Creation: All You Need to Know

Please read Romans 1:18-23 in your Bible.

Image by James Best, (C) 2020, https://www.behance.net/gallery/90621713/Sermon-Illustrations-2020

Faith can be found in the stars, so there’s no excuse.

CONTEXT: In 1:16-17 Paul shared the good news that God has revealed SALVATION and RIGHTEOUSNESS for EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES.  It is available to us BY FAITH.

In our culture, the Church is often content to stop there.  We hope to maintain our failing institution by making people happy, causing good vibrations, having positive thinking.  We are hesitant to even get into vs. 18-32, the flip side of the GOSPEL, because we fear offending or the censure of the “politically correct.”

Vs. 18-32 deal with the wrath of God against unrepentant sinners, against all kinds of depravity that stems from their rejection of God.

In the interests of public relations, we’ve dropped the “inconvenient truth” that hell is real.  We just don’t talk about the fact that a person has to confess being a sinner before they can become a saint.  We must be frank about the “bad news” before we get to the Good News.  Heaven without hell is just slick marketing; it is not the whole truth.

We’re observing Creation Sunday today, remembering to be thankful to God and give Him the glory for the wonderful world in which we live.  One aspect of creation is the truth Paul sets forth here: the existence of creation is sufficient proof that God exists.  Because of that, no one can claim ignorance as an excuse.  Creation itself tells us all we need to know.

1. God’s wrath is being revealed and there are no excuses. (18-20)

THE WRATH OF GOD is His just and righteous sentence of the unrepentant.  Don’t be misled by an emotional reaction to the word WRATH.  God’s wrath is not about revenge, it is about justice.  It would be unjust (and unloving) for God to simply ignore sin, especially the sin of unbelief.

God has delegated enough of His authority to each person to make up their own mind; to decide for themselves and be responsible for their decision to accept or reject his offer of salvation.  Accepting it places one on a life-long path of spiritual maturing resulting in heaven.  Rejecting it place one on a life-long path of spiritual denial, resulting in hell.

Paul wrote about the WRATH OF GOD BEING REVEALED in the present tense because we live in the time between the Ascension and Second Coming, an age where we’ve been warned what is to come.  Those who receive God’s pardon based on Christ’s substitutionary death are no longer under WRATH.  Jesus took care of it for us. Those who refuse God’s offer remain under WRATH.  It is their choice.

How does God reveal His will?  One form of revelation set forth in these verses is General Revelation.  Creation testifies to the existence of a Creator.  Paul makes reference to General Revelation in v. 20.

Personal Revelation occurs in the person of Jesus Christ.  Especially in the three years of His earthly ministry, Jesus’ words and deeds reveal the character and will of God.  Specific Revelation is the Bible.  As we learned recently, God used human beings to record His words detailing His character and will.  Neither of these types of revelation are referred to in this passage.

Individual or Direct Revelation occurs on a personal level through dreams, visions, angelic experiences, God’s voice, circumstances and experiences.  Paul makes reference to Direct Revelation in v. 19.

Paul’s point: those under WRATH fully deserve it.  They are guilty, worst of all, of GODLESSNESS.  That alone condemns them to hell.  Unbelief is the only “unforgiveable sin.”  Think about it: the only way to be forgiven is by having faith.  If you refuse to have faith, forgiveness is not an option.  In spite of all the evidence creation provides, some folks stubbornly persist in their rejection of God.

Secondarily, they are condemned by their WICKEDNESS because even the kindest deeds done apart from God are as FLITHY RAGS (Isaiah 64:6).  Our minds can be troubled when we think of people we know who are good, moral people being self-condemned to hell.  This is worldly reasoning.  The Bible rejects any notion we can earn salvation by good deeds or any other means in our control.  We can’t redefine WICKEDNESS on the basis of whether or not we like a person or know somebody “that way.”  In the end, it doesn’t matter if a person is sincerely or insincerely wrong.  Polite unbelievers are condemned just as thoroughly as impolite ones.

