4/27

John 15:24

²⁴"If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father."

We are guilty of sin when we realize what we are doing is in opposition to our Creator. Jesus pronounced forgiveness on those who were ignorantly doing wrong (Luke 23:34). There are those who believe that God condemns people to eternal punishment because they inherited Adam's sinful, fallen nature. It seems that this verse suggests otherwise. It is when the individual knows he or she is resisting God that God judges the person guilty. To love evil is to hate goodness.

The religious people of Jesus' day saw and heard about miracle after miracle. John calls many of these miracles signs. They were miracles no one else ever performed, along with many other miracles only done by prophets. The miracles were evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world, but the religious leaders still hated Him. In seeing the miracles, they were seeing the heart of God and confirming signs that Jesus' message was from God. That is why it could be said that they hated the Father as well.

We see miracles every day, God's works of creation among other things. Science is showing us the vastness of space, the uniqueness of our planet, and the miracle and complexity of what scientists once called a simple single cell. The deeper we delve into the mysteries of the natural world, the more scientists are turning to faith. However, there are those who see the design, order, and complexity and still grasp at increasingly ridiculous explanations. It may be because they have seen and yet hate the Creator. Or it may be that the religious legalists have so poisoned their idea of faith that they refuse to consider God.

Consider: Will your life nudge the seeker toward faith or drive someone away from it?