2.

Everything Made Has a Maker

BUT EVIDENCE for God is not confined to the design of our bodies; it’s also spread across the
heavens.
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers can now precisely measure the
distance of stars up to 10,000 light years away—10 times farther than previously possible. The
Hubble Telescope, launched in 1990, is still sending back valuable data. During June and July of
2012, astronomers using Hubble discovered a tiny fifth moon, previously unknown, moving
around the icy dwarf planet, Pluto.
Look up into the starry night sky. There are millions of stars and galaxies—all moving at
incomprehensible speeds, perfectly balanced, perfectly synchronized in space—orbits within
orbits, proceeding on track and on time. Who orchestrates this marvelous dance? Is it all just
occurring without design or direction?
No wonder the psalmist concluded that the stars speak of a glorious Maker.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and
night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1-
3).
What can we reasonably conclude by looking at the intricate design and vast size of the
universe?
“He [God] is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).
All creation boldly testifies: “God designed! God created!” From the perfect balance of
proton and electron in the atom to the whirl of planets around the sun, we find evidence of a
master plan, a Master Thinker, of God the Master Designer and the Infinite Creator.
When an anthropologist, digging in the sands of New Mexico, comes across an arrowhead
that has been chiseled into shape, he immediately concludes that a Native American created the
object. He will even attempt to assign a date to the arrowhead and determine the tribe to which it
belonged.
No anthropologist ever argues that arrowheads got there by chance. No one has attempted to

explain that lightning or wind or water could have

shaped these objects. It seems perfectly obvious to
everyone that a human being made them.
Yet when many scientists dig up fossils, evidence
of living things from the past, they make a very
different assumption. They don’t see the hand of a
Creator; they assume these creatures must have been
produced by the blind forces of nature, that they just
naturally evolved.
The animal fossils we discover, even those buried deepest in the geologic layers, represent
creatures infinitely more complex than any arrowhead. So why not draw the obvious conclusion?
Someone had to create them! The Bible suggests a logical answer to the question of origins:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
 In these simple words, “In the beginning God,” we find the answer to the mystery of life.
The first doctrine recorded in the Bible is that there is a God; in fact, this first verse in the Bible
tells us of His mighty act of creation. Dr. Arthur Compton, Nobel Prize-winning physicist,
commenting on this verse of Scripture, once said:
“For myself, faith begins with a realization that a supreme intelligence brought the universe
into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to have this faith, for it is incontrovertible
that where there is a plan there is intelligence—an orderly, unfolding universe testifies to the
truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered—‘In the beginning God.’”
Many great scientific minds believe in God. The book Behind the Dim Unknown, edited by
John Clover Monsma, contains 26 chapters, each chapter written by a scientific researcher who is
both a specialist in his field and also a Christian. Each author emphasizes the same fundamental
truth—God exists.
In the words, “In the beginning God,” we find the foundation of all existence. The Bible
does not attempt to prove God—it declares His existence. That God exists is proven by our own
existence and also by the existence of the things we see around us. Every effect must have an
adequate cause. There is design in this world, hence there must be a Designer. The things around
us cry out that God designed, God created, God sustains. Only life—or its ultimate Source—
produces life. The only plausible answer to the origin of the universe, this world, and human
beings, according to the Bible—is God.

3. God Comes Into Personal Relationships With People

THE GOD WHO designed the starry heavens, who created the universe, comes into personal

relationships with people. Deep in the mind and heart of every individual, God has revealed

a knowledge of His existence. He is

“the true Light which gives light to

every man” (John 1:9).

The Bible asserts that our

Creator seeks personal relationships

with us. Abraham “was called the

friend of God” (James 2:23). “The

Lord spoke to Moses . . . as a man

speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). And God will enter into a personal relationship with you
and become your Friend. Jesus promised those who follow Him: “You are My friends” (John

15:14).

About 2,500 years ago, a group of Greek philosophers discussed the question, “What is the

briefest possible definition of man?”

Plato suggested: “Man is a two-legged animal.”

Another philosopher, however, exposed this definition’s limitations by fetching a rooster.

He held it up and said, “Behold Plato’s man!”

They pondered in silence a few moments until one of the thinkers exclaimed, “I have it!

Man is a religious animal.”

That’s it in a nutshell. Humanity is incurably religious. We alone feel a sense of need for a

Higher Power. All of us, whether atheistic or devout, have wrestled with the idea of God. We’re

distinguished from animals by our imagination and reason, and by our will to choose right or

wrong. No animal ever builds an altar for worship. Yet everywhere you find men and women,

you find them worshipping. Deep within every human heart is a desire to worship, a

consciousness of God.

God has placed within all of us a desire to come into companionship with Him. When we

respond to our longing and find God, there is no longer a doubt about His existence and our

need. A Christian believes in God because he or she has met Him and has discovered that He

satisfies the heart’s deepest needs. The God whom Christians have joyfully found to exist gives

us a new perspective, new meaning, new motives, new purposes, and new joys.

God doesn’t promise a life free from trouble and conflict, but He does assure us that He will

guide and sustain us if we come into a personal relationship with Him. And millions of

Christians will testify that they would give up everything rather than go back to a life without

God.

