This morning I was told by a professing Christian that a man may be godless yet could be 100% accurate in his knowledge of science. My first thought was how can a mere human know everything about anything when leaving out the best source which is information revealed to us by the Creator? How can anyone who relies on their own discoveries know anything more than what they deduce from their findings? Does using big words and theories about something as vast as the universe make anyone an expert?
Jesus makes it clear that God does not reveal everything to everyone. He told parables to the crowds because He hid the truth to those who were not willing to accept it. Even His disciples were in the dark about many issues, even major issues, because they were not ready to hear it.
One example is Jesus’ response to the religious leaders. They wanted to know who gave Him authority to do what He was doing:
And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. (Matthew 21:23–27)
These questioning people were not stupid. They did the logic regarding Jesus’ answer and realized they better not challenge Him or they would dig themselves further into a hole.
Jesus’ answer is interesting. Why didn’t He simply tell them? He’d already said to His disciples that He came from the Father to do the Father’s will. Why not tell these inquirers the same thing?
The answer isn’t in this passage but it seems Jesus only gives answers to those who are honest in their inquiry. In context, the chief priests and elders were continually trying to trap Him. Had Jesus said the truth, they would have accused him of blasphemy and arrested Him. It was not yet time for His arrest.
I need to be listening to Jesus as I think about how to respond to the notion that a godless man can be accurate in his science, that he can know the secrets of the universe (which this so-called scientist claims) without knowing or hearing from the One who created it. The person who tells me that this is possible is not thinking through his evaluation either. While godless people can discover many things, they cannot know what only God can reveal.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
This is illustrated in Daniel when he was confronted to interpret a dream without being told its contents. He prayed and asked his friends to pray . . .
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.” (Daniel 2:19–22) The king would not reveal his dream to Daniel so God did!
APPLY: I need wisdom too. The Lord has directed me to these thoughts as well as a statement Paul made to Timothy about avoiding ideas like this. He said, “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.” (1 Timothy 6:20–21) How I respond must first honor the Lord yet also be given in the right attitude.
No comments:
Post a Comment