Presuppositions are something that we all have. They are the underlying ideas that we take for granted—the often unspoken part of an idea or belief that makes a system of thought work. For example, the theory of evolution only works within the presupposition that God either cannot exist or supernaturally interact with the world. One of the basic premises of the theory is that everything has a natural cause, which is demonstrated in the attempts to connect all the various types of creatures to one another. This premise only works in a system that has no supernatural creation. Not all presuppositions are bad, but we need to question them to ensure that they are true. One of the presuppositions of Christianity is that God is, in fact, real and that he is actively, supernaturally, involved in his creation. As we go through the Westminster Larger Catechism, the supernatural existence of God will be an important underlying reality.
Question #2
Last week we looked at the first question of the catechism, which deals with the purpose for which we were created. Again this presupposes that we are created by a supernatural God who interacts with his creation. But this leads us to the second question.
How doth it appear that there is a God?
Odds are that "doth" is not a part of your regular vocabulary. It is a bit of a strange word for us but it simply means does. So in more modern use, the question might read, how does it appear that there is a God? Put another way the question is asking how do we know that there is a God? The catechism answers;
The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; but his Word and Spirit only, do sufficiently and effectually reveal him unto men for their salvation.
The answer has two distinct parts. The first is the statement that the existence of God is plain to see. As the Psalmist writes, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (Psalm 19:1) When we look around the world we live in there is so much that screams out a good creator. The variety and beauty of the animals, stars, plants, and geography, proclaims something more than random chance. The complexity of our bodies gives evidence to a designer. More than that the fact that we are thinking beings with a sense of right and wrong demands that there is a creator. If there is a universal standard for right and wrong, then there must be one who gives us that sense. There has to be something or someone beyond us that holds that standard.
Plain to see
The reality of a creator is clear enough to see that creation stories are ubiquitous in cultures throughout the world. Perhaps one of the greatest instances of the light of nature, and the works of God being plain for a person to see comes with Aristotle. Aristotle was a philosopher and thinker who lived in the third century B.C. He looked at the world around him and saw the principle of cause and effect. For something to be in motion, it has to be set in motion. So he reasoned that because the world is in constant motion, there must have been something or someone who set all these things in motion. He referred to this being as the unmoved mover. Put another way, he ran into the question of why there is motion and not stillness. His answer is the obvious one, there must be a first cause. This argument is similar to another teleological argument. The watchmaker argument simply states that if you see a watch, a complex machine, you do not think that it popped into existence. There had to be a watchmaker who crafted the parts and put them together. There are many other arguments of this nature, such as the Kalam Cosmological argument. This argument states that everything that begins to exist has to have a cause, the universe began, therefore the universe has to have a cause. The point is the same one that the catechism makes. Creation declares plainly that there is a God.
Less Plain
What arguments like the one discussed above cannot do is teach about the character of the creator, specifically, as the catechism points out, that he is our savior. This is the message of the gospel. The gospel is good news that has to be shared. It is not something that can be known apart from the Word of God and the work of the Spirit. This should give us some amount of urgency toward the people around us. They can look at the world around them and see the evidence for God, but they cannot understand their need for a savior. That is something that we have to go out and share with them. The gospel is the good news that though we are born in our sins and there is going to be a penalty for that sin, namely death, there is hope in Christ who has already paid the penalty for everyone who comes to him in saving faith. We cannot expect the people around us to find out this on their own. Romans 1:19 tells us, "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 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." People can see that there is a creator, but it is only enough for them to be without excuse. We must be faithful to share the hope of the gospel with them.
Summary
The world is full of wonderful things that display the power and goodness of God. We see the wonder of the stars and things like the colorful beauty of the fish on a coral reef. These things declare that there is a creator, but it is not enough to save us. Knowing that there is a creator is not the same thing as believing in him for salvation. We must come to him in saving faith. We must repent of our sins and turn to Christ who is our only hope in life and death. We cannot fulfill our primous purpose to glorify and enjoy God forever without being reconciled to him through the gospel. If we love the people around us we will share the gospel with them. We want them to have the same hope that we have. The hope that only comes through knowing the Lord as our savior. So go and share the Word of God with the people around you and pray that the Lord would bring them to faith and repentance.
Soli Deo Gloria
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