How The Earth’s Atmosphere Testifies That It Was Designed For Life

The Earth is an amazing and complex planet. It is the only known planet in the universe that has the capability of sustaining life. Creationists believe that God created the Earth and created it specifically for life. Evolutionists believe the Earth came into being by accident, without a plan or design and that even life is a mere accident. They believe all things simply happened by chance over billions of years. Earth’s atmosphere is a great testimony that creationists are correct and that Earth was designed by God for the specific purpose of sustaining life.

The Earth’s atmosphere is very complex and is essential for the existence of life on Earth. It is divided into five layers. The troposphere is the bottom layer and is where weather occurs. The stratosphere is the layer that is very stable and it is also the ozone layer, which absorbs harmful rays from the sun. In the third layer, called the mesosphere, meteors or rock fragments are burned up before they have a chance to hit the Earth. The thermosphere is a layer with auroras, and where the atmosphere merges into space is called the exosphere. These layers of the atmosphere are arranged perfectly. The atmosphere contains the right amount of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, and are the perfect thickness. The balance of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and less than .03% carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is just right for life as we know it on Earth.

If oxygen levels were higher in the Earth’s atmosphere, combustion would occur more quickly meaning rocks and metals would deteriorate faster and life on Earth would be adversely effected. If oxygen levels were lower, breathing would be much more difficult or even impossible. Since carbon dioxide is essential to terrestrial and marine plant life, too little would result in less food for animals and humans. Less than optimal carbon dioxide would also result in the ocean becoming more acidic and the climate would become colder. Too much carbon dioxide would result in the surface temperature of the Earth being too warm.

The density or pressure of the Earth’s atmosphere is perfect for sustaining life. It acts as an insulating blanket which protects the Earth from the coldness of space. If the Earth had a more dense atmosphere, the blanketing effect would be greater and would produce a much warmer climate. If the atmosphere were less dense, the climate would be much colder. But because the Earth was designed for life, it has the correct surface temperature and the proper atmospheric density.

Ozone is another part of the Earth’s atmosphere that testifies it was designed for life. It acts as a shield that provides protection from UV light. Without it humans and animals would be much more susceptible to diseases like cancer, weakened immune systems, and cataracts in the eyes. Ozone is actually a poisonous gas. If it were closer to the Earth, breathing it in would damage the lungs of humans and animals, as well as impairing the transpiration process in plants. The position of ozone in our atmosphere is perfect for sustaining life.

Another function of Earth’s atmosphere protects us from dangerous meteors. When a meteor enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it goes from traveling through a vacuum to traveling through air. Traveling through a vacuum takes no energy. On the other hand, traveling through air takes energy. A meteor traveling through the vacuum of space can reach speeds of tens of thousands of miles per hour. When it hits the Earth’s atmosphere, the air compresses it very quickly; and it’s temperature rises. The meteor burns until there is nothing left of it. It’s temperature can reach as high as three thousand degrees F.

Interestingly, dust is another important part of the Earth’s atmosphere. We usually think of dust as just small bits of dirt, but it is actually much more than that. It includes many microscopic particles such as pollen, spores, and seeds. It can also be the remains of meteors that have disintegrated as they passed through the Earth’s atmosphere. Without dust, there would be no clouds or fog. They act as surfaces where water condenses and forms clouds. The water droplets grow large and fall to the Earth as snow or rain. Without dust particles in the Earth’s atmosphere, the water cycle would not work properly.

Another aspect of Earth’s atmosphere that testifies to design for life is the greenhouse effect. Heat from the sun passes through the atmosphere and is then locked inside, unable to escape. This keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain life. Other planets, such as Mars, have thinner atmospheres which allow heat to escape. This causes extremely low temperatures at night, which makes life there impossible.

The debate between those who believe in intelligent design and those who believe all things have come into existance through chance rages on. But regardless of which side of the fence scientists fall on, all acknowledge that the Earth’s atmosphere is unique and the only one that can sustain life. Steven Hawking, a well known physicist and proclaimed atheist, has concluded that “The chance of a planet developing an atmosphere like Earth’s are less than a million to one.” (1)

The Earth’s atmosphere certainly testifies to the fact that God created the Earth for the purpose of sustaining the life he has created. It is inconceivable that all the things our atmosphere contains that make life on Earth possible would have happened by chance. The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the Earth and then created man, animals, and plant life to reside on the Earth. If one looks closely at the evidence exhibited in the atmosphere alone that points to a creator, it would be difficult to imagine that anyone could conclude that all these many life sustaining systems could have evolved by chance. The Earth’s atmosphere is one of the many things we can study that testify that the Bible gives us the only true explanation of the origin of the universe and of the origin of life. That origin is the God of the Bible.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Psalm 19:1

How Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution Impacted Margaret Sanger

In 1859 Charles Darwin published a book entitled, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. In this book he attempted to explain the diversity of life on earth and also the origin of life. He showed that plants and animals can change in order to adapt to their surroundings through a process he called Natural Selection. He didn't make any reference to God and claimed that the processes of change we observe today are responsible for the origin of life on our planet. Darwin's theories became very popular in the later half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. People who wanted a world without God were happy to have an explanation for the existence of life without Him. Unfortunately, these theories would be widely adopted as truth and would adversely influence the lives of many people who would, in turn, have an impact on history. One such person was Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, the leading advocate of abortion in America today.

Margaret Sanger was born on September 14, 1879. Her childhood was miserable with a father who spent most of the family money on alcohol. He strongly disliked Christianity, and when Margaret was baptised on March 23, 1893, it had to be kept a secret from him. He was known for his radical political views. Margaret was greatly influenced by the deprivation of her childhood and by her father's radical political views. She eventually followed in his footsteps and became involved in radical politics herself. She was also greatly influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. She believed she was “working alongside the universal law of evolution to advance humankind.” 1

Margaret Sanger adopted the belief that there were unfit humans who should not reproduce due to their inferior genetic makeup. She applied Darwin's belief about survival of the fittest to humans and said the genetic makeup of the poor, minorities, and mentally challenged was inferior. One of her main focuses was to encourage the process of Eugenics in the human population. She made it her life's mission to slow the reproduction of those she thought inferior through birth control. She believed that birth control was "nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit."2

Charles Darwin is quoted as saying, "We must bear without complaining the undoubtedly bad effects of the weak surviving and propagating their kind; but there appears to be at least one check in steady action, namely the weaker and inferior members of society not marrying so freely as the sound; and this check might be indefinitely increased, though this is more to be hoped for than expected, by the weak in body or mind refraining from marriage."3 Margaret Sanger was not satisfied to only hope the weak and unfit would refrain from marriage; she made it her life mission to hinder their reproduction. She began a movement whose mission was to produce a superior race, and she is quoted as saying, "Today the average reliance of civilization is based upon iron and steel, bricks and mortar, and we must change this to the construction and evolution of humanity itself." 4 This mission led her to establish what is today a multi-billion dollar industry in America that takes the lives of over 4,000 unborn babies each day.

In the early 1920s Margaret Sanger started the American Birth Control League, which was the forerunner of Planned Parenthood. The purpose of this organization was to produce a more fit nation by discouraging reproduction among what Sanger considered to be the unfit members of society. She believed black people and other racial groups were mentally inferior. She said, "We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,"5 For this reason Planned Parenthood clinics are located mostly in low income minority neighborhoods.

Since Darwin proposed that all life evolved from a single organism, at the core of Planned Parenthood is the belief that man is no different from animals. Margaret Sanger once said that, "The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."6 It seems probable that her deprivation during childhood opened her up to this thinking; and when she was exposed to Darwin's theories, she grabbed hold and ran with them. She "attributed insanity, epilepsy, criminality, prostitution, pauperism, mental defectiveness, and everything from child labor to world war to unchecked breeding."7

Today the slaughtering of innocent unborn babies continues in America and around the world through Planned Parenthood. Margaret Sanger, influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, spent her adult life pursuing a master race by encouraging the practice of Eugenics. The legacy she left was one of death and destruction. She died an embittered, broken-down alcoholic. If she had understood the fallacy of Darwin's theories about the origin of life, her life might have been different.

According to the Bible God created the earth and all life on it in six literal days. He created man in His image and made him different than the animals in that he created an eternal soul in him and an ability to have relationship with his creator. Creation scientists understand that man did not evolve from a single organism, and they do not lump him in with animals. Because of this, there is a respect for human life that is missing in Darwinian theories. Had Margaret Sanger understood and believed these principles, she would have valued all human life. She would have known that God has a purpose for every person, regardless of their race or mental abilities. Margaret Sanger may have spent her life doing good rather than evil had she acknowledged a creator God and surrendered her life to Him. There is no way to begin to estimate the damage that has been done and will be done because Margaret Sanger believed Charles Darwin rather than God.

