How God Reveals Himself to Us

How God Reveals Himself to Us 

Although, God has not revealed Himself to our senses; for we cannot see Him, or hear Him, or touch Him, but He has not left us to grope blindly in confusion and doubt, without any evidence of His existence. 

In Acts 14:15-17, it says: “God has not left Himself without witness.” 

Mrs. Ellen G. White in her well-known book “Steps to Christ”, puts it this way: “God never asks us to believe without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason, and this testimony is abundant.” (p. 105). 

What are some of these evidences of God’s existence, and where do we find them? Here, we will study one of the three of the plainest evidences for God, which we will call “God’s Footprints in Creation”. These evidences are readily available to every man who is willing to use his eyes, ears and rational power. 

God's Footprints in the Earth 

Job 12:7-10 say: “Ask now the beasts, the fowls, the earth, and the fishes and they shall teach you.” 

Jesus, in his sermon in the mount, says: “Consider the lilies of the field.” Matt. 6:28, 29. 

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And even Paul during his ministry, “The invisible things of God may be understood by the visible things which He has made.” Rom. 1:19, 20. 

All around us, in earth and sea and sky, there are countless evidences of order, beauty, accuracy, adaptation and intelligent planning. 

Consider these marvels of creative design: 

    1. The beauty and perfume of the flowers. 

    2. Snowflake crystals. 

    3. A butterfly’s wings. 

    4. A spider’s web. 

    5. A bird’s feather. 

    6. The marvelous instincts and mechanisms of the honey-bee. 

    7. The annual miracles of bird migration. 

    8. The bat’s ingenious “radar” system.  

Butterfly Beauties 

Many of the butterflies are of such breath-taking beauty that they have been called “animated flowers,” “visual lyrics,” or “living rainbows.” Fragile, colorful, elusive, dainty, they have always had a hypnotic fascination for man. Yet, while their delicate structure and exquisite coloration are awe-inspiring, even to the naked eye, it is only under the microscope that their richest glory unfolds. Then it is seen that, in many cases, their wing-color is not “pigmented color,” but “structural color.”

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Their wing-surfaces are composed of myriad, tiny, overlapping scales, like tiles on a roof, whose surfaces are grooved or “striated.” Thus, each scale is a miniature spectroscope, with the power to “refract” or “splinter” light, i.e. to break light up into its color-components, or “spectrum.” This “splintered light” registers on our eyes as vivid color, ranging over a wide variety, and often glowing as if it were luminous, or phosphorescent. Small wonder, then, that butterflies have been called “living rainbows.” The microscope shows that they are that, in very fact! 

Who but God could design, create and perpetuate these “living rainbows?” 

A Bird’s Feather 

Everyone who picks up a bird’s flight-feather, or “pinion,” holds in his hand a matchless miracle of creative engineering. It is a miracle of lightness; strength; flexibility; ingenuity and adaptability. It is composed basically of a long, hollow, tapering “shaft,” or “mid-rib.” Jutting from this shaft on either side are the main branches, called “barbs.” These “barbs” are composed of smaller fronds, known as “barbules,” and these, in turn, have rows of tiny, hook-like twigs called “barbicels,” which cling tenaciously to the “barbules.” 

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What is the purpose of this intricate structure which, when closed, is like a tight “web,” or fabric, but which can open instantly, like a miniature venetian-blind, to let air through? As well as providing covering and insulation for the bird, the pinion-feather’s main function is to make flight possible. 

As the wings make their strong, downward-forward thrust to propel the bird, the flexible feather – web – or mesh remains tightly closed, but as the wings is raised swiftly for the next downward beat, the feather-mesh automatically opens, so that resistance to the air is minimized. This rhythmic operation has been called “one of the most fantastic and ingenious ‘valve-actions’ in the whole of nature.” Obviously, the flight-feather has been designed by a Divine Craftsman of infinite skill! 

Snow-Crystals 

Another fabulous natural wonder is the snow-crystal, whose exquisite beauty and intricacy are also revealed by the microscope. Composed of minute, frozen water-particles in the remote heights of the upper atmosphere, the snow-crystal is not a formless, haphazard, unstructured ice-shard – it is a miniature crystal cathedral of classic beauty! 

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The primary structure of this crystal, when fully formed, is always a hexagonal or six-pointed star, and the angles are always precise and unvarying. However, the secondary design details vary through what seems to be an almost infinite range, for no two snow-crystals, with their delicate, lace-like feathery fronds, have even been found alike. Wilson Bentley, who, with the aid of microscope and camera, probably did more than any other man to research and popularize the snow-crystal, photographed many thousands of individual specimens – but found no two exact duplicates! 

Where could this exquisite miracle of amazingly consistent, geometric design have come from – but from God? 

Bird Migration 

William Cullen Bryant, in his sensitive poem: “To a Waterfowl,” is not the only man who has been moved to admiration and wonder by the mysterious, purposeful, orderly migrations of the birds. Few natural wonders have such power to set the imagination on fire! 

