Hebrews 3:4 says, " For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God." This is, simply stated, the principle of cause and effect. The concept of cause and effect is the basis of the cosmological argument. (We call this the "cosmological argument" because we are dealing with the cosmos, the universe in which we live.) We are all familiar with the idea of "cause and effect" and experience it dozens of times a day or more. Take for example the statement in the scripture above; "every house is built by someone." A "house" is an effect --- something that is made or done. An "effect" could be anything that exists or happens, like dew on the flowers, a broken window, a laugh or a tear. We see a house and we say, "Someone built that house," meaning someone or something caused it to be. Every "effect" must have a "cause," even if we do not know always what is the cause.
Suppose you are in New York City standing in front of the Empire State Building, an impressive skyscraper. As you continue to look at the building you ask your tourist guide who built this building. He answers you, pointing to a small child on the sidewalk who is sitting there with a Play School plastic work bench with plastic tools, and says. "That child built this building." What would you think? You would know better, wouldn't you?! The child might be the cause of a broken window or Kool-aid spilled on the floor, but you know he or she could not build a skyscraper.
The universe, also called the cosmos, is one gigantic and complex "effect." Where did it come from? What cause is adequate to account for it. Like a house we know that something or someone caused the universe to be. There are basically only three possibilities to account for the existence of the universe. One, the universe is eternal and has always existed. Two, the universe is eternal but created itself out of nothing. Three, the universe is neither eternal nor did it create itself, but was created by something or Someone outside of it and superior to it.
First, the universe is not eternal for the scientific laws of thermodynamics
illustrates that is shows signs of "running down."
You can not have an eternal universe that is wearing out. Second,
the universe could not create itself. Scientific laws state that
from nothing, nothing comes." If there were ever a time when there
was absolutely nothing, there would be nothing now. Something cannot
come from nothing? Third, it must be that the universe was created
by some eternal and adequate first cause that is not part of the universe
itself. Since something now exists, it must be that something or
Someone has existed eternally. Everything known to exist is either
matter or mind. Therefore, either matter or mind is eternal.
We know from the laws of material science that matter is not eternal
so it must be that mind is in some sense eternal. We conclude that
there must be an Eternal Mind as the sufficient cause of the effect of
the universe. Ted Clarke