A large framed piece of art hangs in my living room. It is a very interesting original print done in reds and purples with gold leaves lining the bottom. a large shape on the right looks like a pillar from a Greek temple, and an intricate circular shape at the top reminds me of a stained glass window in a cathedral. A bird is in flight near the center of the picture, and the word "rise" is written next to several shapes which seem to represent the pattern of a bird's wing as it takes flight. I love to look at this picture in the morning as the sun shines in our our front window and reflects off the gold leaf. It inspires me to not just plod along through life, but to take flight and soar like the bird.
Most people would assume that this piece of art was created by an artist, but it is conceivable that the print was created not by design, but by chance. It is possible that an explosion in a print shop blew red and purple ink onto a piece of paper in such a way that these shapes were formed, and the shapes just happen to look like a pillar, a window, and a bird. It is possible that gold leaf in the print shop blew onto the same piece of paper, and that it just happened to land in such a way that a regular pattern, or what appears to be a regular pattern, was formed. How can I, or anyone, know whether this picture is the result of chance or design? If the print was purchased in an art store, and what appeared to be a signature was readable, we could be reasonably sure that the print was designed and created by an artist, but still not be 100% certain. I, however, am 100% certain that the print in my living room was designed and created by an artist, because the artist is my daughter-in-law, and she gave me the print. You are free to believe that it was the result of an explosion in a print shop if you like, but I know how the print came into being, because I know and love the artist.
We live in a beautiful and unimaginably complex world. The universe in which our solar system and galaxy are located stretches for billions of light years in all directions. All living plants and animals here on earth are composed of cells, each of which is an intricate biological factory. Physicists have found that the forces which hold our universe together, form the glue that binds sub-atomic particles tightly in the nuclei of atoms, to the gravity that holds stars in orbit in galaxies, are perfectly balanced to allow our universe to exist. All that we see appears to be beautifully and wonderfully designed. Is this order in the universe, and this complexity in plants and animals just a matter of chance? Is it the result of an "explosion in a print shop"? Is it logical to think that our universe came into being by itself, and chance mutations led to the formation of life as we know it? On the other hand, can we argue with 100% certainty, that this order - or what appears to be order - proves that there is a Creator? The only way to know for certain that there is a Creator is to meet him. I have met and know God, the Artist Creator of the universe and all life here on earth.
