| The Foundational Law of the Universe It is utterly awe-inspiring to study the orderliness of nature: the clock-like motion of heavenly bodies through space, the human body and its marvelous functions, the beauties of the wonderful world we live in. When God created the universe, he made it in a way that he knew would function. He made it perfect. If you were to change something perfect, it would no longer be perfect—it would be imperfect. Thus, if he had made it any other way, it would have been imperfect. By observing the unfailing laws of biochemistry and physics, we see that God designed everything in the created realm to operate on the basis of rules of order, or natural laws. Order is the first law in God’s universe. Human laws, even good ones, are arbitrary; they are “law” only because someone decided that it should be so. God’s laws are not arbitrary—they are natural; they are simple cause and effect. God does not dictate truth; he is simply in harmony with it. The Bible explains that, “Whatever a person plants is what he will harvest.”[12] When we plant corn, we can rely on the fact that we will harvest exactly that—corn. We can count on it. What a fearful world it would be if we never knew if the foods we cultivate would be nourishing one day and poisonous the next! In the same way, there are certain principles that operate in our orderly universe that are necessary for us to be in harmony with if we are to live happily. They are as natural as the laws of physics and cannot be violated without reaping the awful, yet natural consequences. The Creator told us what these principles of order that ensure life and happiness are. He maintains that happiness and life are found only in love, unselfishness, and concern for others. The basis of life itself is selfless love for others. To violate these principles would not only bring unhappiness and suffering, but destroy life itself. The opposite of love—whether you call it selfishness, hate, or “sin”—brings the opposite result: death. The Bible calls this, “the law of sin and death.”[13] Even human Philosophers observed thousands of years ago that the principle of “cause and effect” applies equally in the spiritual realm. In the same way that love brings good things and feelings to those who love, sin causes suffering and ultimately and inevitably leads to death. No one “gives” cancer to smokers; it is the natural consequence of their actions, of natural law. Likewise, no one has to kill “sinners”—their death would be caused by sin itself[14]. Selfishness is a terminal illness. The Good Ol’ Days Older people often talk about “the good old days,” when things were different, life was better. Perhaps things are worse today in certain ways than in the times they are referring to; but a candid survey of history will show that life wasn’t actually that great in “the good old days.” With hardly a pause to take a breath, human history is replete with ceaseless war, strife, bloodshed, disease, heartache and death. Unless we go back, back, back to the time before the madness began. Back to a time we’ll call “Eternity Past.” We find that in eternity past, peace and love reigned in God’s universe. There was a time when there was never any strife; there was perfect trust; there was total love. There was never any deceit. No matter where you were, it was perfectly safe, day and night. Everybody loved everybody else. Pain, illness and death were unknown. Perfect freedom and love were the foundation of government and daily living. It was, indeed, “perfect.” This is the way God ran the universe—his family, his children; for “God is love.”[15] |
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| 11 see Nehemiah 9:6 12 Galatians 6:7 13 Romans 8:2 14 see James 1:15 15 I John 4:16 |
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