Have you considered this? Where did the very first matter come from? Or you might say where did the very first atom or perhaps the very first and smallest atomic particle originate?

            For years men have understood and proved that matter and energy conform to certain laws and rules that have been studied and accepted by scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, astrophysicists, nuclear physicists and many others.  

            The first law of thermodynamics states that “the total energy of a closed and isolated system is constant. It can be transformed from one form to another, such as matter to energy, but can neither be created or destroyed”.

            The rules by which matter and energy behave are fixed and cannot be altered by any known force that exists in our world. Matter and energy can neither be created or destroyed by any force that exists in our natural world.

            So, once again, where did the very first bit of matter and energy come from?

            Some would answer; the big bang started it all.

            But that’s no good. Matter would have had to exist before the big bang, if we concede that there was a big bang. So that answer just does not satisfy the question of where did the very first bit of matter and energy come from?

            Well, there are only two possible answers to the question that will satisfy the mystery with any logical sense, whatsoever.

            The first answer could be that matter and energy are self existent and have always existed and they had no beginning.

            Now that answer takes quite a leap of faith, wouldn’t you agree?  Would you believe that there are people who give that reasoning as their explanation for the beginning of matter and energy? Those same people will deny that there is a God because they would claim that a belief in an all powerful God requires an illogical faith in something that does not make sense. And yet these people will deny the first law of thermodynamics and cling to an illogical belief that matter and energy have always existed in a closed system without an external force supplying the energy to start the process at the beginning.

            I think everyone will agree that this second explanation makes much more sense than the first one does.

            We know that matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system. And due to this law of thermodynamics only an external force can add energy into a closed system. We also know that it is impossible for “something to come from nothing”. So, logic would have to conclude that there is something that is self existent. We also know that matter and energy had a beginning. We can conclude that by the second law of thermodynamics, which states that “the total entropy of a closed system either increases or remains the same”. In other words, energy and matter in a closed system either stay the same or they wind down. Evidence proves that our universe is winding down. Fire burns out and the form of matter and energy changes over time. But remember, matter and energy can change form but they cannot be created or destroyed by any natural force in our natural world.

            So for matter and energy to appear in our world and have a beginning, they would have had to be introduced into our closed system universe. That would take an outside force. Our world includes the depths of space and all parts of the universe where we live.

            So if we include the entire universe as our closed system, what is left?

            The only thing left is something from outside our universe.

            Now where is such a place as this?

            The only logical conclusion would be that this force is something from outside the universe where we exist. And what’s more, this force would have to be a “self existent force”.

            Does this begin to sound like a description of Almighty God?

            Of course the diehard skeptic will say that this requires just too much faith to believe. But hold on here. What about the scientific view that “matter and energy are self existent”? If something is required to be self existent then why is hard to believe that God exists as self existent?

            When you compare the logical reasoning process of these two explanations for the beginning of matter and energy, does the explanation of a self existent God just make more reasonable, logical sense? I think we can all agree that it does. Especially when we can see beyond doubt that our universe is created with a beautiful and complex universal design. Only a designer could have created such a marvelous design.

Carl O. Cooper