12 June 2014 “There’s No Excuse”
Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
The New Testament pastors use Old Testament passages for their sermon notes.
In Romans 1:20 Paul writes,
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
So if creation makes God’s existence so obvious, why are there so many who won’t acknowledge him? I think it’s interesting to note that even in the times when everyone acknowledged the existence of God, the Enemy infiltrates minds to conclude that even though God exists, he is up to no good. Eve, a woman who literally walked with God, was seduced to this notion by the simple phrase, “Did God really say...” And she believed the lie that God, who had given her everything, was holding back something good from her. (Genesis 3)
That’s what the Enemy still does today. Since so many people find it easy and acceptable to betray all logic and common sense when they look at creation and conclude there is no God, they decide that even if there is that he must be up to no good since there is suffering in the world.
But who put the suffering there? Not God. No, it is the very Enemy who tricks people into thinking God is up to no good. Ironic, isn’t it?
(Then God is up to no good because he doesn’t do anything about the suffering is the next argument. But God sent Jesus. (John 3:16-17) And if everyone followed Jesus there would literally be no suffering in the world. Free choice, people. But this is all another topic for another time.)
What I’d like to focus on is this: 2 Corinthians 4:4
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
Satan blinds minds.
He blinds minds so much that they literally can’t see the truth in front of their faces. The skies display (God’s) craftsmanship. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities, but blinded people can’t see, can they? And God-critics have allowed the Enemy to blind them.
Here’s the rest of what Pastor Paul teaches from Romans 1 (verses 18-32)...
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols...So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires...Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
-Suppress the truth by their wickedness...If we acknowledge God, we acknowledge that we are not in charge, and we want to be in charge.
-Claiming to be wise...Making up another scenario of how the world was created is anti-wise.
-They traded the truth about God for a lie...Does that make them wise? No.
-Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness...THAT is why there is suffering in the world.
-They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy...Ironically, they want these things for themselves (understanding, faithfulness, and mercy), but God invented them, and you can’t have them without him!
-Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too...It’s not enough for them not to believe, they are angry and intolerant of those who do (Bill Maher much?).
They have no excuse for not knowing God...Except for this excuse: They just don’t want to know him.
Dear God,
I thank you for how easy you make your presence known so that even the simplest of minds like mine can understand and know you. I’m so thankful it doesn’t require an advanced degree or competency in complex theoretical mathematics or anything like that to discover you. You do not hide. Anyone anywhere at anytime can look outside their widow and know that there is a Creator who created. We know that we are not in charge by what we can visibly see. And there is nothing wrong with that. I pray for the people I know who know you and think you’re not good, and I pray for the people I know who betray their own common sense in order to not know you. You obviously desire everyone to have a relationship with you by how easily you make it for us to see you in creation. I pray they wouldn’t be blinded by the Enemy any longer. And I thank you for your amazing presence in my life. I love you and praise you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
The New Testament pastors use Old Testament passages for their sermon notes.
In Romans 1:20 Paul writes,
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
So if creation makes God’s existence so obvious, why are there so many who won’t acknowledge him? I think it’s interesting to note that even in the times when everyone acknowledged the existence of God, the Enemy infiltrates minds to conclude that even though God exists, he is up to no good. Eve, a woman who literally walked with God, was seduced to this notion by the simple phrase, “Did God really say...” And she believed the lie that God, who had given her everything, was holding back something good from her. (Genesis 3)
That’s what the Enemy still does today. Since so many people find it easy and acceptable to betray all logic and common sense when they look at creation and conclude there is no God, they decide that even if there is that he must be up to no good since there is suffering in the world.
But who put the suffering there? Not God. No, it is the very Enemy who tricks people into thinking God is up to no good. Ironic, isn’t it?
(Then God is up to no good because he doesn’t do anything about the suffering is the next argument. But God sent Jesus. (John 3:16-17) And if everyone followed Jesus there would literally be no suffering in the world. Free choice, people. But this is all another topic for another time.)
What I’d like to focus on is this: 2 Corinthians 4:4
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
Satan blinds minds.
He blinds minds so much that they literally can’t see the truth in front of their faces. The skies display (God’s) craftsmanship. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities, but blinded people can’t see, can they? And God-critics have allowed the Enemy to blind them.
Here’s the rest of what Pastor Paul teaches from Romans 1 (verses 18-32)...
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols...So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires...Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
-Suppress the truth by their wickedness...If we acknowledge God, we acknowledge that we are not in charge, and we want to be in charge.
-Claiming to be wise...Making up another scenario of how the world was created is anti-wise.
-They traded the truth about God for a lie...Does that make them wise? No.
-Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness...THAT is why there is suffering in the world.
-They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy...Ironically, they want these things for themselves (understanding, faithfulness, and mercy), but God invented them, and you can’t have them without him!
-Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too...It’s not enough for them not to believe, they are angry and intolerant of those who do (Bill Maher much?).
They have no excuse for not knowing God...Except for this excuse: They just don’t want to know him.
Dear God,
I thank you for how easy you make your presence known so that even the simplest of minds like mine can understand and know you. I’m so thankful it doesn’t require an advanced degree or competency in complex theoretical mathematics or anything like that to discover you. You do not hide. Anyone anywhere at anytime can look outside their widow and know that there is a Creator who created. We know that we are not in charge by what we can visibly see. And there is nothing wrong with that. I pray for the people I know who know you and think you’re not good, and I pray for the people I know who betray their own common sense in order to not know you. You obviously desire everyone to have a relationship with you by how easily you make it for us to see you in creation. I pray they wouldn’t be blinded by the Enemy any longer. And I thank you for your amazing presence in my life. I love you and praise you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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