Rabbi Schneider - Creation's Denial of God
The gospel begins by understanding that the wrath of God is upon sin. You see, that's a lot different than the gospel that we sometimes hear today. Because a lot of times people are called to God so that God will meet their needs, but they're never told about their sin. Picking up then where I left off last time, listen to verse number 18 of chapter 1. Paul is preparing people's hearts to receive the good news, to receive the message of Messiah Jesus. And this is how God prepares our hearts to receive the good news through Paul's writing. "For the wrath of God," Paul writes, "is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness".
Let me ask you a question, friend. When was the last time you heard a message about the wrath of God? When was the last time you heard a strong stern message about the consequences of sin? And yet, Paul, the primary author of The New Testament, the primary apostolic writer of the Brit Chadasha, the New Covenant scriptures, he begins his gospel by explaining to us that Jesus was sent into the world because God's wrath has been upon the world due to mankind's sin. I'm going to press on but let me read it one more time to set the stage for the next concept. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness".
So Paul is saying that mankind is under God's wrath, listen now, for suppressing the truth. What is the truth that Paul is going to tell us? The truth that men are suppressing... When I say "men," obviously I'm speaking of humanity, men, women, everyone. The truth that we are suppressing as a human race is the fact that even though we know there's a God, we know there's a Creator, we know there's a Lord, we know there's a sovereign, we know it because God has put it inside us to know it, we're born knowing it because He created our soul knowing it, and we know it because when we look at creation and we see the beauty, and we see the sky that goes on forever, and we see the oceans and the sunset, and the waterfalls, and the colorful flowers, and the birds, and little baby children that are born, when we look at creation and see what God has made, deep down inside, we know there is a God. And yet, even though we know it in our deepest center, we suppress it. And many say, "There is no God" or "I don't know if there was a God".
I remember years ago, I was in Uganda, we were doing ministry there. Some of you may have heard me share the story on a different series. But it really struck me and it really illustrates this concept that everyone knows there's a God. I mean, let me actually read the next verse, and then I'll tell the story. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them". So first of all, Paul is saying, "for that which is known about God is evident," notice that Paul said, "within them". Deep inside they know, for God made it evident to them.
So when people tell us there is no God, they don't believe in God, you know what, beloved? Deep down in their center, they do know there's a God because God has made it evident to them. And let's look at the next verse here. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, the Lord's invisible attributes since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature," listen to this, "have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse". What's Paul saying here? He's saying not only has gotten made it evident deep in our soul, because, beloved, you and I are created in the Creator's image. We know there's a creator. There's a scripture in the Old Testament that says, "The thing that was made say to its maker, 'You did not make me.'" That's what man's doing. Well, the thing made said to its maker, "You did not make me".
So that's the first thing Paul says. "God has made it evident in them". And then Paul said in the next verse I just read to you, verse 20, that when man looks at the world, His invisible attributes and His divine nature are clearly seen through what is made. When people look at the beautiful creation, they know there's a God. The beauty, the intelligence that's built into creation, the fact that birds know how to fly south in the winter, the fact that our bodies know how to create antibodies when we get an infection, all the things that are built into creation speak to us about the fact that there is an intelligent Creator. And yet man looks at creation and he says, "No, there's no God. It happened because a random explosion happened in outer space billions of years ago, but there's no God. There is no divine Creator". Beloved, it's because of this that the wrath of God has come upon men.
And why would someone deny there's a God? I mean, why would someone want to exchange the hope of God for a nothing, an empty universe where there is no God. Well, there's a number of reasons. Number one is the power of darkness. Satan wants to suppress the knowledge of God in the earth. Satan hates God. Satan wants to do everything he can to divide mankind from God. So the first thing that is causing humanity to deny there's a God even though they know there's a God, the first thing that's causing them to take this anti-Christ position... What's the Antichrist? It's the one that denies that Jesus is God in the flesh. In other words, it's a denial of God. The reason people are denying there's a God is because of the anti-Christ spirit in the world. That's number one.
The second reason men are doing this is because of pride. You see, Satan's primary characteristic is pride. When we look at the scriptures that define who Satan is, he's got this volition, this will: "I will ascend to heaven. I will become like the most high. I will replace God". And so that same spirit of pride that lifts man up to one who exalts themselves above God... How are men exulting themselves above God? By saying there is no God and thinking that their science explains the universe. That's displacing God and making themselves gods. And so pride causes mankind to suppress the truth. Where are we at? We're right here in the Gospel where Paul said that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What are they suppressing? The knowledge of God. God has made Himself known, but they're denying Him. So why? Because of the demonic spirit on the face of the earth, because of darkness, because of the spirit of the Antichrist, number one. Number two, because of pride, which is a fruit of the Antichrist, but has now entered into man since the fall.
Number three, because of brokenness. A lot of times people experience something in their life, maybe their parents were divorced, maybe they had a loved one that was murdered, maybe they have seen so much savagery in the world that they say to themselves, "If God was real, if there was really such thing as a loving God, how could this be? It doesn't make any sense". And so the enemy uses that to captivate their thinking process. And so they begin to suppress the truth, suppress the knowledge of God and begin to deny Him saying that there is no God. And sometimes people that have been hurt in life blame God for it. We're talking about, church, why do people deny there's a God even though the Bible tells us they know there's a God?
Sometimes, continuing on, people deny there's a God, suppressing the truth, because of deep hurt. Something has happened to them in life that's so terrible. Maybe even they were abused or they know somebody that was even sexually abused, and they're so hurt by that and they blame it on God. And they're trying to get back at God. Like, "God, you allow this to happen to me and this hurt me so bad. You're the one that's supposed to be Supreme. So I'm going to hurt you back now by denying that you exist". And all these terrible tragedies that people have experienced, the enemy uses to lead them into the darkness to suppress the truth and deny their Creator.
