Clearly Seeing The Invisible

telescopeLast Sunday our Minister of Students Andrew Bosak preached a powerful sermon from Romans 1 and it became clear to me that we have all the evidence we need when it comes to God’s existence. I remember driving through the Austrian Alps on our way to Italy and I told Karen, “There is no way you can look at this natural beauty and believe it all happened by accident.” No, there is so much natural evidence to God the Creator that it must be deliberately ignored. Paul clearly explained this to the church in Rome:

    “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:20-23)

I want to unpack this passage so let’s begin with verse 20: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

Random House Dictionary defines attribute as “1) to regard as resulting from a specified cause; consider as caused by something indicated; 2) to consider as a quality or characteristic of the person, thing, group, etc., indicated; 3) to consider as made by the one indicated, especially with strong evidence but in the absence of conclusive proof.”

Nature proves the existence of God! That is what Paul is saying. The Bible supports this claim. King David proclaimed:

    “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)

We can look through a telescope or even into the evening sky and see proof of God’s existence. The infinitesimal number of stars, moons, planets, and galaxies dispel any belief that all of its perfection was some cosmic accident.

I always tell atheists and evolutionists that I admire their faith and they seem surprised by that statement. However, it takes much more faith not to believe in God the Creator, ignoring all the obvious signs, then it does to believe.

The glory of God is evidenced in His creation. Again, we can look at the stars in the sky and know that there is a God:

    “The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.” (Psalm 97:6)

The atheist believes in his or her own abilities. The humanist believes in the attributes of man. We place our faith in the talents and virtue of man. The Prophet Isaiah tells us it is God who rules over the earth and its inhabitants because He created both:

    “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.” (Isaiah 40:21-23)

When Paul and Barnabas confronted the idolatry in Lystra, they pointed to nature to prove God’s existence:

    “Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17)

The only way you cannot believe in God is to ignore the evidence. His power over all creation is obvious for all to see. We are without excuse if we choose not to believe in Almighty God. When man refuses to acknowledge God’s existence and give Him the glory He deserves, then ingratitude and ignorance enter into a person’s heart.

That is when the downfall of man begins. More on that next time…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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