18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21For 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. (Romans 1:18 – 21)
Today we conclude our consideration of the Discipline of Creation. Yesterday, we reflected on the manifestation of God’s glory through creation. Today we will confront the obvious fact that most people don’t view creation with a Biblical mindset. In fact, many don’t accept the concept of creation at all. On April 5th 2019, Netflix launched a series entitled “Our Planet”, which is narrated by the world-renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough. The images are spectacular, reflecting the results of 3,500 filming days, 600 crew, and the latest technology. What we should not expect from the series though, is God getting any glory; nor should we expect that Sir David will not make the same proclamations that the Psalmist David made in Psalm 19.
Please prayerfully read the passage above and answer the question below.
Question:
How can we practically use God’s creation to proclaim His glory in the face of significant disbelief?
April 11, 2019 at 3:48 pm
I’m not good in debating or arguing but if I will be asked to say something about God’s glory in the face of significant disbelief, I would just give a simple explanation of why I believe on my creator Christ, the Lord. I would emphasize that my creator is majestic, sovereign, all knowing and I can even tell all the attributes of my God. No one can fathom the mind of the God of universe, so I could tell the unbelieving person that if he will look at how unique he is as an individual, he would be amazed with his creator. I’m proud of God my creator. Every part of our body was created by the God who knows perfectly how it will function and how it will be beneficial for us, human being created in His image and likeness. Another example of God’s creation…. plants, trees, and seasons of the year or time, like day and night were all created by God. I would elaborate to the unbeliever that I have a God who created mankind and everything in the universe in a way that only Him can comprehend why he made such creation the way it is. Take for example a flower, Isn’t it amazing that God decided that a flower has many petals, different colors and some of it grow in certain times or season? I mean all of God’s creation were actually carefully thought of, and has purpose because our God is tremendously wise. All of His creation especially the ones He truly loved …the “mankind” is created meticulously. The way God designed His creation, only Him can understand. Why zebra has lines? Why cherry blossom bloom only for about a week ? Who decided that to happen? ( I used that as an example because it’s the season of cherry blossom in Japan now.) I also cannot accept that I evolved from a monkey. I firmly believe that I was created by a loving God, whose purpose from the very beginning is to have fellowship with His creation. The real joy of living the life God gave us will only be experienced by acknowledging first and foremost, Christ our Lord, as savior and creator. All the things I mentioned here will be meaningless to someone who doesn’t believe in the creation of Adam and Eve, the fall of man, and the gift of salvation as well as the power of the Gospel, God’s Word. As for me, I will serve my God till my last breath because that’s my way of showing gratitude for all my God and creator has done for me.
April 11, 2019 at 6:06 pm
I have to admit I struggled with this question. From a Christian perspective it’s easy to see God in creation – the human body, the universe, the makeup and lives of animals, an eclipse – when considered these are wondrous things made wonderfully. The problem is as mentioned in the passage quoted, people’s hearts are darkened and they simply do not want to see. I guess my answer would be me – let me reflect Him well and then as eyes are opened they see the beauty of the earth (and creation).
PS There is one person who is doing this though. His name is Dr. Hugh Ross and you can read about him on the website =, Reasons to Believe, http://www.reasons.org.
April 11, 2019 at 6:25 pm
I do not believe creation alone is enough to convince an unbeliever. However creation can spark curiosity in the unbeliever’s mind about the origin of creation and God.
By way of illustration, consider famed atheist scholar, now deceased Stephen Hawkings who studied the cosmos ( science and the origin of the development of the universe) was convinced and tried to convince others there is no God. In fact leading up to his death, in my opinion he seemed consumed with disproving there is a God (judging from news reports on his interviews and writings).
April 11, 2019 at 7:51 pm
In addition to everything said before, perhaps it may also be helpful to convince an unbeliever of God, knowing that the Bible states that the earth is a sphere and hangs on nothing……….
Isaiah 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; ……….
Job 26: 7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
Also , that in the Bible, boy babies should be circumcised on the 8th day………it was discovered many years later that vitamin K, important for blood clotting, is highest on the 8th day of birth.
ENCYCLOPEDIA Britannica documents that in 1845, a young doctor in Vienna named Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was horrified at the terrible death rate of women who gave birth in hospitals.
As many as 30 per cent died after childbirth. Semmelweis noted that doctors would examine the bodies of patients who died, then, without washing their hands, go straight to the next ward and examine expectant mothers.
This was their normal practice, because the presence of microscopic disease was unknown. Semmelweis insisted that doctors wash their hands before each examination, and the death rate immediately dropped to two per cent.
The importance of washing hands in running water is mentioned both in the Old and New Testament. Also other important hygiene practices & quarantine of the sick person to avoid diseases.
April 12, 2019 at 12:35 am
From the beginning of time the created has asked the Creator for a sign. The Creator provided a sign in creation, yet many refuse to see it. That being said, I think it is hard to use the Glory believers see in creation to convince the non-believer. If placed in that situation I don’t know that I could “convince” an unbeliever.
April 12, 2019 at 4:34 am
The discussion about the role creation can play in our witness to unbelievers is quite interesting. The question was meant to be somewhat controversial. It is possible that because of the less than stellar history that the church has had with science, and worries about new age movements, Christians might be shying away from proclaiming God’s glory in creation to unbelievers. We appear to be very comfortable in declaring the glory of God we see in creation to fellow believers but very uncomfortable with unbelievers. May we allow the Holy Spirit to use what God reveals to us about His creation with appropriate boldness.