Calvinism vs Arminianism or the history of Arminianism part 1

Recently, our family has been studying about the sovereignty of God and Calvin's Doctrine of Grace. My parents grew up in families that were solidly Arminian, and they raised my sister and I to believe that man plays a role in his salvation. Our belief was that when God reveals his grace to us, then we must make a decision to receive that grace. But as we have studied Calvin's doctines on grace, we have come to see that man is dead in his sins and, therefore, has no ability to decide about his salvation. The following verse explains this very clearly: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins...Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath....But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." Eph 2:1-5 I have been reading the New Testament, and I have found many verses to convince me that God is completely responsible for a person's salvation. I now see that I had no ability to even make a decision to follow Christ. The ability to have faith came from God. I thought about posting some of the Bible verses I found, but I have decided to post this article instead. It is a multiple choice test you can take to determine where you stand on Calvinism. It is a fun and interesting.

I will write more later on the origins of Arminianism.

Calvinism Made SimpleIntroduction: The PCA is a church of the Reformation. We believe in the doctrines of Calvinism. There is much mis-understanding about what that means. Some people equate Calvinism with stern Puritanism. Others think Calvinism is cold-hearted fatalism. Actually, Calvinism is nothing more than an outline of what the Bible teaches about salvation. Usually there are five statements, and these have been called the "five points" of Calvinism. I'm going to give them to you this morning as multiple choice questions for each of the five points, and you will be able to see if you are a Calvinist or not. Most, if not all, of you believe in the Bible, so you are probably all Calvinists already. Let's find out.....I. The first point has to do with the sinfulness of mankind.A. The Choices1. People are basically good, and we don't need a Savior.
2. People are sinners. But we are still good enough to choose to repent of our sins and believe in Christ for salvation without any help from God. Everyone is capable of doing enough good deeds to merit salvation.(Every religion or philosphy except for biblical Christianity holds to a variation of either of these statements.)3. We all come into this world spiritually dead in sin; and sin is so serious that we are both unwilling and unable to repent and believe in Jesus unless God in mercy creates repentance and faith in our hearts.Number three is the Calvinist answer, and what the Bible teaches.B. Some Bible verses...Rom 3:10-12 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."1 Cor 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.John 6:44, 64, 65 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Yet there are some of you who do not believe...." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."Eph 2:1-5 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins...Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath....But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.C. Illustration: A man has fallen overboard on a large vessel. He struck his head on a railing, as he fell into the ocean. He is now motionless and unconcious in the water. His lungs are filled with water. His heart has stopped beating. He is sinking fast. How can he be saved? 1) Throw him a float, and yell at him to grab on, and then pull him up to safety? But he cannot hear, nor understand. Or, 2) Someone must jump in and grab him, pull him to safety, empty his lungs of water, do "mouth to mouth" resuscitation and shock his heart back to life. That's what God did for us. That's Calvinism.SUMMARY STATEMENT ONE: All men and women are lost sinners who are spiritually unable to save themselves.II. The second point has to do with Who becomes a Christian, and Why.A. The Choices...Choice #1 we have already showed to be unbiblical, but here it is....1. People are not really dead in trespasses and sins, just a little bit sick. People have a natural ability to repent and believe without any special help from God. So, it's up to each individual, by exercising his/her own free will, to decide if he/she will repent and receive Jesus as Savior.
2. The Bible is right when it says that people are really spiritually dead in their sins. But God is a merciful and gracious God, and is unwilling to see the entire human race go to Hell. Therefore He makes up His mind to choose and save a very large number of individuals, and to supernaturally create repentance and faith in their hearts, and bring them to Christ.Number 2 is Calvinism.B. The Bible verses....1 Th 1:4-5 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.1 Pet 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect (chosen ones), strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:1 Pet 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.Ephesians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will...SUMMARY STATEMENT TWO: God graciously chose to rescue a large number of individuals from destruction.III. The third point has to do with God's Purpose in Jesus' death on the cross.A. The Choices...1. Jesus died to actually pay for the sins of every individual, and therefore every individual will go to Heaven. No one will be damned. (Universalism)
2. Jesus died on the cross to set us a good example of how to do what's right no matter what the consequences.
3. Jesus died on the cross to create a kind of "treasury of salvation." He died for mankind in general, but not for any individuals. He has thus made salvation POSSIBLE for anyone who of his own free will would choose to repent and believe in Jesus.
4. While Jesus' death DOES have some value for everyone in the world, the chief purpose of Jesus' death was to ACTUALLY PURCHASE REDEMPTION for those individuals chosen by God for salvation. Jesus did not die just to make salvation POSSIBLE for all. He died to make salvation CERTAIN for the elect.Number four is the Calvinistic answer.B. What does the Bible say about it? For whom did Jesus die?Eph 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
