“The fool says in his heart there is no God.”
Psalm 14:1.
It’s ridicules
to make such a claim as there is no God, although completely understandable of
those who are deceived, “For we ourselves were also once foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and
envy, hateful and hating one another,” Titus 3:3.
Most of us have been deceived at one time or
another in our life. I myself was in that category in the not so distant past.
Although I didn’t make the claim that there is no God, the way I lived my life
was a declaration that God was irrelevant to my life. Although I hadn’t
professed being an atheist, my lifestyle most certainly denied God, but
thankfully, through the death of His only begotten Son, I’m now saved.
We can go about
our lives pretending God doesn’t exist, God Himself has revealed His truth to
us, but the Atheist ignores the truth. Even Christians on occasion ignore God.
You know what I mean, when we hear Him speaking to us about witnessing to
someone who has just crossed our path and instead we ignore Him and walk away;
we’ve all done it.
Unbelief is a
cancer that has spread to millions of families throughout America and the world. Why? Because,
on a whole, this world has shunned God, many children as they are growing up
aren’t taught about God by their parents. In our not so distant past even if the
parents didn’t teach their children who God is and what His commandments are all
about, they received some insight into God’s existence in school. Of course that
teaching is gone now, and as each new generation comes along there is less and
less taught about God. In many homes, as well as in public schools, there is no
mention of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It’s as though
there’s someone trying to keep millions of people from knowing the Creator of
the Universe, an opposing force as it were. Yes that’s right? There is just such
an entity in the world; he’s God’s adversary and the father of all lies. He
hasn’t changed his tactics since his lie to Eve in the Garden. The same way he
deceived Eve is the same deception he uses today. “Did God really say…,” and
“You shall not surely die.” Well, we all know the outcome of that lie, and the
subsequent rebellion on the part of Adam and Eve. Mankind dies, and all
creatures on the earth or under the sea die. So, why do so many still listen to
the father of all lies? Because he uses man to perpetuate the lie and people
believe man over God. How does this happen? Men supposedly have so much
knowledge and wisdom that many people choose to follow their advice instead of
following Almighty God. Just take evolution for example. This terrible insidious
lie has been instrumental in placing doubt in people’s minds, consequently
turning them away from God sense its inception, and it’s second only to the lie
Satan told Eve. Of course we all know that the teaching of evolution as fact is
still going strong in our public schools today, even though it is easily proven
to be a falsehood.
Since there are
untold millions being led down a path that is opposed to God, and which leads to
destruction, obviously there is an alternative path. If we have been given two
opposing views and one view must be correct and one incorrect, and since we’ve
been given the knowledge by God so as to choose the correct view, how
then are so many convinced they have chosen correctly, and yet remain on a
direct path to Hell. Never underestimate God’s adversary.
Whether they
know it or not all atheist and agnostics are presently condemned to Hell. Of
course they don’t believe there is a Hell, but that doesn’t negate the fact that
Hell exists. Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. I’ve
never seen air and yet I’m able to breathe something in through my nose or mouth
that keeps me from suffocating.
Atheists and
Agnostics, one says there is no God - and the other says you can’t prove God
exists. Either way, God, through His word, has said they’re both foolish and
condemned. “…but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18.
You see, God
isn’t interested in our excuses for denying Him; He’s interested in our
faithfulness and our relationship with His Son, Jesus. He will never force
anyone to believe in Him. He’s given mankind all the proof we need to come to an
understanding of His presence in our lives, and has also laid out the
consequences for unbelief. God doesn’t want a bunch of robots either. He wants
genuine loving children, who have made a choice to follow Him and believe in
Him, to love Him, and who are willing to place their faith and trust and hope in
Him. And, for those millions who have given themselves to His adversary (Satan),
He is still waiting for them to repent of their choice and rethink their
decision to disobey Him. We all know that He won’t wait forever.
Most of God’s
children aren’t doing His will; they aren’t getting His message out to those who
are still residing in that lost condition. Why have so many believers given up
on witnessing. Where’s the fear of Hell, where’s the burdened hearts, and the
love for our fellow man? What about all those who are facing Hell as a
consequence for their unbelief? If we don’t get the message of the cross to the
lost, who will? May God forgive our apathy.
There are many
more reasons for unbelief in a person’s life, but they all boil down to excuses.
Atheists have no desire to be accountable to God, so they invent sometimes
elaborate excuses such as evolution. Even though God is the giver of life, the
creator of the universe, and the Savior of man, Atheists still reject His truth.
Adam and Eve’s
rebellion resulted in all of humanity being under a curse. That curse is the sin
nature we all inherited from the first man and women on earth, and that same sin
nature is in rebellion to God even today. We have been given a spirit by God,
and that spirit is in direct conflict with our sin nature. Believers, those who
are born again, have made the decision to deny their sin nature and to have
victory over it through Jesus Christ. Yes, sometimes we fail, sometimes we sin,
but we are still saved. As we repent of those short comings and apologize to God
for our lack of will, God in His ultimate wisdom forgives us. The Holy Spirit
who indwells us gives us the help we need to overcome the flesh. Millions of
people across this globe haven’t made the correct decision so far in there
lives, and so they are in bondage still.
When someone
dies while still living in rebellion to God, they have excluded themselves from
eternal life with God in Heaven; they have condemned themselves to an eternity
without God. Understand that God is ever present in our lives as well as the
lives of the atheist. Those who have believed in and put their faith and trust
in Jesus Christ will be in God’s presence for eternity. But for those who have
chosen Hell, God will remove His presence from them since they ignored Him while
here on earth. Yes, you heard me correct, everyone in Hell made that decision
while they were alive. You might say, “I’ve never made a conscience decision to
go to Hell.” Maybe not, but did you ever make a conscience decision to accept
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If your answer is no then by not making
the correct conscience decision you automatically chose the alternative. Making
a decision to follow Christ, means you’ve allowed the Holy Spirit to do the work
in your life that led to that decision. But if you end up in Hell it means
you’ve blasphemed the Holy Spirit. That is the only sin punishable by an
eternity in Hell.
Atheists need
only change their minds about God, turn away from God’s adversary, and join the
rest of God’s children who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
It’s not difficult but it is humbling.
I’ve often
asked myself “What keeps people from accepting the truth of the Gospel of
Christ?” Then I remember my previous life before Jesus Christ took me out of
that bondage. Did God send me some great revelation so I could make the ultimate
decision that would change my life? No, no great revelation, no special angel,
no church pastor, none of that. The simple fact is He sent me a believer,
someone who was previously just like me, lost. Praise God.
Jesus Christ
paid the high price for the sin of the world by dieing in our place. It was our
punishment that He received. He was perfect in every way with no sin in His life
and yet He died being punished for all sins of all time. The only thing He asks
of us is to believe in Him, believe in what He accomplished for us, believe in
His death, burial, and resurrection, that’s it. Once we cross that threshold,
He’ll take care of the rest.
What’s so
amazing about grace? Grace can save that wretched atheist just like it saved
wretched Ron Graham.
God bless you
all,
Ron Graham