WHY I KNOW GOD EXISTS ¡ ¡ JoLynn ¡Gower ¡ JoLynn ¡Gower ¡ 493-‑6151 ¡ jgower@guardingthetruth.org ¡ 1 ¡
VERSE FOR THE JOURNEY • Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. • Hebrews 1:1-3 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. 2 ¡
THINK ABOUT THIS • The labels “creation” and “evolution” have become household words. Why? Because they deal with where we came from and where we are going. They focus on the queston of origins. If our origins are in God, then the question of destiny is also raised. Dr. Robert Gange SCIENTISTS NOW GENERALLY AGREE THAT OUR UNIVERSE HAD A POINT OF BEGINNING • But that has been only the beginning of what we have considered in this class! • 11 million species live on earth today • No one has ever discovered another planet like our sweet blue planet, a speck in the universe • The landcape, the atmosphere, the tilt and angle and spin rate, as well as the eccentricity and size of its orbit enable us to live! 3 ¡
MINUTE TOLERANCES • The sun is 92,900,000- miles from earth; its surface temperature is 12,000 degrees • Exactly the amount of energy we need radiates to earth • The light arrives with the right color distribution to pass through the atmosphere’s gases and arrive as we need it • The light/energy arrives with different strengths for different colors (energy decreases with the square of distance) • Our seasons are controlled not only by temperature but also by the changes in the light values • The earth’s 7900 mile diameter means that it intercepts 1/2,000,000,000 of the total solar energy coming our way • If the diameter were smaller, we would freeze • If the diameter were larger, we would roast 4 ¡
THERMODYNAMIC EMISSIVITY • The earth either radiates or reflects heat back into space • The balance on earth is perfect: the difference between the heat the Earth catches from outer space and the amount it loses due to radiation and reflection from the cover of the outer atmosphere keeps our temperature stable. • The moon, only 239,000 miles away has surface temperatures that can vary 800 degrees per lunar day and averages a daily high of 214 and a daily average low of 243 below zero The average temperature on Mars is -80 o The average temperature on Venus is 864 o The average temperature on earth is 61 o 5 ¡
OCEAN DEPTH • The oceans on earth average just over two miles • If they were deeper, the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed would be greater and plant life on earth would decrease or disappear • If they were shallower, their ability to store heat would decrease resulting in temperature swings like the moon TROMBE WALL 6 ¡
ATMOSPHERIC HEIGHT • At the equator, the troposphere is about 10 miles high • At the poles, it is about 5 miles high • Volcanos are stabilized by a balance between pressures above and below the earth’s crust. • If the atmosphere’s height were lower, the decreased air pressure would promote increased volcanic activity and earthquakes • If the atmosphere were higher, radiation and meteor collisions that are trapped close to us now: this would result in enriched oxygen mixtures that would create breathing difficulties (oxygen toxicity) • The ability to exhale would also be more difficult • Additionally, enriched oxygen levels would cause oxidation of elements on the earth’s surface that plants need “7 ¡
THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE • We see that temperatures on earth are not too hot, not too cold, just right • The oxygen levels are not too much, not too little, just right • The light distribution we receive is not too much, not too little, just right • The earth’s size is not too big, not too little, just right • Isaiah 45:12 "It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.” • John 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. a ¡ 8 ¡
A GOD WHO CARES • Sin entered the world through Adam; God’s image in man had been skewed; Adam’s sin was intentional • 1 Timothy 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. • Even after the Law was given, it did not atone for intentional sin • Hebrews 9:7 … but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. • After Adam sinned, people had a big problem! • The image of God in people was skewed; the original sin of of Adam was reproduced in his offspring – the seed of man Genesis 5:3 When Adam had lived one hundred n and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image 9 ¡
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FALL 1. Death entered (God sees this as murder by Satan) John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 2. Enslavement to sin There was no way to get rid of the intentional sin imputed to people John 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men… 10 ¡
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FALL 3. Lost land God had given man the earth to superintend under His headship; when Adam obeyed the devil rather than God, Satan usurped headship John 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” John 16:11 … and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 4. No heirs Because of sin, no one would spend eternity with God, not even those who kept the Old Testament Law Romans 4:14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; BUT GOD HAD A PLAN 11 ¡
GOD’S PLAN • Revealed in the Old Testament: the kinsman redeemer • WHEN SOMEONE WAS ENSLAVED Leviticus 25:47-49 'Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger's family, then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 12 ¡
GOD’S PLAN • WHEN SOMEONE LOST THEIR LAND • Jeremiah 32:8-12 "Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, 'Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 ¡
GOD’S PLAN • WHEN SOMEONE HAD BEEN MURDERED Numbers 35:19 'The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. (murder was intentional; unintentionally killing someone was manslaughter and punished differently) • WHEN SOMEONE NEEDED HEIRS Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance." GOD HAD A PLAN FOR LOSS OF LAND, MURDER, ENSLAVEMENT, HEIRS: THE PLAN WAS A KINSMAN REDEEMER (A GA’AL ) Problem: we had no eligible ga’al 14 ¡
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