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Who Knew What And When Did they Know It? Pastor Bill Farrow |
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[19] because what may be known of God is manifest in
them, Romans 1:19 There
is much talk about today concerning who knew what about September 11th and
when they knew it. All sorts of stories and allegations are coming forward
about so and so who warned us about this and another who warned us about
something else. Some insist that there was enough information around to
have avoided the catastrophes all together. Others point out that we need
to remember that hindsight is always 20-20 seeing the evidence after the
fact is far easier than putting it together beforehand. Whatever
your view, it is clear that if there was, indeed, prior knowledge then
culpability for the attacks extends beyond the perpetrators to those who
allowed it to happen. If they knew, then they could have prevented, or at
least lessened the effect of, the tragedy. This would truly be a most
heinous of crimes deserving of quick and severe punishment. Not
entirely unrelated is the idea set before us in Romans 1:19. The verse is
speaking, in part, about what the unredeemed know and when they knew it. Romans
1 makes the case that, ultimately, the lost are responsible
for their condition and deserving of their punishment because they
knew the truth and did not respond properly to it. In
our culture, knowledge is a prerequisite for culpability. One is not
responsible for an act or an outcome if one did not have knowledge enough
to reasonably foresee the results of their actions. We assign recognize
responsibility when such knowledge is absent, but should reasonably have
been present had the individual acted as all normal, responsible people
would act in similar circumstances. Negligence is no excuse for failure to
prevent or abstain from dangerous or criminal activity. Nor is ignorance
of the Law regarded as an excuse if they should reasonably have known
their responsibility under the Law. This
passage demonstrates that all men, without exception, have knowledge of
God. God Himself "shows" this information to men. This indicates
that men are aware of it and understand its implications. This
is the basis (part of it anyway) for condemnation. The universal rejection
of this knowledge is a significant demonstration of lostness of man. This
universal depravity demonstrates the truth of John's assertion (John 1:5)
that men are in darkness that only the Word can penetrate. That men are culpable before God because of their rejection of the Gospel is certainly true. However, this is added condemnation. As John told us is John 3 men were condemned already before any specific revelation of the Gospel ever came their way. This condemnation is due, in part, to this knowledge of God we see spoken of here in Romans 1. Because men know of God, His power and their responsibility to Him; and because they fail to respond to it properly; they stand condemned. We should note that there is also the matter of the imputed sin of Adam to his progeny to weigh in any consideration of why mankind stands guilty before God. But that is a topic for another day. |