Proof That God Exists: Creation Argument (Post #1 of 3)

This post is a direct result of the amazing Natasha Crain and her blog posts at Christianmomthoughts.com. She is an apologist and author who dedicates her time and talents to defending Christianity. I merely read her posts and put them in terms that hopefully anyone could understand and then included activities and visuals to aid the average student in their study of the existence of God. This is the first post of 3 on the proof of God's existence. It is the creation argument.

The universe had a beginning.
 
The universe is everything we can see and everything we cannot see. It is our world and all of outer space...other planets, the stars and sun and moon. We live in a galaxy inside the universe. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way.
 
We can look around where we live here on earth and see things with our eyes. We can see the sky and clouds, the ocean and mountains, the grass with flowers and trees and bushes, animals, the sun,..all of it.
 
To see things in outer space like the stars and other planets and galaxies, we have to use a special eyeglass called a telescope. 
 
A long time ago a man named Edwin Hubble invented a telescope. It was named the Hubble telescope because he made it! 
 
When Edwin looked through his telescope he saw something amazing. He saw that the universe is always expanding, or growing, getting bigger! Other galaxies are always moving away from us too. If the universe is moving and growing and getting bigger, that means that it had to start out small. Think about an adult you know. Were they born as big as they are now or did they have a beginning? They had a beginning! They started out as a tiny baby. They grew into a toddler, then a small child, then a teenager, and then an adult. Even though they eventually stopped growing bigger, they will never stop growing older until the day they die.

Just like that adult had to start out as a tiny baby, the universe had to have a beginning too. The universe didn't just show up one day like magic. It started out small and then grew bigger, and it is still growing today!
 
If the universe had a beginning, then Somebody had to begin it. Someone had to start the universe. We call that Someone God! 
 

Genesis 1:1

• Using the Scripture memory activities here, begin committing Genesis 1:1 to memory. Remember, God's Word is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), God-breathed, and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).
• Unwrap a bar of Ivory soap and let your kids touch it and hold it, turning it over in their hands. Encourage them to talk about what it feels like and its shape. Put the unwrapped bar of Ivory soap on a microwave safe plate and in the microwave for approximately 1 minute and thirty seconds. Let the kids watch as it expands, which begins happening at about 15 seconds. Once the time is over, let the soap cool and then the kids can touch it or handle it. It is great sensory fun! If the kids are interested, here is the science behind the expanding soap: Air is whipped into the soap during the process of making it, leaving tiny air bubbles inside the bar. The air bubbles have water molecules in them and so when the soap is heated in the microwave, the water vaporizes and the heat causes the trapped air to expand. Don't waste the soap! Give it to the kids to play with during their next bath time.
• Blow up a balloon so it is roughly the size of your fist. Pinching the neck closed with one hand, use your other to draw dots on the balloon with a black Sharpie. These dots represent our galaxy, the Milky Way. Now continue blowing up the balloon. Look what happens to the dots! The expanding balloon is like our universe, which is constantly growing. 
• Make elephant toothpaste! Set a 16 oz. water bottle in the middle of a cookie sheet that has sides to it to catch the toothpaste. In a small mixing bowl swirl together 2 tablespoons of warm water and 1 teaspoon of yeast. In your water bottle, mix 1/2 cup of 6% (or higher) hydrogen peroxide, five drops of food coloring, and a squirt of dish soap. Pour the yeast mixture into the water bottle and watch the elephant toothpaste expand. Want to watch a fun video on elephant toothpaste on a gigantic scale? Watch this video!
• Get a pack of green bean seeds from your local gardening department. Fold a paper towel in half and then fold it in half again to create a square. Spray it with water until it is wet, but not dripping. Place the paper towel into a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag. Place two or three bean seeds between the baggie and the wet paper towel. Make sure there is no air in the baggie and seal it tight. Use painter's tape to stick the baggie to a sunny window so the seeds will get the sunight. Watch for 7-10 days for the bean seeds to begin to sprout. Feel free to plant them once they do so as to watch them grow even more.

 
In each of the above experiments, there was a beginning. The mountain of fluffy soap started as a rectangular bar. The balloon started as a simple pocket of latex or rubber. The elephant toothpaste started as the individual elements of hydrogen peroxide, yeast, dish soap, and water. The bean sprouts started out as seeds. They each had a beginning and then, as a result of chemical or physical reactions, they expanded into something bigger. They grew! What a perfect representation of our universe, which also had a beginning and has since expanded!

We added the microwave to expand our soap and our breath to expand our balloons. We added water and sunlight to the bean seeds to help them begin their expansion. Similarly, our universe had a beginning, and the Someone that spoke life into it to cause it to grow and expand was God. 
 

• Visit a planetarium to get a 180-degree view of how vast the universe is! Just be careful to discuss beforehand and after any presentation that accompanied the show as it will likely include the big bang theory as its explanation for how the universe began. But don't skip this experience because of that! This is a great opportunity to teach your kids the importance of fine-tuning their listening skills to recognize the cultural lies out there.
• While at the planetarium, find out about times they host viewing stars/planets with their telescopes. Most planetariums or museums of science and industry have high-powered telescopes that can be used during weekly or monthly appointed times and from the roof of the museum.
• Make a flashlight star gazer. Grab a flashlight with batteries and some dark-colored contact paper - not transparent. Unscrew the top of your flashlight and gently push out the clear circle lens the light shines through. Lay it on top of the contact paper and use it as a guide to cut a circle of the same size from the contact paper. Use a star paper punch to punch star shapes out of the contact paper. Peel the backing off the contact paper and fit it over the flashlight lens. (You don't have to adhere the contact paper to the lens if you don't want to. Just hold it in place over the lens while you re-assemble the flashlight so it can be removed later.) Re-assemble the flashlight. Now turn it on and create your own star show! Notice how the stars change size - smaller the closer you hold the flashlight to the wall, floor, or ceiling - and larger the further away from those you hold it. Have your kids practice holding the flashlight closer and moving it further away to simulate the universe expanding.
• To learn more about the Hubble telescope, watch this video.

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