Without charts, or maps, or clocks, or compasses, or sextants, or obvious navigational equipment – and apparently without schooling – the birds find their way, instinctively, over tens of thousands of miles of land or ocean, in their daring seasonal flights to feeding or breeding grounds. 

Who, or what guides them with such unerring precision, and with such unfailing regularity? What uncanny powers do young birds have, whose migratory flights begin long after those of their parents, yet who, denied the opportunity for experienced guidance, follow their parents’ uncharted path, and arrive unerringly at the same destination? 

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Scientists have many theories about these majestic migratory rhythms – the triggering of the migratory impulse; the consistent timing; the impeccable navigation – but no one really understands them. The sun; the stars; air-currents, geographical land-marks; sensitivity to the earth’s magnetic fields – all have been suggested, and all could be involved, but no scientist has yet come near to solving all aspects of the complex and baffling migratory puzzle. 

However, once we acknowledge an all-wise and all-powerful Creator, the mystery of migration is instantly solved. 

Beehive Marvels 

For the dawn of time, man has been fascinated by the bee-hive. Symbol of industry, persistence, thrift, and single-minded dedication to duty, the honey-bee is an endless source of wonder to young and old. Such precision, orderliness, group-loyalty and focused, tireless effort is manifest among the bees that the hive has been called an insect “city,” or an insect “civilization”. 

Two phenomenal honey-bee skills that have captured the public imagination are associated with direction-finding and cell-building. Both of these operations require superlative mathematical and geometric skills, neither of which need to be learned by the honey-bee. 

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Direction finding-and-giving – takes the form of the intriguing “waggle-dance” of the scout bee – involving an elaborate and sustained “waggling” of the abdomen while the bee is in motion on the surface of the comb. The vigor, frequency, direction and overall pattern of the “waggle-dance,” especially in relation to the sun’s position, conveys accurate information to the hive concerning distance, direction, quantity and quality of the new-found nectar supply. Factors such as wind-direction and velocity, plus obstacles to be encountered, appear to be indicated by this means, also. So intricate and precise is this communicative ritual that it seems to require the employment of some of the more highly-sophisticated forms of mathematics! 

An incredible degree of geometric and engineering skill is also employed in cell-designing and building. The materials, shape, size and angles of the paper-thin cell walls are such that maximum strength, lightness, capacity, durability and insulating quality are secured, yet with minimum use of building materials and hive-space. 

Who taught the busy worker-bee her mathematics and geometry – and her economics? 

A Spider’s Web 

The familiar, industrious, and omnipresent spider is the artisan-extraordinary of the natural world. Not only is he a design-engineer of superlative skill in field and garden, but, in one species, he is also a marine engineer of fantastic ability! 

For conventional, above-water web-building, the average spider has web-producing mechanisms and construction skills of the highest order. The familiar orb-web, whether large or small, is a miracle of complicated geometry, precise engineering and amazing tensile strength. 

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For unconventional, under-water web manufacture, the same type of production glands and mechanisms must be present – this time in the water-spider – but a very significant plus must be added. Instinctive abilities must now come into play that will impel and enable the spider to live in an unnatural environment. First, a closely woven bell-like “tent” of web must be built under the water, and anchored there. Second, water bubbles must be caught on the surface, and carried down and released under the “bell tent,” until it is filled with air. Then the spider must set up house and rear its family in a submarine environment! 

Yet the water-spider does all this with the orderliness and expertise of a professional, who carries a set of detailed, step-by-step instructions in his pocket! 

The Bat’s “SONAR” 

Bats have been called: “Mystery Mammals of the Twilight.” “Mammals” is the right word, for though bats can fly, they are not birds. They bring forth their young alive, and their wings are mad of thin membrane. Unfeathered, they are nevertheless admirably equipped for flight. Indeed, so great is their agility in the air, that they are worthy rivals of the birds! 

The element of “mystery” about the bats is related especially to their ability to fly with the utmost dexterity and confidence in complete darkness. This they do, not only in the outer world at night, but inside the earth, through miles of subterranean caverns, which they negotiate in total darkness, without collision, and with the greatest of ease! 

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It is only in more recent years, since the advent of sophisticated electronic devices, that much of the mystery of the bats phenomenal navigational prowess has been cleared up. It is now known that they do not need to depend on any great degree upon sight. Bats “see” and find their way with their ears! When in flight, they rely upon inbuilt “sonar,” or “echo-location” equipment. Continually, as they fly, they are emitting high-frequency sounds, or squeaks. These sounds travel out rapidly, strike objects, and rebound. From the time it takes from emission to rebound (i.e. reception), the bat can tell how near, or how far, an adjacent object or obstacle may be. 

Who built this amazing “sonar” equipment into the bat? Who endowed him with the instinctive ability to use it with such dexterity? 

It could not possibly have been a slow, piece-by-piece development, over long ages of time. It had to be a complete “package” from the beginning. To make possible that bat’s survival, all parts of its complex array of precision equipment must have been fully-developed and fully operable – from the first moment of this amazing creature’s existence! 

Conclusion

These are just a few of the thousand marvels and mysteries of the natural world, whose only satisfying explanation is “GOD.” They cannot rationally be attributed to “Chance.”