DNA proof of God
By Dave Hunt
In
spite of thousands of years of inquiry into the universe, and the super
technology of today’s computer-aided science, we still know almost nothing in
comparison to all there is to know. We don’t know what energy is, or what
gravity or light or space are. Referring to the physical universe, British
astronomer Sir James Jeans declared that "we are not yet in touch with
ultimate reality."
Much
less do we know what life is. Living things are made up of chemical machines.
The secret of life, however, lies not in the correct combination of the
chemicals of which living things are built. Science seeks to discover how life
is imparted to otherwise dead matter, hoping to reverse the death process and
thereby create eternal life. But that secret will never be found by examining
living creatures because the life they have is not their own.
We
now know what Darwin never imagined, that life is based upon information
encoded on DNA (See TBC Aug ’02). Indisputably, no information is
originated by the medium in which it is communicated (printed page, audio or
video tape, DNA, etc.).
Information
can originate only from an intelligence. Clearly, the information that provides
the instructions for constructing and operating the incredibly small and
complex machines which make up living cells could only originate with an
Intelligence beyond our capacity to comprehend.
Jesus
claimed to be the Source of life: "I am the resurrection, and the
life" (Jn 11:25) -- and He proved it by laying down His life and rising
from the dead. He said, "No man taketh [my life] from me, but I lay it
down of myself...and I have power to take it again..." (Jn 10:17, 18). And
so He did.
There
is, however, something more vital than physical life. Unquestionably, there is
a nonphysical side to man. Words and the conceptual ideas they express
(including those imprinted on DNA) are not a part of the dimensional, physical
universe. The idea of "justice," for example, has nothing to do with
and cannot be described in terms of any of the five senses. It lies in another
realm.
Thoughts
are not physical. They do not originate from matter nor do they occupy space.
Our brains do not think, or we would be the prisoners of that few pounds of
matter inside our craniums, waiting for the next orders it might give us. Man
has not only physical but "intelligent" life. What could be its
source?
Of
Jesus, John said, "In him was life; and the life was the light of
men" (Jn 1:4). Christ declared, "I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life"
(Jn 8:12). The reference is not to physical light but to the spiritual light of
truth -- another abstract concept without any relationship to the physical
universe.
"Truth"
takes us beyond animal life; it has no meaning for animals. Their
"intelligence" knows nothing of love, morals, compassion, mercy or
understanding but is confined to instinct and conditioned responses to stimuli.
B.F. Skinner tried to fit man into the same mold, but our ability to form
conceptual ideas and express them in speech cannot be explained in terms of
stimulus/response reactions. There is an impassable chasm between man and
animals.
Intelligence
is nonphysical because it conceives of and uses nonphysical constructs which
clearly do not originate with the material of the brain or body. This takes us
beyond the physical universe into the realm of spirit. We do not know what a
soul or a spirit is, or what it means that God "is a Spirit" (Jn
4:24) who "created man in his image" (Gn 1:27).
God
has given us sufficient proof in what we can verify to cause us to trust
completely whatever His Word declares concerning things we cannot fully
comprehend. That is where faith enters. There is much which, although we cannot
understand it, we know is true. This is the case, for example, with the fact
that God is without beginning or end. It boggles our minds, but we know it must
be.
While
seeking to unravel the secrets of the universe, science neglects its Creator.
The universe can lead man only to a dead end, since ultimate knowledge is
hidden in the God who brought all into existence.
Though
not idol worshipers in the primitive sense, scientists, university professors,
business executives and political leaders, no matter how brilliant, who do not
know Christ fit the description in Romans 1 of those who reject the witness of
the universe and worship the creation instead of the Creator. It is possible
for Christians also to be caught up in this same materialistic ambition and to
miss what God offers us in Himself.
Paul’s
earnest desire was that all believers might attain unto "the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and
of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge" (Col 2:2, 3).
Our
knowledge of both the physical and spiritual is limited at best. But one day we
will fully know when we are with Christ in our glorified bodies: "For now
we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but
then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Cor 13:12). When in His
presence we wholly know Christ as He truly is, all limitations will have vanished,
even our lack of power to fully overcome sin: when we see him, "we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3:2). Knowing Christ is
everything!
Secular
knowledge pursued in our universities looks in the wrong direction. The
treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ can never be discovered by
scientific inquiry but can only be revealed by His Spirit through His Word to
those who believe in Him.
The
concept of one true God who exists eternally in three Persons (Father, Son and
Holy Spirit) is rejected even by some who claim to be Christians. Yet this is
taught all through Scripture, in the Old Testament as well as in the New.
Consider: "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time
that it was, there am I...." Surely the speaker who has been in existence
forever must be God himself. Yet He declares, "the Lord God, and his
Spirit, hath sent me" (Is 48:16). We cannot comprehend the mystery of the
Trinity; yet that is no more reason to doubt it than to doubt anything else
that we know is real but cannot comprehend.
If
God were a single being (as Muslims believe Allah to be and most Jews believe
Yahweh is), He would have had to create creatures in order to experience love,
fellowship and communion. The biblical God is love in Himself,
manifesting plurality in the Godhead: "The Father loveth the Son..."
(Jn 5:20). God must be one; but He must comprise both singularity and
plurality.
Only
God could pay the infinite penalty His justice demands for sin. But that would
not be just, because "God is not a man..." (Nm 23:19). The
incarnation is therefore essential -- but impossible if God were a singular
being. "The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 Jn
4:14). It was Jesus who died on the cross, not the Father nor the Holy Spirit.
