As a Christian and a pastor, I have spent a lot of time getting to know God. It goes with the territory! But the more I understand the goodness of God, the more difficult it is to understand the hatred so many have for God, especially as we consider that Christmas, “the most wonderful time of the year” is rooted in a knowledge of God’s grace.

Of course, I know the reason, but I suggest we pause for a moment to consider what Christmas might teach us about God.

It is just around the corner, and the “spirit of the season” is upon us. Stores of every type are promoting their products as gifts, and we are reminded regularly of the opportunities to do good for the less fortunate. One would think that the Grinch and Ebenezer are the only “humbuggers,” but they are far from alone.

Popular culture has declared war on God, and I would like to address why it is so, and what’s to be done about it.

First, I have known since I was young that God is good, but my studies have helped me to understand more accurately how good He is. An inaccurate view of God may lead a casual observer to think that God is arbitrary and capricious, and that He is either unconcerned about our needs or downright malicious at times.

His attributes are sorely misunderstood, and often intentionally misrepresented.

His wonderful holiness and righteousness are painted as negatives; and to those who have never come to Him in repentance and faith, such perfections are intimidating, even terrifying. He is a “consuming fire;” yet to those who know Him, His holiness is beautiful, and His righteousness comforting.

If a person is right with God His “perfect love casts out fear.” So, one could ask, “what’s not to love about God?” To have a negative view regarding God is akin to finding fault with a beautiful sunset or ascribing wickedness to a tiny baby.

It is, in fact, far worse!

No one would think it wise to fly planes without pilots, or field a pro football team without a coach. We would consider it asinine to run a company without a CEO or operate a school class without a teacher; yet many people think they can run their own lives, which are far more complex than flying a plane or running a company, without God. Just listen to the media to see how badly that is going!

From what comes this animus toward God?

A normal, rational mind would suppose that something as complicated and fraught with difficulties as living requires assistance and would desire it. After all, don’t we all want a successful and happy life?

We get an idea of how difficult it is to prepare for life by the fact that children need parental help well into their teens and beyond. Most people discover that even in their so-called “adult years” they need wisdom beyond themselves and seek counsel from others, just not God!

The atheist huffs and puffs about the ridiculousness of believing in an invisible, all-powerful deity. But there is no logical explanation for rejecting the idea of God. No one would believe that houses, as simple as they are, are built without architects and carpenters. No one would say that it is rational to think computers simply came into existence from nothing.

So, why the rage against the existence of God, especially when the evidence is overwhelming that God is and that He is incredibly good?

It is because the question of God’s existence creates a moral dilemma for us, unlike houses or computers, that it meets resistance. Remove the issue of morality and there is no reason to reject the idea of God.

If we were capable of true objectivity, we would allow science to go wherever it wanted, and evidence for a Creator would be as welcome as evidence of an ancient civilization. Evolution, as a theory, exists for one purpose alone: to provide intellectual cover, (fig leaves, as it were) for denying God’s existence. No one would ever posit the logically absurd notion of all things coming into being from nothing except for the fact that God’s existence poses a real problem for morally deficient beings. And evolution is illogical because we witness nothing even close to it in our day-to-day experiences.

In fact, things which appear to happen without a cause instantly catch our attention, and we often invest great time and energy to discover what the “hidden” cause is. Illusionists make a living exploiting our natural hunger to know “how” they do their tricks. True “magic” does not exist, there is ALWAYS an explanation!

On every hand we see that events have causes. All events!

Science is the study of cause and effect; and we live our lives daily based upon our experiences of actions creating results, whether it be frying eggs for breakfast or avoiding other cars on the road. We work and thus get a paycheck. We exercise and get sore muscles. We take a walk on a hot day and get thirsty.

Momentarily we live in a cause-and-effect universe, but when it comes to God, we become eminently irrational. If we were morally good, we would have no problem with evidence for God’s existence.

Our resistance to such things is sad proof of our own corruption.

We don’t want there to be a God because we don’t like anyone judging our lives, especially God!

But, before the good news I present the necessary and apparently “bad” news. There is a God, and we are woefully separated from Him by our sin. Strangely, the word “sin” has largely disappeared from our vernacular, and we think by ignoring it, it doesn’t exist. This foolishness is manifested in the deterioration of our culture, the violence of our entertainment and cities, and the divisiveness of our politics.

No civilization can long endure living under this kind of delusion.

Sin is the problem, and Christ’s cross is the only solution. If America is to heal, we must first determine to deal in truth!  Christians must be bold, yet gracious. We must speak truth to the lies of our culture and media and shine the light of the Gospel into the darkness of the world. There must be no more complicity with those who hate truth nor vacillation before bullies.

“Faith” is not an end in itself; it is the avenue of access TO truth and salvation, and to speak of “faith” as somehow existing apart from God is ultimately dangerous. My family and I watched a movie recently that was heartwarming, and theoretically a “Christian” film, lots of talk about “faith,” but I don’t believe Christ’s name was mentioned once throughout.

This is cowardice at a time when we need boldness! For His name is “The Name,” by which we are saved, and before whom all must one day bow. “There is no other name, under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  He is “The Way, the Truth, and The Life… .”

A word to the reader who thinks that making God more palatable by softening His image, avoiding Christ’s name, or down-playing sin will make the lost like us or want God: I am  sorry, this is way bigger than you and me.

It is pointless to try to make the Gospel “seeker friendly.” If they are true seekers Christ promised they will find Him; and how arrogant of us to think we can improve on God’s methods! He does not need you or me to make it “easier.”

The bottom line is this: what they need is Truth, and Who they need is Christ!

There is no other way, and that is why they hate Him. He is God, and He is necessarily approachable only His way, which is through repentance for sin and faith in Christ. There is no other way.

There are many pain-killers available for those who suffer from cancer, but a cure is infinitely better!  In the same way, there are all sorts of diversions available to ease our suffering from sin, but how much better is the cure, which is the sacrifice of Christ on the cross? There are no obstacles to anyone receiving His forgiveness and salvation other than one’s own pride.

His grace and forgiveness are available to any and to all who repent. It is now their choice! Or maybe it is now your choice!

This Christmas, I would like to remind the reader of this: God is good, He is always good, and He is only good! He has provided all we need to be freed from our sin and guilt and to be with Him in joy forever!

The Apostle Paul wrote to those who thought they could “make it on their own,” that they could not, but rather,

“when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4: 4,5, NKJV).

I do not believe the joys of the Christmas season are an accident. Rather, I believe that the joy of that “First Christmas,” when the angel approached the shepherds on that Judean hillside crying, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people,” still shines through the trimmings and trappings of our contemporary Christmas celebrations and is visible to all who seek Him.