What Happens If We Reject The Creator? Part 2

What Happens If We Reject The Creator?
PART 2

In part one we considered how God reveals Himself as the Creator and how two civilizations rejected this. In part two, the conclusion, we will look at the consequences of this rejection, and what we should do.

Idolatry
Paul described those who reject God’s revelation of Himself in the universe He made: “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. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles ... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:21-25).

If we reject the concept of a Creator, we choose something else to be our god. We worship a part of creation such as something in the physical world, a human idea or a philosophy. We live for this and act as though there is no Creator. Such people become foolish and ignorant – their mind is affected. They follow false philosophies and speculations and choose to believe lies. An idol is a lie, a false representation of God. Meanwhile, they claim to be wise. What arrogance!

Idolatry is linked with demons: “The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God” (Dt. 32:17; Ps. 106:37; 1 Cor. 10:19-21; Rev. 9:20). Remember that Eve was deceived by Satan and thereby disobeyed God. Likewise, it seems as though people are deceived by demons to reject the Creator and follow idols instead.

God lets them go their own way
Next Paul described God’s response: “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another ... Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Rom. 1:24-28).

Note that the phrase “God gave them over” is mentioned three times in this passage (vv. 24, 26, 28). God let these people go their own way into sexual immorality (fornication, adultery, prostitution, and pornography), homosexuality, and a life of depravity driven by their evil minds. The latter includes wickedness and evil such as: greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; being gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful; disobedient to parents; senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless (vv. 29-32). This kind of behavior suppresses the truth (v. 18).

This describes a loss of law and order and knowing what is right and wrong. The Bible gives an example: when Israel had no king, everyone did what they thought was right (Jud. 21:25). You see, it destroys the foundation of society and of morality. Without a Creator there is no stable basis for right and wrong. If we reject the concept of a Creator, we also reject the possibility of being accountable for our behavior, and we reject the Bible as a guide on how to live. This means that each person decides for him/herself what is right and wrong. As we live in a “cause and effect” universe, such actions have consequences – the Bible says we harvest what we plant (Gal. 6:7-9).

So what happens if we reject the Creator? We turn to idolatry and indulge in sinful behavior that deserves God’s judgment (Rom. 1:18; 2 Ki. 22:17). Now let’s look at what we should do with this information.

Remember your Creator
The first thing we can do is “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come” (Eccl. 12:1). Here King Solomon reminded us that life is brief, and we need to do the important things before we get old and it’s too late. Don’t think you can reject the Creator now, and then change your mind later. That’s rare, because those who follow this way don’t even think about God (Rom. 1:28).

If we know that God is the great Creator, then like Paul, we should tell others about Him. This is important for all ages, particularly the young, as they are more receptive to the message. Local churches should support youth evangelism because that’s where many are added to God’s Kingdom.

History repeats itself, because people seldom learn from other people’s experience. We live in a society that is becoming more pagan, like Canaan and Athens was. We need to see the dangers of idolatry, sexual immorality and wickedness in society. We need to distinguish between the Creator and the creation.

For example, John worshiped an angel who gave him a message, but was told to “worship God” instead (Rev. 19:9-10). Even though the angel said “These are the true words of God,” John confused the messenger with the source of the message. He had to be reminded to worship God and not angels. Likewise, we need to worship the Creator and not created things.

Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife!” She became attracted to the evil in Sodom (Lk. 17:32). We should not become attracted to the evil of the world. Instead, we should remember Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead (2 Tim. 2:8). After all, He is the Creator even though “the world did not recognize Him” (Jn. 1:10). We can do this by reading the Bible, by prayer and by participating in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11: 24-25). Of course, we can also admire the beauty of God’s creation in a garden, a sunset, the night sky, at the beach, in the mountains and on the plains.

Start at the beginning
The second thing we can do is make sure that we use the story of creation when speaking to those who are not familiar with the Bible. If they need to be introduced to the Bible, start at the beginning with the creation of the world and the origin of sin. Actually there were three beginnings: Adam and Eve’s, Noah’s, and Jesus’, who brings a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). Tell them about the first beginning before you tell them about the third. Otherwise, it’s like starting midway through a story.

People nowadays are not familiar with the Bible or the concept of a Creator. They have lost the knowledge of the Creator. If we want to bring them to trust Christ as their Savior, we need to go back to the beginning of the Bible and help them realize that God created the universe and that Adam and Eve rebelled against Him. Since that time, we have all inherited a rebellious nature. It is important to deal with this, as it is impossible to accept the Savior while rejecting the Creator.

The message for today
What would Paul say if he could speak to us today? He might say something like this: “Surely humanity has advanced significantly in the past 2,000 years. Yes, knowledge has increased and technology has advanced. But unfortunately, the Creator is still an ‘unknown God’ to many people. Many today are devoted to the products of our increased knowledge, and believe that there is no need for a Creator. Unfortunately, although we have gained knowledge, we have lost wisdom, and the Bible calls this ignorance and foolishness. So my message given at Athens (Acts 17:16-34) is still relevant today.”

What happens if we reject the Creator? We follow idols and wicked ways. This leads to God’s judgment. Let’s turn this around by remembering the Creator and starting at the beginning when we bring God’s message in the Bible to others.

By George Hawke

Look for a new series starting next month.