Yet we have despised the obvious - that there is a God! Belief in God makes sense from several angles.
The very order that science describes as "laws" is evidence of an ordering mind. One popular naturalist who has forcefully presented evolutionary belief on television has been noted to say quite often that "Nature has made a wonderful provision for [something-or-other]" - giving nature a creative purposeful mind. It makes sense to see a creative mind behind everything - so why not talk about God?
In fact, most people do. It has been said that humanity is "incurably religious". It’s a rather weird mixture, mind you, yet there is something in each of us that reaches out to an unseen reality beyond.
Then there’s the moral imperative - the sense of "ought". Everyone has it. True, there are people for whom it is fairly "low-grade", yet it is still there - the belief that there is a higher value and principle than just "me".
We are designed to know, respond to, trust and love God. The three very universal qualities noted above can be a matter of common observation. Beyond them is the fact that the God who has designed us in this way has revealed himself to us. He has done this through the incarnation - God made flesh in the coming of Jesus Christ - and the atonement - the death of the Son of God to bring forgiveness and new life to all who believe.
William Ernest Henley wrote in his poem Invicta -
It makes very good sense to believe in God. In Psalm 14, David speaks of the folly of believing otherwise. The words "in his heart" (v. 1) speak of practical atheism as well as the publicly committed position of the Henleys of this world.
Atheism isn’t some kind of theoretical and remote notion. Its results are seen in human behaviour. It is seen in corruption (v. 1), spiritual ignorance (vv. 2,4a), failure to seek after God (v. 2b), departing from God (v. 3a), callous destruction of the God’s people (v. 4b), prayerlessness (v. 4c), and frustrating the plans of the poor (v. 6).
In Romans 3.10-12, Paul gives the opening verses of this Psalm a wider application. It is not simply those we can designate "atheists" - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (v. 23). It’s not just about "them" but about "us" too! We become practical atheists whenever we live as if God isn’t there. Sin, in fact, is a form of practical atheism.
The solution to our root problem of sin doesn’t come from science or psychology, but from the Lord. Paul goes on that we "are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (v. 24).
Belief in God makes very good sense. Faith in Christ Jesus that receives his grace in redemption makes supreme good sense.
| Prayer: Dear God, we acknowledge you as Creator, Saviour and Lord! Forgive us that so often we live as if you’re not there - or, if you are, you must be far away and uninterested in us. Thank you that in Jesus you came into this world, teaching us, leading us, giving yourself for us. We receive your forgiveness. We receive you. Thanks! In Jesus’ name, Amen. |
How great
the human folly
that imagines
the accident
of human
identity
and autonomy!
And with the claim
that we can make it
alone
unaided,
human life
and society
falls apart
all around us.
There is a God!
He is Creator -
all nature shouts it!
He tells us
his name is Love!
He comes
in person,
empty of glory,
full of love.
He comes
to live,
to teach,
to give.
We thought
to do with him
as we will.
He came
to give his all
to bring us
home.
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