How would you answer the title of this article: “Why people reject the word of God?” Your writer does not claim to have more knowledge than others in trying to give answers, maybe not but a few efforts will be made to answer but one or two will bring a little insight! To claim to know all the answers would mean to the readers that I have totally nullified any of the answers I might give.
Let us start off by asking the readers to stop and see how “you” would answer the question. Your answers might be better than that of this writer. So, really stop and think about how “you” would answer!
First, some would answer, “I don’t believe that God exists!” Therefore, the Bible is nothing more than a man-written book. This reveals a lot in common sense with our question, as it relates to with the subject. If one does not believe that God exists; therefore, the Bible cannot be the word of God, as “I” do not believe that God exists! To this person one must back up and prove that God does exist! Only then would such a person give anytime to the question: “Why do people reject the word of God?” Of course, honesty is required in handling our subject. If the person that we are talking with is dishonest, this person would have to be shown their dishonesty! Many people do not like to come “face-to-face” with their own weakness of character. On the other hand, if we are talking with an honest person, there are many proofs that reveal that God does exist! No effort will be given here, as that is not our subject.
Second, if the person we are talking with, does believe that God exists, then, your efforts would be to show such a person what God requires of the person who does believe that God exists. How about this, start with the fact that God loves him/her? There are few people who have not heard these words: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It is hard to reject someone who loves them but some people do. It is hard to reject someone who really loves, as does God the Father! In God’s plan, he had the “Word” -God- becoming flesh and blood. John also reveals this great truth to us: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). God in his perfection, laid out his plan in “time,” that is “time” is something we humans need, so God waited as the years passed; nevertheless, as Paul wrote: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal. 4:4). “The fulness of the time” is time as it relates to man, not God, as God is eternal, as in “present,” having no behind time nor future time, as he is! This is a most interesting subject, but it is not for now. So, “when the fulness of the time was come,” in the years of humanity; from the garden of Eden when man first sinned, God announced: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Therefore, man waited as “time” passed year by year and finally, “the fulness of the time” came and God sent forth his “only begotten Son,” to redeem man, as John wrote: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Allow me to digress just here; the pronoun “us” in John’s statement is not us today but “us” as in the time of John! It refers to the time of John, and his fellows, when Jesus walked upon the earth. Thus, “when the fulness of the time was come” refers to the time when “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” and the “us” were those who were living at that time! It is my opinion, that a person who is lost, first must start his/her “love” of God before starting his obedience! Little good would come from teaching a person that he is lost and that he must believe that God is, if he first does not love God! Therefore, first teach the lost that God loves him/her! Then, when he/she loves God, for God loves them, then, teach them what is required.
We have not gotten far in addressing our subject, but we have covered an area of study that is so often over-looked. Why should I believe in “God” who does not love me and who I do not love?
Therefore, we must teach the lost that God does love them! Teach the lost, that he/she must love God! Then, the words of Hebrews will mean something: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6). Do you see why people reject the word of God? First, show them that God loves them!
Frank R. Williams