Neither
could a mere man, being finite, pay that infinite penalty. All through the Old
Testament, Yahweh declares that He is the only Savior (Is 43:3,11; 45:15, 21;
49:26; Hos 13:4, etc.). Thus Jesus had to be Yahweh but also a man. When God
the Son became a man He did not and could not cease to be God. Jesus was both
God and man.
How
could God become a man? Again that is only possible through the Trinity. The
Father didn’t become man, nor did the Holy Spirit. Even though we cannot
understand this, we know it must be so. The penalty for our sins is infinite
because God and His justice are infinite. Consequently, those who reject
Christ’s payment on their behalf will be separated from God forever.
How
evil could arise in God’s "good" universe (Gn 1:31) is a mystery --
"the mystery of iniquity" (2 Thes 2:7). It will reach its fullness in
Antichrist through whom Satan will rule the world. In Antichrist, Satan will be
manifest in the flesh, as God was, and is, in Christ.
Satan
must be brilliant beyond our comprehension, apparently second only to God in
power and understanding. It is a mystery that Satan, having known intimately
the holy and glorious presence and power of God on His throne, could ever have
dared, much less desired, to rebel. How could he have imagined that he could
ever defeat God? Surely this is a great mystery!
Satan
was not raised in a "dysfunctional family" or in a ghetto, nor was he
"abused as a child." None of the standard excuses for rebellious and
selfish behavior accepted by today’s Christian psychologists applies to Satan
-- or to Adam and Eve. To accept any explanation for evil that doesn’t fit them
is to be deceived. Certainly today’s popular diagnosis of "low
self-esteem" or a "poor self-image" was not Satan’s problem!
Scripture
says he was lifted up with pride: "O covering cherub....Thine heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty" (Ezk 28:17). He is apparently a
self-deceived ego-maniac, blinded by pride in his own power and abilities.
Here
is the mystery of iniquity: In the very presence of God, in the heart of the
cherub closest to God, the ultimate evil was conceived. By one fateful choice,
the most beautiful, powerful and intelligent angelic being became for all time
the ultimate in evil: the arch enemy of God and man, the "great
dragon...that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world" (Rv 12:9; 20:2).
Paul
warns that a man should not become an elder until he is mature in the faith,
"Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil" (1 Tm 3:6). This tells us again that pride was
Satan’s downfall -- and is man’s besetting sin as well. "Pride goeth
before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Prv 16:18).
It
is also a mystery that Eve would believe the serpent’s lie contradicting what
her gracious Creator had said. Adam was not deceived (1 Tm 2:14). No doubt out
of love for Eve and not wanting to be separated from her, he joined her in
disobedience, knowing the consequences. It remains a mystery, however, that anyone
would rebel against God, that anyone would choose the pleasures of the
moment in exchange for eternal separation from God.
The
heart of this mystery is the autonomy of intelligent created beings who clearly
have something called self-will. At least some angels (Satan and those who
joined his rebellion) and all men have the power of choice. In deciding upon
beliefs or actions, though evidence may be weighed, ultimately reason is set
aside in order to bow before the throne of self. We are our own worst enemies.
Self
had its awful birth when Eve made the choice of disobedience for all of her
descendants. Christ said there is no hope except we deny self (Mt 16:24). And
the only way that can be done effectively is to embrace the cross of Christ as
our own so that we can say with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..." (Gal 2:20).
The
solution to evil through the incarnation is also a mystery: "...great is
the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into glory" (1 Tm 3:16).
"God
was manifest in the flesh." What a mystery! God could become a fetus
in Mary’s womb? John the Baptist as a 6-month-old fetus leapt in the womb of
Elizabeth in recognition that Mary was pregnant with the Messiah. Amazing!
"Seen
of angels." These heavenly beings must have watched in astonishment.
The One whom they had known as God the Son, one with the Father, for at least
6,000 years by earth time (we know not how much earlier angels were created),
was growing in the virgin Mary’s womb, soon to be born a babe needing a
mother’s milk and care -- truly man, yet at the same time truly God. Mystery of
mysteries!
"Believed
on in the world." The Apostle John speaks in awe of this One whom
"we have heard...seen with our eyes...looked upon, and our hands have
handled, of the Word of life. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen
it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the
Father, and was manifested unto us)" (1 Jn 1:1, 2). In his Gospel John
says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth" (Jn 1:14).
Yes,
"Believed on in the world." Certainly John believed, as did
Paul, that Jesus the Messiah of Israel was truly "God manifest in the
flesh." To be a Christian one must believe that Jesus Christ is God come
as a man to redeem us. What love to come from so high to stoop so low -- to be
rejected, hated, misunderstood, mocked, maligned, stripped, scourged and
crucified by those He came to redeem!
"Received
up into glory." His sacrifice accepted by the Father, He is glorified
at the "Father’s right hand" and interceding there for us (Rom 8:34).
But even before that great meeting in His presence in the Father’s house,
"beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [we] are changed into the
same image...by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor 3:18).
Surely
if the incarnation is the great mystery of godliness, then for us to live godly
lives we must have Christ dwelling within us and living His life through us:
"Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach..." (Col 1:27, 28).
This is the "hope of his calling" which Paul prayed that the Ephesian
saints would understand. Peter explains that God "hath called us unto his
eternal glory" (1 Pt 5:10). We are going to be like Christ. The glory that
the disciples beheld in Christ will be manifested in us!
We
are transformed by His Word, the Word of Truth upon which we feed for spiritual
nourishment. The written instructions which God spoke into DNA and which are
essential for physical life present a powerful picture of the "words that...are
spirit, and...life" (Jn 6:63). This is the living Word of God which when
believed (1 Pt 1:23-25) creates and nourishes spiritual life.
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