Sharing the happiness of God, part 7; Cosmic #2; John 15:11Title: Sharing the happiness of God, part 7; John 15:11.
Cosmic Two: the hatred complex – fighting God.
Room #1: Negative volition. At three places: God consciousness, gospel hearing, post-salvation NVTD.
God-consciousness or the age of accountability is the point at which man becomes aware of the existence of God. It occurs in several ways based on rationalism and empiricism.
First, the three a posterior arguments:
Cosmological argument: The intuitive credence that every effect must have a cause and so there must be a First Cause. Ex nihilo, nihil fit—out of nothing, nothing can arise—is an axiom which has been recognized by philosophers of all the ages.
We live in a world full of effects that have definite causes, therefore there must necessarily be a first cause.
Picture motion. An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. In our universe we see things at rest and things in motion.
[galaxy -2 slides] – the Milky Way is moving (not spinning, but motion relative to the universe) at 1.3 million miles per hour. Along with that our Sun and us are spinning around the center of the galaxy at 540,000 miles per hour. Something has cause it to move and the amount of energy needed to move this mass of stars in both ways, spinning motion (angular velocity) and relative motion to the universe (linear velocity) is enormous. Think about pushing a dump truck up a hill. Now think about pushing 200 billion stars to the speeds of our galaxy and the energy needed is beyond comprehension. This is not even taking into account the other galaxies.
But two basic ideas are possible, namely, (a) that the universe with all its organized system and complex forms has existed forever—which theory, though void of any semblance of justification, has been the greatest impediment to the rational belief in a First Cause throughout all generations; and (b) that the universe is both designed and created by God and for worthy ends. The former is the atheist’s contention, while the latter is that of the theist.
So the cosmological argument is the argument of cause and effect.
As for the cause: A cause is something. It has real existence. It is not merely a name for a certain relation. It is a real entity, a substance.
This is plain because a nonentity cannot act. If that which does not exist can be a cause, then nothing can produce something, which is a contradiction.
Chemical reactions always occur in the same way under the same conditions. But there must always be a cause. For cellulose to burn there must be a heat source and there must be oxygen.
As a blind rejection of truth, the atheist's assertion that matter is self-existent and eternal is equalled by the unproved and absurd impression that nature is capable of self-production, that chance is adequate to account for the universe, or that necessity is the ground on which all things exist.
Ps 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."
Deut 32:39 'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Doubtless, in their determined rejection of God, men have encouraged themselves by turning to these false and God-dishonoring notions. However, the cosmological argument for the existence of God as the First Cause of all things stands unlessened in its evidential value.
By the same logic or reasoning which demonstrates that the existing universe cannot produce itself by acting before it existed:
so the First Cause is not self-created, but is eternal and therefore self-existent, since He depends on nothing outside Himself, being caused by nothing.
Naturally, scripture states that God is the first cause and in fact the last cause.
Isa 44:6 "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
Isa 44:7 'And who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place.
Job 38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
Job 38:2 "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
Job 38:3 "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
Job 38:5 Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
Job 38:6 "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
No one knows the age of the earth. As you can see here, God did not form the world as formless and void, which is indicated as well by several other scriptures.
Ps 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
In the restoration of the earth after the cataclysmic event of the AC we will see that things were made out of existing, seen materials.
2 Peter 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
We will see that before the restoration, the entire earth was covered with water.
Ps 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Creation occurred instantly—Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 11:3; 2 Peter 3:5. Psalm 19:1 tells us that it occurred more rapidly than you can snap your finger. How long ago was the universe created? Unknown. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate the exact time of creation. The object of creation is said to be “the heavens [pl] and the earth.” Heavens include all of the stellar space including our own atmosphere.
Isa 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, But formed it [kuwn – “to establish something as stable” – but the AC caused instability]to be inhabited), "I am the Lord, and there is none else.
“createdcreate” – a) Bara, which means to create something out of nothing.
There are three different Hebrew words for create or make. Bara is used here as it is in Gen 1:1. But we see the other words for create used in the restoration of the earth in Gen 1 and 2.
Another word used in this verse is used in Gen 1:2.
“waste place” – tohu = a wilderness, nothing, formless, empty.
Ezek 28:13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
“created” – there are three different Hebrew words for create or make. a) Bara, which means to create something out of nothing.
Bara is used in verse 1 God created the universe out of nothing; in verse 21 God created the immaterial inner life of the animals; in verse 27 God created the inner immaterial part of man, the soul and spirit of man, out of nothing.
Gen 1:21 And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
b) Asah, which means to make or construct something out of existing materials.
This is used in verse 7 which is talking about the restoration of the earth, and God made the firmament. The word made means to make something out of materials already in existence. It is also used in verse 17, 26.
Gen 1:7 And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
Gen 1:17 And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
c) Jatsar, which means to fashion or to mould. It also means to sculptor. This is used in Genesis 2:7.
Gen 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Both bara and asah are used in Gen 2:3 to help paint the entire picture. |