(Do good shepherds die for wolves as well as for their sheep? Would it not be a foolish shepherd who said he loved the wolves and the sheep equally?)Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.There are some Bible verses which SEEM to say that Jesus died for every individual in the world....1 John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.But the word "world" in the Bible often does not mean each individual in the world. For example...John 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"People today often use all-inclusive language in the same way. For example: Someone might say to you "George Bush is from Texas." You might reply, "Oh, everyone knows that!" But, literally speaking,everyone doesn't know that George Bush is from Texas.If Jesus truly paid for everyone's sins in his death on the cross, then no one would ever go to Hell. Yet we read in the Bible that many people don't go to Heaven. Therefore the verses which seem to teach a universal atonement must be using the word "world" in a non-literal way.Calvinism is biblical. The main purpose of Jesus' death on the cross was to make a real atonement for the sins of God's people. Jesus shed His blood for the Church. The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep, not for the wolves. However, even those who reject Christ derive great benefit from the cross in what theologians call "common grace." It is expressed in Matthew 5:45......Be like "...your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."SUMMARY STATEMENT THREE: Jesus' death powerfully purchased redemption for God's chosen people.IV. The fourth point has to do with the power of God over a person's heart; and the inevitability of His plan of salvation.A. Choices...1. God never forces anyone to become a Christian. If you are determined to resist God's Holy Spirit, then God is helpless to save you from your sins. You are stronger than God, because God will never violate your free will. He can only plead and hope you will come to Him.
2. God powerfully works in the hearts and circumstances of those He chose to become believers, and none of God's elect is allowed by God to resist His saving grace.Number two is the Calvinist choice.B. The Bible Verses...The conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-20) is an illustration of God changing a man's free will. Saul had no choice in the matter of his salvation or his ministry. He was forcibly converted by God and made into God's apostle to the Gentiles.Prov 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.Phil 2:12-13 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.SUMMARY STATEMENT FOUR: All who are chosen by God for salvation will definitely become Christians.V. The fifth point has to do with the believer's security in salvation.A. The choices....1. You became a Christian by your own power and free will. Therefore, you can stop being a Christian also by your own power and free will. You can run away from God and lose your salvation. Maybe you were bound for Heaven yesterday, but if you do something wrong, you can be bound for Hell tomorrow.
2. You became a Christian because God chose you, Jesus died for your sins, and the Holy Spirit created in you a new heart with repentance and faith. You have been made by God Himself into a child of God. You were irresistably saved by God's power, and you will inevitibly be kept saved by the power of God. Your eternal security is not in your power to change. You can never lose your salvation because that would defeat the plan of God for your life, which is impossible.B. The Bible Verses...John 10:27-29 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (If you were saved in 1995, and lost your salvation in 2000, did you have "eternal" life, or "5-year" life?)John 6:37-39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.Mat 18:12-14 What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.Phil 1:6 ...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.SUMMARY STATEMENT FIVE: Those who are saved will never lose their salvation.Conclusion: What we have discussed today is a simple summary of what the Bible says about salvation. Let's list these five points again....1. All men and women are lost sinners who are spiritually unable to save themselves.2. God graciously chose to rescue a large number of individuals from destruction.3. Jesus' death powerfully purchased redemption for God's chosen people.4. All who are chosen by God for salvation will definitely become Christians.5. Those who are saved will never lose their salvation.Now if we take all those first capital letters and make an acrostic to help us remember the five points we come up with A G J A T. "Agjat." Several hundred years ago some English speaking Calvinists tried to come up with an acrostic for these five points; and they hit upon T U L I P, which is a lot easier to remember. TULIP is also appropriate because these five points were first outlined in 1618 at the Synod of Dordt, in Holland (home of the tulip flower).Final Question: So what? What good is Calvinism, and why should anyone care? The answer is threefold:1) Calvinism is good because it is simply a summary of what the Bible says about salvation, and all Christians need to know what the Bible says.
2) Calvinism is good because it gives us a handy yardstick to measure the truth of what is being preached at us by the multitude of false teachers around us, and who are confusing millions of Christians; and
3) Calvinism is good because it reminds us that our salvation is truly a gift of God. If you find yourself with faith in Jesus Christ, you should say "Thank you!" You didn't make that faith happen, God gave it to you as a gift. He has made you His child. May God be praised for His kindness and mercy which He has given to us abundantly in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Church Today

We went to Church with my brothers and their families today so that we could pick up one of my nephews to keep for the week. I'd like to share something from David Platt's sermon. "The essence of sin: man substitutes himself for God. The essence of salvation: God substitutes himself for man."