God has shown man that He is there with creation. The sky, mountains, trees, oceans, birds, animals, stars, the sun -- all these things shout loudly that there is a God. It's become a cliche that people who believe in evolution are foolish. Yet the so-called "intelligent community" has made it a cliche in their circles that believers in God are myth-believing simpletons. It really is quite foolish to look at the world around us and think (or hope) that it all came about on its own. If that were true, then all matter would possess some sort of evolutionary magic. That's kind of hard to swallow.
Paul talks about the inherent law written upon man's heart in the first part of the book of Romans.
"For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares."
Paul goes on to argue how Jews and Gentiles are both equal (and condemned by the law) before God. We all stink of sin. I read a devotional recently that made reference to a homeless person that didn't understand or sense his own scent. I thought about how my underarms are currently being disguised with deodorant and how seriously many of us take personal hygiene. Even the most casual of us usually shower and clean up once a day. I'm in favor of this behavior, but it is funny how we go to great lengths to disguise our body odor. When we do skip a shower for days on end, we can start to smell in such a way that people can smell us from a distance. Our noses get used to the smell, so we don't pick up on the scent that others do (and repel from). If we only knew how bad we smelled at such times, we'd probably do something different. It's a good metaphor as to how our sin smells before God. It's amazing that He doesn't repel from us. Our sin must disgust Him, yet He wraps His arms around us, so to speak, and embraces us.
It's amazing that much of the world does not seem to acknowledge God by His creation; and it's almost more amazing that those that do don't acknowledge God's forgiveness and mercy when they hear the story about Jesus.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at December 6, 2005 09:31 AM