How To See Purpose, Order, Meaning and Design in Things that Exist

There are two main fields of thought in regard to the existence of all things. One of these is the idea that by an evolutionary process things evolved, developed and adapted over very long periods of time and the other being the belief that all things were created with purpose, order, meaning and design within them. The four steps below address the second described field of thought from a creation standpoint.

1. Purpose - Belief in creation includes the idea that there is a purpose for all created things. When we look at different animals, plant life and other living organisms, we see that each performs functions that are supportive of other living things. Scientific studies have shown that all living organisms serve a unique purpose, much of that purpose being the sustaining of future life. Plants for example, produce oxygen for animals by converting it from carbon dioxide and also serve as a food source for all vegetation-eating creatures. When we look at humans, we also see deeper purposes in life such as love for one's family, accomplishments, patriotism and charity toward others.
2. Order - Science has also revealed that even small changes in the rotation of the earth, a small degree of atmospheric changes or a significant disruption in the food chain, could each mean extinction for all life on earth. Even the positional changes of the moon regulate the tides of earth's oceans, preserving the life of aquatic creatures. Many other examples can be given that reveal vast and intricate order on the planet and in the universe. Those of us who accept the creationism viewpoint, see this order as a design aspect that sustains life on our planet.
3. Meaning - This aspect would be the one that recognizes life as being meaningful rather than being exclusive to the purposes of existing and subsisting. People for example see very deep meaning in their relationships with their spouses, children, friends and other extended family. Rather than this simply being an evolved instinct, we believe there is deeper meaning to the emotion we refer to as love. This also includes seeing meaning in things such as the vast beauty found in creation and in other things that move us emotionally, such as hope, faith, music and other meaningful events we experience in life.
4. Design - From the creation viewpoint, we believe it is difficult not to see magnificent design in all existing things, which are intricately detailed and that work together in continual synchronization. Being able to pick fruit from a tree for example, that has a beautiful appearance, a delicious taste, a protective outer-skin preserving it and that is obviously a food source, reveals unmistakable design. While the opposing view says that both living things and their food sources evolved over time, this would still pose the question as to how they could have done so correctly and simultaneously, without being designed to do so.

While science answers many important questions and has given the world many wonderful discoveries, it is a vast field that approaches things from a physics viewpoint. Purpose, order, meaning and design are in categories that cannot be studied physically but that many of us believe exist with great importance. While you cannot look at them under a microscope, you can see the far-reaching effects of them as experienced in life and existence.