The first miracle of all is the existence of everything. Yet it’s also the most frequently overlooked, and, oddly, it’s the miracle unbelievers tend to use to disprove miracles.
Most unbelievers, even some who are curious about Christianity, assume that the universe came about by accident, or that it is eternal, with no beginning. But as we discussed in the earlier chapters about origin and order, our universe must originate from an uncaused cause. The first effect of this cause — the creation of the world — is a most magnificent miracle. Equally miraculous is the finely tuned order of our universe. And over time, as Scripture and science tell us, the universe became full of living creatures. In all this, we see a God who continues to produce miracles as He reveals His plan little by little, at each new stage of the world’s development.
At the climax of God’s miraculous creation is human life. Our conscious existence, too, is a great miracle. God created us to be selfaware; He made us to think, reason, choose, and love. Ultimately, He designed us to be able to know Him in a direct and personal way. And as we know all too well, the first human beings eventually chose badly and began to love poorly and jealously. Our thinking became irrational and flawed. This was the fall of mankind from our original perfection to the imperfection and iniquity with which we’re so familiar now, by our misuse of the gift of our free will.
Even so, the origin of the universe, in all its order and with all its living beings, including us, is inherently miraculous. Everything we see, everything we are, everything we take for granted is unbelievably miraculous, regardless of the eons it took to achieve its current level of diversity and complexity. Existence itself is a clear, unmistakable, magnificent miracle that exceeds our imagination and comprehension. At the same time, it seems so natural and predictable that we often miss its miraculous manifestations and the glimpses of God present at every moment of our lives.
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This article is adapted from a chapter in The World According to God by F.X. Cronin, which is available from Sophia Institute Press.
Art for this post on Miracles: Cover and featured image used with permission.
