The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Genesis 2:9

What aspects of the natural world might demonstrate to us the existence of a creator God and His attributes identified by the apostle Paul in Romans 1:20—His “eternal power and divine nature”?  Here are a few more to add to our growing list:

Amazing adaptability. Charles Darwin used his observation of finches on the Galapagos Islands to formulate the theory that the capacity of the birds in that isolated region to adapt to a great variety of food sources is the function that “created” all life forms. Such adaptation (“natural selection”) is the origin of all species, he concluded. His observations were truly significant as are the thousands of similar observations made by other biologists since that time. It is obvious that God gave His creatures the capacity to change in this manner. This capacity is often called “microevolution” a highfalutin term that simply means “small changes.” We can see small changes like this in many similar animal and plant groups. Such changes, however, are noted only in creatures that retain their primary basic life functions and form.

To a non-scientist like myself, natural adaptation is amazing evidence of God’s purpose and design and moves me in the direction of worshiping the divine Creator. Darwin’s conjecture that all living things had their source in one simple life form that without direction or purpose through the course of minute changes created all the diversity and complexity we see in life around us will ultimately drive the God-denier in the direction of worshiping the creation—the exact result Paul describes later in his message to the Roman church: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised” (Romans 1:25ff).

Remarkable harmony Perhaps even more amazing than the creation’s adaptability is its harmony. Even though we know from our observations in the wild that only the most fit creatures survive the longest, this melody of competition is underscored by a broader and deeper natural harmony without which nothing could survive. Scientists are often astounded by instances of inter-species cooperation that are being discovered regularly: Tree roots that do a slow dance around each other and benefit each other for the health of the forest, pollinators by the hundreds sailing without conflict through the vast sea of blossoms in a mesquite grove, and cactus plants giving each other the space they need to obtain enough water to make it in what to us seems to be a “hostile” environment. Capitalism is an economic theory based on the importance of competition, but if our present economic woes are to teach us anything, they should prove to us that competition without a foundation of moral and ethical harmony is merely chaos. Our Creator’s natural systems cannot function without basic harmonious relationships. You would think that since mankind is made in the image of its Creator, we’d know our human systems, though at times beneficially competitive, truly work only because of harmonious relationships.

Overwhelming beauty. I believe it’s significant that in the Genesis creation account the first fact mentioned about the trees of the garden was that they were “pleasing to the eye” (Gen. 2:9). For this reason I’m convinced that the beauty we see and sense in the natural world is one of the most important evidences of God’s divine nature. Nineteenth century American statesman George Bancroft expressed it like this: “Beauty is but the sensible image of the Infinite. Like truth and justice it lives within us; like virtue and the moral law it is a companion of the soul.” In commenting on William Cullen Bryant’s beliefs about beauty in nature, theologian Augustus Strong observed: “The external world is beautiful, because unfallen. It shares with man the effects of sin; but whenever we retreat from the regions which man’s folly has despoiled, we may find something that reminds us of our lost Paradise.” John Muir believed that “everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.”

The value of natural beauty to the human soul was what inspired the masterful landscape painter Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of painting. With his paintings he wanted to put people back in touch with the Creator. He hoped his paintings would give city-dwelling admirers a yearning for the outdoors where they too could discover what he had—that “in gazing on the pure creations of the Almighty, he feels a calm religious tone steal through his mind, and when he has turned to mingle [again] with his fellow men, the chords which have been struck in that sweet communion cease not to vibrate.” Maybe that’s why I admire Cole’s paintings and not Picasso’s. If we saw something like a Picasso in nature, we’d know at once it did not come from God’s hands! Beauty may be nature’s most profound apologist for God.