Have you ever wondered how long life has existed on earth? Well, the answer depends on which “lens” you use. Seeing through the lens of science, life is estimated to have existed on earth for about 3.5 to 3.7 billion years. From a Biblical perspective, however, life on earth is believed to have existed for only about 6,000 to 10,000 years. (These are some answers I got from my conversations with Copilot AI)

Interestingly, not all Christians share the same view on this. Some believe in a so-called Young Earth Creationism that age of life on earth is a few thousand years, based on a literal interpretation of the Bible’s genealogies. Some believe in Old Earth Creationism and see the “days” of Genesis as symbolic or long periods of time, allowing for billions of years while affirming God as Creator. Similar to the latter view, some believe in Theistic Evolution (Evolutionary Creation), where God used evolutionary processes to bring about life, accepting the scientific perspective of nearly 4 billion years of life’s age on earth.

Regardless of the true earthly life’s age, whether thousands, millions, or billions of years, we would all agree that people have not even reached a consensus on the Creator’s existence. Some believe that God does exist (although still they have different views on who God truly is), yet some would deny His existence whatsoever and believe in the evolution theory (which has wrongly been claimed as a scientific view) instead. Still, there are many who do not even care or bother if there is really a God or not.

In this post, I would like to share a few thoughts on this matter based on my perspective as a Christian who loves both science and theology. Here are my concise answers to atheism regarding the evidence of God, as simply summarized as 5 C’s:

CREATION: Divine fingerprints in nature

God gives us evidence of His existence through His creation. His fingerprints in nature are everywhere for us to see, from living organisms to solar system in the universe. If we are honest, we can already witness them within us ourselves; no need to travel far to prove it. Eyes that see, ears that hear, mouth that speaks, heart that beats, brain that thinks, body that moves, and many others—we often take for granted—are evidence of the Life Giver’s miraculous works in our lives. The God of order has also revealed His intelligent work through the laws of nature: gravitation, thermodynamics, genetics, quantum mechanics, etc. While humans try to explain how these laws work through science, God is the One who invents them and makes them work. Behind every work, there is a worker; behind every design, there is a designer. God is the Intelligent Designer who is still at work in His creation today. In every creature—humans, animals, plants—we could see His divine masterpiece, for instance, through the DNA codes. In every season—winter, spring, summer, fall—we could testify His divine artistic and scientific prowess in the beauty and regularity of natural phenomena presented for us to enjoy in awe.

CONSCIENCE: Divine voice in our hearts

God’s law is not only coded in the nature, but also written in our hearts. When we do good things, our conscience will affirm us; when we do bad things, our conscience will accuse us. Conscience, in simple words, can be described as a “sense of right and wrong.” It is not only the voice within, but also the unseen eyes that God has given to every individual and embedded in their hearts. Frankly, we do not need religion to have our conscience. God-given laws are stronger than man-made regulations. His law is perfect, restoring and refreshing the soul; His statutes are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it. His voice is not of condemnation, but of compassion that leads us to repentance. Our conscience signifies that God still speaks today. As we hear His voice, let us not harden our hearts. Let us fill our hearts with God’s truth, not with the world’s values [worldliness] that cause a spiritual blindness. God invites us to embrace the moral compass and standard He has given through His laws, so all our intentions, decisions, and actions would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.

CIRCUMSTANCE: Divine intervention in our life

There are times in life when we feel helpless or powerless—no matter how smart, how strong, or how successful we think we are. In these times of need and desperation, we have no other choice other than seeking a miracle that the Almighty alone can do. When our life, health, wealth, and/or relationship are threaten and we could not seem to find a way out or an explanation of our situation, we will finally realize that God is our ultimate Helper. God often uses our personal struggles and difficult circumstances to bring our attention and draw us closer to Him, strengthening our faith and trust in Him. And the beauty of this divine intervention is that God is able to use our brokenness, weaknesses, and helplessness to accomplish His greater purposes in our lives. He can bring good from any bad events or circumstances that we are going through by overcoming evil, softening our heart, transforming our character, and proliferating blessing in the lives of many others. Through it all, this loving God demonstrates His sustaining power, comforting presence, and faithful provision that will make us undoubtedly realize His glorious nature (who He is) and His marvellous work (what He does) in awe, wonder, and reverence.