They are also guilty of suppressing the TRUTH by means of their WICKEDNESS.  Listen to people when they talk about their beliefs.  If the word “I” appears frequently in their words that is a sign of making up one’s own beliefs, not receiving what God has revealed.  God wants us to use our freedom and our brains to recognize the truth and commit to it, not to make up something because it seems more sensible or excuses our sin.

No one can use the excuse of ignorance.  As Paul wrote, WHAT MAY BE KNOWN ABOUT GOD IS PLAIN TO THEM, BECAUSE GOD MADE IT PLAIN TO THEM.  Here is Paul’s reference to Direct Revelation, as we defined it earlier.  No one else may perceive God’s revelation to them, so we accept by faith what Paul says here is true: God, in some way, makes the truth PLAIN to every person.  Again, no one has an excuse.

Paul asserted God MADE IT PLAIN because the visible qualities of CREATION point to GOD’S INVISIBLE QUALITIES.  This is Paul’s reference to General Revelation as we defined it above.  The universe offers testimony that God exists and that He may be found.  This is an article of faith, so we don’t need science to verify this teaching.  However, to the degree that science increases our understanding and appreciation of creation, it is useful to our faith.

For example, the beauty of creation ought to give us a sense of God’s love and attention to detail.  In this way, visible aspects of creation give us insight into the INVISIBLE QUALITIES of God.

The bottom line is THAT MEN ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE. This is the purpose of Paul’s argument; to show that no one can use the excuse of ignorance to justify their unbelief.  To put it another way: there is no fence to sit on.  There is no “neutral” position on this issue.  A person either chooses to believe or to disbelieve.

People can show a lot of creativity when it comes to excuse-making.  However, on Judgment Day God knows the truth perfectly and will not be fooled.  He will act in perfect justice.

2. Those who deny God put them-selves under His wrath. (21-23)

People who reject God cannot claim ignorance as an excuse.  The truth is, we choose to recognize God or refuse to recognize him.  There is a set of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that come with acceptance of God.  People who truly recognize God can, themselves, be recognized by the way they live.  We don’t live this way in order to be saved, but because we are saved.

On the other hand, people who reject God tend to behave in ways that betray their refusal to believe.  Their behaviors may not be vividly sinful, but they trend toward selfishness and sin.

Since they have no excuse, their rejection of God is their choice.  That they have made a choice can be seen in two ways.  First, they refuse to glorify Him AS GOD.  Instead, they live to glorify creation (self or the world).  They give no heed to God, doing nothing to honor Him.  Indeed, their life has been spent drawing attention away from God, instead of drawing attention to Him (which is what “glorifying” means).

Second, they refuse to give THANKS TO HIM.  All that exists owes its existence to God.  Gratitude is certainly appropriate.

Being thankful is also good for us.

– It puts our focus on God and His supply rather than our needs and our perceived lack.

– It requires us to pay more attention to solutions (which come from God) than to problems (which we create for one another).

– Thankfulness prompts us to pray and worship; both needful activities for spiritual maturity.

– An attitude of gratitude motivates us to serve God and others, to witness gratefully to what God has done for us.  Service and witness make us more mature and they also essential means by which we share our faith with others.

Before heaven is denied them, Paul listed earthly effects of being under God’s WRATH: the futility and darkness of their inner life.  THEIR THINKING BECAME FUTILE in the sense that it did nothing to produce true spirituality.  Their resistance to the truth guarantees their beliefs and decisions will ultimately end in frustration and destruction.

THEIR FOOLISH HEARTS WERE DARKENED: darkness is a biblical symbol of ignorance and evil.  In the Bible, a “fool” is someone who is ignorant of God and behaves poorly because of it.  Biblically, the HEART is a figure of speech for the inner life of a person, not really separating thoughts and emotions or making the rational and sentimental distinctions we tend to make when we draw a difference between “head” and “heart.”

ALTHOUGH THEY CLAIMED TO BE WISE, THEY BECAME FOOLS.  So many people reject God out of pride; on the basis of their big brains they think they’re too smart to believe in God.  We see examples of obnoxious atheists and even antitheists in our own time.  They have no interest in a respectful public dialogue, merely using media to condemn believers.

