God Exists – By: John Lennox

I believe in the supernatural God who created the heavens and the earth, holding them in existence on the firm basis of rational evidence. The pioneers of modern science saw no contradiction between deep faith and the utmost excellence of rational inquiry. Above the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge are inscribed the words: “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” Men became scientific because they expected law in nature, and they expected law in nature because they believed in a Lawgiver. I am not ashamed of being both a man of science and a Christian, for Christianity gave us the very foundation of scientific inquiry. To ask a man or woman to choose between God and science is like asking them to choose between Henry Ford and engineering as an explanation for the motorcar. Agency does not compete with mechanism. When Isaac Newton discovered his law of gravity, he did not discard God; he wrote the Principia Mathematica, recognizing that divine agency is the ultimate explanation.

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

— Psalm 19:1

“The universe is a rational and ordered system, governed by a divine reason.”

— Marcus Aurelius

“The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.”

— Isaac Newton

Why is there something rather than nothing? The brilliant cosmologist Allan Sandage noted that God is the profound answer to that fundamental question. Yet, many today are desperate to claim that the universe created itself from nothing—a glaring oxymoron. If X creates Y, X must exist to explain Y. If X creates X, the logic collapses into nonsense, even if uttered by highly credentialed minds. It is absurd to complain that an unthinkable God making everything out of nothing is impossible, only to pretend that nothingness turning itself into everything is perfectly rational. Astronomy leads us to a unique event: a universe created out of nothing, possessing a delicate, supernatural balance, fine-tuned precisely to permit human life.

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

— Hebrews 11:3

“Nothing comes from nothing.”

— Parmenides

“Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with the very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the right conditions required to permit life.”

— Arno Penzias

We believe in reason, and as a man of science, I believe the universe is rationally intelligible. Einstein famously marveled that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. How can mathematical equations formulated in the human mind perfectly map the physical universe out there? The irony of the atheistic position is profound: if our cognitive faculties are the product of mindless, unguided, natural processes driven only by survival rather than truth, we have strong reason to doubt the validity of any belief they produce, including atheism itself. True science works because the universe out there and the human mind in here are ultimately the product of the same intelligent, divine Mind. We are made in God’s image, which gives both men and women the profound capacity to seek, understand, and apply the truth.

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

— Proverbs 2:6

“Reason is nothing else but a portion of the divine spirit set in a human body.”

— Seneca

“The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences is a gift we neither understand nor deserve.”

— Eugene Wigner

Ethical behavior and the intrinsic value of a human being cannot be explained without the existence of God. Just as modern science sprang from Judeo-Christian roots, so did the concept of human equality. Universal egalitarianism, human rights, and democracy are the direct legacy of the Christian ethic of love and the Judaic ethic of justice. Without this theological foundation, everything else is merely idle talk. The value of a man or woman rests not on what they can produce, but on the fact that they are made in the image of God. History stands as a dark testament to the alternative: when nations attempt to abolish God while hoping to retain human value, the result is tragedy. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn observed regarding the millions sacrificed in Russia, the answer to such horrific evil was simply: “We have forgotten God.”

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

— Genesis 1:27

“He who wrongs another, wrongs himself; he who acts unjustly, acts unjustly to himself, making himself bad.”

— Marcus Aurelius

“Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary.”

— Albert Einstein

Science is marvelous, but it is fundamentally limited. By analyzing a cake, science cannot tell you why it was made; only the maker can reveal that purpose. Similarly, we can analyze the universe magnificently, but only the Creator can tell us what it is all about. He has done so powerfully in the Bible, diagnosing our ultimate problem not merely as behavioral failure between people, but as a fractured vertical relationship with our Creator. The solution is the restoration of that relationship through Jesus Christ, who embodied the ultimate ethic—healing the sick, welcoming the outcast, and bringing profound peace. The central anchor for this claim is His historical resurrection from the dead. The empty tomb of Jesus forms a veritable rock upon which all rationalistic theories dash themselves in vain. If Jesus rose from the dead, death is not the end, and humanity has eternal hope.

“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”

— Matthew 28:6

“The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.”

— Seneca

“Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”

— Max Planck

The hardest problem any Christian faces is the problem of evil and pain. How do we come to terms with a world filled with staggering beauty alongside agonizing suffering? Atheism offers no answer, decreeing that human death is the end, stripping away all ultimate hope. But pain does not have to be the final word; it can be the crucible for strength and character. Yet, through faith and resilience, God does not remain distant from our human suffering; on the cross, He became part of it. And because Christ rose from the dead, He stands as the ultimate Judge.

While the world is filled with unresolved injustices, the resurrection guarantees that justice will ultimately prevail, empowering us to endure our trials, build our discipline, and step boldly forward to overcome any difficulty in this life. We see some beautiful things. We see some ragged edges, we see hurt and pain, and we see joy; how can we come to terms with that? And it seems to me, there is no simplistic answer, but a window into an answer, and it’s this: if it is actually true that Jesus is, as I believe him to be, the Son of God, then we can ask the question, what is God doing on a cross?

And the answer comes back at the very least, God does not remain distant from our human suffering, but has become part of it. And the other side of that is this: because Jesus rose from the dead, he is going to be the ultimate judge. Now here’s an irony, because atheism has no ultimate hope of justice by definition. The vast majority of people in the history of the world have died without justice, and will die without justice. And if death is the end, then, of course, they have no hope of ultimate justice. But the promise in the New Testament guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus is that he is to be the judge in the coming day.

So, ladies and gentlemen, those are some of the reasons why I believe that God is real and worthy to be trusted. Thank you.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

— Romans 8:28

“Difficulties are the things that show what men are.”

— Epictetus

“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”

— Viktor E. Frankl

Message from: John Lennox and Written by: Rhet Arevalo Marini