And take…the sword of the Spirit, which  is the word of God.   Ephesians 6:17

THE
SPIRIT’S
SWORD

Volume 15, Number 20
07/08/2012

Published by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ

Location:
   1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
       P.O. Box 30821
  Bellingham, WA 98228
       (360) 752-2692

Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM

Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
All sing last Wednesday

Web sites:
Mt. Baker church
Bible Answers

Editor......Joe R. Price

Elders
Morris Bass
Rick Holt

Deacons
Aaron Bass
Rich Brooks
Mike Finn
Dan Head

In this issue:

• Not Seeing is Believing
• Sermon Outlines:
  • John's Call of Faith
  • Aids and Additions Bible Authority (7)
• Noteworthy News:  Death in a Cemetery

Not Seeing is Believing
Joe R. Price

Thomas would not believe Jesus was alive from the dead even though his fellow apostles had seen Him. Demanding the sensory evidence of touch before he would believe, Jesus provided Thomas that opportunity eight days later (Jno. 20:24-27). After Thomas proclaimed his faith (having never actually touched the body of Jesus), the Lord said, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jno. 20:29). John then offers us his eyewitness testimony and that of his fellow apostles as evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Jno. 20:30-31). The evidence upon which our faith is built is credible. Though it is unseen, it is believed (1 Pet. 1:8).

This week physicists around the world celebrated the announced discovery of a “Higgs boson-like” particle, said to be “the missing cornerstone of physics" (“Eureka! Physicists celebrate evidence of particle”, FoxNews, July 4, 2012). Its discovery, they say, will provide an explanation of how all the particles of this physical world fit together and interact. That sounds much like the “missing link” that keeps eluding paleontologists. Denise Chow observed that finding the Higgs boson-like particle is “the missing link in the reigning theory of particle physics, known as the Standard Model” (“Higgs Boson Particle Discovery May Help Reveal Dark Matter Secrets”, space.com).

Physicist Michio Kaku notes that “in their press release, the scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, were careful to say they’ve only found evidence of a ‘Higgs-like’ particle.” Kaku says they are being “too modest”, and boldly proclaims the event as “one of the great moments in scientific history: the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson” (“The Spark That Caused the Big Bang” (The Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2012).

We should remember that science tests, quantifies and analyzes what is observable in the physical world. The particle collider in Europe (Hadron Collider) was built and operated by men to test the scientific theories of men concerning how and why the physical world operates the way it does. Scientists are observing what already exists in an attempt to draw conclusions about things, forces and events they (we) cannot see.

First, it is notable that nobody has actually seen the Higgs boson particle. It cannot be put under a microscope. Its discovery has been deduced by interpreting streams of data mined through complex scientific tests using supercomputers and a particle collider 27 miles in circumference.

“For a fraction of a trillionth of a second, the Higgs boson appears at the collision site, before it rapidly decays into a shower of ordinary subatomic particles. Some of the largest supercomputers on earth are then used to shift though this immense amount of data to identify the telltale tracks of the short-lived Higgs boson. It's akin to smashing two grand pianos together at high velocity, completely demolishing them, and then using supercomputers to analyze the noise of the crash to reconstruct a detailed blueprint of each piano—but far more complicated.” (Ibid)

Isn’t that fascinating? These scientists believe in something they haven’t actually seen. They have concluded it exists from the available evidence they have gathered and studied.

Yet, many of these same people scoff at the existence of God. Having never seen God with their massive telescopes or their powerful microscopes, some foolishly say He does not exist. They refuse to retain God in their knowledge in spite of the need for a First Cause and the evidence that He is that First Cause who created everything that exists – including the Higgs boson particle (Heb. 3:4; Rom. 1:20, 28).

It took massive amounts of intellect, power and money to build the Haldron Collider as well as to run the experiments that produced the evidence that was analyzed and interpreted as a “discovery” of the Higgs boson-like particle. Yet, we are to conclude that the intricacies of this planet (not to mention the universe) just accidentally came into existence, and they just as coincidentally continue to function!

No, the evidence leads us to conclude God is the Creator: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Heb. 11:3).

Physicist Michio Kaku contrasts the interpretation of the evidence:

“The press has dubbed the Higgs boson the “God particle,” a nickname that makes many physicists cringe. But there is some logic to it. According to the Bible, God set the universe into motion as he proclaimed "Let there be light!" In physics, the universe started off with a cosmic explosion, the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, which sent the stars and galaxies hurtling in all directions. But the key question is left unanswered: Why did it bang? The big-bang theory says nothing about how and why it banged in the first place.

“To put it another way, what was the match that set off the initial cosmic explosion? What put the "bang" in the Big Bang? In quantum physics, it was a Higgs-like particle that sparked the cosmic explosion. In other words, everything we see around us, including galaxies, stars, planets and us, owes its existence to the Higgs boson.” (Ibid)

Science says the universe started with a “big bang” and not the word of God (Gen. 1:3; Psa. 33:6). These scientists, giddy with their latest discovery, still leave a fundamental question unanswered: To what do all the particles of the universe (including Higgs boson) owe their existence? Matter is not eternal. Matter does not spontaneously generate. So, from where (or whom) did it all come?

The existence of Higgs boson does not deny the existence of God or His creation of the universe. Instead, it confirms the complexity and brilliance of the power that conceived and executed the creation of all things. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Jesus was right: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Evidence abounds! 

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     Death is a passage. The cemetery is not the end of the road, but a temporary parking spot until the Lord raises our bodies to immortality (1 Cor. 15:42-44, 50-53). You will survive death (Lk. 16:22-23). Your body will be raised in the last day (Jno. 5:28-29). Will you be raised to eternal life or eternal condemnation? That choice is yours. Will you will believe and obey Jesus or not (Rom. 2:6-11; 1 Ths. 4:13-18; Heb. 5:8-9)?

The Spirit's Sword is a free, weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA
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