The Bible tells us that God created mankind is his own image; male and female he created them. In all of creation, we are special because we are made in the image and likeness of God, who created mankind to have dominion and to take care of the earth, with God but under God’s direction. And because we are made in God’s image we have been endowed with a personality and character and freewill, the ability to choose for ourselves. But we chose wrong; we chose to ignore God and to do things our own way, and we messed up… that’s the problem (what the Bible calls sin) that separates us from God!
If we were simply the product of evolution, a chance coming together of raw inorganic matter, how can we ever explain our personality? Can a river run higher than its original source? No (not unless it is manipulated by human engineering). Then how do we account for human personality? It is impossible for a river to run higher than its source, and it is also impossible for inorganic matter to evolve into rational, thinking, calculating, emotional human beings with individual character and personality. The fact is our personality points to God, who made us in His image.
Why do we feel generous, and grateful, when things go well; why do we feel the need to share and thank someone? On the other hand, why, in a crisis or when things go wrong, do we feel the need to pray or cry out for help? Why do we claim ‘it’s not fair’? Where does our concept of right and wrong come from, or our concept of fairness? If we are simply a product of chance, evolution, survival of the fittest, why do we even care about fairness? Where does our sense of justice come from?
Our moral understanding, our values and sense of right and wrong all point to the existence of God, as does our conscience – which is a pointer to God if ever there was one! Our conscience acts like a code or law inside of us: instinctively it makes judgments, sometimes acquitting (we have a clear conscience) sometimes condemning (and we feel guilty). And this presence of an inner-law suggests a Lawgiver. Our conscience is a clear pointer to a God who is so concerned with right and wrong that He put a moral indicator inside each one of us.
R. Ian Seymour
R. Ian Seymour, Empowered Personal Evangelism, Weybridge: New Wine Press (2014), p.36