So let's continue on. Verse 20. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse". Everyone's going to stand before the Lord guilty, not being able to have any excuse as to why they suppressed Him, why they were unwilling to acknowledge Him, and why, beloved, we were unwilling to submit to Him. So it's not just acknowledging God that can suppress the truth, if you don't acknowledge Him, but it's also if you won't submit to Him. Because once you acknowledge there's a God, once you acknowledge there's a Creator, then it becomes our responsibility as His creation, as the creature to find out what He wants us to do with our life. And so many people because they don't want God to tell them what to do with their life, they deny Him so they could do whatever they want to do. And thus they suppress the truth in unrighteousness, as Paul said here. And as a result, the wrath of God is upon them. Did you understand what I just said?
Some people deny there's a God because they don't want to submit to authority. They don't want to submit to God's authority. So to acknowledge there's a God then puts the burden upon us as His creation as to saying, "Okay, God, You created me, you now have a plan for my life, and I have to obey it. You have a way, you have a path, you define reality, and I now need to submit to reality, and submit to your ways because you're God, and I'm your creation". But since many just want to go out and live freely, indulging in the lust of the flesh, indulging in their own ambition, not wanting to sacrifice, to give up their freedom, to submit to the Lord's Word and laws and truth, because they don't want to do that, they push Him out of their life, denying Him, they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And as a result, the wrath of God is upon them.
You see, beloved, this is the real gospel-what I'm teaching right now, not what we're hearing today which is just about God, not calling us to submit to Him, not calling us to repent of sin, which is how Jesus announced His ministry. Jesus' first words were "repent and turn to Me for the kingdom of God is at hand". John the Baptist prepared Yeshua's coming with the same message: "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand". This is the introduction to the real gospel. But instead, what we're hearing is this. "Just receive God and He's going to make you rich, and He's going to give you everything you want, and He's going to fulfill the desires of your flesh".
And you know, it's never about making God Lord, it's all about using Him to fulfill us. It's not the truth of God's Word. Let's continue on. Paul says this in verse 21. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give Him thanks". Let me tell the story now that I told you I was going to tell you a few minutes earlier in the broadcast. We've established the truth here. But even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give Him thanks.
So I was in Uganda a number of years ago. We were doing ministry there. And we were eating breakfast one morning outside where everyone eats. It was sunny there all the time when we were there. And we kind of stuck out in the group. Obviously, we're not native Ugandans. And we're sitting at a table, me and my team, and all of a sudden, another person from the United States comes up to us. It was a woman and she was there doing health care work. And she came up to our table, she could tell that we were foreigners like her. And she said, "Oh, you know, tell me what are you doing here"?
We began to dialogue with her a bit. We asked her what she was doing there. She told us about that she was there doing humanitarian work in the field of health care. And then we told her we were there preaching the good news of King Jesus. And she said, "I don't believe in God. I believe in science". I said to her, I said, "That's a problem". I said, "Do you see that beautiful flower right there behind you"? I said how, "Does a big bang in outer space, for no reason at all, explain the beauty of that flower and the beauty of creation". And I said, "Let me ask you this question. How does a cosmic explosion, for no reason, explain the phenomenon of love? The fact that you have the ability to experience and to give love"?
And finally, I said to her, "And let me ask you this. How is it that you have self-consciousness"? I said to the scientist. "How is it that you can be aware of your own thought processes, and then you can choose what you decide to do? Can that be explained simply from a chemical explosion in outer space"? And you know what? She politely left the table. But she came to our meeting that night. She heard me preach the gospel. And the next day when I was in the breakfast line going through the buffet to get our food, she was about to leave that day, and she came up to me, and she said to me, "Thank you for your wisdom".
Why do I tell you that? Because she was a young woman that had convinced herself that she didn't really believe in God. She believed in science. She really came to believe that she didn't believe in God even though deep down inside she did. But because I didn't believe her when she told me that she didn't believe in God, because I believe, beloved, this book, because I believe God's Word that tells us that God has made it evident within every human being that there is a God and that deep inside all of us know, because I believe God's book rather than what that woman told me when she told me she didn't believe, I said to her, "No, you do deep down believe". And then I challenged her. And as a result of that, as far as I know, she was brought to faith in God, and hopefully a saving faith in Jesus.
So we need to stake our faith in God's Word. Don't be dissuaded. Don't be overwhelmed by all those supposed atheists and agnostics around you that want to pour cold water on your faith in your Creator. No, you have the truth. You are His light, you have His fire, and you are His witness in the world. We're lights on a hill. And we're here, beloved, to give testimony to the truth. Now, let's go on to the next verse, verse 21. We just have a little time left in this episode. But let's just begin verse 21. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became," listen to this, "futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools".
You see, this described what I just got done sharing with you, people that trade in the glory of the incorruptible God and become instead wise in their own eyes. They think they're educated. They think science explains it. And the Bible says, "As a result of this, their foolish heart has become darkened. And professing to be wise, they become fools", listen again, "for even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give them thanks, but they became futile in their", get this now, "speculations".
You know, the Big Bang Theory to explain the existence of the universe. It's just a speculation. I mean, especially the way atheistic science presents it. It's just a speculation. No one was there. They became futile. I'm not saying that there wasn't a big bang. I personally believe there was a big bang when God said, "Bam, let there be light". And so I just want to encourage you today, beloved, we are becoming such a minority in the earth today. Those of us that are passionate disciples of Jesus, you have the truth, stand in it. Don't be ashamed of the gospel, or of the testimony of the Lord. Be faithful to the end and you will receive your reward, because Jesus says to you, "I am coming back for you quickly".