3. If it was caused, was that cause personal or impersonal?

 

               Prior to the first event, there was nothing, not even space or time. Can you even imagine that? The best we can do is to picture a black screen or swirling dust. But then, we are not imagining “nothing,” but rather a color or particles of earth on the microscopic level. One theory attributes the beginning of the universe to the impersonal Laws of Nature. However, the cause of the universe cannot be the universe itself because it does not yet exist. A law cannot set events into motion. It is merely the pattern to which all events must obey, first provided that they can be induced to happen. The law of gravitational force does not cause you to fall down. The act of your friend pushing you did, but your descent conforms to the pull of gravity. Take the laws of arithmetic as another example. Add five dollars to ten dollars, and the result will certainly be fifteen dollars. But arithmetic by itself doesn’t add a single dollar into your pocket.

 

               Thus, the only way for the first event to arise spontaneously, yet be caused, is to have occurred from the free act of a person or agent. We observe this phenomenon in our daily lives and yet fail to recognize the miracle of it all. I can “will” myself to raise my arm, and it happens. I choose to blink twice, and my eyes open and shut two times in a row. Now, we are searching for a timeless, personal, free agent to have caused the beginning of the universe, which at least presents a very solid reason for theism. By definition, God does not need a cause because He is neither an event nor a contingent being; His existence does not depend on any others. Because He created space and time, He necessarily exists outside of space and time. Very methodically, in a mutually exclusive decision tree of sorts, we can establish a strong case for the existence of a personal Creator who complements the Christian’s idea of God found in the Bible.

 

               True, there are no ta-da tactics to reveal the presence of an almighty supernatural being, but there are certain strong arguments of evidence that support that God indeed does exist! In my own search for truth, I find that the Christian worldview fits best with the reality of life I see and provides satisfying revelations as to the purpose of man. C.S Lewis, one of my favorite authors, described a certain experience close to the human heart, which he calls “an inconsolable longing,” a feeling of yearning, yet pure joy and painful nostalgia that seems to point to a world completely beyond this one. Is this a result of chemical hiccups, a random misfiring of neurons, or does it mean something more? If we are hungry in this world, there is food to fulfill us. If we are thirsty, there is such a thing as water. If we find in ourselves a desire for something that this world cannot satisfy, then perhaps we were made for something more. The Bible reveals a surprisingly accurate knowledge of the heart’s inner workings—a better understanding of myself that could only come from my Creator. I encourage you to read for yourself and discover that we find our own life accounts embedded within His eternal story. There are answers to life’s grand questions if you only ask.

 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you.” –Matthew 7:7