

We are but children in the arms of the loving Lord who hears our cries.