An especially damning proof of their foolishness is the “fool’s bargain” they made in exchanging THE GLORY OF THE IMMORTAL GOD FOR IMAGES MADE TO LOOK LIKE MORTAL MAN AND BIRDS AND ANIMALS AND REPTILES.

The other effects Paul describes here are SEXUAL IMPURITY (vs. 24-27) and every other kind of depravity (vs. 28-32).  We don’t have space to address those items in this post.  I believe they are self-explanatory of one is willing to cast off the blinders put in place by political correctness and moral relativism.

Disappearing Disciples

Following Jesus is necessary; it is not easy.

          We live in a time when the people who exert the greatest influence on American culture think it fashionable to flaunt and condemn Christianity.  With an assertiveness and obnoxiousness that would be condemned as “intolerance” if it were directed at any other faith, these self-appointed guardians of political correctness work to marginalize everyone who lives and practices the true faith.

          In my generation, the most notorious opponent of Christianity was Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a woman who brought suit to remove prayer from public schools.  It’s an amusing testimony to the power of her legacy that though she’s been dead several years, Ms. O’Hair can still cause an email firestorm when spam about her taking a case to the FCC makes the rounds every 2 years or so.

Her atheism flowed from a poisonous personality that gradually gave way to some of the vileness only hell itself could devise.  It may interest you to know that Ms. O’Hair’s son William Murray, became a Baptist minister, author, and lobbyist for conservative values.  As a child, he was named by his mother as the plaintiff in the lawsuit she used to remove prayer from public schools.  Rev. Murray says of his mother, “she was just evil.” She was murdered by members of her own organization in 1995, the dismembered bodies of O’Hair, her son, and her granddaughter were recovered in the woods near Camp Woods, Texas five years later.

https://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org/2011/04/05/the-madalyn-murray-ohair-murder/

Good news – the Church has survived all of Ms. O’Hair’s activism.  The Church will also survive the current crop of “talking heads” who are likewise so eager to remove Christianity from the public sphere.

Bad news – things will get more difficult before Jesus comes again.  Following Jesus in America is certainly not as difficult as it is in other parts of the world, but it has never been an easy thing to do.  As a reminder to be faithful, this morning we’ll see how some people who identified themselves as Jesus’ disciples turned their backs on Him.

1. Accept Jesus’ teaching though it can be hard to take. (vs. 60-65)

John reported MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES COMPLAINED. The may have been complaining about what Jesus taught earlier in the chapter.  Here are couple examples of the teaching to which they were reacting.

“UNLESS YOU EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU.” (53)

“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE (48).  THIS IS THE BREAD THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN.  YOUR FOREFATHERS ATE MANNA AND DIED, BUT HE WHO FEEDS ON THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOREVER.” (58)

Their complaint was this teaching seemed HARD to them.  As we see in v. 52, they took these words very literally, saying, “HOW CAN THIS MAN GIVE US HIS FLESH TO EAT?”  Taken literally, the idea is repugnant, against God’s law, and physically impossible.

Taken as a figure of speech, it was meaningless to them.  They did not understand the symbolism Jesus used.  Further, Jesus’ reference to their FOREFATHERS might have made them feel defensive and a little more peevish.  So, HARD = difficult.  The teaching was difficult to understand and accept.

John also wrote they were GRUMBLING and offended by what Jesus said.  The Greek word translated as GRUMBLING can also be rendered “complaining, murmuring.”  They bellyached, but not to Jesus

When operating in our flesh alone – that is, without spiritual insight – it’s easy for us to take offense.  Maybe they felt Jesus was trying to make them look ignorant.  Jesus was not responsible for offending them; they chose to take offense at His words.  As a result, they did not BELIEVE and He called them on it (64).

Jesus’ reply revealed four more truths about Himself.

He predicted He would ASCEND TO WHERE HE WAS BEFORE. John told us in chapter one where Jesus was before, and that was with God the Father.  John’s gospel does not tell us about the Ascension of Jesus but we read about it at the end of Luke and the beginning of Acts.  It marked the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  This is a proof of the divine side of Jesus’ nature; He existed before all creation and participated in creation.  Jesus is telling them He is God but they’re not having it.

