“The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead. Yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies. They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us! We will be free of trouble forever!””
Psalm 10:4-6 NLT
The statement “God is dead” is claimed by many for often simplistic reasons, the result of what they call rational thinking, or quoting a lack of scientific evidence to prove His existence. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was famously quoted for making this statement in one of his books, written in the late nineteenth century. But it is the arrogance of man that is really behind statements such as this. Modern thinking is that religion was acceptable for more primitive people, but those who were, and are, more “enlightened” know better, and the arrogant “God is dead” brigade attribute the physical world around us to chance happenings that have taken place over a very long period of time. Such people even concoct their own physical laws to fit their flawed observations.
Of course, once the idea of God has been taken out of people’s lives, then the whole basis of moral behaviour loses its foundations. As David wrote, “The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead” (Psalm 10:4). It was pride in David’s day, but add arrogance into the mix in our 21st Century world. People then, and still do today, believed that because God doesn’t immediately zap them when they do wrong then He cannot exist, and so they carry on in their sinful and evil ways. David was perplexed because such people even seemed to be highly successful in spite of their wickedness.
Such short term thinking is extremely sad, because once the God-deniers find out that God does exist, they have two problems. The first is that they suddenly realise that they have been living a lie all their earthly lives, giving them a nasty shock now they know differently. Secondly, they find that they won’t have long to mourn over their evil ways and thinking, because as the first shock is still reverberating in their minds, a book will be opened, and their whole lives will be displayed before everyone. A Heavenly video of their every moment will be played, showing wrong thinking, evil behaviour, every wicked occasion, and eventually it will come to end with them standing before God Himself, waiting, but not for long. The judgement will be announced and their eternal sentence in hell commenced. David wrote, “They do not see your punishment awaiting them“.
For those people today who think that there will be just blackness awaiting them when they die, perhaps they should read Philippians 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father“. There will not be blackness but, instead, eternal life awaits those who believe God is dead in a place they don’t want to be.
It’s a grim topic, not heard much from the pulpits these days. In fact, when did we last hear a sermon preached about hell? The preachers of old used to dangle their congregants over the fires of hell, frightening them into believing in God. But today? Our churches contain people who believe that God is alive and well, but what then? If we have a God who is alive then this must be transformative for us. If we believe that God is not dead, then there is only one alternative, that He is alive. Can we not get our minds around the thought that the Creator of the Universe is not only alive but He knows you and me personally? Jesus, who died on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary, taking on Himself the punishment for our sins, is the very God that many people say is dead. Helloooo!! …. The fact that God is alive must make us turn our lives around, even if we are believers. We can’t just be pew warmers, thinking nice thoughts about a loving Saviour. He gave up so much for us, that we cannot do anything but respond to Him and say as Isaiah did, “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8b). Our living God imparts life to His followers – we must never play dead.
Dear Father God. You are the living God, not an idol made of dead objects. We are willing, Lord, to do Your work in this world, as You guide us day by day. We worship You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 