We are examining what it means to say that there exists an external awareness of God in the universe that He has created and currently sustains. His external awareness is written all over His creation. If His creation could speak it would scream out, "God made me!"
I have chosen to divide this portion of posts into three parts. We looked at part one yesterday: a pictorial clarification (see yesterday's post for the details). We want to continue our look at what I call the external awareness of God by means of Scriptural confirmation. This section serves as part two to our discussion (although it begins in post #3).
II. SCRIPTURAL CONFIRMATION
To begin this discussion we must return to our key text- Romans 1. Romans 1:20 says that God is known to man "through what has been made". Specifically, it says that "through what has been made" certain "invisible attributes" of God will be "clearly seen". What are those attributes? Well, verse 20 tells us- His 1) eternal power, and 2) divine nature.
Paul's point seems to be that through observation of God's physical creation one sees the power of God--God's power in being the originator and distributor of every good thing. Paul made this argument often. In fact, when he encountered pagans (those who did not recognize the God of Scripture as God) he always established this truth before mentioning the Gospel. That was not a slight on the Gospel. It is only logical to begin where people are- to not move to fast. This is a good reminder in our evangelism. It is foundational to establish that God is indeed real for the person who does not assume this.
In Acts 14:8 ff. we have an example of Paul doing this very thing. In Acts 14 Paul is addressing the same group of people he is primarily speaking about in Romans 1. In both texts He is speaking (about) to pagan Gentiles. He is speaking to those who have other "gods". These people do not worship, value, acknowledge, love, adore, serve the God of creation--the only true God.
I am not going to go thru the text in detail because you can read it on your own. Let me just point out some things that will be helpful to our discussion regarding an external awareness of God. It will be important for you to open your Bible at this point.
After Paul heals a man the people observing assume that Paul and Barnabas (who was accompanying him) were their gods in human flesh. They had come from the god world and inhabited them. They thought Paul was Hermes (the god of orators) because he was doing most of the public speaking as he preached. They thought Barnabas was Zeus (head of the Greek pantheon of gods). Verse 14 says that Paul and Barnabas tore their robes. This seems strange to us, but in this day and time tearing one's robe was a public gesture denoting a perceived blasphemy. By doing this Paul and Barnabas were suggesting that they were not gods, but humans. In fact, they establish that very point beginning in verse 15 as their protest switches from a public gesture to an informal sermonic denunciation of the worship of any supposed pagan deity.
What is the content of this informal sermon?
First, notice that Paul establishes that his God is the Creator of all...we "preach the Gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them."
Second, he tells them that in the past God allowed them to run head long into their sin because of their continual suppression of the truth that the God of the Gospel was real.... "In the generation gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways (vs. 16)" (Rom. 1:18-25).
Third, he tells them that though they rejected the God of the Gospel (suppressed the truth of God's existence) that they were still without excuse because God's existence was made evident to them...."and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness (vs. 17)".
How did God leave Himself without witness? The rain, which produced fruitful vegetation to sustain His creation that in turn led them to the opportunity to satisfy their hearts with food and gladness served as the witness. It proved the reality of God's existence- the God of the Gospel. This was grace demonstrated by God--it was a witness or testimony of God (without words or voice) that they ignored.
So what is the point? Not only does God's creation itself (the physical universe) give evidence in various ways of God's existence, but also the affects of His creation (the various pleasures experienced under the canopy of God's grace) serve as reminders, evidence, and a viable witness to the reality of God's existence.
The other day my daughter (four years old) informed me of a couple of things she would like for Christmas. I pointed out that her excitment was a little premature because Christmas is further away than she thinks, especially for a four year old. But I also pointed out to her that it was okay to "want" other things, but that it becomes wrong when those "things" are all we think about. Rather, we should be thankful and satisfied with what we have today. That is, we should not spend our days longing for what we do not have, but should rest in what God has provided for us in His grace thus far. I was trying to communicate to her the evils of materialism and lust. So I mentioned a couple of her current possessions and asked her simply, "What if you did not have those things?" to which she replied "Then I would be unthankful."
Obviously, she missed my point. Sadly, my daughter's response is the same response of many adults who reject, or deny the existence of God. They always want more, but they never stop to realize that for the most part life blesses us with much pleasure. Now there are pockets of the world where pleasure is not experienced at the level, say Americans, experience pleasure. There exist various reasons for this including poverty, famine, suppressive governments, etc. Nevertheless, even the worst life lived is an experience of God's grace in some fashion. And certainly for our culture this is true. As Americans we live extremely pleasurable lives. To deny so is to be "unthankful".
God's common grace is a mark of God's existence even in a world perverted and distorted by the Fall.
Beholding the Grace of God,
Andy
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