Evidence

earth as seen from Saturn and Mercury

Carl Sagan called it the “pale blue dot”. That’s us, that’s where we live.

Romans 1:20 NASB
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

John 3:19-21 NASB
“And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”

Slim Jim sent me a comment this morning about one of my posts and it got me to thinking about how we channel evidence so that what the evidence points to, supports or aligns with the objective that we wish to believe in. Atheists say it about what Christians believe and we Christians say it about what Atheists believe. But because the objective realities of what Atheists believe are so different from what the objective realities of what Christians believe, we obviously both can’t be right.

Every once in a while, as I am driving to work in the morning, it strikes me where I am and what I am doing. I’m driving a vehicle on the surface of the earth, which is situated within the Milky Way galaxy, in a universe that has about two trillion galaxies that are observable. And then, just to make it interesting, there are all the different orbits that are taking place, at various break neck speeds, in a constantly expanding universe. And I say to myself, “What a beautiful day it is and there isn’t hardly any wind!” Perception is really an amazing thing, isn’t it?

Of course, there are those who say, all of what we see and all of what we are increasingly coming to know about, all came about purely by chance. So all of the evidence that they observe is aligned to support their belief. And on the other side of the coin, those of us who do not believe that all of what we see and what we are continually learning about, happened by chance, look at evidence and align it to support our belief. And this happens in all areas of evidence that is investigated, PhD’s opposing PhD’s, in the various academic and scientific fields, each studying the same evidence and aligning it to support their opposing beliefs. And the result, well we have the “debate” arena, where each side showcases their superior perceptions while attempting to diminish the opponents perceptions. The days of the gladiators are not dead.

Years ago, as I began to look at the evidence and studied the opposing perceptions, with my limited understanding in numerous academic and scientific fields, it became clear to me, as a common layperson within the Christian Church, that I wasn’t going to live long enough, to gain a competent understanding in all of these areas. So I had to decide on which perception I held as the superior perception and invest my time and energies in that perception, while keeping myself abreast of opposing perceptions, both within our society and also within the visible Christian Church. And this endeavour can be encouraging, but it also can become like walking alone in the desert, because head knowledge alone can be dry, very dry.

But something happened along that way. I like many, believed in God, but my belief was abstract. I believed in Him, but I did not know of Him. He wasn’t personal to me. He may have known all about me but I certainly did not know much, if anything, about Him. Enter Jesus.

I cannot adequately put into words the difference that Jesus made, but He literally changed everything. It definitely did not happen overnight, it was a long drawn out journey that is still ongoing but through His grace, my perception has changed. Jesus is indeed that “light” that He Himself talks about in John 3:19-21, as quoted above. Jesus, the Christ, is my hope. And at some point in our life, if we really believe in God, we will be drawn to Him because Jesus alone is that light. 

I am acutely aware of the shortfalls of the Christian Church. I am acutely aware of my lack of comprehension and understanding about many aspects about God, and I am increasingly becoming aware of my own personal deficiencies, as compared to how God would have me become more like His Son. But Jesus understands all of this, and He and He alone can still do for us, what we can not even imagine, if we but put ourselves in His hands. I can’t adequately explain it, I can only tell you that He is real and He knocks on your door. Open it.

1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!