NOT A CHANCE
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth."
That line, the opening of the enduring Apostle's Creed, tells us
several important things about God. First, that God is a loving and caring Father. Second, that He is a sovereign and Almighty God. Finally, it tells us that He is the "maker of heaven and earth." That's a basic place to begin. God is the Creator. He made heaven and earth and everything in it. And if God is the "maker of heaven and earth," then we must forever put away the idea that anything is made by chance. "Chance" merely describes the statistical probability of something happening. Chance itself can "do" or "make" nothing.
People who are genuinely intelligent often fall into the delusion of thinking "chance" can make something. Jacques Monod, a famous biochemist, wrote: "Chance alone is at the source of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, at the very root of the stupendous edifice of
evolution." Yet assigning such power to "chance" doesn't make
sense. Chance has no power. For example, when a coin is flipped,
the chance it will land "heads" is 50%. However, "chance" does not
make it land heads. Whether or not it lands heads or tails is due to
the strength with which the coin is flipped, the power of air currents
and air pressure as it flies through the air, where it is caught, and if
it is flipped over once it is caught. Chance doesn't "do" or "make"
anything. It only describes probability.
Years ago, when the late Carl Sagan petitioned the United States
government for a grant to search for intelligent life in outer space,
how did he hope to find it? He used a super sensitive instrument to
pick up radio signals from distant space, and then he looked for
order and pattern in the signals - which would demonstrate they
were transmitted by intelligent life. In the same way, the order and
pattern of the whole universe demonstrates that it was fashioned by
intelligent life, not by "chance." Scientists detect "chance" in the
radio signals constantly (in the form of static with no order or
pattern), but the static tells them nothing.
Therefore, when someone says the universe or anything else came
about by chance, they are either extremely ignorant, superstitious,
or (most likely) simply repeating a line they have heard before and
have unthinkingly accepted. Only an intelligent designer could
create a just-right universe, not "chance," and our universe is a just-
right universe.
The universe has a just-right gravitational force. If it were larger, the
stars would be too hot and would burn up too quickly and too
unevenly to support life. If it were smaller, the stars would remain
so cool, nuclear fusion would never ignite, and there would be no
heat and light.
The universe has a just-right speed of light. If it were larger, stars
would send out too much light. If it were smaller, stars would not
send out enough light.
The universe has a just-right average distance between the stars. If
it were larger, the heavy element density would be too thin for rocky
planets to form, and there would only be gaseous planets. If it were
smaller, planetary orbits would become destabilized.
The universe has a just-right polarity of the water molecule. If it
were greater, the heat of fusion and vaporization would be too great
for life to exist. If it were smaller, the heat of fusion and vaporization
would be too small for life's existence; liquid water would become
too inferior a solvent for life chemistry to proceed, ice would not
float, leading to a runaway freeze-up.
Could all this happen by accident? Not a chance! There is a God in
heaven, and He is the "maker of heaven and earth." Do you believe
the creed? Can you say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth"?
by David Guzik
For Bible Study resources by David Guzik, go to:
www.enduringword.com/library_commentaries.html
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David Guzik is the director of Calvary Chapel Bible College Germany, near Siegen, Germany. David took this position in January of 2003, after serving for 14 years as the founding and Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Simi Valley. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1982. Learn more about David and his ministry at his website “The Enduring Word,” located at: http://www.enduringword.com where you will find excellent bible study commentaries and much more.