Glory All Around
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Today’s Text: Romans 1:18-32 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
When I was young and an atheist, I was somehow so confident in my atheism. Looking back, I can see how some people may have thought I was quite arrogant. I wholeheartedly believed that the “fact” that there is no God was clear and obvious. And so, the “burden of proof” was on believers to show that God is real.
I didn’t realize that, even as an atheist, I was making some huge assumptions about the nature of the world that required a leap of faith.
I remember one time while I was writing my dissertation, someone challenged my thesis. My thesis was that Jesus was speaking ironically in Mark 4:10-12, when He explained to His disciples that He teaches in parables so that some people would NOT be saved.
For myself, it was (and still is, for the most part) inconceivable that Jesus would actively and purposefully do anything so that some people would NOT be saved. Therefore, His statement in Mark 4:10-12 must be ironic.
There are some people, however, who find it inconceivable that Jesus would speak ironically or sarcastically. And so, for them, therefore, Jesus must have literally meant that He spoke in parables so that some people would not be saved.
And as we were having our friendly and respectful debate (literally), my friend said, “The burden of proof is on on you to show that Jesus was speaking ironically.” And then, I asked him why the burden of proof was on me? Why was the burden of proof not on him to show that Jesus was speaking literally. And who is the judge of such decisions?
As a believer, when I look at the world, it seems so obvious to me that God must exist—the Creator and Designer of this universe, as well as each and every one of us.
And in the modern debate between atheism and creationism, people who ponder the question of God’s existence may be recognizing more and more that atheists have a burden of proof too—which is why some atheist scientists are so interested in finding, for example, any “missing link” for any species for a “gay chromosome.”
But even if they find such things (which I believe they won’t), people may also be recognizing more and more that an atheist’s burden of proof cannot be scientific.
Once I put my faith in Jesus Christ, the world made so much more sense to me. And science did not refute the existence of God but supported it—both for the things that science can show and the things that it cannot.
And even though I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose faith, I cannot fathom that the world would make MORE sense to me by removing God from the equation. And it never strengthens the atheist’s argument to point to extreme exceptions in this world to “prove” the Bible wrong.
Again, I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose faith, but I remember what it was like to not have faith. And so, even if I had no faith, the existence of God simply explains the evidence of this world better than the nonexistence of God. WITH faith, the existence of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is absolutely certain.
Father, day after day, this universe bears witness to Your glory. My very existence bears witness to Your glory. Such things are too awesome for me to comprehend, but I seek You in all things and rejoice in Your glory. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
