A Better Way of Life
In Acts 17:24-28 Paul seeks to expand their thinking. Athens was full of temples, and if you go there today you can still see some of them. Paul tells them that God does not need man-made temples. Rather, God created us, and did so with the intention that we should get to know Him. Paul uses the words of one of their own poets to point to the true aim of God’s plan for us, namely to be His children.
The truth is that God’s goodness is greater than we ever imagine, and His plans for us are greater than we conceive them to be.
Atheism tries to pain a picture of a God who seeks to constrict and constrain. Nothing could be further from the truth, for He is a God who gives freedom. Indeed it is atheism that has a poverty of thinking.
The materialist view of the world says that we are nothing more than biochemical machines that came about by random chance. That is what atheism says you are. Consider the implications of this. If you are in love, it has no real meaning, it is just a biochemical response. If you achieve something, whether academically, in sport or whatever, it doesn’t mean anything. It just came about by chance. If you are artistic, whether it be dance, music, literature or art, it is all meaningless. The deep pain and anguish we feel when someone love dies is just an illusion, there is no real loss, no real pain. This is the consequence of the materialist viewpoint.
Indeed, if we are just biochemical machines that came about by blind chance, then any pronouncements we make have no value, no meaning. This, of course, includes the statement that there is no God. As with all contentions of atheism, materialism contains the seeds of its own destruction.
Thankfully the truth is that life does have meaning. There is a God who cares. He created us to achieve things. Just as we feel joy when our own children achieve things, so God rejoices when we achieve things. He also shares in our pain. The loss of someone we love are times when we feel deep pain and loss, but they can also be times when we are supremely aware of the closeness of God, and the cross is the primary demonstration of the depths of God’s love.
More than a turbo-charged chimp
If you want to know what life is about, then Genesis 1-3 is the best place to go. It tells us that we were created in the image of God. We are more than turbo-charged chimps. We are not just more intelligent creatures, we are radically different from every other creature on the planet. And there are seven billion experiments going on in the world today that prove it.
There is no creature on earth that is as self-aware as we are. There is no other creature that seeks to explain, understand or explore as we do. There is no other creature that invents and creates like we do. There is no creature that produces works of art like we do. We are not just monkeys with over-developed brains, but are unique. We are the only creature that was made in the image of God.
If we look at mankind we see two conflicting pictures. On the one hand we see the wonder of humanity. We have already mentioned the creativity and achievements, but we see moral goodness as well. There are famously people who have achieved great things like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, Mother Theresa. In times of war or great suffering, ordinary people will make extraordinary sacrifices, they will put their own lives or well-being at risk in order to help others. In all sorts of mundane ways we see people doing good things. Parents looking after disabled children, children looking after elderly parents. Even in your own life you there will be times when you do genuinely good things.
But then on the other hand we can be appalled at what we see in humanity, There are the infamous monsters like Hitler, Stalin and Mao-Tse-Tung who must have been responsible for about 100 million deaths or so between them. In times of war and hardship while some will be amazingly selfless, others will be horrendously selfish. There are parents who abuse their children, children who neglect their elderly parents. Again, if we are honest, there are times when do, or at least think, appalling things.
To say that humanity is wonderful is only part of the story, but to say that humanity is a complete disaster is equal nonsense. This is exactly what Genesis 1-3 tells us. It explains the good and wonderful side of humanity, because we are made in the image of God. We get all the bad stuff because we have rebelled against God, and the rest of the Bible is God’s plan to sort out the problem.
Further Reading
The Reason for God by Tim Keller is an excellent book which explores these and many other themes.
I have also produced a website that explores the issues involved in the creation-intelligent design-evolution debate.
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