Excuses

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. (Romans 01:20-21, NKJV).

Like deception, excuses abound in this world.

Yet, the God of the Bible has ensured that His existence - what this passage describes as His invisible attributes, eternal power and Godhead - has been undeniably revealed by the things that are made, so that everyone who disbelieves is without excuse.

Notice that – His existence is understood by the things that are made.

As a former evangelical evolutionist, someone religiously committed to debunking the need for Deity to explain anything, let alone my personal existence, I proclaimed Darwinian theology with enthusiasm and zeal.

It left me free to do whatever I wanted without fear of Judgment – and to believe that none of it mattered anyway, since I was just a product of random chance over time.

As I matured beyond infantile thinking, and was exposed to the latest “controversial mysteries of evolution”, I went along with whatever the latest revisionism called for because, as has been said, the only alternative was to allow a Divine foot in the door.

It was a philosophy of living embodied by a classic beer commercial: “you only go around once in this life so grab all the gusto you can!” What freedom!

Oh yes, freedom! Freedom from meaning and purpose. Freedom to self-destruct and destroy others without guilt. Freedom to realize that there was no ultimate point in any effort or cause. Freedom to come to the inevitable conclusion that there was no reason in living at all.

There is not enough beer in the Universe to prevent a thinking atheist from reaching that conclusion.

It is therefore unsurprising that youthful suicide has now increased to epidemic proportions. That euthanasia and abortion are seen as merciful acts in a merciless reality. That society in this post-Theistic era is disintegrating to the point where that beer commercial is the unsung mantra of the last three generations of humanity.

And it shows. Those of us in the West are seen as utterly debauched and evil by those who, in roughly half the rest of the world, have embraced a religion that glorifies death and martyrdom in reaction to the despair of modern godlessness.

Then I became a Christian, and it was if I had been blind, but now granted sight, and I looked at the evidence of Creation around me and was stunned – absolutely stunned – about what it said of God.

Even without the aid of telescope or formal astronomical training, it is clear from the night sky that the Universe is a vast place. Add to that perception all the technological advantages of current instrumentation, and that initial comprehension of size is increased a million-fold.

Life itself, once thought to be blobbish, nearly inanimate protoplasm magically melded together into functional form has been shown to be immeasurably complex. There is, in reality, no such thing as a “simple” life form. Even the most “primitive” living cell is a miniaturized city of organic self-replicating and self-repairing bio-mechanical factories beyond the scope of any possible “accidental” creation.

Of course these facts have not, and will not stop, the denial of those who hate God. Increasingly far-fetched, yet scientifically sounding theories will be proposed that attempt to explain the “appearance” of design as anything but, yet in the end, these are all feeble excuses that cannot stand scrutiny.

And those who promote these fantasies under the guise of scholarship and enlightened philosophy are, under all that multisyllabic sophistry, the same ones who know that God exists but refuse to acknowledge Him. They have become futile in theirs thought, and their foolish hearts are darkened.

Yet they are still without excuse.

Underneath their willful unbelief is a lack of thankfulness.

Paul is saying that ingratitude breeds ignorance.

In the end, what you come to know is founded upon what you come to believe. I thought I knew many things, but looking back, it is clear that I knew virtually nothing of the nature of reality, and even less about the God I claimed did not exist.

It is only by God's unfathomable grace that my worldview – previously built upon unregenerate selfishness and ingratitude – has been transformed by the knowledge of the truth of God as contained in His Word.

What Paul wrote to the Roman church 2000 years ago applies perfectly to the world today.

Love,
Dad