Creation Testifies to the Existence of God Who Commands You to Repent!

You cannot make a ‘god’ out of a rock. Even if you shape it into a god or draw a face on it, it will still be a rock. Even if you get creative with better materials or better programming, you cannot create God. God was first, then he gave us life. We are the creatures and God is the Creator.

No child can point to his or her parents and say, “Look what I made.” The natural order of Creation is parents to children, not children to parents. And it is the same with God and humanity. The order is God made us, not we made God. In our Old Testament reading from Acts 17, Paul used this observable truth to teach at the meeting of the Areopagus. The Areopagus was a hill in the Greek city of Athens. At this time in history, around 50 AD, those who met at the Areopagus discussed the latest philosophies, religions and foreign gods. Paul had been teaching about Jesus and the resurrection in Athens, which was a new teaching to them, so they invited him to talk about this “foreign god,” which was how they referred to Jesus in Acts 17:18. Paul’s words to them are recorded in Acts 17, 22 … “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god.” The people of Athens worshipped numerous gods. The cityscape to this day is dominated by the Parthenon, an ancient temple dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens. Yet for their many gods, they feared some might be left out, so they even had a shrine to an unknown god. Paul seized this opportunity saying, 23 … “So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” Paul then began telling them about the one true God. He used the rational argument that God who created everything cannot be made by human hands or housed in a temple. Nor does God need anything from us. Instead, God is the source of life. God is the one who created humanity. He is the one who continues to guide history. After these points, Paul said, 27 “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” Life itself along with the world and its history point to God. Paul even quoted two Greek poets who observed the truth that humanity lives because they were created by God, 28 “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”. Those present at the meeting of the Areopagus understood the logic that humanity was created by God, but they were still ignorant of the one true God.

Ignorance toward God ends with judgment. Paul did not want to see the Athenians face judgment. He did not want them to go through life talking about the latest trends in philosophy, religion and foreign gods, but never hearing the final truth. He was there to rescue them from their ignorance with the truth. So, Paul went on to say, 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” God had not immediately destroyed each nation that followed manmade gods. He allowed them to live, and that gift of life was their time to hear about the one true God. Each person’s life is their time to search for the answer to who created them to which there is only one right answer, the God of the Bible.

A person’s life is not their time to create their own god. A rock with a face drawn on it is not God. Nor is any other creation of a person’s mind or hands. God does not originate inside or from us. We are his creatures. When you and I take for granted God’s gift of life, we also take him for granted. We are not here by our own design, creation or will. God made us. Your purpose for existing is not determined by you, but by God. You were put here to give him glory, thanks, honor and praise in your relationships, work, free time, goals, priorities, parenting, etc. which you are not able to do by nature. By nature, you are sinful and disconnected from God, destined for death and hell. You are not conceived and born with faith or a relationship with God, nor do you manifest it or choose to have it. Without God, you are ignorant and in trouble. Your only hope is to repent. Repentance recognizes your only hope to escape ignorance, trouble, sin, death, hell, etc. is God.

Love is the reason God commands you to repent. Repentance is a gift from God and itself does not come from us. The Holy Spirit works it in the heart of an unbeliever to see their ignorance, their sin and need for a Savior and God’s forgiveness. The Holy Spirit works through the word of God, even the word “repent.” When repentance is preached, which was the message of John the Baptist and Jesus, the Holy Spirit works faith in Jesus’ forgiveness in a person’s heart. This is the good news we heard in our New Testament reading from 1 Peter 3, 18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” Jesus was punished on the cross and died for your ignorance, your unrighteous, sinful and selfish life. But he was brought back to life in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has the power of life. He works through this simple message of repentance, of trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice to forgive your sins. He also works through baptism, water and the word, as Peter went on to say, 21 … “baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” Earlier in Acts 13, we read, 24 “Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.” Baptism washes away sins. It saves you by giving you the gift of faith, forgiveness and a clear conscience. Those who believe and are baptized repent trusting Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead to save them.

The resurrection of Jesus revealed his power as God. Each person’s life is their time to search for the answer to who created them to which there is only one right answer, the God of the Bible. Paul gave the proof that the God of the Bible is the only right answer saying, 31 “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” The resurrection of Jesus proved he is God. It proves he has the power over life and death. It is the proof that he was the one God appointed to save the world and the one appointed to come back in judgment over all people.

Jesus’ resurrection also stands as proof that you can trust him. When he says that he created the world and all who live in it, he did. When Jesus says that you are forgiven, you are. When he says that you will have eternal life with him in heaven, you will. You do not live in ignorance or fear, you do not live for the moment, you do not live only for this world, its achievements or failures, you do not live for a short time only to die, you do not live without a rock-solid identity, purpose and future. Instead through God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Creator of life, your life, and his Son Jesus, the Savior, who was appointed, lived, died, rose, is ruling in heaven and will return to judge, you have knowledge, hope, eternal life, purpose, spiritual awareness, salvation, etc.

God commands you to repent. In our Gospel reading from John 14, Jesus said:

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

Jesus confidently asks you to keep his commands. His love for you is the reason he commands you to repent, and you have been given a helper to keep his commands. The Holy Spirit is the one who works with the Father and the Son as God; he is the one who helps you. He is the Spirit of truth. He keeps you sure and hopeful in your forgiveness and eternal life in heaven. He works in you to keep God’s commands, follow God’s will, love God and your neighbor. One way to show love to others is to be like Paul. He used what is often called apologetics as he spoke at the meeting of the Areopagus. Apologetics describes statements that defend the truths of Christianity and God’s existence. Understand it as a way to show the failure of manmade designs and arguments to create the true God. Apologetics works as God’s law showing our ignorance and sin; it shows we need God. And, once you have showed the need for God’s forgiveness, in other words, the need to repent, share the gospel. The gospel reveals Jesus as our Savior. The Bible reveals Jesus as the appointed one who did right with God’s gift of life, when we have done wrong. Jesus died in our place for our sins, so that we are set free from judgment, guilt and punishment. The Holy Spirit works through the law and the gospel. He works through the Word of God to fill us with hope connecting us to God by faith. By faith, we receive the benefits of Jesus’ work to save us and give us eternal life in heaven.

You cannot make a ‘god’ out of a rock. Even if you shape it into a god, it will still be a rock. We did not create God; God created us. All the amazing things God made including your own life show us that he exists, but our sin broke our relationship with God leading to death and hell. In love, God saved us from sin, death and hell through Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and rose to give us eternal life in heaven. Through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith, we repent, trusting in Jesus’ forgiveness. We will live with our Creator, Savior and the Spirit of truth, the one true God, in heaven forever. By faith you understand the truth that Creation testifies to the existence of God who commands you to repent. Amen.