Why Atheists Exist

This morning as I was spending time in the first chapter of the book of Romans, I got to thinking about atheists. What got me thinking along these lines were the words of Romans 1:18-20 which basically tell us that mankind suppresses the plain, clearly visible truth about God and his existence. This truth surrounds humanity in the form of God's handiwork in creation (see Psalm 19:1-4). It is truth that is available to any people group anywhere in the world. Yet, man chooses to ignore this plain truth. Why?

James Boice, in his commentary on Romans points out that man's failure to acknowledge God is not due to ignorance of God, but rather it is because of man's willful choice NOT to acknowledge him. And why does humanity do so? According to Boice, man just simply cannot acknowledge God because to do so would mean that man would have to bow to him. After all, the God of the Bible is a God who is sovereign (man likes to think of himself as the sovereign one), holy (man despises God's holiness because it exposes his sin), omniscient (who wants to be under the always open eyes of "Big Brother") and immutable (meaning this God who is sovereign, holy and omniscient will always and forever more be so - because he never changes). Because God is all of this - man makes the willful choice to suppress this truth and exchange it for a lie (Romans 1:21-25).

All this to say ... we who choose to follow Christ and seek to point others in His direction, MUST speak to God about people BEFORE we speak to them about God. Unless God softens their hearts - they will remain without God and without hope in this life and the life to come.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj