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When God Let's Us Go Romans 1:18-32 |
Romans 22, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
My favorite description of a parable…those wonderful stories that Jesus told so often and so well…is this: reading Jesus' parables is like viewing a masterfully painted picture first from a distance and then up close where you can really see all of the details, only to discover that at some point in the process the beautiful picture at which you are gazing has somehow turned into a mirror. In other words, Jesus' parables always start off as stories about other people but inevitably end up being stories about us.
This morning as we continue through the deep waters of the book of Romans we come to a passage of scripture that is going to go change before our eyes from a letter written to Roman Christians 2000 years ago into a mirror reflecting the American culture of 2004.
But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. T hey pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.
So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them-the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!
Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either-women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men-all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it-emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.
Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, coldblooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care-worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best! Romans 1:18-32 from The Message
Why We Need to be Saved
Last week we looked at verses 16-17 and discovered how it is that the Gospel saves us through the revelation of God's righteousness. Now, as we move on to verses 18-32 we're going to see why it is that we need to be saved.
Verse 18 says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness…"
So, we need to be saved because…
…God is in the process of pouring out His wrath against the unrighteous…
…and since we are all hopelessly incapable of ever being righteous through our own effort…
…we need to be saved from God's wrath.
And, last week, in our study of verse 17 we found out how we can be saved. When we trust Jesus for our salvation God not only gives us the gift of forgiveness for our sins, He also gives us the gift of His righteousness. What we could never have attained on our own, He gives to us. He wraps us in His righteousness. And we receive this amazing gift by faith. We don't have to do anything. We just have to believe that what He's told us about salvation through Jesus is true. That's how we are saved from the wrath of God.
Why is God Angry: The Suppression of Truth
Now, the question we need to ask at this point is: So, why is God so angry? What exactly is it that has stirred up God's wrath? And our answer begins in verse 18. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth…" God is angry because ungodly, wicked people are suppressing the truth.
And what is this truth that is being suppressed? Well, we find out in the verses that follow.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20
The truth that is being suppressed is that God exists, God is powerful, God is eternal and God is inherently good. And all of this is plainly evident because creation itself tells us that it is so. God created the world in such a way that its beauty and wonder, from the beginning of time, have pointed and drawn people to Him.
--That God created everything that exists, tells us that He is the most powerful force in the universe.
--That God existed before anything else existed tells us that He is eternal.
--That the world He created is beautiful and bountiful beyond anything we could have imagined tells us that He is inherently good.
And all of this is plain to see so that, as verse 20 says, we are "without excuse." And that means that God's anger is absolutely justified.
The Result of the Suppression of Truth: Ingratitude
And as we move on to verse 21 we see the root cause of God's anger. God is not simply angry because the truth is being suppressed. God is angry because of what the suppression of truth has done to us. And what it has done is make us ungrateful.
Verse 21 says, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him…"
--Is God sickened by the wickedness that is rampant in our world, today? Absolutely.
--Is God disgusted by many of the behaviors that have become common in our culture today? Absolutely.
But, folks, we have to understand that all of the wickedness and all of the godlessness that is epidemic in our society today is symptomatic of a much deeper problem. Folks, the root problem of mankind is the failure to give God the glory, the honor and the gratitude that He deserves.
That's what's prompting God's wrath. God is angry that the people He created are refusing to acknowledge Him as their creator and consequently, they are not giving Him the glory that is rightfully His. And a righteous God cannot ignore that.
And it's critically important for us to understand that, first, because it's true but also because it will help us to focus our energies where they need to be focused. Folks, if we want to see lives changed we have to move beyond simply condemning people for the behaviors that reveal their brokenness. If we want to see lives changed we need to speak in love to the root cause of those behaviors. We need to help people see the truth so they can live with a spirit of thankfulness to God that shows itself in a passionate desire to give God the glory that He deserves.
First Major Consequence: Idolatry
And the urgency of our mission is painfully evident as we move through the remainder of chapter one and see the results of unchecked wickedness and godlessness.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:21-23
The first major consequence that Paul identifies as rising out of the failure to give God the glory that He deserves is IDOLATRY. The elevation of something else to take the place of honor rightly reserved for God. In verse 23 Paul says they, "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." What he's describing here is the sin of "idolatry." And the essence of idolatry is to give the glory and honor that should be given to God, to something else.
