• Original photograph by Ryoji Iwata from unsplash

GOD'S INTERACTIVE PLAN part 1

This is the first of four articles demonstrating God's interactive plan for this world and how we can benefit if we choose to recognise it. The subject titles are:

1. The power of the visible is the invisible.
2. The ultimate experience.
3. Destiny is not a matter of chance.
4. Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.

The power of the visible is the invisible

We take many things in our environment for granted. We accept at face value that essential powerful forces exist and are maintained which cannot be seen. The regulation of the natural world is based on conditions which the population of the earth enjoys and which permit life to be maintained. Its inhabitants depend on them for both their very existence and the continuity of life.

• See article entitled "The Goldilocks Planet" volume 27.3 page 19

By practical experiment we can observe the presence of these forces at work, such as gravity, electricity, static, magnetism, ocean currents, the atmosphere, none of which we can see. These experiments can be repeated which then constitute scientific laws by which further study can be undertaken.

We can also observe symbiotic relationships which exist so frequently in nature. These involve the interaction between different living organisms that live in close proximity and are entirely dependent on one another for their existence. A good example of symbiosis is the Yucca moth.

• See www.desertusa.com/animals/yuccamoth

• Yucca Moth

In addition to providing the air that we breathe, the earth's atmosphere performs many other vital functions. It stores huge quantities of energy, stabilising temperatures on earth. Its various layers protect the planet's surface from damage by space debris and harmful radiation. It has been designed by the Creator to protect and nurture life on earth.

• Our world and the atmosphere we need

Collins Dictionary says: "Science is the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe based on observation, experiment and measurement".

The Apostle Paul told the Athenians about the God who created everything. Men and women should:

"seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being ..."

• Acts 17.27-28

Paul's point is that these forces clearly speak to us of design, planning and a supreme Creator. He has brought these factors together to provide all the life support systems that our planet needs. Through these we can understand God's hand at work and begin our search to find Him.

The Creator

We are told in the book of Genesis that all life was created by God and carried out by the angels. Jesus endorses this record of creation in his last message:

"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created"

• Revelation 4.11

King David referred to God's creative work in the heavens: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him ..."

• Psalm 8.3-4

Job was an early Old Testament character. The book which bears his name records how God challenged him with questions about the creation of this planet and those invisible forces which control our environment. God said to Job:

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

• Job 38.4-7

This challenge to Job is also a challenge to us, as the Apostle Paul reminded his readers at Rome:

"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"

• Romans 1.20 NIV

We can marvel at the innumerable examples that exist in the world around us showing the intricacy and design associated with all living things. Plants and animals have their own individual and special characteristics to live, grow, feed and reproduce.

• Bees need Flowers

So whether we study aspects of life through a microscope or use a telescope to explore the universe, the same amazing complexity and design are evident. If we were like Robinson Crusoe and found a footprint in the sand on an island that we thought was uninhabited, then we would soon conclude that somebody else was walking around unseen by us. By using the same logic we know that a Creator made the world, because we have countless footprints as evidence of His creative power.

Precision in the Universe

The appearance in 1996 of the Comet Hale-Bopp was a reminder of the vastness of the universe as the comet came racing into our solar system. We were able to see for ourselves this spectacle in the sky, which had a nucleus between 25 and 50 miles wide and a tail of gas and dust that was millions of miles long. Although we cannot see this comet now, it continues on its orbit which will take about 2,370 years before it comes back into the earth's solar system (source: Wikipedia). Scientists are able to predict the movement of planets with great precision as we have witnessed.

The journeys of space probes are carefully calculated to arrive at their destination at a precise time in the future because the heavenly bodies orbit to a defined timetable that is entirely predictable.

NASA's Juno probe went into orbit around the planet Jupiter on 5th July 2016, the culmination of a five year journey, accelerating to speeds of up to 130,000 miles per hour as it came close to the giant planet. Its journey covered a total distance of 1.74 billion miles (source: Wikipedia). Juno's scheduled destination was only reached because the planet's precise orbit around the Sun, the journey time and trajectory could be calculated mathematically.

God's purpose

Logic tells us that if there is a Creator and the whole of His work has been to provide a special place for life, then it would be inconceivable that it has been done thoughtlessly and with no ultimate purpose. The Prophet Isaiah records the precise statement of the Almighty when he says:

"I have made the earth, and created man on it. It was I - my hands that stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded"

• Isaiah 45.12

The prophet then adds some important words: (God)

"... did not create it in vain ... (He) formed it to be inhabited..."

• Isaiah 45.18

• Our world and the atmosphere we need
• The astonishing 5 year journey of the spacecraft Juno to orbit around Jupiter. The physicist Isaac Newton regarded the absolute precision of the solar system as the work of the Creator.

We live in a very special place that God has designed for us and yet when we look more closely at our world we can see that it has suffered from misuse. There is little consideration being given to its long term sustainability by mankind in general. This causes alarm to many scientists, governments and worldwide organisations that are for example trying to stop the pollution of the planet.

Yet as we have already noted, there must be a purpose if there is a Creator. The Prophet Habakkuk defined God's purpose in creation in this positive statement:

"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea"

• Habakkuk 2.14

Mankind was the pinnacle of God's Creation. It is to us that He reveals His ultimate purpose to populate the earth with those he chooses and fill it with His glory. We will consider this aspect in more detail in the next article.

God the communicator

So, if the Creator has a plan for the earth to be filled with His glory then it has to be interactive – we have to respond to Him. Whilst He has provided all the essential ingredients, it requires people to respond, to acknowledge Him and to interact with Him.

This two-way process requires us to commit ourselves to working with Him, to:

1. communicate with Him
2. recognise the benefits He promises
3. accept our accountability to Him
4. confirm our intent and commitment

These aspects are all dealt with in God's revelation to us in the 66 books which make up the Holy Bible. These have been recorded for our benefit and will be considered in the three following articles in future issues.

God's offer to men and women is like any special offer; it is essential that hopeful participants are aware of the conditions which apply. For this reason it is necessary that the terms and conditions God has revealed in the Scriptures are read and understood. The more that we are able to understand the background and the message of the Bible, the more we will become interactive in God's purpose with the earth and mankind. The Apostle Paul tells us that:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work"

• 2 Timothy 3.16-17

There are many lines of evidence which can be used to confirm the Bible's divine authorship and these are worth individual study.

Why not send for a special issue of "Light on the Bible" which considers some of this evidence? Send your request to the correspondence secretary by email or write to the address inside the front cover.

Conclusion

The power behind what we see is the invisible hand of God and His angels regulating our world and providing the means to sustain life.

We believe in the existence of wind, gravity and electricity because of the evidence presented to us by their effects – we cannot actually see them or touch them but we know they are there. They reveal themselves by simple experiments and our experience demonstrates their existence so we believe and accept them without question.

Finally, consider this. Some time ago my patio window was removed and goods were stolen. The police and I accepted that a burglar had entered the property and was long gone. But nobody saw the individual concerned or questioned that there might be another explanation. The removed patio window, the missing goods and articles thrown and left on the floor during the burglary was overwhelming evidence that we had been burgled and someone unidentified had been in our home. This conclusion was accepted without question at face value.

In the same way we can believe in the existence of God; there is overwhelming evidence of His creative power all around us. He does have a purpose and we can be interactively involved with Him and His plan if we choose to.

It's the same leap of faith!