By Bob Beanblossom
8 September 2016
It seems to me that all men know that God is real. Many would deny that in today’s ‘enlightened’ world, but the Scripture and their actions would indicate the lie of that claim.
Since the WORD (Jesus) is the source of our knowledge of God, and the Bible is His select media, let’s look briefly at what it says about the universality of God’s revelation to his creature:
John, the Baptist, “was sent to bear witness of that Light (Jesus). That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:8-9)
That is all-encompassing. In some sense satisfactory to God, “every man” who has ever been born, or ever will be born, has received the knowledge, or light, of the knowledge of God.
The inspired writer of Romans continued: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. . . . Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:20-21, 22)
Jesus called any ‘religion’ that is not centered on the one true God a philosophy.: “Beware lest any man spoil you thru philosophy, and vail deceit, after the tradition of men, after the after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8) Philosophy, then, is the opposite end of a continuum from the one true religion–the worship of the triune Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
This, of course, is not popular thinking in today’s culture of ‘accept everything (except Christianity): all is good; all gods are the same; god is good, there is no (need for) judgement by a righteous god; there is no god of creation–he was born in the immature mind of evolving man in his various primitive forms and exists only as an ancestral memory.’
Let’s back up and take a different look at the subject.
The quest for God is a universal phenomenon, and appears to be pervasive both in man’s pre-history and throughout history. From pre-writing cave drawings and man-made images through the beginning of writing, and continuing into the present time, man has sought a being greater than himself. Even those who militantly deny the existence of God (a comparatively recent development in man’s history) seem obsessed with attacking both Him and His advocates–an illogical activity for a non-believer, a petitio principii begging the question. Why would you attack Someone who does not exist? Why not just ignore us, the poor, deluded people who do believe in and seek fellowship with their God?
Citing individual autonomy and science as their driving force, atheists, also known as humanists, with various prefixes, include in their statements of belief (their philosophies) that there is no god, that there is no scientific proof of god. The latter is, of course, true. Science cannot deal with the issue of God any more than it can deal with issues of philosophy. Both are outside the realm of scientific proof. The question, then, is, why are atheists so adamant about believing what their science cannot prove. It is a logical given that what is not proven is not necessarily false, just not proven. Archeologists and historians for years said the Bible was wrong about the existence of the Hittite Empire. There was no proof outside of the Bible (ignoring some Egyptian documents), so it had never existed. “History” was completely re-written in the late 19th Century when proof of the vast empire was discovered, complete with evidence of very early writing and extensive trade. Silence (or, lack of evidence) is not proof: it is only a lack of evidence, which is subject to change.
Although I have had atheists assert that the god-quest of man is either a recent or non-universal phenomenon, the claims run counter to historical evidence. In fact, I can find no ancient civilization anywhere in time or anywhere in the world that did not have and worship gods.
Why does man seek God? What drives this interest? This investment of energy and resources? We must conclude that the drive is internal. What, then, is the source of our understanding of God? The knowledge of God either comes from God Himself or it is, as the atheist says, a creation of man. If this knowledge comes from God, it is an inherent and necessary truth. It it comes from man, it is sicut deus, that is, man replacing God with himself, and necessarily is untrue. So said Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a series of lectures on the Creation and the Fall. I will be borrowing extensively from him in this section.
I hold that there is one true God, the God of Creation, the God of man the creature. God’s source of information for–of revelation to–man, as noted in the introductory comments, is His written Word, the Bible.
If the truth proposed aligns completely with the Word, it is of God; if not, it is false, it is sicut deus, like God, but not God: it is man attempting to be like God to the point of replacing Him. We see this today in the atheist who denies God, the agnostic who ignores God, and the religionist who redefines God–all to suit their own ends.
Man was created imagio dei, in the image of God, but not sicut deus, like God, for there is nothing created that can be sicut deus. For man, “This is disobedience in the form of obedience, the desire to rule in the semblance of service, the will to be creator in the semblance of being a creature, being dead in the semblance of life.”
Archeology has shown us with a vast pantheon of gods man has created. These gods share many common attributes: 1) They are created in the image of man, 2) They share the most base and vile characteristics of man, 3) Their form is often a grotesque caricature of the spirit of man, 4) Each existed to meet a specific need of man: agricultural plenty, success in battle, 5) A vigorous love life with many male offspring, 6) The sacrifices demanded were costly. Based on the needs of man and his perception of the environment, there were repeated similarities among the gods of all ages and locations. Some, like the Greeks of Paul’s day, recognized an “unknown god” just to be on the safe side and not offend some entity not identified:
“For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an alter with the inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” (Acts 17:23a)
Paul, however, went a step further, exposing their false gods and at the same time introducing them to the true God:
“Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we life, and move, and have our being; as certain also of our own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” (Acts 17:23b-29)
There was more to Paul’s message than that the unknown God he spoke of was Creator:
God “commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, n that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
The response of the Greeks was not unlike that we encounter today:
“And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed:” (Acts 17:32-34)
So, we have only a god, but The God, the God of creation, the God of our salvation, the Triune God who is one, but three. The God who is infinite in every respect and aspect.
How does that affect me? He has a plan for you. But that plan requires a change in you remove the sin that each of us is born with and lives with: “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)
If I accept that I am a sinner, what can I do about it? The very next verse answers that question: “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God,” (Romans 3:24-25)
“Being justified” is simply talking to God (yes, He is a loving and communicating God) and admitting to Him that you recognize that you are a sinner–you are not what He wants you to be. Then, accept his saving grace.
“Freely” states without reservation that He does all the work–there is no price you can pay for the forgiveness for your sins that is your salvation.
“By His Grace” is the power behind salvation. It is God’s will and His will alone. There is no other authority in the universe that can accomplish this unmerited act.
“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” tells us that:
- Jesus’ death on the cross paid the entire price for your sins.
- The absolute power of God’s authority provided this, the only, path to salvation.
- The act of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross completed the transaction, and
- YOUR FAITH in His saving grace sealed your salvation.
If you accept his saving grace today, I strongly suggest you immediately find a Bible believing church and become part of it. There is much to be learned, and the ministry of a local church is God’s stated path to that knowledge and understanding.
