Atheists have often wondered, if God created the universe, then who created God?
In his book “The God Delusion”, the staunch atheist and Darwinian scientist Richard Dawkins of Oxford University regarded this question as a proof for atheism and a problem for Christians.
This problem is considered by those who are opposed to God to be up there alongside the perennial issue of why there is suffering from evil.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? …
Isaiah 45:9-10
The so-called problem of evil, made popular by the philosopher David Hume, forgets that evil or wickedness is a consequence of the Devil and the other angels like him that are in rebellion against God. Moreover, it misses the point, made in the book of Job, that evil is to be left in the world, causing tribulation, until the time of wrath at the ends of the earth, when Jesus Christ shall judge the world. So, evil will be punished and removed by Jesus Christ, but all in due course.
That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Job 21:30
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
Job 38:12-13
It is from the expression “the ends of the earth” that the popular paraphrase “the end times” comes. Another thing, “judgement day” refers both to the day of the LORD, which is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and also to the time of “the great white throne”, when everyone who has ever lived and who is not saved will be judged by Jesus Christ (ref. Revelation 20:12) before being cast into the lake of fire.
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father…
John 5:22-23
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10-11
After the ends of the earth, once Jesus Christ completes his work, there will be no more evil.
So, the philosophical problem of evil is actually not a problem at all.
Dawkins himself imagines an indifferent universe, one without good and evil. But this is simply his imagination, and his thinking is faulty.
To Dawkins, the idea that a Creator created life is unsatisfactory because it begs the question, Who created the Creator? Many a logician like William Lane Craig has explained that this argument by Dawkins is technically fallacious (ref. 1). What is more, if it were valid, science itself would be impossible.
For another example of unsound logic, consider the theory of Darwinian evolution, a subject that Dawkins teaches. In reality, a new species cannot originate from the process of evolution as Darwin supposes because in nature when one species mates with another, the offspring is always sterile. A mule, for instance, which is the offspring of a horse and a donkey, is always sterile. In nature, a mule cannot mate with another mule to procreate a new generation of mules. Accordingly, the idea that humans had evolved from apes by a process of natural selection is impossible, and this is why Genesis must be correct.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply…
Genesis 1:26-28
You see, it truly is as the Bible explains: the wisdom of this world is foolishness.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1 Corinthians 3:18-19
This is because for the most part the world has been fooled by the Devil.
… the devil… He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…
John 8:32
Now, to the matter of “Who created God?”
The Christian mathematician John Lennox, who once debated Richard Dawkins on the very question of “Who created God?”, often reminds the audience that God is “eternal” (ref. 2), a being that has always existed and that was never created. He also makes the point that just because God is a mystery, difficult for humans to comprehend, it does not mean that God does not exist (ref. 2). He goes on, according to the Nobel prize winning physicist Richard Feynman, today science cannot explain energy, and yet energy exists. So, the world believes that energy exists and even relies on energy, yet no one has been able to figure out what energy actually is.
While Lennox answers the question “Who created God?” as in God the Father, it is important to also realise that the Son of God Jesus Christ, who was begotten of the Father, is himself God.
This is precisely the statement of Isaiah 43:10.
… It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
Isaiah 43:9-15
The one speaking in Isaiah 43:9-15 is “the LORD” (ref. Isaiah 43:10, 43:11, 43:12, 43:14, 43:15), the “saviour” (ref. Isaiah 43:11), the “redeemer” (ref. Isaiah 43:14), “the Holy One of Israel” (ref. Isaiah 43:14), the LORD of hosts (ref. Isaiah 43:14), and “the King” (ref. Isaiah 43:15) of the kingdom of God. Therefore, the one speaking must be Jesus Christ. And of himself, Jesus Christ says this: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me (ref. Isaiah 43:10).
The point is again made in Isaiah 44:6. Jesus Christ is the one and only God. There is no other like him.
