God Rejected
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Rejecting God
Rejecting God
In Esther 3, Mordecai refused to bow to Haman because he was a Jew and saw himself as ruled by God alone and not by wicked men wrongly appointed by the king to be promoted and honoured. Haman saw this as an act of rejection, and so it was, for Mordecai was rejecting any recognition of the appointment of Haman.
Those in our text who had the knowledge of God and against whom the wrath of God was being revealed also refuse to pay homage for similar reasons, they reject the authority of One whom they are commanded to honour. But this isn’t some corrupt Agagite like Haman, they are rejecting the most legitimate claim of honour and authority that exists: the authority of God. In their hearts they see God like Modecai saw Haman and in their ignorance refuse to bow down and pay homage. This is not a mere rejection of authority, it is a rejection of God’s character and all that God is. Though they will bow down to a human king and the gods which they have made by their own imaginations, they refuse to acknowledge God because they do not think he deserves such honour.
Rejection based on unbelief in light of God’s revelation
Rejection based on unbelief in light of God’s revelation
While King Xerxes put a wicked man before the people and demanded homage to him, God has revealed himself as he truly is: just, loving, merciful, patient, forgiving a multitude of transgression but holding the stiff-necked and hard-hearted in contempt. He is all that makes a good King, in fact he is the quintessential King after whom all kings of the earth are modeled. Thus the wrath of God is revealed against them, not in an unjust and passionate way like Haman against Mordecai, but in the holy wrath he reveals against them for their rebellion. The people of this world, all born sinners including each of us, refused to honour God despite the honour he is due and instead declared creation our own dominion where we may worship and honour what we please. Sinners are truly enemies and rebels against God and are without excuse for rejecting him for who he is.
“Although they Knew God”
“Although they Knew God”
This is the point proven in verses 18-20.
God’s wrath is revealed in the unrighteousness of man in their unbelief, as opposed to the righteousness of God unveiled in the Gospel. God is the peacemaker here, allowing for reconciliation and redemption through faith in his Son.
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Now that the righteousness of God has been truly revealed in its greatest form, all the nations who at one time rejected God’s natural revelation are given one last great attempt at mercy and reconciliation. When this is rejected, there is only the wrath of a patient but increasingly angry God.
The only way to be right with God is to respond to his revelation in the way he has ordained. This way is with honour and thanksgiving.
No Honour or Thanks
No Honour or Thanks
They do not honour God. That is to say, they behave and act in a way that does not pay God the credit or service he is due. God is to be honoured accourding to who he is and what he has done. He is King, Creator, Sovereign, and all powerful and this reserves for him only the greatest respect and admiration, as well as obedience and trust.
Rather than honouring God, they honour created things.
First, they honour themselves as the arbiters of good and evil. The tree in the garden from which the first couple took the cursed fruit was aptly named, for by taking it Adam and Eve had redefined the line of good and evil and placed themselves as the judges of all the earth. They would decide what they should eat, how they should dress, how they should care for each other and the world God made. They became like gods in the most blasphemous way possible.
The mentality of self-honouring continues to this day in the hearts of all. Every sin is committed under the pretense that the sinner knows better than the lawgiver of the universe. Especially today, where the laws of God have no relevance to the average Canadian in personal or public life. We’ve even made put ourselves in charge of gender, arguing that the facts imprinted on our bodies and in our DNA are up to interpretation. Whose interpretation? Ours.
It is a sin that captures the young who trust in their youthful zeal, and the old who trust in their experience and carnal wisdom. It affects our biblical interpretation, it is the heart of a moralistic spirit, and all who are angry at God or reject his existence are free to rely on themselves to bring good and meaning to the world. We are filling shoes that we were never meant to fill.
Second, they honour other men above God. The fear of man boils over to quench their fear of God. They prefer the smiles of men than the favour of their Creator. They fear a sword of iron above the fiery wrath of an eternal judge. Even if they profess to fear God, their actions show who they truly fear and honour. Whether they be celebrities, scientists, warriors, philosophers, rulers, religious icons, or the neighbour next door, a fear and over-respect of man dulls any meaningful honour of God.
Finally, they honour created things. This is called idolatry, and although its appearance has changed much over the years, the essential principle is still the same: honouring things the creator made, or fictitious imaginings depicting created things, rather than the Creator.
This is because created things are controlable for the most part. Those that aren’t are turned into false gods to pray to and manipulate that way.
Creation can be milked of God’s good kindness without any of the responsibilities of honour and worship, thereby making it easier to worship self rather than God.
Embracing Ignorance
Embracing Ignorance
Another thing God accuses the sinful nations of doing is rejecting the natural knowledge of God revealed in creation and willingly embracing ignorance. This is done
Worthless thinking - They have embraced a way of thinking that leads them, not to their natural end of giving glory to God, but rather to some other end of their own imagination.
These worthless thoughts can be as simple as a light excuse for sin that satisfies a sinful heart, or great philosophical and religious theories which abandon our blessed state as worshipers of the true God for some other end. In other words, their inability to find God in creation is not because God isn’t adequately revealed in it, but because they behold this revelation with foolish minds to reinterpret what they see in a way that lacks any eternal value. Their reason is not true reason, and their philosophy is not a love of knowledge but a love of ignorance, basking in foolish thoughts that lead astray. The Apostle Paul warns Christians against such useless ideologies,
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Some claim to think rationally (worshiping human reason), others humanistically (caring only for human wants and needs), others religiously (finding their own way to God), and still others personally (thinking little of the big picture outside their own lives). In each case, their ignorant minds will never lead them to naturally embrace the God whose existence and power is so clearly shown to them.
A Christian, on the other hand, is called to submit to the special revelation of God in the Scriptures and especially in him whom the Scriptures reveal to us; the person Jesus Christ. To think in a Christian manner is nothing less than to cease the foolish mindset of the world and, by the Spirit’s powerful work, see the world as it is naturally seen: an ode to the holy God we are obliged to serve with all our hearts.
Dark hearts - The virus of sin not only corrupts the minds of the lost but also their very beings. The heart is not merely the source of fuzzy feelings and emotions like it is in our vernacular. In the ancient world, it represented the centre of your being. Who you are as a living, breathing, thinking, feeling person was represented by your heart.
How were their hearts darkened?
They have a firm commitment to sin and self that has become intrinsic to who they are so that they are unable to even see it, much less escape from it. Willingly, they are devoted to what is dark, that is, what hides the signature of God in all creation, rather than the light which exposes it.
A dark heart is both the cause and the fruit of worthless thinking.
Their hearts are foolish. They do not pursue knowledge, they pursue their own whims and lusts. Just as a intellectual fool will never stumble upon a complex math equation by accident, though it may be clearly figured out by anyone with the brain power to figure it out, they are foolish in their knowledge of God, a most fundamental sort of fool who walks as an idiot in the house of God without ever coming to that conclusion.
So we see that it is the corruption of the human heart and mind that stops natural man from seeing God in Creation and believing on him is the reason why natural revelation is enough to condemn, but not enough to save. To be saved, their heart and mind must first be dealt with by the Holy Spirit’s hand, than they would be able to see clearly.
A bad glory trade
A bad glory trade
Conclusion
Conclusion