EVIDENCE FOR DESIGN IN NATURE

            The wonders of nature shout out to all those willing to hear that
there is a wonderful and powerful creator of it all.  Anyone willing to take the
time to look and to listen can see evidence for God all around them.  Anyone, that
is, who is willing to accept the idea of God and the implications of the existence
of God for their own lives.

            One group of people in our world who have even less excuse than
the rest of us for not believing in and responding to God is the scientists.  This is because
they are in touch with the amazing intricacies of God?s creation on several
levels which most people are unaware of.  Below is a list of  evidence for a designer
of the universe from scientific knowledge.

1.      Consider the amazing element carbon.  Of the 100+ elements, only carbon has
the correct properties required to build the large molecules required to create
life.  Carbon is able to  build long strands of atoms, cyclic molecules, molecules
with rigid or flexible structures, flat, linear and three-dimensional molecules.  Car
bon forms single and multiple bonds with itself and other atoms.  If the properties
of carbon were even slightly different,  life would not exist anywhere in the universe.  Surel
y God designed the properties of carbon to make life possible.

2.      Water is a very important molecule to life for a great number of reasons. 
Without water as a solvent, life would be impossible.  Water is a very simple molecule
made out of two hydrogen atoms attached to one oxygen atom, bent at a 105 degree
angle.  If water was linear instead of bent at this angle, it would boil at about
?250 degrees Farenheit, and there would surely be no life anywhere in the universe. 
?Water has the property, because it is bent, of being very sticky.  For this reason,
it can dissolve a great number of kinds of compounds, making it an ideal solvent
for living things.  At the same time, because water molecules are so sticky, water
can absorb a lot of heat, making it capable of maintaining the temperature of
the earth within a very small range.  The water molecule was designed just right to
allow life to exist.

3.      Next, consider the force of gravity.  Stars and galaxies form out of the original
matter of creation due to the attractive force of gravity pulling the created
matter together.  According to physicists, if the attractive force of gravity had been
a tiny fraction smaller, galaxies and stars would never have formed.  If the force
due to gravity had been just slightly larger than it is, the universe would
have collapsed soon after its creation, and life would never have formed.  The gravity
?force is exactly what it needs to be to allow for galaxies, stars, planets,
and eventually life to exist.  Good job, God!

4.      Now, please consider the eye.  It is a marvel of design on every level.  It has
a flexible lens with a variable focal length, allowing both near and distant
objects to be focused.  It has molecules with the incredible property of turning light
photons into an electrical signal.  It has an adjustable aperture (the pupil), which
responds more accurately than any computer-controlled camera.  Charles Darwin called
the eye his worst nightmare because he was fully aware that it was inconceivable
that any kind of random process or natural selection could cause the first eye
to appear spontaneously.  The growth in our understanding of both the chemical and physical
function of the eye since Darwin?s time has made the problem even more intractable.  Ca
n anyone believe that the eye was not designed by a creator?  Sure.  People who refuse
to accept the personal implications of a divine designer in their own lives
can close their eyes to both the design and the designer.  Again we say good job God!

5.      Lastly, consider the genetic code and the function of DNA in passing
on information from generation to generation.  Our cells contain thousands of extremely
complex chemical factory-like protein molecules called enzymes.  Cells build these huge
and complex molecules by using the code written into the DNA molecules contained
in the chromosomes.  The question is, who created the code in the first place?  Can a code just
form itself spontaneously?  Besides, the enzymes created by the DNA are required in order
for a cell to synthesize DNA, so which came first, the chicken (DNA) or the
egg (protein enzymes)?  The obvious answer is that both the proteins and the DNA, as
well as the code system by which DNA is capable of directing the synthesis of
proteins were designed by a very intelligent and powerful creator.

The properties of carbon, the shape of the water molecule, the size of the gravity

force, the design of the eye, the genetic code, the list could go on almost
indefinitely.  One could mention the size of the electrostatic force, the magnetic field
of the earth, the protective ozone layer, and on and on?all required for the
existence of life on the earth.  The world is an amazing mosaic of design which makes
the statement in Romans 1:20 ring true:

?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 men are without excuse.

John M. Oakes, PhD