Here is something to consider:  while hiking in a remote forest you find a painted portrait neatly framed, hanging on a tree.  You examine the painting with its careful brush strokes, color selection, symmetry, and subtle shading.  A true work of art!

What would your reaction be?

I imagine that I would quickly look around in wonder...how did this painting get here?  Where is the artist?  And not seeing anyone around, I might stop and ponder its purpose for placement there.  

  Few would conclude that this painting somehow originated by random, haphazard, and completely accidental events.  Even if all the components of this framed portrait were set at the base of the tree, do you think that given enough time it might somehow come together?  

The answer has to be, no.  

The painting is evidence of the existence an artist.  No reasonable person one would argue otherwise.  

How is it then that men could deny the existence of a supernatural creator, an intelligent designer, in short, a God who created every form of matter on this planet and the entire universe?  Certainly something cannot come from nothing.  Keep in mind that the evolution theory doesn't even attempt to explain how the elements, the building blocks of all matter and life, originated.

The bible, (which is the one of, if not the oldest and the most accepted sources of all historical literatures) says that 'men loved darkness more than the light, that their actions would not be seen...where they could be free to follow the lusts of their own hearts'.  An Evolutionist does not believe in the existence of God and therefore thinks they need not be accountable to God, a creator, higher power, for their actions and choices in life.  Of course you wouldn't, that is, if you believe that your existence came about as a result of water dripping on rocks for hundreds of millions of years. (I'm not poking fun, this is one of the first steps in the evolution of species according to the evolutionary theory).  

Believing in something false does not make it true, no matter how sincere the belief, or how many people believe it. If one examines the evidence to support each theory, it's clear that belief in evolution requires an astounding amount of blind faith, something very much religious- not scientific.    

In Genesis, the first book of the bible, God created Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him.  Truly, humans and other life forms are 'dust' made mostly of the element carbon, just as the Bible desribes. Our creator has placed miraculous works in and all around us in the form of his creation, it's just that we all get used to them. Try experiencing creation with fresh senses and it becomes a great way to worship and appreciate our Creator and magnificent God.

The works of God are far superior to the works of man, as evidenced by organ transplants.  A single cell in the human body is so complex and wonderful that man's accomplishments pale in comparison. Even a living blade of grass when closely examined overshadows the glory of any manmade endeavor. 

Man could never design something as beautiful or complex as an alpine meadow or desert vista.

What is it that draws us to nature and the unspoiled wilderness, that makes us want to leave the comforts of home to sleep under a sheet of plastic or a tiny trailer?  Millions of people head to the great outdoors to get as Elmer Fudd put it "west and welaxation." Yet coming home from the wilderness back to the daily grind, they find themselves disappointed and unfulfilled. 

I believe it's a built-in desire to see God's Creation. In the city we're surrounded with the works of man: Creation has been chopped down, dammed up, filled in and paved over.  Whatever sky and stars are left are blotted out with smog and artificial light.  Yet when we venture into the wilderness, we see the works of God and realize the incredible creativity, beauty and design of nature.

But as Creation testifies to us the existence of God, it doesn't tell us of His love. Indeed, sometimes you may think Creation is trying to kill you, such as during blizzards or mosquito attacks. But the God who was powerful enough to create the universe made sure that a testimony of His love for us would be recorded and preserved.

So what is God's love for us? Why do we seek Him? God obviously wants us to seek Him, as we are designed with a God-shaped "hole" inside that can only be filled and satisfied by Him. Now many people may try to stuff all kinds of things into that hole trying to fill the emptiness. They may try money or power or sex or drugs or their family or any other diversion, some good and some bad, that never satisfies the emptiness. What keeps us and God separated, that we cannot have a relationship?

What separates us from God is sin, which is "missing the mark." God is a holy God and can't stand sin. What kind of a God would He be if He put up with it in His Kingdom? But we can't help from sinning: it's in our very heart and nature. God says that the penalty of sin is death: whoever sins (even once) is a sinner and death is the sentence given.

But just as God is a holy and righteous God, He is also a compassionate and loving God. Not wanting to be separated from us, He stepped in and paid the penalty imposed, death. Now if God had paid money, what would that have proved? God owns everything on earth and trillions of other planets as well. If God the Father had come and died, that still wasn't a total sacrifice. No, instead God sent the One most precious to Him, His own beloved Son, to die for a people who for the most part, hate and shun Him. God sent His Son Jesus to be born into a primitive human civilization to walk and eat and live with us, to experience firsthand the sufferings and temptations that we face. Jesus willingly gave up His life for us and took our sin upon Himself, so that by believing in Him we can have that fellowship with God that God desires and designed us for.

This is the "true rest" that satisfies beyond the weekend, that gives hope when things seem hopeless. My prayer for you is that you come into this rest and see that "the Lord, He is good."

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting life."  John 3:16

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