The Burning Bush Vol 9 No 2.pmd - Far Eastern Bible College

REPROBATION: IS GOD FAIR?
it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
No one can give the excuse that he does not know there is a God of
Creation. God has revealed His existence to man through His Creation.
The invisible things of God are clearly seen from the works of Creation.
This is likened to a person who when seeing a painting, knows there is a
painter who painted the painting. When he sees a sculpture, he knows
there is a sculptor who made the sculpture. A person of sound mind
cannot look at a painting and say he does not know how the painting
came about or that there was a painter who painted the painting.
Similarly, when a person sees the works of Creation (eg. the trees, birds,
himself, etc.), he knows there is a Creator. He cannot say he does not
know how the created things came about or that there was a Creator who
created them.
If someone says there is no God (i.e. an atheist), he is deliberately
lying to himself because deep within him, he knows there is a God of
Creation. All atheists know there is a God of Creation. They may deny
that God exists for fear of judgment or their own self-centered reasons.
This is because if they were to admit that there is a God, they would then
have to face the dilemma of whether to receive or to reject Him.
Receiving Him would mean having to acknowledge that they are sinners,
confess their sins, seek forgiveness, and live their lives in obedience to
God. It would mean forsaking their present sinful lifestyles. Man in his
sinful unregenerate state will not want to do that. On the other hand,
rejecting Him would mean they have to face judgment for their sins,
which is something sinners would not like to believe also. Therefore, man
will choose to deny that God exists, and continue with their lives in sin.
There cannot be a case where a person truly thinks there is no
Creator. Verses 19-20 of Romans 1 say so. Strictly speaking, there are no
genuine atheists in the world. They only profess to be such.
Having established that man knows the existence of his Creator,
Romans 1:21 goes on to say that he will not glorify God nor thank Him.
He will not worship God.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither
were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish
heart was darkened.
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