IS THERE A GOD?
BY BETHANY GRISHAM
“93 million miles from the blistering surface of the sun hangs the planet earth, a rotating sphere perfectly suspended in the center of the universe. The ultimate creation from an infinite mind, an unbelievably intricate complex design, a supernatural testimony, an irrefutable sign that there is a God. The size, position, an angle of the earth is a scientific phenomenon to see. A few degrees closer to the sun, we’d disintegrate, a few degrees farther, we’d freeze. The axis of the earth is tilted at a perfect 23-degree angle and it’s no mistake that it is. This allows equal distribution of the rays of the sun, making it possible for the food chain to exist. Or, take for example the combination of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere we
breathe every day. It just so happens to be the exact mix that life needs to prosper. It doesn’t happen on any other planet that way.
You see, the Bible says the invisible things of God are clearly seen through His creation; to believe this is not hard. When the fool says in his heart there is no God, he rejects the truth God painted on the canvas of the night. If there is a design, there is a designer, if there is a creature, there is a creator; if there is a miracle, there is a God!
The Bible claims to be God’s Book. In its themes and structure, in its purpose and direction, it shows a unity consistent only with an omniscient designer. Coincidence would be quite an inadequate explanation of the beauty and the intricacy of the Bible’s texture. Such wonderful design does not happen by chance. “Seen under the microscope of the closest examination, the consistency of Bible themes reveal evidence of God at work..” As an earlier writer aptly put it, “Here is a book written by forty authors, living in different ages, without possible concert or collusion, producing a book, which in all its parts are pervaded by one Spirit, one doctrine, one design, and by one air of sublime authority which is its peculiar characteristic. Such a book is a literary miracle’ It is impossible to account for its existence upon ordinary principles.” Men guess about the future, but cannot predict it with any degree of accuracy; and least of all the distant future.
Old Testament authors foretold future events with such accuracy that it is obvious they experienced divine intervention. The Bible has so much to tell us, which, as human beings, we simply would not otherwise know. My grand-father, Rev. Charles Grisham, known as an outstanding hero of the Apostolic Faith, once told me that the God of the Bible offers precisely this ability to foretell long-distant events as evidence of His existence and of the reliability of His Word. “Ask me of things to come,” said God trough His prophet Isaiah, for “I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” (Isaiah45:1 1; 46:9-11).
The dozens of unique creatures of this planet reveal the obvious existence of a higher being. They each have their own delicate features carefully designed especially for them – from the sounds they make to the coloration of their coverings. Take for instance, the leopard with its beautiful thick spotted coat, or the zebra with its striking black and white “paint-job.” God created many varieties of birds – from the funny looking, hot pink flamingo, standing approximately four feet tall and weighing a whooping eight pounds, to the intimidating bald eagle that eyeballs its prey on the ground while in flight, or from a high perch (hence, “eagle-eyed”) and captures its victims with strong feet and sharp talons. There is a reptile that has heat-sensitive pits between its eyes and nostrils, which help it locate its prey, even in total darkness. There is a certain type of bat that also has a special sense called, “echolocation.” It enables them to navigate and locate and capture prey through the high frequency sounds they emit. The gregarious dolphin, (my favorite,) is socially interactive, showing signs of considerable intelligence and having its own complex language. There are so many various types of amazing creatures walking the earth that specialists have tried to fit each one in a certain class to identify them all. It is a given. .. the Creator of this world has been
unbelievably creative with His magnificent creatures!
Protestant theologian, James I. Packer, of Regent College, argues on behalf of this category of miracles. “They have told us that a miracle is God, suspending an overriding natural law,” Packer says in a
Christianity Today interview. “But that is a secular definition, reflecting a deistic world-view – a view that sees God’s world as a closed box of forces from which the creator is ordinarily standing at a distance, uninvolved. Instead,” Packer says, “the Biblical view is that god remains directly involved in all of life’s events, great and small, regular and irregular. Describing miracles as ‘signs and of cancer called “Hodgkins Lymphoma” (the worst kind for my age group). The exact moment I received the news, a feeling came over me like I will never be able to explain. It was a soft embrace of assurance that held me, and a quiet voice that whispered, “you will be alright.” During three weeks of blood work, x-rays, and CT-scans, I kept my thoughts on that feeling. Even after a bone marrow procedure too painful to put into words, I could still hear that voice and feel that embrace, letting me know that everything was under control. On the day that my parents and I were to schedule the first chemotherapy session, we received a “sign.” Not only did I receive God’s power and mercy in my life with the news that the latest test showed I was completely cancer free, but the disease had seemed to disappear right before their eyes. To this day, the medical field has no explanation.
I decided to write this paper because I am a firm believer in God. If there was no God, I believe I would be bald, weighing about eighty pounds and vomiting into a trashcan. God gave me this miracle so that I would be a living, breathing, healthy testimony of His existence. It is also clearly seen through His incredible Word, accurately designed by Him, and His beautiful creation that cries out, “He lives!” from every corner of the earth. Atheism has never created an artistic masterpiece, never healed a fatal disease, nor calmed a fear. Atheism has never given answers to our existence, peace to a troubled mind, or even dried a tear. It’s God who created the heavens and the earth and Rung the stars in space. It’s God who designs, God who creates, and God who heals!
1 Carman. “There is a God” R.I.O.T., The Sparrow Corporation, 1995.
2 Prather, Paul. Modern-Day Miracles: How Ordinary People Experience Extraordinary Acts of God. Kansas City; Andrews and McMeel, 1996.
Bethany is the daughter of Rev. & Mrs. Mark Grisham of Dallas, Texas. She is the Grand-daughter of Rev. & Mrs. T.L. Craft of Jackson, Mississippi, and Rev & Mrs. Charles Grisham of Detroit, Michigan. This
article is reprinted from the apostolic Writers ‘ Digest, and was written for Bethany ‘s high school composition class.
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY THE MISSISSIPPI TORCH, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001, PAGES 11, 16. THIS MATERAIL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
