When making a case for the existence of God and his creating everything, we tend to default to evidence outside the Bible. So we begin—as we’ve done in this series—with premises like “design is evidence of a designer” and “morality is evidence of a moral originator.” Maybe this is because we feel that defending religious things from the Bible is circular reasoning, and so we shy away from it. But if there is sufficient evidence to the Bible’s legitimacy (which we intend to discuss in articles later this year), then its claims about God himself ought to be taken seriously. Neither its antiquity nor its obvious religious bias give us reason to disregard its claims wholesale.

And so, for this Faith-Building Friday, consider some of the many places where the Bible’s writers stated that the world was created by God. These statements, while not the whole case, are valid evidence to the truth of his existence and creative work.

• “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gn. 1.1)
• “in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (Ex. 20.11)
• “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.” (Nh. 9:6)
• “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” (Ps. 95.3-5)
• “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jr. 32.17)
• “long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.” (2 Pt. 3.5)

To be sure, there is an abundance of extra-biblical evidence to the facts of his existence and creative work. But let’s not skip the spoken truth of these things inside the Bible. The claims made there are sincere, powerful, and faith-building in their own divinely-spoken right.

- Dan Lankford

Something never comes from nothing. That’s one of the most fundamental facts about our natural world. Stuff doesn’t just pop into existence; it always comes from a source. For that reason, when we look at all the physical stuff around us, we’re compelled to ask the question: “Where did all of this come from?” Because something never comes from nothing.

That simple reality is why the old-school skeptics used to argue that our universe was eternal, that everything has always been here. Turns out that the best way to avoid the question of origin is to argue that the universe had no origin. They argued vehemently for the eternal universe, and, in some cases, even cut corners to win the argument. The reason Einstein made the rookie mistake of dividing by zero when establishing his theory of general relativity was to avoid the fact that his equation proved the universe was not eternal. 

Of course, this debate was put to rest in 1919 when a man named Sir Arthur Eddington first observed that our universe was in a constant state of expansion. He found that everything in the universe was exploding outward in every direction from a central point – like shrapnel from a bomb. It was as if the entire universe had burst into existence from a single infinitesimal point of nothingness. Edwin Hubble would go on to observe the same, and because of this discovery, the scientific community would go on to accept that our universe was not eternal. That’s why the prominent atheists of our day no longer argue for an eternal universe, but that our universe originated with a “Big Bang.”

It is a verifiable scientific fact that our universe had a beginning – something did, indeed, come out of nothing.

What does that mean? It means that our world cannot be explained naturally. It means that our existence must be the result of something “supernatural” – something beyond the physical. What we see when we consider the origin of our universe is precisely what is written in Hebrews 11:3, “By faith, we understand… that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
 

- Jonathan

"The Tipping Point" refers to the moment when a great number of tiny changes culminate in an overwhelming and unstoppable change. Think of it like rolling a heavy stone up a hill. You push and push that stone, tediously making progress with every step, until you finally reach the crest of the hill. Once you reach the teetering point of perfect balance, all you must do is give that stone one more nudge to send it careening down the other side. That’s your tipping point – the moment when many tiny changes lead to an enormous change.  

I think faith works that way; it has a tipping point. 

Establishing a firm belief in the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, and the deity of Jesus does not happen in a moment. It’s not the result of hearing one cool fact or one compelling argument (even if that sounds more romantic). Instead, it’s the result of hearing a great number of arguments. True faith is engrained within our hearts when we peruse the mountain of evidence God has provided for us piece by piece until the argument is so compelling that we reach faith’s tipping point – the moment when faith becomes so irresistibly rational that it can no longer be reasonably denied. That’s even how faith works during the ministry of Jesus (John 1:50).

Faith is a tipping point kind of thing. 

For that reason, Dan Lankford and I have designed a project that we hope will convict, confirm, and establish your faith. We’re calling it, “Faith-Building Fridays,” and the aim is simply to offer you one compelling piece of evidence – one reason to believe - every Friday for all of 2024. It is our prayer that through this project we can help you build your faith in the existence of God, the inspiration of the scriptures, and the deity of Jesus Christ. 

Come back tomorrow for a few more introductory remarks from Dan.

- Jonathan Banning