Romans 1:20
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
People often ask how God will judge those who have never responded to him, and especially those who have never heard about Jesus. Here Paul makes it clear that everyone has had an opportunity to respond to God, because he has made it so clear in creation. People have no excuse, but the tragedy is that we have often ended up worshipping what God has created rather than the Creator himself.
Our mission, like Paul’s, is to present the good news. We want to help people understand why Jesus came into the world - and we can all play our part in that. We are not all evangelists but everyone who follows Jesus is a witness. We have a story to tell from our own personal experience, and our stuttering words are often far more persuasive than any silver-tongued evangelist.
Sadly, a huge proportion of the world’s population will never hear about Jesus for themselves. But we can take comfort from the fact that creation is continually speaking about God, pointing to his greatness and majesty.
Paul is clear that those who have rejected God have chosen a destructive course, and he speaks of God’s anger towards those who oppose him. None of us enjoys thinking about an angry God, but it is an inevitable consequence of his love. His passionate love for humankind and his desire that we should live in partnership with him fills him with sadness and anger when he sees people deliberately rejecting him.
As we move through today, let’s look at people from God’s point of view - and remind ourselves that he wants them to live in a relationship of love with him, however far they may be from him at this moment.
Question – How do you respond to the statement that no one is without excuse for not knowing God?
Prayer – Lord God, thank you for the way in which you make yourself known to people through Jesus and creation. Amen