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 a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:18-25 NIV)
I can still see the scene in my mind’s eye though it has been five years since I witnessed it. The sun had just set when I noticed a heron silhouetted in the orange, rippling water of the Currituck Sound on the eastern coast of North Carolina. My with and I walked closer to get a better look. The elegant bird was out for some evening fishing. He waded in the shallow water, extending his long neck out to look into the water for his prey. Barely moving, he waited. Then suddenly his head shot into the water and he grabbed a sizeable fish. He held it for a while as it flapped, but then it grew still. He stuck it back into the water a couple times, presumably to see if it was still alive. Then with a quick flick of his head and neck, the bird swallowed the fish whole. We could see the fish quickly slide down the bird’s throat, and then it went back to look for another.
If we had been filming a documentary for Animal Planet or National Geographic, I can imagine the narrator explaining the heron had adapted to its environment by developing its long neck and sharp beak in order to catch fish. For this is the common narrative to explain the creation around us. Credit is given to the created rather than to the Creator.
Yet it seems obvious to me that the evidence of the Creator is all around us. The distance of the earth from the sun is exactly the right distance to sustain life. The earth’s rotation is exactly the right speed to maintain proper gravity. The atmosphere is perfect for our bodies. Do these facts not tell us of an awesome Creator, meticulous in His design? Or what about the vastness of the universe, glimpses of which we have seen from the Hubble Telescope or the intricate design of atoms and molecules that we have seen from the microscope? Or the intricate and unique design of human beings, male and female? Is there any question we were designed for one another, for procreation and pleasure?
It is clear then why Paul says we are without excuse if we deny the existence and supremacy of God. The evidence is all around us and unmistakable. Yet to those whose hearts are rebellious against Him, they will continue to believe a lie and devote their hearts to that which is created. And their thinking is the dominant narrative for anything involving Nature, and that means there is danger for those of us who worship the Creator. We will be tempted to compromise, to appear less strident in our views, to accept this other narrative as plausible while still claiming to follow the One who is over all creation and through whom all things were created (Colossians 1:15-16). Paul is very clear about the dangers of doing so.
Today, take a look around you. See clearly how God reveals Himself through that which He created. It tells us something, that there is only one God. He created everything just as He wanted it, and He is supreme over everything that is created. If you choose to believe otherwise, you will be without excuse.
© Jim Musser 2017
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