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| Man is limited by three dimensions and time. This is why we have difficulty understanding God Who is not bound by time nor limited to a mere three dimensions of height, width and length. God created time before He created the universe. We are subject to an ongoing (forward), single time line which is why we cannot travel back into the past or forward into the future. God, however, transcends time (since He created it) and is, therefore, not subject to the constraints of time. Thus He can use as many time lines as He wishes (this explains how he can hear everyone's prayers at once). Dr. Hugh Ross, noted astrophysicist, in his book, The Fingerprint of God, points out that "God created time so that events presented in His Word would be both time-order discernible and time-order significant. The significance is to show the orderly unfolding of God's plan and reveal His sovereign control, while the discernibility helps validate the message of his spokesman." The Bible is the only Holy Book that shows God as a transcendent Being free of time and space (a concept unknown until the time of the Greeks), while the holy books of every other religion confine God (or the gods) to the same four dimensions in which we are confined. The logical conclusion to be drawn from the recent scientific evidence showing the universe had an origin is that the holy books of the other religions were written solely by men while the Bible was inspired by God. There is no way Moses could have known how the Universe was created, or understood the transcendency of God or had knowledge of future events unless he was given that knowledge by God. According to Dr. Ross, Moses was correct in every detail of the physical order of Creation in his account in Genesis and yet there was no way he could have had the necessary scientific knowledge himself. A study of the religions popular in Moses' day show an appalling lack of true scientific understanding of the earth or the universe (or the Creator), just as is true of the other religions today. In recent years, scientists have been able to actually measure the parameters of the universe and, thus, to measure the Creator of the universe. In The Fingerprint of God, Dr. Ross lists a number of the parameters necessary to sustain life. To help you understand, a few are listed here: 1. Number of stars in the planetary system (suns) if more than one: tidal interference would disrupt planetary orbits. if less than one: heat produced would be insufficient for life. 2. Parent star (sun) birth date if more recent: star would not yet have reached stable burning phase. if less recent: stellar system would not yet contain enough heavy elements. 3. Parent star (sun) distance from center of galaxy if farther: quantity of heavy elements would be insufficient to make rocky planets. if closer: stellar density and radiation would be too great. 4. Surface gravity (Earth) if stronger: atmosphere would retain too much ammonia and methane. if weaker: planet's atmosphere would lose too much water. 5. Axial tilt (Earth) if greater: surface temperature differences would be too great. if less: surface temperatures differences would be too great. 6. Thickness of crust (Earth) if thicker: too much oxygen would be transferred from the atmosphere to the crust. if thinner: volcanic and tectonic activity would be too great. These few examples give an idea of how finely tuned the earth is in order to support life. Scientists have found that these parameters must all be precise; if one is off by just a minuscule, life could not be sustained. This points to a loving Creator who cares deeply for His creation. In The Fingerprint of God, Dr. Ross has this to say: "Since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that man is without excuse. "This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven." These words from Romans 1:19-20 and Colossians 1:23 clarify that according to the Bible, everyone has the opportunity to know God. His/her response to the evidences in the creation is a key factor. As the previous chapters briefly review, the evidence is awesome both in quantity and quality--especially to our generation. More than speaking merely of God's existence, the creation, according to Romans 1, also reveals essential truths about God's character, which would include His desire and means to form a relationship with man. As an illustration of the accessibility of that information, the Bible includes an account of an ancient character, Job (Job 7-19), who without the aid of scriptures, and in opposition to the religion of his peers, discerned all the elements of "the gospel," the good news of how man can find eternal life in God. Here is a review of those elements: A Creator must exist. Living things do not make themselves. No organism ever has been observed to spontaneously assemble itself. The Creator must have awesome power and wisdom. The quantity of material and the power within our universe are mind-boggling. The information, or intricacy, manifest in any part of the universe, and especially in a living organism, is beyond our ability to comprehend. And what we see is only what God has shown us within our dimensions of space and time! The Creator must be loving. The simplicity, balance, order, elegance, and