Ephesians 2:12
Dinesh D’Souza says that atheism has become so common among the intellectual elites that you could throw a rock on any large secular university campus and probably hit an atheist. Yet, around the globe, the prevalence of religion is growing. The Bible does not consider that atheism is a sound intellectual position at all. Two psalms, Numbers 14 and 53, begin saying, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” Paul likewise paints a bleak picture of the atheist in Ephesians 2:12.
The phrase “without God” is translated from the Greek word atheoi (aqeoi). It is etymologically equal to the modern word “atheist.” There are five things can be said of atheists from this verse.
1. Atheists are without Christ. Being without Christ means that they do not have the benefit of a Savior who has paid the penalty for their sins. They have no Redeemer.
2. Atheists have been alienated from the citizenship of Israel. Their unbelief is keeping them away from belonging with God’s people.
3. Atheists are strangers of the covenant of God’s promise. They do not have a relationship with God and so cannot depend upon any of His precious promises.
4. Atheists are without hope. This may be the saddest statement yet. Without hope there can be no expectation of anything better in the future. This would leave them totally exposed to depression and discouragement. And, lest we forget,
5. This was the previous state of we who are Christians.
Atheists may mock Christians for our beliefs. They rail against Muslims and Christians going to war over ancient literature. They play at being intellectually superior, yet they cannot answer how life began, or worse yet, why life began. Indeed, without God, there is no answer to the “why” of anything. Some of the most vocal atheists imply suggest that life on this planet was seeded from another planet, or even another universe. This does not answer the question, it just pushes it farther away. Neither can atheists answer why virtually every civilization has developed a religion when they consider all religions to be patently untrue. They would have us believe that all cultures comfort themselves by creating a belief in things that are false.
Looking from the Christian perspective, however, we have a belief and trust in Jesus. He tells us that He is Truth (John 14:6) and that the Bible is truth (John 17:17). We don’t have to plod along in a state of existence devoid of meaning. We have the reverse of all the aspects on this list:
We have a Redeemer.
We belong to God’s people.
We can depend on God’s promises.
We have hope, a guaranteed future in heaven.
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