[akvadrako]

To an atheist physicist God probably means the universe or the forces that govern the universe. They share many of the same properties, like being all powerful†, outside of time and space and being creators, not the created.

† within the constraints of some universal logic

[telesilla]

I agree, though to be clear - the difference between religion and science is that religion affords god with cognitive intent. I'd be surprised to hear if Hawking believed that the force that we might describe as god has qualities of compassion and judgement as well as having set forth the rules that govern atomic motion.

[akvadrako]

That's a tougher one, but maybe the universe has such an intent also. Take the principle of least action. It seems like systems take the path from A -> C that's shortest in total even if the chosen A -> B and B -> C are both longer than alternatives.

Maybe there is even a sense of "thinking" ahead to understand which path will be shorter before making the choice.