beauty seen throughout the whole of the creation demonstrates that God is loving rather than capricious. Further, the capacity and desire to nurture and to protect, seen in so many creatures, only make sense if their Creator possesses these same attributes. It is apparent that God cares for all of His creatures, for He has provided for their needs. The Creator must be just and must require justice. Inward reflection and outward investigation affirm that human beings have a conscience. When conscience is violated, guilt is incurred and shame is felt. The conscience reflects the reality of right and wrong and the necessity of obedience. Each of us falls hopelessly short of the Creator's standard. We incur guilt when we violate any part of God's moral law in our actions, our words, and our thoughts. Who can keep his thoughts and attitudes perfectly pure for even an hour? If each person falls hopelessly short of his or her own standards, how much more so of God's? Because the Creator is loving, wise, and powerful, He must have made a way to rescue us. When we come to despair over our helpless imperfection, we can begin to understand from the creation around us that God's love, wisdom, and power are sufficient to deliver us from our otherwise hopeless situation. If we trust our lives totally to the Rescuer, we will be saved. The one and only path is to give up all human attempts to satisfy God's requirements and to put our trust solely in Him and in His means of redemption." For in depth information on the subject of creation, Dr. Ross' book is highly recommended. Dr. Ross used some examples in his television program, Reasons to Believe, which help us to understand the gulf that exists between us and God; between the Olam Hazay (this present world where we dwell) and the Olam Habah (the world to come where God dwells). One example Dr. Ross uses is Mr. and Mrs. Flat. The Flats live in a world that has only two dimensions: length and width. When Mr. Flat looks at Mrs. Flat all he can see is her outline, but to him that is normal and he recognizes his wife by her outline. He can recognize a circle and a triangle, but if someone were to tell him that a triangle could be circular (or a circle could be triangular), he would not believe them. To the Flats, a circle is rounded and a triangle has sharp edges. However, with the addition of just one dimension - height - a triangle can become circular. A cone, after all, is a circular triangle (or a triangular circle), but without the extra dimension of height, it could not be seen as such. If I were to put two fingers into the world of Mr. and Mrs. Flat, all they would see would be two flat circles; therefore a conclusion they might draw is that "Jan" is two circles. Of course, they would be wrong, so it would be up to me to try to explain myself to them in terms to which they hopefully can relate. This is exactly what God has done with the Bible. The definition of "faith" has undergone changes in the church itself. According to the Bible, faith is founded on fact and on what God has clearly done. ("That men may see, know, consider and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this..." Isaiah 41:20 and "But these are written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah (the Anointed One), the Son of God and that through believing and trusting in Him you may have eternal life through what He is." John 20:31. These are only two examples). Not only is God not restricted to four dimensions as we are (dimensions of height, width, length and time), Dr. Ross has noted that at least eight dimensions can be discerned in the Bible and mathematicians have posited up to eleven. When Jesus appeared in the locked room, he used six dimensions to travel through the solid wall. Dr. Ross sums it up in his book, The Fingerprint of God. "As vital as the new cosmology may be for convincing the skeptic that Jesus Christ is his one and only Lord and Savior, it is also important as an aid to Christians in living day to day. Christians are transformed and strengthened as they become convinced, truly convinced, that the Savior they cannot see is every bit as real and close as the person closest to them--even closer. Further, all the paradoxical doctrines in the Bible (e.g. the Trinity, free-will and predestination, eternal security, baptism in the Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, spiritual gifts) can be resolved and understood within the context of extra-dimensional reality. The existence of paradoxical doctrines in the Bible that cannot be resolved without appeal to extra-dimensional reality constitutes evidence that the Bible's message came from an extra-dimensional source. The fact that such paradoxical doctrines are missing from the holy books of the other religions suggests that those books simply stem from human origin." Dr. Ross adds this note. "These extra dimensions discussed in this book constitute a minimum realm of operation for the Creator. He may function in many more dimensions. He may even operate in dimensions completely independent from space and/or time." Thus God need not have a Beginning. To answer the question, "If God created me, who created God?"; the answer is: God has always existed. |
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