Today, we’re continuing our message series called “GodQuest.” A quest is a search for something of great value. The quest to discover the truth about God and know Him better is a lifelong endeavor.
Matthew 13:44 (NIV) The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Here Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a hidden treasure that was worth so much, that a person would give all they had in order to obtain it. In this series, God wants each of us to discover more about Himself and be able to teach others about Him as well. If you found a treasure, wouldn’t you want to be able to help others find that same treasure?
Isaiah 55:6 (NIV) Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
God wants people to seek after Him and teach others to seek after Him as well.
This morning, our next message in the GodQuest series is called “How Did Everything Begin?” This is an important question because what you believe about creation determines how you view yourself and life. There are two basic answers to the question of how did everything begin. Either everything began with God or everything did not begin with God.
Those that don’t believe in a creator are atheists, people who don’t believe God exists. An atheist believes that life began by the random processes of evolution. If God didn’t create life, then life has no purpose or meaning, nor is there life after death. All is meaningless. On the other hand, if you believe that God is the creator, both of the universe and of life itself, then everything has purpose and a reason for being. Those that believe God created everything from nothing are called creationists.
There are a lot of people that think every educated, intelligent person believes in evolution. That’s not true. There are many Ph.D. scientists, myself included, that believe in creationism. So, how can we know the truth? How did everything begin? If you listen to the news or read a standard biology textbook, you would be led to believe that science has proven that God doesn’t exist and life began through evolution.
However, science has its limitations. One of the basic aspects of the scientific process is the requirement for experiments to be reproducible. This is not possible when dealing with questions about events that occurred in the past. The historical evidence can often be explained from an evolutionary viewpoint or from a creationist viewpoint. How can we decide?
The Bible teaches us that God reveals truth to us in three ways: through creation, through the Word of God and through His Spirit. Today, I want to look at three ways that God has revealed Himself in creation.
Listen to or watch my October 9, 2011 message How Did Everything Begin?