Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
April 1 is a holiday. It’s not one that I regularly observe. It’s April Fool’s Day—a day of practical jokes and pranks. Sometimes it can be fun to fool around and have a good time. There is a time for good old-fashioned tom-foolery. But when it comes to spiritual things, being a fool is not good at all.
Psalm 14:1 begins, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” That’s not an April Fool’s joke; it’s a serious matter to believe that there is no God. It’s a matter leading to death to ignore the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier—God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For only a fool would claim that God is non-existent in his or her life.
We know there is a God from what we call natural knowledge. All we need to do is look at creation and allow creation itself to point us to its Creator. There has to be a God who could make such an intricate world, to make the human body so delicate, yet so strong. There is the wide variety of plant and animal life. Only a Creator God could make such a world. But that is where natural knowledge stops. It can’t tell us very much about who God is except that He is a powerful creator.
That’s why God to chose to reveal Himself to us in the Bible, in His Holy Word. This revealed knowledge of God tells us that the Lord indeed is almighty, all-knowing, present everywhere, just, holy, righteous, gracious, and abounding in steadfast love. The Bible reveals that the one true God is the Triune God, one God in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. He is the God who loves His fallen creation so much that He sent forth the Son to die on a cross and rise from the dead to save us from our sins, from death, and from Satan’s tyranny. This is our Savior-God who poured out His Holy Spirit upon us in Baptism, who is present with His Body and Blood with the bread and wine in Holy Communion. He is the God who speaks to us forgiveness and life through His Word in the Scriptures.
A fool says there is no God. Look at creation; look in the Scripture and know your God as He wishes to be known—as your Lord, your King, your Savior, and your Friend. Know His great love for you in Christ. Know His mercy and grace now so that you will know Him face to face in eternity.
Pastor Coons
Lutheran Church of our Redeemer 