The craziest thing happened the other morning.
I had overslept and was chaotically running around the house trying to get ready in time for work. As I ran by the kitchen table, I saw the most peculiar thing.
A box of Alpha-Bits had been overturned on the table, some of the cereal had spilled out, and it actually spelled this message:
TRAVIS, TAKE OUT THE TRASH
I looked around and tried to determine how this phenomenon had come about. I lost all track of time as I imagined how this had happened.
Eventually, I grabbed my keys and almost tripping on a bag of trash propped up beside the door. I figured my wife would get it later because I was in such a rush.
As I drove to work, I was simply amazed that this phenomenon had taken place in my house the night before as we slept.
Somehow, the pantry door opened up, the Alpha-Bits box flew fifteen feet to the middle of our table, tipped over, the lid popped open, just a few letters poured out of the box that just so happened to spell a message containing my personal name and a seemingly specific message, and then the pantry door had closed again.
It was amazing. What an incredible coincidence.
I couldn’t understand when I tried to explain to my wife concerning the incredible nature of what had transpired why all she wanted to talk about is how I never remembered to take out the trash.
It was the oddest thing.
You Think That Story Is Unbelievable?!
You think I’m crazy, do you?
Look, I’ve heard it from others as well.
“That’s absolutely absurd! No one could look at those specific variables and possibly conclude that it all just happened by accident.”
Really?
Well, let me share another story.
Many years ago, nothing caused a Big Bang that brought a whole lot of something from a whole lot of nothing. The explosion was so intense it should have either decimated what it created or collapsed upon itself, but scientific evidence instead points to the fact that it’s almost like something let it explode so far and then something caused it to reduce acceleration. It was able to go but only so far at so fast.
Due to that controlled explosion, everything we know came to be.
Out of the billions of stars, the sun sets up shop in one neighborhood of the galaxy. In this particular section of the universe, it sure is helpful that this star isn’t the immense Arcturus or the gigantic Betelgeuse, because, if it was a star just a little bit larger, all the planets would have been incinerated.
Earth sits a few planets down the line from the sun. If it was one planet closer, it would be too hot to live there due to the proximity of the sun. If it was one planet further back, it would be too cold to live.
Earth is not the biggest planet and it is not the smallest. Yet it’s the only one, out of the 8 planets (or 9 if you are still a fan of Pluto) that can sustain life. And the more and more we venture out into space, we realize that it is the only planet sustaining any type of life form.
Earth contains more than 100 very narrowly defined anthropic constants which are precise and interdependent environmental conditions that support human life on earth.
Oxygen just happens to comprise 21% of the atmosphere on Earth. If it was at 25%, fires would erupt spontaneously. At 15%, all humans would suffocate.
The Earth’s atmosphere is just right concerning density and alignment to the sun. If the atmosphere was less transparent, we would not have enough solar radiation. If it was more transparent, we would be bombarded with too much solar radiation.
Everything on Earth, including the Moon-Earth gravitational interaction, carbon dioxide level, and the precise nature of the force of gravity, is made to sustain life.
All that we know and see apparently came from an explosion with no purpose, intention, or designer.
Then there are all these lifeforms. They are each so unique. And somehow, they also are interdependent upon each other. Symbiotic relationships are seen through every nook and cranny of the earth.
Then there is the issue of human beings. The human mind is able to contain information that could fill some twenty million volumes.
The interaction of the organs is an impressive machine manufactured to sustain life without batteries or power supply.
When cut, it heals. When hurt, it cries. When happy, it smiles.
And, then there are these babies. My goodness, the babies. So while there are many similarities between all humans, about half of them have certain body parts, the other half have another set of body parts, and when you put those body parts together, another life form comes from that pleasurable experience.
One of those humans is able to carry that child in the womb, and throughout the time of pregnancy, delivery, and post-delivery, the woman’s body changes to sustain life.
And have you heard about the conehead? So, the baby’s skull doesn’t fully form until it has passed through the baby’s mother so that the baby and mother can make it through such an unlikely ordeal.
What naturally comes from the mother’s body the first few hours is exactly what that baby needs in those moments. Then a shift takes place later and it lines up perfectly with what the child needs.
As human beings, we have enough food. Temperatures are consistent. Gravity keeps us in place.
All of these dynamics are so amazing. And just to think it supposedly all happened by itself.
Think about it: the most brilliant NASA technicians look at the way the Earth just happens to be so that they can model their spaceships after it in order to sustain human life in the chaotic environment known as space.
The most educated doctors look at what the nutrients are in a mother’s body in order that they can specify what ingredients needs to be in baby formula.
Every invention that we make today is built upon formulas and principles that we discover rather than create.
And it all just happened.
Designs Have Designers
You may think my story of Alpha-Bits flying across the kitchen is absurd, and I would agree with you. If you really look at that complex message, you would realize that somebody was specific and intentional that I received a message.
And that’s exactly the way I think about Creation.
It is simply too difficult of an intellectual hurdle for me to accept that all of these variables mentioned (and countless more) all happened by accident.
I know it doesn’t tell us for sure that God exists. It doesn’t tell us his name or the totality of his character, but it does tell us something.
I do believe that the surmounting evidence in the universe at least warrants the respect for people to be able to hold and communicate the belief that such a design calls for a designer.
I believe someone was intentional and specific to make things in such a way to send a message.
What’s the message?
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. -Psalm 19:1
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
This is a GREAT post, Travis! The Bible does not say anything about how God created anything; it just says He created it. The different Hebrew word used for “create” in Genesis 1:1 and the rest of the creation account opens the door to the possibility that God Himself caused the big bang and then arranged the pieces as He saw fit. Not saying that is what happened because the Bible doesn’t say what specifically happened. Just saying that it is a possibility since the Hebrew word for “create” in Gen. 1:1 implies a synthesis, something from nothing. The Hebrew word used for “create” or “made” in the rest of the creation account implies a rearranging materials, similar to the construction of a building. Man, I am such a nerd, but I loved reading this!
Great point, Brian. I have always believed in the Big Bang. I believe God said, “let there be,” and a pretty sizable bang commenced.
There is a pretty significant bang when I don’t take out the trash! I can’t say for certain which one is bigger since I didn’t live through the original one, but I can say that the “you forgot to take out the trash” bang creates enough energy to get the full trash bag outside pretty quickly!
I second that emotion.