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:6
It is also there is Revelation 22:13-16. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, and also simultaneously the root and the offspring of David.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last… I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Revelation 22:13-16
And again it occurs in Colossians 1:12-20, which says, Jesus Christ is “the firstborn of every creature”, and “by him were all things created”, both life on earth and in heaven, visible and invisible, including human-kind and angels.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell
Colossians 1:12-19
Furthermore, there is John 1:1-12. Jesus Christ, who is the Word, was in the beginning God and also with God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life… He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name
John 1:1-12
All that to say this: God was created by the Father, because Jesus Christ, who was formed or begotten by the Father, is God, the creator of all things.
That Jesus Christ is the first and the last also explains why the forthcoming kingdom of God, which to begin with will be centred at Jerusalem and will include all of the promised land, will be the final and ultimate kingdom of all time, an everlasting kingdom, essentially a world without end. Even when the earth and the heaven are no more, a “new Jerusalem” will be created by him (ref. Revelation 21:2) so that his kingdom can continue. At that time, when the sun will be gone, Jesus Christ will be the light of the world literally (ref. Revelation 21:23), and all of humanity that are alive will have been “born again”, and made incorruptible and immortal.
Now, it is very interesting that upon the throne of heaven is God the Father (ref. Revelation 3:21, Matthew 6:9, Psalms 2:4). But God the Father is “invisible” (ref. Colossians 1:15, 1 Timothy 1:17). He is invisible on earth, and also in heaven (ref. Revelation 4:2-3).
And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Revelation 4:2-3
Jesus Christ is not only on the right hand side of God in heaven (ref. 1 Peter 3:22, Hebrews 1:3), but he is also “the image of the invisible God” (ref. Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3).
God… Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Hebrews 1:1-5
Those who have seen the Son of man Jesus Christ have seen the Father (ref. John 14:7).
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
John 14:6-7
God the Father is invisible in heaven because it is written that “no man has ever seen God at any time”, only the Son of God has done so (ref. John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16, John 5:37).
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 1:18
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
John 5:37
… whom no man hath seen, nor can see…
1 Timothy 6:16
When Moses saw God face to face in Exodus, actually he saw Jesus Christ.
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend…
Exodus 33:11
When Jacob wrestled with God face to face in Genesis, actually he saw Jesus Christ.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Genesis 32:30
Remember, Jesus Christ is also one with the Father because of the Trinity.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:7
Isaiah 9:6 explains that Jesus Christ, who was the Son of man born in Bethlehem, and who is to reign as king of the forthcoming kingdom of God, shall also be called “The everlasting Father” and “The mighty God”.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
So, despite the fact that there are souls of humans in heaven, no person has ever seen God the Father at any time because God the Father is invisible on earth and also in heaven.
Concerning human souls in heaven, when a saved person – Christian or Jew – dies and is buried, his or her soul sleeps in the dust, yet at the same time that soul is in heaven. The reason for this is that heaven exists outside of the four dimensions of space and time. Except for the Son of man himself and the two witnesses of Revelation, every saved person who ever dies will be resurrected to be in heaven either at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (ref. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16), or else at the time of the great white throne of Jesus Christ (ref. John 5:28-29).
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
John 5:28-29
This idea that a saved person who is dead and buried is asleep in the ground and simultaneously in heaven must be incomprehensible to all who do not believe in the Word of God.
Anyway, scripture explains that it is a matter of faith to all in heaven other than the Son of God that God the Father exists, which again makes the point that God the Father is invisible, even in heaven.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
James 2:19
Another remarkable thing about God the Father is that he is said to be everywhere (ref. Jeremiah 23:24).
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:24
To add to that, God the Father is “eternal” (ref. 1 Timothy 1:17). He simply is, and has always been.
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Exodus 3:14-15
There is no other like God the Father. And for that matter, there is no other like God the Son.
In summary, if the question is, Who created God the Father?, the answer must be no one, for God the Father just exists.
But if the question is, Who created God?, then the answer must be God the Father, for indeed Jesus Christ says of himself, “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me”.
References:
1. “Who Designed The Designer? a response to Dawkins’ The God Delusion by Dr. William Lane Craig”, youtube.com/watch?v=wcHp_LWGgGw
2. “Who created God? John Lennox at UCLA”, youtube.com/watch?v=UIknACeeS0g