Listening & Learning — A Devotional

Romans 1:19

God made it plain

God made it plain. Romans 1:19 What was known of God began with Adam, and down through years and generations of people, the knowledge of God was imparted to everyone with open eyes and open minds. The creatorial power of God was never hard to discern. The orderliness and supreme intelligence of God is there for all to see. The holiness and judgment of God cleansed the world by the flood. Justice, mercy, and grace are God's characteristics that are not hidden from man. More important in one way, is that God knows everything about us - every one of us. God's indictment has no distinction. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It reaches all and includes all.

The revelation of God in creation is so clear that there is no excuse for missing it. There is no legitimate reason for spiritual blindness as to the evidence of God, the Supreme Being. People who choose not to accept by faith what they cannot explain are guilty of not admitting to the most basic reality there is. Faith is not an action we take to get salvation. Saving faith is a God-given gift that can be used or rejected by each individual's choice. To live by faith is an action we take to respond to what we know is right in spite of not knowing the outcome. “Without faith, it is impossible to please [God].” It is the grace of God that saves us when we take God at His word by faith. No one has an excuse for not believing in God because He has revealed Himself to us through the evidence of creation and the marvelous complexity of life in every form. It isn’t how much we know about God that is important. Rather, it is what we do with what we know. We either take the evidence for granted and try to explain it in human terms, or we accept the fact that there is a Creator whose power and intellect far surpasses human ability to conceive, let alone explain.

God is not hiding from us trying to catch us in some sinning situation. "All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Men say, "I am not so bad." "There are a lot of people who are worse than I am." "I am not perfect, but basically I am a good person." This can be very deceptive if we really believe this about ourselves. It is wisdom when we listen to the worst God has to say about us. Even though we are born to a race of people lost in sin, God loves us. What is known about God is made plain to us so that we make no mistake about God's omniscience. No one has the excuse to say there is no God. There is way too much evidence that He is, and is a "rewarder of them that fear Him." However, there are those who still say, "There is no God for me."

We accept the fact that “God is, and is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him,” and put our faith in Him. We can express our faith and trust in words of thanksgiving, knowing by faith that He hears and knows what we mean. He knows us and our words honor Him and our thanksgiving is our response to His undeserved grace to us. God's redemption and forgiveness by grace is known to us so we can have hope and life in Christ.

Creation, conscience, and God's goodness are a few of the ways He reveals Himself to us and speaks to us without words. The fact of His existence and His attributes can be seen in many ways. It is our response to them and Him that determines our eternal destiny.