Hey Church!

As you make preparations for the Lord’s Day, ponder this two-part question: “Is God good, and does He love us?” This is a question–perhaps the question–that gets to the heart of the season of Advent (which we will begin next Sunday). What evidence can you cite to prove that the Almighty God cares for you, loves you, or even thinks of you at all?  

It may help to approach the question by way of analogy: 

My wife and I “gave life” to three boys. How would one on the outside looking in be able to tell that we do not merely tolerate, or shun with contempt, but truly love our little creations? The signs would be clear. 

Let’s begin with the necessary provisions for life. If you heard that we were loving parents but then learned that we neglect our children’s most basic needs of food, water, shelter, and clothing, the evidence would speak for itself! No, if we were truly loving, we will have gone nine months ahead of them to prepare a place that is suitable for their life, health, and growth. 

Consider the Creator who spoke our home planet into existence. Had he not considered us, or if He held us in contempt, then would it not follow logically that the universe He created would be utterly inhospitable to our existence? Instead, what we find are all the hallmarks of a thoughtful Designer, if not a loving Father, who planned for our flourishing long before we were even born. To name only a few of the many features of our so-called “fine-tuned” universe that must all be precisely the way they have been arranged for our existence to be possible: 

• The size of planet Earth must be almost exactly what it is or life would not be possible. If it were much larger, its increased gravity would cause the toxic gases methane and ammonia to remain close to earth’s surface, rather than dissipating as they do into the atmosphere, and we would die. Were it much smaller, then water vapor would dissipate into the atmosphere, and we would die. 
• The speed of Earth’s rotation must be almost exactly what it is for human life to be possible. If slower, the dramatic temperature changes from day to night would be inhospitable. If faster, then extremely high winds would make life unsustainable. 
• Similarly, the angle of Earth’s axis and its distance from the sun perfectly govern inhabitable temperatures and seasons. 
• Without Jupiter’s massive gravitational presence in our solar system, scientists estimate that the Earth would be struck by comets, debris, and meteors approximately one thousand times more frequently. 
• It is essential for life on Earth that the moon be precisely its size and distance from us. Any bigger or smaller and our tides would become extremely overwhelming or deficient for life. The moon’s size and distance also serve as a stabilizing force for the Earth’s rotational axis. 
• Add to all of this the fact that our planet alone has the perfect ratios of elements–in the crust, soil, waters, air, and atmosphere (an atmosphere that is just the right thickness and composition to make Earth habitable), or that the clouds provide cover from heat and harmful UV rays, or that the trees scrub our air clean of CO2, or that pure water literally springs up from the ground and descends mountains, or that all of the nutrients we need can be found from the fruit of the land… and the list could go on. 

In fact, scientists have identified somewhere in the ballpark of 150 such perfectly balanced details that sustain life on Earth. Eric Metaxas, in his book Miracles, explains the math: “[W]hen we do the calculations we discover that the odds of a planet supporting life are less than one in ten to the seventy-third power. That’s a one followed by seventy-three zeroes.” To help you visualize, that number again is LESS than ONE in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

I don’t suppose David had even a small fraction of this data when He wrote, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

The design of the universe is one proof that God is, at the very least, aware of our needs and cares enough to provide for them. However, since this may not quite get us to our desired conclusion–that He is good and that He loves us–consider this Part 1 of a study on which we will build next Saturday, when we will also introduce the ancient liturgical season of Advent.