The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

by Rob Lundberg

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;  And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech,  And night to night reveals knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2)

Let me open this by saying, God has two Books. Sometimes when I mention this, a well meaning saint will rail back with “Wait a minute Rob! I only know of one book and that is the only book, the Bible!  What do you mean God has two books?”

But when I say that God has two books, I am not dissing on the Bible. I am only declaring what is already in the Bible in the two verses above, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God;  And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech,  And night to night reveals knowledge.”  The opening of Psalm 19 only confirms what I am saying, that the special revelation (the Bible) declares that God has put something in the creation (natural theology[1]/general revelation) to point the skeptic and the seeker of truth, and anyone who does not like the statement to the truth that is confirmed.

With that said, let me get back in the rhythm of writing here after a few weeks, I believe that science and faith are not enemies. I also believe that the God who exists, created science to give us a tool in order to point those who might reject the special revelation, and use that to point them to the Bible (Psalm 19:1,2).

You see if what we see in the cosmos is a product of God’s creative hand, you and I would expect to see His “fingerprints” stamped all across the creation.  Let me tell you that if you look hard enough, I think you will agree. Allow me to give you three pieces of this puzzle that you can wrestle with (if you are skeptical) or share with someone wondering if God exists.

Puzzle Piece #1: The elements needed for life argue for design.  Carbon forms only if it possesses a precise level of a nuclear property called “resonance”  This notion of resonance includes the collision of helium nuclei, that lead to the formation of carbon. The slightest variation of energy levels would not allow carbon to form, or would instantly destroy it. The conditions have to be perfect in order to make this basic building block of life possible. When considering the probability of such fine-tuning, the late astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle, credited for the discovery of the resonances of carbon and oxygen atoms, commented that it was virtually impossible that such resonances exist by chance. He concluded that atheism was greatly shaken because of this discovery.[2]

Puzzle Piece #2: The ratio of proton to electron mass confirms that the universe was designed. The proton is 1,836 times heavier than the electron. Scientists do not know why. But they do know that if that ratio were much different, crucial life-building molecules would not form and there would be no chemistry and no life. The precise ratio of proportion to electron mass appears to be deliberate in order to pave the way for life. The late physicist Stephen Hawking stated, “The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.”[3]

Puzzle Piece #3: The relative strength of nature’s four fundamental forces of gravity (gravity, electromagnetism, and strong and weak nuclear forces) appear to have been perfectly balanced to permit a life-sustaining universe. Even if one of these four had a slightly different strength, such a universe, like the one that exists, would be impossible. Scientists have concluded that this precision can be accounted for one by a Designer’s guidance. Physicist Edward Kolb states, “It turns out that ‘constants of nature,’ such as the strength of gravity, have exactly the values that allow stars and planets to form. . . . the universe, it seems, is fine-tuned to let life and consciousness flower.”[4]

As Christians we do not have to reject science. God created it to use in our pre-evangelism with those who reject God and His Word. The universe shows incredible design, as does our DNA and the make up of the world around us. We can used the design argument (P1: Anything that shows design has a designer; P2: The universe shows design and the creation shows design; C: Therefore the universe and the creation around has a Designer, and we believe that Designer is God).  Even the skeptics agree with this argument.

Related to the remarkable precision of the universe, Robert Jastrow, an agnostic astronomer, once stated, “Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.”[5]

Conclusion

No matter where you and I look around this great world, whether it is with the naked eye, a microscope or a powerful telescope, we can see that the world around is screams design! So if you are trying to communicate with someone at the water cooler, the cubicle, on the sidewalk, or during an afterglow after a worship service, the three finger prints that I have shared in this post can be used in discussion to stimulate conversation with anyone who will think with you.  

I use similar puzzle pieces to start conversations which ultimately show that the God who created the universe is the same God who became man to come and die for our sins. Use whatever tools you have so that you can draw the conversation into a conversation about man’s greatest need, salvation only through Jesus Christ.  With that let me close this post with some final words from the Apostle Paul, 

“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.” (Romans 1:20).

Thank you for indulging me on this post. 
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Notes

[1] Natural theology is quite different than naturalism, contrary to Ken Ham’s point of view.  Naturalism is the “idea or belief that only natural laws and forces operate in the world.” Adherents of naturalism assert that natural laws are the rules that govern the structure and behavior of the natural universe, that the changing universe at every stage is a product of these laws. Natural theology, on the other hand, is the study of God based on the observation of nature, as distinct from “supernatural” or revealed theology, which is based on special revelation. Because observing nature is an intellectual pursuit, natural theology involves human philosophy and reasoning as means of knowing God.

[2] Fred Heeren, Show Me God: What the Message from Space is Telling Us About God (Wheeling, IL: Searchlight Publications, 1995), 179.

[3] Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time — From the Big Bang to Black Holes (New York: Bantam Books, 1988), 125.

[4] Heeren, 184.

[4] Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers (New York: W.W. Norton, 1978), 15.

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Rob is a blogger, writer and public speaker on a mission to equip the believer to think and articulate what they believe and to communicate the message of the gospel to a confused culture in a chaotic, “brave new world.”

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