If there was ever a point when nothing existed, nothing would have ever come into existence. But we know that matter, energy, time, space, and natural laws exist.

So, there are two options:

1. Matter, energy, time, space, and natural laws are eternal
2. Or, they were created by an eternal being, outside of the natural system

If you go with the first option, you are counting on natural things with no intellect at all being able to do something supernatural - have no beginning, and sustain themselves forever.

If you go with the second option, you recognize that only something supernatural, intelligent, and powerful enough to make everything, could do what needed to be done for this universe to exist. Figuring out which path to bet your eternity on is not that hard.

The first option also does not even survive the scrutiny of accepted scientific fact, since it's refuted by the first two Laws of Thermodynamics:

• The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
• The Second Law of Thermodynamics is that the total useable energy always decreases in a closed system. The universe is our closed system. So why is any energy still useable? An Atheist has to believe that we are at the very "beginning" of this naturalistic eternity, since energy is still useable, and the First Law requires that the total energy in the system is constant.

Conclusion

This article used to be much longer, and there is much more that could be said, but at a certain point, I realized that this is something that really has very little to do with intellect or argumentation. It's either evident to someone that a supernatural being that transcends the natural universe needs to exist for anything at all to exist, or the person has chosen to hold out hope that, somehow, the naturalistic universe created itself from nothing, for some reason, and then, miracle of miracles, this planet, and life itself, arose purely naturally.

Which side a person chooses entirely depends on the person's attitude and desires, not a lack of intelligence, or lack of exposure to certain arguments. Often, Atheists have raised their level of skepticism so high, that they have made themselves impervious to any evidence for God. Therefore, giving more than the baseline arguments is usually a waste of time, as if the intuitive, simple arguments are rebuffed, it's almost always fruitless to continue:

Martin Luther - What Luther Says 1630

1630 Now if someone wants to say that God is not God, just let him go. For we have nothing to do with the man who believes nothing at all and denies everything one says of God and God’s Word... he who dares deny what nature teaches everyone and what is granted by the reason and intellect of all men should not be disputed with but should be referred to a physician who should clean out his brain for him