Their complaints were materialistic (of the FLESH) but the Spirit’s contributions bring life.  They missed the symbolism in His words because they had no sense of the Spirit’s testimony in what Jesus was saying.  Jesus clearly informed him of the spiritual origin of His teaching and promised that those who believed them would have LIFE.

We saw in 2:24-25 Jesus knew the content of people’s hearts but here He reveals this supernatural insight to them.  He said, “SOME OF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE.”  Jesus said this before many of them turned away and left Him, predicting and explaining their response before it happened.  Jesus knew FROM THE BEGINNING who would turn and walk away.  He also knew which of the Twelve would be His betrayer.

He repeated what He said in verse 44; it was impossible to come to the father apart from His words.  Many of His listeners supposed they were in God the Father’s good graces because they were descendants of Abraham.  Jesus exposed that assumption as false.  The truth is, there is no relationship with God the Father without believing His words.

2. Do not turn your back on Jesus. (66-71)

This was the last straw for MANY OF those who had claimed to be HIS DISCIPLES.  In chapter two we saw the superficial faith of those who were wowed by His miracles.  In chapter six we see the superficial faith of those who wanted another miraculous meal.

Jesus exposed their motives in v. 26: “I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ME, NOT BECAUSE YOU SAW MIRACULOUS SIGNS BUT BECAUSE YOU ATE THE LOAVES AND HAD YOUR FILL.”  If He had continued to feed them and ask for nothing in return, they would have hung around.  As it was, I guess you can say they couldn’t “stomach” the truth!

Jesus asked the essential question: “Do you want to leave me too?”  It’s a question each of us answers daily by the choices we make.  We’ve established Jesus knew people’s hearts, so this is not a question He asked for information’s sake.  There may’ve been some frustration or other emotion behind this, but I believe His purpose in asking is to draw out His disciples and give them a chance to declare faith.

Peter gave the correct answer.  Is there frustration or disappointment in Peter’s reply, “WHERE ELSE CAN WE GO?”  Even so, we have to credit Peter with having the faith to realize two important things:

“YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF LIFE.”  This statement implies Jesus alone has the WORDS that lead to LIFE.  There are all kinds of things competing for our attention but only Jesus has the WORDS OF LIFE.

“WE BELIEVE AND KNOW YOU ARE THE HOLY ONE OF GOD.”  This is how we are saved: the Holy Spirit works in every life to draw us to Jesus.  By belief in the works and words of Jesus, we gain access to God the Father.  By faith we accept the salvation Jesus provided for us and receive the forgiveness of God the Father.  We then have life eternal.

Jesus affirmed Peter’s statement of faith as true, as if He’d said, “I hear you and that’s why I chose you to be my TWELVE.”  However, He also knew that one of the Twelve was not faithful; worse, he was a DEVIL.  The word DEVIL means “slanderer” and is not usually used to refer to a human being.  Here it is a figure of speech to show how diabolical Judas was being.

John’s editorial comment in v. 71 explains who the unnamed DEVIL was and why he was devilish.  John 13:2 says THE DEVIL PROMPTED JUDAS to betray Jesus.  In 13:27 we read Satan ENTERED INTO Judas.  This does not excuse Judas’ choices; it merely explains how he was able to betray Jesus.

Following Jesus is necessary; it is not easy.

We spoke briefly at the beginning about opposition to our faith coming from outsiders.  This event reminds us that sometimes people who claim to be disciples oppose and reject the teaching of Jesus.  It’s necessary to remind ourselves that current situation exists in part because the Church in America allowed it to happen.  We dozed peacefully at the wheel and wonder how we landed in the ditch!

The American Church will most effectively resist the conductors of culture to the degree we choose to follow Jesus truthfully.  We must take up the message Peter defined in vs. 68+69, without any compromise with this culture.  We must affirm, with our words and deeds, that Jesus is the sole means of eternal life, the HOLY ONE OF GOD.  This message must go out by our love and be proven by our integrity.  Friends, this must happen as millions of convinced Christians live their daily lives in the Holy Spirit.  We must give our all to Jesus but not give an inch to the world.

