Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;
for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:19-20
No more essential question can be asked than, "Does God Exist?" The answer to this question will have the greatest consequence upon our life than any other question we could ask. If He does exist, what form does He take? Is He visible to the physical eye? If He is not visible to the physical eye by which means may we know that He exists?
No one can either prove nor disprove God exists by a direct method but we can prove or disprove His existence indirectly. We cannot see Him with our physical eyes. He is invisible to our physical sight. Does this not prove that He does not exist? There is more than one type of eyesight. There is the physical and the spiritual or eye of faith. We can see His effects or His handiwork, in the created world.
The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 3:7-8, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." He is saying that we must be born spiritually. This presupposes spiritual death of the one being born again. Then He describes what one born of the Spirit is like. He uses the analogy of the wind. We do not know where the wind comes from and we cannot see it with our physical eyes but we can see its effects. So while we cannot see that a man has been born again spiritually, we can see the effects of it in his life. This is an indirect proof from effect to cause.
To deny cause is to deny all things exist. "Cause" according to Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is "That which produces an effect; that which impels into existence, or by its agency or operation produces what did not before exist; that by virtue of which any thing proceeds, and without which it would not exist." Man does this on a daily basis and yet denies that God can do the same thing.
Hebrews 11:3 gives us the cause of the universe, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This is the Christian doctrine of Ex Nihilo. God spoke the world into existence. The visible creation did not exist until God said that it should.
"Ex nihilo is a Latin term meaning "out of nothing". It is often used in conjunction with the term creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing". Due to the nature of this term, it is often used in philosophical or creationistic arguments, as many Christians, Muslims and Jews believe that God created the universe from nothing" (Wikipedia). Why do we believe that God created the world out of nothing? Because it exists and by faith.
"Another major argument for creatio ex nihilo is the "first cause" argument, which may be summarized as: Everything that begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe must have a cause." (Wikipedia). The universe is an effect which presupposes a cause. The Creator is responsible for the effect because it is impossible for something to create itself. The First Cause would have to be the Creator because He alone would possess the necessary attributes to bring the world into existence and one of those attributes is the ability to create something out of nothing. This is the attribute of omnipotence.
The existence of the universe conclusively proves that it had to come into existence at some point. "The scientific consensus now is that the universe had a beginning and that every thing that now exists in the universe had its origin in a large explosion of energy called the 'Big Bang'" (Wikipedia). Scientists now say that the universe had a beginning. However, their beginning of existence was caused by some unknown source that resulted in the Big Bang. In other words, this beginning was by random chance. What this says is that matter is eternal and therefore god. How did a consensus of scientists arrive at this conclusion? If they deny that God created the world out of nothing, then the only other alternative is that world created itself out of pre-existing matter. The effect is become the creator. There are no other alternatives.
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth. Psalm 33:6. Here is the doctrine of ex nihilo expressly stated. This is in conformity with the creation account of Genesis.
Notice how the creation happened on the first day in Genesis 1:3, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Said means that it was spoken. The light mentioned here was thus spoken into existence by the word of God. Other references in Genesis 1 referring to God speaking the world into existence out of nothing can be found in Genesis 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26.
To say that God did not create the world ex nihilo is to deny what Genesis Chapter 1 says occurred. To do this would be tantamount to saying that God does not exist and the creation account is a myth. The question comes down to either believing what the Bible says about creation or believing what man says. Man will vehemently deny the doctrine of ex nihilo but God says that man should know that He created the heaven and earth and man is without excuse.
for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:19-20
No more essential question can be asked than, "Does God Exist?" The answer to this question will have the greatest consequence upon our life than any other question we could ask. If He does exist, what form does He take? Is He visible to the physical eye? If He is not visible to the physical eye by which means may we know that He exists?
No one can either prove nor disprove God exists by a direct method but we can prove or disprove His existence indirectly. We cannot see Him with our physical eyes. He is invisible to our physical sight. Does this not prove that He does not exist? There is more than one type of eyesight. There is the physical and the spiritual or eye of faith. We can see His effects or His handiwork, in the created world.
The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 3:7-8, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." He is saying that we must be born spiritually. This presupposes spiritual death of the one being born again. Then He describes what one born of the Spirit is like. He uses the analogy of the wind. We do not know where the wind comes from and we cannot see it with our physical eyes but we can see its effects. So while we cannot see that a man has been born again spiritually, we can see the effects of it in his life. This is an indirect proof from effect to cause.
To deny cause is to deny all things exist. "Cause" according to Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is "That which produces an effect; that which impels into existence, or by its agency or operation produces what did not before exist; that by virtue of which any thing proceeds, and without which it would not exist." Man does this on a daily basis and yet denies that God can do the same thing.
Hebrews 11:3 gives us the cause of the universe, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This is the Christian doctrine of Ex Nihilo. God spoke the world into existence. The visible creation did not exist until God said that it should.
"Ex nihilo is a Latin term meaning "out of nothing". It is often used in conjunction with the term creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing". Due to the nature of this term, it is often used in philosophical or creationistic arguments, as many Christians, Muslims and Jews believe that God created the universe from nothing" (Wikipedia). Why do we believe that God created the world out of nothing? Because it exists and by faith.
"Another major argument for creatio ex nihilo is the "first cause" argument, which may be summarized as: Everything that begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe must have a cause." (Wikipedia). The universe is an effect which presupposes a cause. The Creator is responsible for the effect because it is impossible for something to create itself. The First Cause would have to be the Creator because He alone would possess the necessary attributes to bring the world into existence and one of those attributes is the ability to create something out of nothing. This is the attribute of omnipotence.
The existence of the universe conclusively proves that it had to come into existence at some point. "The scientific consensus now is that the universe had a beginning and that every thing that now exists in the universe had its origin in a large explosion of energy called the 'Big Bang'" (Wikipedia). Scientists now say that the universe had a beginning. However, their beginning of existence was caused by some unknown source that resulted in the Big Bang. In other words, this beginning was by random chance. What this says is that matter is eternal and therefore god. How did a consensus of scientists arrive at this conclusion? If they deny that God created the world out of nothing, then the only other alternative is that world created itself out of pre-existing matter. The effect is become the creator. There are no other alternatives.
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth. Psalm 33:6. Here is the doctrine of ex nihilo expressly stated. This is in conformity with the creation account of Genesis.
Notice how the creation happened on the first day in Genesis 1:3, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Said means that it was spoken. The light mentioned here was thus spoken into existence by the word of God. Other references in Genesis 1 referring to God speaking the world into existence out of nothing can be found in Genesis 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26.
To say that God did not create the world ex nihilo is to deny what Genesis Chapter 1 says occurred. To do this would be tantamount to saying that God does not exist and the creation account is a myth. The question comes down to either believing what the Bible says about creation or believing what man says. Man will vehemently deny the doctrine of ex nihilo but God says that man should know that He created the heaven and earth and man is without excuse.
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