Romans 1:18-20 (ESV)
Men, ... by their unrighteousness [1] suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Creation
Have you ever contemplated this passage? If you believe the biblical testimony, you actually believe something stunning about human existence. This passage tells us that everyone knows. Everyone, Christian or non-Christian, in their subconscious, knows that God exists.
We know this through creation.[2] Creation is God's common grace to man. Anna and I just went to the park yesterday and had a chance to be in the outdoors. It's really good for the soul to contemplate the cosmos. Nature, creation, is kind of the kryptonite to the atheist inside all of us. Evolution's got nothing on the universe. There's absolutely no way anyone can ever make me believe that the true heart of anyone actually thinks Darwinian theory is a satisfying explanation for the beauty of a flower. Too complex. Too much glory. Too much of God. "Signature's in the cell." So it's good to consider it.[3]
Maybe (and I'm completely kidding here) the reason for the "Great Awakening" in America was because all the British folks had to be out in the woods again. Okay - I'm really just kidding with that one. And I don't want to develop a weird unbiblical theology of camping or anything. But this passage clearly says that nature tells us stuff about God.
Censorship
The other thing this passage tells us isn't so happy: the human heart of a web of deceit. Though we all know God, we are really, really good at censorship. If evolution is ever abandoned as an idea for men to embrace, I think we should actually do as much as we can to document the theory and place it in museums as a reminder of the genius of man. "This is how capable our minds are. We can get ourselves to believe anything." It takes a very smart man to do a successful cover-up operation. Mankind is very clever.
Another implication (and this is kind of anticipating verse 23) of this passage is that really, Christianity doesn't believe much differently than atheists about the religions of the world. The atheist believes religions are a crutch. A way for people to suppress the truth (that there is no God). Christians believe religion is a way of suppressing the truth about the One True God.
If you are a Christian today, be thankful that you believe. Be thankful that despite your evil and deceitful heart, God opened your eyes to Him.
---
Anyways. I can tell I'm back into my engineering self again. Not as creative with my words. The 9-5 seriously consumes so many of my words and thought categories. But I had to talk about Romans 1:18-20 eventually. And this ended up being the night I had available to do it. So there you go.
[1] Unrighteousness, here, is clearly contrasted with the "righteousness" of verse 17.
[2] This is called "mediate" revelation, as opposed to the "immediate" revelation of things like the conscience. Creation and conscience are what theologians refer to as "general revelation". And general revelation, itself, is a subcategory of common grace.
[3] I find it a little ironic that the very thing that should be drawing men and women to God is actually, today, what they claim as their biggest stumbling block (evolution).
Men, ... by their unrighteousness [1] suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Creation
Have you ever contemplated this passage? If you believe the biblical testimony, you actually believe something stunning about human existence. This passage tells us that everyone knows. Everyone, Christian or non-Christian, in their subconscious, knows that God exists.
We know this through creation.[2] Creation is God's common grace to man. Anna and I just went to the park yesterday and had a chance to be in the outdoors. It's really good for the soul to contemplate the cosmos. Nature, creation, is kind of the kryptonite to the atheist inside all of us. Evolution's got nothing on the universe. There's absolutely no way anyone can ever make me believe that the true heart of anyone actually thinks Darwinian theory is a satisfying explanation for the beauty of a flower. Too complex. Too much glory. Too much of God. "Signature's in the cell." So it's good to consider it.[3]
Maybe (and I'm completely kidding here) the reason for the "Great Awakening" in America was because all the British folks had to be out in the woods again. Okay - I'm really just kidding with that one. And I don't want to develop a weird unbiblical theology of camping or anything. But this passage clearly says that nature tells us stuff about God.
Censorship
The other thing this passage tells us isn't so happy: the human heart of a web of deceit. Though we all know God, we are really, really good at censorship. If evolution is ever abandoned as an idea for men to embrace, I think we should actually do as much as we can to document the theory and place it in museums as a reminder of the genius of man. "This is how capable our minds are. We can get ourselves to believe anything." It takes a very smart man to do a successful cover-up operation. Mankind is very clever.
Another implication (and this is kind of anticipating verse 23) of this passage is that really, Christianity doesn't believe much differently than atheists about the religions of the world. The atheist believes religions are a crutch. A way for people to suppress the truth (that there is no God). Christians believe religion is a way of suppressing the truth about the One True God.
If you are a Christian today, be thankful that you believe. Be thankful that despite your evil and deceitful heart, God opened your eyes to Him.
---
Anyways. I can tell I'm back into my engineering self again. Not as creative with my words. The 9-5 seriously consumes so many of my words and thought categories. But I had to talk about Romans 1:18-20 eventually. And this ended up being the night I had available to do it. So there you go.
[1] Unrighteousness, here, is clearly contrasted with the "righteousness" of verse 17.
[2] This is called "mediate" revelation, as opposed to the "immediate" revelation of things like the conscience. Creation and conscience are what theologians refer to as "general revelation". And general revelation, itself, is a subcategory of common grace.
[3] I find it a little ironic that the very thing that should be drawing men and women to God is actually, today, what they claim as their biggest stumbling block (evolution).
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