 

RESOURCES:

Greek Lexicon, Walter Bauer.

Saints Among Scoffers

Please read 2 Peter 3:1-7 in your favorite Bible.  I used the NIV to prepare these remarks.

(This is the first in a series of five messages on 2 Peter 3.)

The upcoming Second Coming demands godly living now.

Starting with Jesus Himself, people of faith have endured the scorn of people who, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, think themselves so much smarter.  Let me offer as an example a few quotes from notorious scoffers and Bible quotes that answer their objections to the Christian faith.

            Author Gore Vidal stated, “Christianity is such a silly religion.”

1 Corinthians 1:18 = For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Gore Vidal died in 2012, after a decade of decline in which he fell into alcoholism and dementia and had painful feuds with family members and friends.  Maybe his words aren’t so trustworthy after all.

            “Christians are losers.” — said Ted Turner, media magnate (Between this quote and CNN, Turner has a lot to answer for!)

In Matthew 16:25 we read Jesus’ words; “For whoever want to save their life will lose

it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (So we are “losers,” but what we gain in trade is so infinitely more valuable!)

            The French philosopher Voltaire stated plainly the task of opponents of Christianity: “If we would destroy the Christian religion, we must first of all destroy man’s belief i/t Bible.”

In response, the Bible teaches such a plan is doomed to failure.  In Matthew 24:35, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Voltaire never married but lived as a husband to his niece until his death in 1778.  You could say the Church got the last laugh on Voltaire; he refused to recant and was refused a Christian burial.  However, some friends had him secretly buried in a rural church outside of Paris.

<Retrieved from http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/SS/scoffer.htm on 7/7/17.>

In all these examples, men who achieved worldly success thought they could do better than Christianity.  They were scoffers, more impressed with their big brains than anything else, vain rebels against God, whose truth goes marching on.

1. We are called to be Saints among Scoffers (3:1-7).

Peter’s aim in writing two letters to them: STIMULATE WHOLESOME THINKING (1).  The Greek word for WHOLESOME meant “pure when examined by sunlight” or “sincere.”  In this case, the purity in question is theological; it is to have a correct under-standing of the truth.  It means to have a faith that is not compromised by worldly views or falsehood of any kind. This is the opposite of the SCOFFERS, who’re thoroughly compromised.

WHOLESOME THINKING meant to have a “pure disposition.”  It is a worldview informed by, and is in accord with, God’s revelation.

Peter attempted to achieve his objective by reminding them of God’s word (2).  Peter is not just sharing his opinion with them.  These WORDS have come from HOLY PROPHETS and from OUR LORD & SAVIOR THROUGH YOUR APOSTLES.

THE HOLY PROPHETS refers to the Old Testament prophets specifically and generally to all the books of the Old Testament that aren’t histories.

THE COMMAND GIVEN BY OUR LORD AND SAVIOR THROUGH YOUR APOSTLES refers specifically to His two commands to love and generally to all the actions and teachings of Jesus in the New Testament.  I love how Peter refers to himself and the others as YOUR Apostles.   They were put in authority to pass along the faith as they received it directly from Jesus.  Their testimony is verified by the fact that though 100s of years of history separated them, they spoke with one voice: the APOSTLES preserved what Jesus said and His teaching fulfilled what the PROPHETS predicted.

Further, this is the WORD that had been SPOKEN IN THE PAST.  It is not the latest trend, the popular notion, it is the faith as they had received it from the beginning.  In practice, this means that our faith is based on the word of God, the Bible.  At the beginning of our life of faith, it is especially important that our own beliefs be in accord with the traditions of the Church.  Finally, as we mature in faith, we apply experience and reason to Scripture and tradition to affirm a faith that is our own.

This is NOT to say that we are free to make it up.  That approach is too individualized and subjective to be trust-worthy.  A made-up faith is not true; it is not powerful to save us, nor is it powerful to help us overcome life’s challenges.  A made-up faith is easy prey for the world and our Enemy to corrupt.  It easily becomes a way to make excuses.  Instead of confronting our culture it capitulates to trendiness: “pop faith.”