CALLING: Divine purpose for us

Every person matters in God’s eyes. Every individual is uniquely wired by God in His image. No two persons are identical, even if they are twins. Scripture reveals that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. This means that our life has meaning and purpose. Since we are God’s handiwork, our true meaning and purpose are ultimately found in Him. In essence, this is a divine invitation for us to search and find Him; to know and follow Him; to believe and receive Him; to run after and rely on Him. The Lord Jesus has revealed there is nothing we can do apart from Him. He is the breath of life for our existence and He is the bread of life for our sustenance. This divine calling proves that God desires us to live a fulfilling life. He wants us to find our ultimate satisfaction in Him. He wants us to know that our ultimate reward is Him. God gives us clarity and assurance, so that we do not live in confusion and doubt. God calls each of us not to be a wanderer, but to be a worshipper—one who worships Him in spirit and in truth. We are created to worship the Almighty God and we are called to glorify Him through who we are, what we are, and what we do.

CHRIST: Divine representation of love and truth

Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God, is the radiance of God’s glory and perfect revelation of God’s nature—full of grace and truth. God created the world through His Word [Jesus] and redeemed His people through His work on the cross. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him is love, light, and life. Everyone who believes in Jesus will experience love that casts out fear, light that shines in the darkness, and life that overcomes death. For so many years in history, mankind has searched for truth and longed to know the true deity. Jesus Christ is God incarnate, the answer to this yearning and desperation. He is the Savior, who has conquered sin and death—the final enemy of the living. He is the Lord of all, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, over life and death. He is the King of glory, who shall reign forever with justice and righteousness; there will be no end to the increase of His government and peace. Christ is the proof of God’s love for humanity, that God is not distant and ignorant of our suffering: He forgives us, cares for us, watches over us, goes before us, and surrounds us with His grace and mercy. Christ is Emmanuel: God with us. Christ is the culmination of God’s law: He is the truth for all who believe to follow. God shows us that His truth is ultimately found in Person—not in books, places, or rituals. Christ is the ultimate hope not only of mankind, but also of the whole creation: He alone has promised the redemption of our body and the restoration of all things for God’s glory.

Conclusion and Reflection:

The evidence for God’s existence is innumerable, both in the seen and unseen realms. Beyond physical eyes/ears, we need spiritual eyes/ears to discern or recognize them. Look around us, and see His fingerprints in the creation and His works in our circumstances. Look within us, and hear His voice in our conscience and His purpose in our calling. Look above us, and see Him [His person] in Christ. If none of these evidences are compelling enough, we need to pause and ask why with all honesty—perhaps, our spiritual eyes/ears had failed to see/hear because the gods of this world (e.g., money, power, pleasures) had captivated our hearts and numbed our senses and desires for the One true God. When our hearts are desensitized, we lose appetite for God and abilities to obey and surrender our lives to Him.

God has given humanity the invitation to know Him. From the intricacy of creation to the intimacy of Christ, we have been given sufficient evidence for His existence; therefore, we should have no excuses for not knowing Him. In reality, however, there are still many who refuse this divine invitation. What if the actual issue of human’s disbelief is not the lack of evidence, but rather the lack of humility or unwillingness to acknowledge God and to realize the need for Him? What if the root cause is in human’s rebellious heart that desires independence from the Creator, seeking glory for oneself rather than for the One who is worthy of it all? Scripture reveals that each of us will give a personal account to God. What if one day God asks you and me, “What have you done with the evidence I gave you?” and, importantly, “What have you done with Christ, My Personal invitation to you?”

Of course, all the evidence for God will never minimize His nature and His work. God is still the greatest of all and the greatest mystery in the universe. His ways and thoughts remain higher than ours. Our understanding will only get better as we humbly and continually learn from Him—through His Word and His Spirit. At the end of the day, all that matters is LOVE (Greek: agape). Scripture tells us that without LOVE, all our knowledge, experience, and skills are nothing; even we are nothing if we do not have LOVE. What is this LOVE? Again, it is not a thing, but a Person—that is Christ Jesus, the expression of God’s unconditional love to all mankind—those who believe in His name will have an eternal life.

Christ is the ultimate proof that God’s plan for those who trust in Him is immortality, because only the living can enjoy the fullness of LOVE. As we put our faith in Jesus, nothing will ever separate us from the LOVE of God. So, this LOVE is ultimately the Personal evidence of the One true God.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus Christ

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^{This article was written in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada. The featured image was generated with AI.}