Are we actually rebels toward God?

Do you love God with all your ¹heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself? If we are honest I think we can agree, none of us do this consistently, much less perfectly, maybe only rarely; most not at all. 

Why does this matter?

If God is the all-loving, all-wise, all-powerful Giver and Sustainer of life, love, and all things - as demonstrated in sending Christ - should we not love and honor Him with all we are and have i.e. according to who He is? Would this not be central and vital to the reality of who God is and who we are? To love God is not only the most important thing we can do - along with the 2nd greatest commandment - it is who we are designed to be, i.e. it fits who we are (and who God is, in whose image we are made) and how we are designed to operate at our highest level and capacity. And because it fits, we can never be complete and flourish as God intends, without aligning our lives accordingly. 

So it's important we love God not only because He tells us to, but also because it fits ³who we are and how we were created to be. 

If so, why do we not love God with all we have and are?

Because we don't know him; or what he's really like. Our understanding of Him is distorted because of our distrust (the core part of "unrighteous"). If we truly believed He was who He demonstrates himself to be - perfect honor and love for Him would be the organic response.

Why don't we know him?

Rom 1:19-20 tells us..."For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been ²clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

The creation -- which includes us (with our insatiable desire and need for infinite love) as well as all the rest of creation -- ³tells us something very significant about our Creator. Through what we see in creation (internally in how we are wired and externally in how things operate), we are given more than enough information about God to know he is infinitely powerful and divine as the above passage says. So no one can say they know nothing significant about God. 

This passage tells us we know enough that we should honor and pursue him; surely more than enough to spur us to seek Him out to find out more about Him so we can know him better. This is why the passage says we are without excuse.

So what's the real problem?

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who ⁴suppress the truth in unrighteousness...

Something called "unrighteousness" causes us to tenaciously ²push down and ignore the truth within and all around us about who God is as well as who we are; be that truth about why we are the way we are e.g. why we long for love, meaning, purpose, etc. This is an internal witness, if you will, to what God is like. 

And why the world displays amazing beauty and design even amidst all the brokenness, evil, pain, destruction, death, and decay - i.e. life persists even in the midst of constant death. This is an external witness to what God is like. 

When we stop to consider these things we recognize we truly are without excuse.

Since we are told unrighteousness is our primary problem it behooves us to understand it. What is the nature of it so we might address it? How do we display it?

Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they ⁵did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

·        We did not, and still do not respect (honor) God as God i.e. we did not (and do not) recognize him for who he truly is -- the Creator and Sustainer of life and all things, worthy of a complete love, honor, and trust. 

 

·       We did not - and still do not - give Him thanks as the Giver of life and all things. Our lack of gratitude for all the good gifts of life is the greatest indicator of our unbelief.

·       We value the things God gives more than Him who is the giver of those things.

What is at the heart of these denials and misdirections?

We don't believe God is who he claims to be; the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things who offers us infinite life and love. In a word, we are calling God a liar by seeking from created things only what God can give.

And what is at the heart of unbelief?

Rebellion. We choose not to believe God is who he has clearly demonstrated himself to be and therefore we refuse to trust Him. He's revealed himself via the creation first but most importantly, in sending Christ. Christ said "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father" - i.e. God himself. That is no small claim but one that deserves serious study. We refuse to recognize who God has already revealed himself to be through creation and His Son. We willfully suppress what has been clearly revealed. 

We are saying two things when we do not respond appropriately to the truth that we are given - no matter how little or much truth that is. When we don't, we are saying God is a liar and we know more - and better - than he does. 

If God is infinite, loving, all-wise, and all-powerful - as He claims and demonstrated in Christ - and we are finite, we are denying a very important reality about us and him. Yes, we are rebels. Unbelief is at the heart of our rebellion. 

For a further discussion on the solution to our rebellion click here. 

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¹what does it mean to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

• heart -- the core of our being, our central motive for action
• soul -- our feelings/emotions
• mind -- our reasoning and what we believe i.e. commitment/trust/faith in that belief
• strength -- our actions, efforts, exertion 

²clearly perceived - καθοράω  kathoraō

Thayer Definition:

1) to look down, see from above, view from on high

2) to see thoroughly, perceive clearly, understand

Strong's Definition:

From G2596 and G3708; to behold fully, that is, (figuratively) distinctly apprehend: - clearly see.

³Our insatiable need for infinite love tells us we were designed for infinite love - i.e. Our Creator - because he is infinite love.

⁴suppress - κατέχω - katechō - kat-ekh'-o

From G2596 and G2192; to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively): - have, hold (fast), keep (in memory), let, X make toward, possess, retain, seize on, stay, take, withhold.

⁵For a further discussion on the basis of morality click here.