Here’s an idea: A long long time ago there was something really, really, really small. It was so small that.. well, it was smaller than small could almost possibly be – a single unit of matter… small, reaaaaalllllyy small, get it?? Yeah, small!!
Well, this really, really small thing, suddenly one Thursday at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, just by chance exploded with a very, very, very big bang and…. lo and behold… became everything that now is – you know, the universe and everything in it.
Yes… and over a very, very long period of time this single unit of matter, without any personality, without intelligence and without even emotion, became personality, intelligence, emotion, retinas, livers, brain stems, backbones, blood vessels, mountain lions, electric eels, planets, stars, dandelions, colorful rainbows, snowflakes, waterfalls, woodpeckers, DNA, grizzly bears and stuff.
Yeah, its a totally amazing thing – this thing called chance. We owe everything.. and I mean everything, to chance. Yes, chance rolled the dice and “whammo!,” here we are and here is everything else too. All hail the power of chance!!!!
Except that… chance is actually not a thing; its a word used to describe mathematical probabilities.
Think about that for a moment…
Let’s take the flipping of a coin.. you know, a regular coin with heads on one side and tails on the other.
Let’s ask ourselves, “what is the chance that if we flip this coin, it will come up either heads or tails?”
Actually the answer is that there is a 100% chance that it will come up either heads or tails.
What is the chance that when we flip it, it will come up tails?
Answer: 50%, right?
OK, now ask youself this question: “What kind of power does chance have to actually MAKE the coin come up heads?”
Hmmmm – the right answer is, “no power at all.”
Why is that?
Because ‘chance’ is not actually a thing. It has no power. It has no mind. It has no will. It has no personality. It has no ability to change or alter anything. It is no thing.
Say the words “no thing” fast… what have you got?
No… thing! Nothing!
Chance is nothing.
hmmmmmm….
oh, and where exactly did this very, very, very small thing come from anyway? Where was it before it was?
Huh?
Yeah – where was this very, very, small thing hiding exactly?
Where did it come from? You know, before it ever grew to become really, really small?
What was it?
hmmmmmmm…
yeah! … ever stopped to ask yourself that?.. ever wondered why “scientists” don’t ever ask that question? Could it be because, they really don’t want to ask that question?
hmmmm…. Just a thought!
Well anyway, there’s this second idea. Are you ready for it?
I warn you that some people may not like it… but OK, here it is… its the idea that when there was absolutely no thing, yes… nothing around, can you picture it in your mind?
Yeah, imagine a whole lot of nothing.
Actually, you can’t have a whole lot of nothing.. because nothing is not a thing… and it gets worse… if there ever was a time when there was absolutely nothing.. all there could possibly be now is.. nothing…
What do I mean?
Well again lets try to imagine nothing… that’s hard to do… but as a concept – there’s nothing – and you leave it for 10 minutes… what will it become?
Nothing, right?
Leave nothing alone for 10 years. What will happen?
hmmm the same… nothing, right?
10 billion years?
Yes, same result…
Nothing is still nothing, no matter how much time you give it… Time does not help nothing’s cause….
and actually time is something anyway…
… the point here is that if nothing is ever to become something… time does not help it get there.
Anyway, back to this second idea…
When there was nothing except the God who always was.. yes this Personal God who has infinite power and infinite intelligence.. this God said, “Let there be.. and there it was….”
hmmmmm…
It seems to me that only one of these two ideas makes any kind of sense… and here’s a clue, it ain’t the first one.
If, however, you believe “chance” is what got all of us here, then bow down and worship it. But if you do, just remember, you’d be worshiping nothing at all because chance is not a thing. Its not even a quarter of the way to becoming something… Chance will not eventually evolve into something (if given enough time)…
Yes, there’s not even a chance!
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools…
The sixty-six books of the Protestant canon, in their original writings, comprise the verbally inspired, inerrant Word of God. The thirty-nine books known as the Hebrew Old Testament are God-breathed, products of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, and thus free from error in all that they affirm (cf. Deuteronomy 18:18, 19; Psalms 19:7, 8; 119:89, 142, 151, 160; Matthew 5:17-19; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21). Similarly, the twenty-seven books known as the Greek New Testament are the eternally abiding words of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:35), and are thus the words of God (John 7:16; 12:49). The Holy Spirit enabled the writers both to recall what the Lord said (John 14:26), and to continue to receive His revelation (John 16: 12-15). As a result, the writings of the New Testament are the commandment of the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:37), are Scripture (2 Peter 3:15, 16), and are God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). For this reason, the sinner finds the way of salvation through Scripture (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 2: 1-3). The believer is made fruitful (Psalm 1:2, 3) and successful in the will of God (Joshua 1:8), warned and kept from sin (Psalms 19:11; 119:9,11), made holy (John 17:17), given wisdom (Psalm 9:7) and freeing knowledge of the truth (John 8: 31, 32), taught the fear of God (Psalm 119:38), counseled (Psalm 119:24), taught, reproved, corrected, and disciplined in the way righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) by Scripture. Scripture is, in short, the fully adequate revelation of the person, ways, and will of God, the only infallible rule of faith for the people of God.
Some notes and reflections on the Sacraments: