Everybody Can See God!
Romans 1:20
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
One thing you will hear a lot is, "How can God judge those who have not even heard about Jesus and the forgiveness he offers?" That is a good question. Though the bible has been translated into 1,000's of languages, there are still some people who have not had the gospel translated into their own language. But what can they know about God?
As we begin Paul's letter to the church at Rome, which he would soon be visiting, he starts out with the sinfulness of humankind. His first point is that everyone on the earth has a basic knowledge of God just by seeing the Creation around them. In the theological world we call this "General Revelation". If we look at the sun, moon and the stars, as King David said in Psalm 8:3, who is mankind that God is mindful of us. Being a part of creation naturally would lead us to believe that there is something bigger than us, also known as a Creator.
If you read the rest of chapter 1, Paul goes on to say that even though man knew God through this general revelation, he refused to worship him. Instead man created images and worshiped them instead of seeking the one true God. One could say that those created were made to worship the Creator. That is why human beings are the only ones who wonder why we are here and what is our purpose. God put a God-sized hole in us that only He can fill. But Paul says the basic nature of sinful mankind is that we would rather reject this Creator and worship something we have made in our own image. Remember the first commandment is, "Worship the Lord Your God only." And the second is like it, "Don't take the Lord's name in vain."
As Paul states, this led to the downfall of humankind, as we served the creature rather than the Creator. And since humankind chose to worship created things instead of the Creator, God gave them over to those desires. He showed them what those desires when unchecked led to, a total perversion of the good things God had given humankind in the garden.
Sound familiar? When we look in the world we see the same thing. People worshiping all kinds of things God gave us as a gift, but we they have become our idols. The human body is one example. Today the human body is worshiped in all sorts of ways, rather than it being the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies were meant to worship and yet by worshiping in and of themselves we have fallen.
So in answer to the first question. Yes everyone has seen God in His Creation. But, as Paul begins the systematic explanation of the Gospel, he starts with the problem then moves to the solution. The problem he lays out in chapter 1. Although we are created to worship our Creator, we have gotten it mixed up and worship that which he has created.
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
One thing you will hear a lot is, "How can God judge those who have not even heard about Jesus and the forgiveness he offers?" That is a good question. Though the bible has been translated into 1,000's of languages, there are still some people who have not had the gospel translated into their own language. But what can they know about God?
As we begin Paul's letter to the church at Rome, which he would soon be visiting, he starts out with the sinfulness of humankind. His first point is that everyone on the earth has a basic knowledge of God just by seeing the Creation around them. In the theological world we call this "General Revelation". If we look at the sun, moon and the stars, as King David said in Psalm 8:3, who is mankind that God is mindful of us. Being a part of creation naturally would lead us to believe that there is something bigger than us, also known as a Creator.
If you read the rest of chapter 1, Paul goes on to say that even though man knew God through this general revelation, he refused to worship him. Instead man created images and worshiped them instead of seeking the one true God. One could say that those created were made to worship the Creator. That is why human beings are the only ones who wonder why we are here and what is our purpose. God put a God-sized hole in us that only He can fill. But Paul says the basic nature of sinful mankind is that we would rather reject this Creator and worship something we have made in our own image. Remember the first commandment is, "Worship the Lord Your God only." And the second is like it, "Don't take the Lord's name in vain."
As Paul states, this led to the downfall of humankind, as we served the creature rather than the Creator. And since humankind chose to worship created things instead of the Creator, God gave them over to those desires. He showed them what those desires when unchecked led to, a total perversion of the good things God had given humankind in the garden.
Sound familiar? When we look in the world we see the same thing. People worshiping all kinds of things God gave us as a gift, but we they have become our idols. The human body is one example. Today the human body is worshiped in all sorts of ways, rather than it being the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies were meant to worship and yet by worshiping in and of themselves we have fallen.
So in answer to the first question. Yes everyone has seen God in His Creation. But, as Paul begins the systematic explanation of the Gospel, he starts with the problem then moves to the solution. The problem he lays out in chapter 1. Although we are created to worship our Creator, we have gotten it mixed up and worship that which he has created.
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