IS GOD STILL IN CONTROL

Intro;
Many have looked at and appreciated the huge star-filled sky. They have admired a colorful sunset, a
beautiful waterfall and the beauty and serenity of the countryside. However, when disasters strike, destroying
property and claiming lives, many cannot understand why such terrible things happen. Others are troubled by
the extent, cruelty, and wantonness of crime and violence. This has led many to (1) doubt the existence of an all-
powerful, loving God. (2) Many ask: If God does exist, why has he allowed so much suffering and wickedness
throughout history? Why does he allow the sorry state of things we see around us today? Why does he not do
something to bring an end to war, crime, injustice, poverty, and other miseries that are escalating at an alarming
rate in so many countries of the earth? Because they have found no satisfactory answer to this question, many
have lost faith in God and have concluded that he only installed humans on planet Earth, and then left them to
run their own affairs. In other words, God is no longer in control.
Did It Just Happen, or Was It Created?

g99 6/22 6-7; Two Sides of the Same Coin

The above has been said of energy and matter. Matter is simply one form of energy, Scientific American
noted. This relationship between matter and energy was expressed by Einsteins famous formula E=mc2 (energy
equals mass times the speed of light squared). This equation reveals that a little mass, or matter, harbors
unbelievable energy. It explains, noted university professor Timothy Ferris, why a bomb the size of an
orange can lay waste to a city.
Looking at the other side of the coinaccording to Einsteins theory, energy can also be turned into matter.
The forming of the material universe may thus have involved what one cosmologist called the most awesome
transformation of matter and energy that we have been privileged to glimpse.
Energy changes into matter when subatomic particles collide at high speeds and create new, heavier
particles, explains The World Book Encyclopedia. Scientists accomplish this on a limited scale using huge
machines called particle accelerators, in which subatomic particles collide at fantastic speeds, creating matter.
Were repeating one of the miracles of the universetransforming energy into matter, explains Nobel laureate
physicist Dr. Carlo Rubbia.
True, one may say, but what does this have to do with the record of creation that I can read in the Bible?
Well, the Bible is not a scientific textbook as such, yet it has proved to be up-to-date and in harmony with
scientific facts. From beginning to end, the Bible points to the One who created all the matter in the universe,
the Scientist. (Nehemiah 9:6; Acts 4:24; Revelation 4:11) And it clearly shows the relationship between energy
and matter.

From where, though, did the matter and the energy needed for such a transformation originate? Science
has no satisfying answer. Interestingly, the Bible says of God: Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also
being vigorous in power, not one of them [the heavenly bodies] is missing. (Isaiah 40:26) Yes, the Bible is
saying that a source of tremendous dynamic energythe Creatorcaused the material universe to come into
existence. Whatever means God used to create the universe, he clearly has the energy and the power needed to
do so.
it-1 526: While Jehovah, who is a Spirit (Joh 4:24; 2Co 3:17), has always existed, that is not true of the
matter of which the universe is made. Hence, when creating the literal heavens and earth, Jehovah did not use
pre-existent material. This is clear from Genesis 1:1, which says: In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth. If matter had always existed, it would have been inappropriate to use the term beginning with
reference to material things. However, after creating the earth, God did form from the ground every wild beast
of the field and every flying creature of the heavens. (Ge 2:19) He also formed man out of dust from the
ground, blowing into his nostrils the breath of life so that the man became a living soul.Ge 2:7.