Talk of fools
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” (Psalm 14:1)
The Bible does not argue extensively for the existence of God – it takes it for granted. The need is not to prove there is a Creator; that is accomplished by a universe of evidence, the whole of creation.
The Bible points this out as proof not just that God exists but that everybody knows it.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
It is not that people really believe there is no God. They try to talk themselves into it. Psalm 14:1 tells us that they have said it in their hearts.
It is a kind of wishful thinking, entertaining a speculation that suits what they want to be true. The human heart is prone to do this kind of thing all the time to justify its self-serving inclinations and imagine there are no consequences.
John Lennon wrote the words, “Imagine there’s no heaven” and, “no hell below.” Imagine indeed.
Psalm 14:1 says this is the ultimate insanity, God’s own definition of a fool. It is a willful denial of the most fundamental basis and reference point for all reality – the existence of God. In fact, all existence is derived from Him – whose own existence is un-derived. He is the One called “I am.”
Every variation and manifestation of atheism from Adam’s sin in the Garden to the socialism that is flooding the world today brings the same moral consequences despite its happy promises.
“They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” – just like David wrote thousands of years ago in this Psalm.
Every form of disconnect from God spirals man farther downward from the original pattern of being made in God’s image.
A casual statement of belief in the existence of God may disqualify one from being a card-carrying atheist, but if that belief stops short of responding to the message and call to discipleship of Jesus Christ it is little more than a kind of soft/de facto atheism. The only way to be brought to God truly is through His Son.