Daily Devotional – October 18

Design

When we look at any object, how do we know whether it is designed by intelligence or the product of natural forces? How can we KNOW whether or not a living organism is the result of natural forces or intelligent design?

For that matter, how can we scientifically prove whether any complex object, such as an airplane, is the product of intelligent design or chance occurrences? Very few people have ever seen an airplane constructed, so how can we know it did not make itself? This may seem like a silly question, but there is actually a very simple way to know the truth. A passenger jet is capable of flight yet is made from thousands of complex parts that –

• Do not occur naturally • Have individual components incapable of flight
• All have to be present and arranged in specific positions to allow flight to take place

Thus, an airplane could not have made itself. It is absolutely obvious that an airplane was designed, constructed, and assembled by an intelligent source for the purpose of flight. In the same way, a living cell is made up of millions of non-living parts that –

• Do not occur naturally outside of a cell
• Are not themselves alive
• All have to be present in specific locations in order for the cell to be alive

The simplest living cell far exceeds the complexity of a jet airplane because a cell can reproduce an exact copy of itself – no manmade machine is capable of this feat. Both the airplane and cell were designed by intelligence. The airplane by man’s intelligence, the cell by God’s intelligence!

The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

~ Psalm 104:31

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.