Fingerprint of God – Part 1

Does God exist? Did He create the universe? Did he create us? Is there evidence of that? Well, today, how can we show that a person has been somewhere? Fingerprints. Does God have a fingerprint?

In some ways, a fingerprint is like graffiti on a wall. It tells us something. The difference is that while this graffiti is bold and lets us know someone was here, it doesn’t tell us who was here. A fingerprint is like the graffiti, but is much more subtle. You have to be looking for it. Yet, it not only tells us someone was there, but exactly who was there because each fingerprint is unique.

“For 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 people are without excuse” (Ro 1:20 [NIV]). This verse seems to imply what we can see with our naked eye forms God’s fingerprint. Yet, there are some other translations that may be adding a few subtleties. The English Standard Version states, “In the things that have been made.” Several other translations state, “Through the things made.” This would seem to imply this verse is also talking about what we can see and what we can’t see with our naked eye.

Traditionally, the passage in Romans has been agreed to mean parts of creation we can see. For instance, the stars have been given as evidence that God exists and is a Creator. After all, who can deny the beauty of them?

Or, what about the lush valleys with waterfalls, majestic mountains, beautiful fields of flowers, colorful birds, diversity of mankind, tropical shores, diversity of kinds of animals like birds and other land animals, and the miracle of babies. All of these would be consistent with a Creator, right?

Yet, “science” has tried to tell us a different story. I put science in quotes. I’ll come to that reason in a few minutes. Science has taught us that nature itself has put things in its current state, current order, and current diversity. For example, the earth is in one of a million galaxies, and we are only on the fringe of it. Some state that if God created everything and us, then we would be in the center of his creation? Oh, really? First of all, who said creation was about us? We are the by-product of his glorious creation – not the purpose for it. Second, it’s good we are not in the center of our galaxy because in the center of our galaxy is a super black hole. Not any place I would want to be! I’m very content to be in the corner of our galaxy. Maybe we’re there because God knew that was the best place for us to be. Still sounds like we’re still pretty special to Him.

Also, “science” has taught us we don’t need a Creator to be here. All life came from a single cell, and survival of the fittest and evolution has created all our diversity. Again, I’m using quotes here. I won’t go into all the arguments for and against this. Yet, I will state that when the idea of Evolution and Survival of the Fittest was first proposed by Darwin, no one knew the complexity of a cell and all that it did. At that time, it was just thought to be a blob of cytoplasm. I think if Darwin knew then what we know about a single cell today, he would have thought twice about proposing such a theory.

We have assumed that Science and Truth are one and the same. Nothing could be further from reality. Science does not equal truth. Why? Well, what is Science anyway? Science is the discovery of truth. It is only as good as our methods of detection and our hypotheses. Science is ever evolving. Take the example we just mentioned. In Darwin’s day, they thought a cell was a blob of cytoplasm. So, why couldn’t a cell evolve into other creatures? Today, we know how complex cells are. They need proteins to make and shape other proteins. If you need a complex set of proteins to shape other proteins, how do you shape the original set of proteins so they can shape all the others? Science only points to the truth. It is not the arrival of truth. It will eventually get you there, but it cannot be classified as one and the same.

So, where does that leave us? Even if we believe or don’t believe God to have been the Creator of all we know. How can we know he was involved or not. Go back to our first paragraph. How do we know anyone has been somewhere? Fingerprints. What does God’s fingerprints look like?

Now, there is a lot the Bible tells us about God. Here are a number of His names, or rather, characteristics that make Him who He is: El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty), Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of hosts), El Elyon (The Most High God), Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner), Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals), Elohim (God), Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness), Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You), Adoni (Lord, Master), Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide), Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah), Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace), Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd), Jehovah Shammah (The Lord is There), El Olam (The Everlasting God), Qanna (Jealous). Yet, names in themselves are not fingerprints. Now, I suppose one could argue that one being having all these characteristics makes them unique. Yet, a name in and of itself, does not make one unique.

So, what makes God unique? Stay tuned for our next post where we will discuss just that. God bless.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens