How to Know that God Exists

Today’s passage is Romans 1:18-23.  Let’s go!

Romans 1:18-20 (NIV)
¹⁸  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
¹⁹  since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
²⁰  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

On verses 18-20:  What can we learn from these verses?  First, it’s that God is holy, completely just and morally perfect, so much so that God’s wrath goes out against anything that is godless, unjust or evil.  God could not be loving or just if He didn’t have wrath toward what is unloving or unjust.

Second, it’s that God has not been hiding Himself but has made His invisible qualities – such as His eternal power and divine nature – known through the visible universe.  In other words, when you observe the universe (“what has been made”), it is reasonable to conclude that the best explanation for it all is that an all-powerful, eternal God who exists outside of time and space caused it to come into being.  For more on this, check out this message from our Overcome My Unbelief series: How Do I Know That God Exists? (mythrive.info)

In other words, we all have good reason to believe that there is a God (“so that men are without excuse” – v20).  Whether we choose to believe or not is a different story.

Romans 1:21-23 (NIV)
²¹  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
²²  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
²³  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

On verses 21-23:  To paraphrase Paul in these verses, when we don’t acknowledge God for who He is (when we don’t glorify Him or thank Him – v21), two things happen.  First, we start to think of ourselves as wise when actually we are thinking and acting like fools (v21-22).  Second, we start to give up the glory of God in exchange for much lesser things like people and nature, thinking that that’s all there is to life (v23).

Father I pray that I would be careful to give You the credit and the attention that You are due, and not trade a life lived for Your glory for a life lived for much lesser things.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!