“Saints” is a New Testament word that refers to all who truly believe and are thereby part of God’s family.  We are to be characterized by purity in thought and action.

Even more important (ABOVE ALL) than WHOLESOME THINKING, he needed to warn them that SCOFFERS would come, trying to confound their WHOLESOME THINKING (3-7).  This creates a couple questions.

One: when are the LAST DAYS (3)?  The LAST DAYS is the span of time between Jesus’ Ascension (when He went back to heaven) and His Second Coming.  All saints, including the New Testament writers, thought that Jesus would come again during their lifetime. The SCOFFERS have been quick to ridicule saints on this basis, as we see in v. 4.

Two: who are the SCOFFERS?  They are identified by their choices: FOLLOWING THEIR OWN EVIL DESIRES (3).  This is often what motivates people to make up their own faith or reject faith entirely; to justify doing what they please.  Remember, these are the SCOFFERS.  The word EVIL is more appropriate in their case because they actively promote falsehood.

They are also identified by their words.  (It’s a little amusing to read, SCOFFERS WILL COME SCOFFING.  What else would they do?)  They scoff at the notion that Jesus will come again.  They deny or sow seeds of doubt about Jesus’ Second Coming (4).  They ignore the facts of creation and history to replace the truth with their own narrative.  Instead of trusting God to reveal Himself accurately, they trust their own intellect, imagination, and/or experiences.

It’s essential to know the truth about the world as a guard against counterfeits.  First, we affirm that God is our Creator (5). It amazes me, for example, that people want to find “laws” of nature without acknowledging the Law-maker, God.

Second, we affirm that, as Creator, God has the right to do anything He wills with creation, including destroying His it.  The history the SCOFFERS are eager to ignore affirms that has already done so – on a limited scale – by means of flood waters (6).  Peter mentioned the world-wide flood to note the historical process:

Warning    =>     Scoffers    =>     World

Delivered            Appeared           Destroyed

This process is being repeated here in the LAST DAYS.

The prophecy the SCOFFERS are eager to ignore warns us He will destroy this creation – on an unlimited scale – by means of fire (7).  There are numerous Old Testament prophecies that connect FIRE and the DAY OF THE LORD (PSS 97:3; ISH 34:4; 66:15-16; DNL 7:9-10; MCH 1:4; JOL 2:30; ZPH 3:8; MCI 4:1).  So this is an example of connection between the PROPHETS and APOSTLES as mentioned earlier.

Peter warned THE PRESENT HEAVENS AND EARTH ARE RESERVED FOR JUDGMENT AND DESTRUCTION OF THE UNGODLY.  In other words, it’s going to happen, but God the Father alone knows when it will happen.  No matter how familiar or how enduring things of this world seem, the truth is that everything is just temporary and will one day be destroyed by fire.  So our job is to focus on the certainty of the end and get ready for it.

Both history and prophecy support the truth that God is in charge and He will decide when reality as we’ve come to know it will cease.

The upcoming Second Coming demands godly living NOW.

“On August 30, 2005 Coast Guard Lt. Iain McConnell was ordered to fly his H46 helicopter to New Orleans and to keep that machine flying around the clock for what would turn out to be a heroic rescue effort.

“None of his crew were prepared for what they were about to see. They were ahead of every news crew in the nation. The entire city of New Orleans was under water. On their first three missions that day they saved 89 people, three dogs and two cats.
“On the fourth mission, despite twelve different flights to New Orleans, he and his crew were able to save no one. None! They all refused to board the helicopter. Instead they told the Coast Guard to bring them food and water.

“They were warned that this refusal to leave was extremely dangerous. The waters were not going to go away soon. Sadly, many of those people perished because of their refusal to be rescued.”
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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has mounted the greatest rescue effort of all time.  But He will not save anyone without their consent.  Giving our consent means giving ourselves to Him, accepting what God has revealed to us by means of WHOLESOME THINKING.

As Peter warns us scoffers will scoff.  We don’t need to be intimidated by them.  We don’t have to argue with or answer them. The proof of our faith is found in godly living.  It is up to us to speak the truth and live the truth and all the more so in these LAST DAYS.