This is the greatest wonder of all—that the Almighty God who designed all creatures and

created and sustains the galaxies also desires a personal relationship with every man and woman,

boy and girl. David marveled at this, when he wrote:

 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You

have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3, 4).
Our Creator is “mindful” of each one of us. He takes as personal an interest in you as if you

were the only being He had created. He says:

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you”

(Jeremiah 31:3).
Now, it’s only reasonable that a personal God would want to reveal Himself to His created

beings just as a father desires that his children know him. And God reveals Himself to us in the

Bible. (Guide 2 will give evidence that the Bible is a reliable Book given to us by the God who

created us.)

The Bible asserts that our Creator seeks a personal relationship with us.
Abraham “was called the friend of God” (James 2:23).

4. What Kind of God Is He?

IN THE BIBLE, God tells us who He is and what He is like. What pattern did God use for

creating men and women?

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He

created them” (Genesis 1:27).

We are made in God’s image. He created us to have a personal relationship with Him. Our

abilities to reflect and feel, to remember and hope, to ponder and analyze—all are derived from

Him. Since God has a personality, what is His dominant trait?

“God is love” (1 John 4:8).

God relates to human beings out of His own heart of love. There is nothing He has done or

ever will do that is not motivated by a selfless, sacrificial love.

 5. How Jesus Reveals What God Is Like
WHICH FAMILY MEMBER gives us an idea of what God is like?
“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10).
In the Bible, God repeatedly speaks of Himself as a Father. Some of the father images we
see today are anything but desirable. There are neglectful dads, abusive dads, and dads who don’t
seem to care. God is not like that. Rather, He is a caring, sensitive Father. He is the kind of
Father who loves to spend time with His son or daughter, the kind of Father who makes life fun
and enjoyable.
God, our loving Father, wanted to do more than reveal Himself through the words of
Scripture. He knew that a person we live with is much more real to us than someone we only
hear about or read about in a book. So He decided to enter our world as a real Person.
God came down to our level—He became like us—so He could teach us how to live and be
happy, and how to have eternal life. It enabled us to see what God is really like.
How did God visit the world as a Person?
“She [Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from
their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
“'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which
is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23).God came down to our world in the Person of Jesus.
A small boy and his older brother were
standing before a large portrait of their father
who had died when the younger boy was a baby.
“Tell me,” the younger brother said, “just
what was Father like?”
The older boy attempted to tell his little
brother something about their father. He
described his strength. He said he was a good
man, kind and handsome. He was friendly, and
people liked to be with him. He was always
gentle with Mother. He made people happy.
In spite of all the older brother could say,
the small boy could not form a satisfying picture
of his father. He wanted so much to know what
his father was like. At last he interrupted his
brother with the question, “Tell me one thing,
Henry, was Father anything like you?”
The older boy hesitated a moment, then
said: “Well, friends of ours who knew Father
best say that I’m the living image of him. And even Mother says the same.”
With his heart all aglow, the small boy walked away, saying: “Now I know exactly what my
dad was like. He was just like my brother, Henry.”
Jesus came to our world as God in human flesh. Jesus is “the Son of God” (Mark 15:39)—
God made visible, the thought of God made audible. Jesus Himself said, “He who has seen Me
has seen the Father” (John 14:9). So if you have seen Jesus, you have seen God Himself.
Whenever you want to know what God is like, just look at Jesus as the Bible reveals Him.
 As you read the story of Jesus in the four Gospels, the first four books of the New
Testament, you will discover a fascinating portrait of our Heavenly Father. Rough, self-sufficient
fishermen dropped their nets to follow Jesus, and small children flocked to receive His blessing.
He could comfort the most devastated sinners and disarm the most self-righteous hypocrites. He
healed everything from blindness to leprosy with the quiet assurance of a doctor prescribing a
couple of aspirin. His two-word command: “Be still!” forced a violent storm to calm down like a
disobedient child brought suddenly to his senses. In all His actions, Jesus demonstrated that God
is love. He met human needs in a way no one had ever done before Him—or has since!
Jesus’ final glorious revelation of what God is like happened at the cross. That’s where He
died for us.
How do we benefit from Christ’s death?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Jesus died not only to give us a happier, fulfilled life now, but also to give us eternal life.
Jesus is God’s “only begotten Son”—He is unique, one of a kind. He is the one and only Being
who is both fully God and fully man.
For many ages, people wondered about, hoped for, and dreamed about God. Many thought
to themselves, “If only God were like this!”
or “If only God were like that!” But the
beautiful, self-sacrificing life of Jesus and
His death on the cross revealed God more
clearly than ever. People found themselves
looking into the very face of God, seeing
Him as He really is: love—eternal and
immortal love!
You can discover God right now as Jesus
reveals Him in the pages of the Bible. That
discovery has led many people to decide: “I
want a personal relationship with the One
who created me and loves me.”
THOUGHT QUESTION
God loved the world so much that He
gave His Son, Jesus, as our Savior from
sin.
 Decision & Prayer
MY PRAYER

If you've never prayed before, that's okay. Here is a short prayer to get you started, if you want to

read these words aloud to God or say them silently in your head to Him. You can also take this

prayer and make it your own by paraphrasing or add your own words to it.

Try to think of talking to God like you would talk to a friend, saying whatever is on your

heart.

Father, thank You for creating this world for me to enjoy; thank You for  creating

me and loving me so much, that You are willing to guide my life. I ask You to meet my

personal needs and to lead me as I read the Bible. I ask this in the name of Jesus,

Amen.

MY DECISION

Take a moment to reflect on the following statements, placing a check mark next to each
statement you relate to.

 I would like to say “Thank You” to God for creating me and the wonderful world around me. I

want to thank Him for His great love for me personally.