And it's not hard to understand how this would happen because something has to be the most important thing in your life. Now, the truth is that God and God alone has earned the right to occupy the preeminent place in every life. But if you refuse to give that position to God then you will give it to something else…career, money, status, whatever…and whatever you choose will be your idol.
And the moment you exchange God for any kind of idol you are walking down a path that the scriptures describe here as "futile," "dark" and "foolish."
--"Futile" because you've now missed the very thing for which you were created.
--"Dark" because only God can fill our lives with the light that makes it possible for us to see the truth.
--And "foolish" because you exchanged what was true for what is false; you exchanged what is eternal for what is temporary; and you exchanged the gift of God's righteousness for God's wrath. And that is the ultimate in foolish exchanges.
Second Major Consequence: Homosexuality
The second major consequence that Paul identifies as rising out of the failure to give God the glory that He deserves is HOMOSEXUALITY.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Romans 1:24-27
Now, folks, I don't want to make this passage say anything that it doesn't say but I also don't want to ignore anything that it does say. And here are a couple of the things that this passage clearly says.
First, the proliferation of homosexuality is described as a sinful consequence growing out of the exchange of God's truth for a lie. God directs His wrath against those who refuse to give Him the glory He deserves. And, in this case, God expresses His wrath by giving the wicked and the godless full freedom to pursue their "sinful desires." And verse 27 tells us that one of the places to which those "sinful desires" leads them is the "perversion" of homosexuality.
A second thing that this passage clearly says is that homosexuality is "unnatural." In verses 26-27 Paul writes, "…women EXCHANGED natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also ABANDONED natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another."
Which leads us to ask, How do you define "natural?" And I think the context of the passage is very instructive at this point. Remember that Paul opened this portion his letter by telling us the importance of remembering that God is our Creator. We are not here by accident. God is the designer and creator of our world and he is, even now in the process of working out His purposes in our world. Consequently, things consistent with God's design and purposes should be considered "natural" and things contrary to God's design and purposes should be considered "unnatural." Homosexuality is unnatural because it is contrary to God's design and purposes. It's not what God intended. It is a result of exchanging God's truth for a lie.
Third Major Consequence: Depravity
Now, as we come to verse 28 we see that a third major consequence that Paul identifies as rising out of the failure to give God the glory that He deserves is DEPRAVITY. And the word "depravity" describes a whole category of conduct that God cannot approve, accept or condone. And in these verses Paul gives us a glimpse at the breadth of human behavior that can fall into this category.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Romans 1:28-31
So, here's the question that must be asked at this point: what lesson can we possibly draw from a list so broad that it encompasses behaviors ranging from murder to gossip to disobeying your parents? I think the key lesson here is this: all of these behaviors from the most vile to those that, relatively speaking, don't seem like such a big deal…all of them begin in the willingness to suppress or ignore the truth of God. The moment we start walking down that road all manner of bad consequences are possible.
Every form of wickedness and godlessness has as its root, the decision to exchange the truth of God for something else. That's the big lesson here. And if we stay on that road long enough, God may very well allow us to experience the full depth of our depraved potential. And we glimpse the full measure of our depraved potential in verse 32, which brings this chapter to a close.
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:32
The beast of human depravity is not satisfied with the freedom to destroy itself. It wants to destroy others as well and applaud those who successfully deceive the greatest number of people and ruin the greatest number of lives.
A Word of Encouragement
Now, while I don't think this particular sermon is likely to show up on anyone's list of "Sermons to make you Feel Good," I do want to point out an encouraging word that is evident throughout this text. And this is it:
The reason that God is angry with those who refuse to give Him the honor and glory that He deserves is because they know better because He has made Himself known to them. Folks, think about that. God would not be angry with people for refusing to acknowledge Him if they didn't know anything about Him. But they do know about Him because He has made Himself known to them.
That's Paul's point in verse 19 where he says, "…what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…" And then Paul amplifies the point in verse 32 when he says: "…they know God's righteous decree…" Folks, don't miss that: God has made Himself known to all people and has placed on every heart the imprint of His moral law.
Now, why is that an encouraging word to us? Because it assures us that every time we speak to someone about what we know to be true about God, we are speaking to a person to whom God has already made Himself known. Now, their knowledge of God may be buried deep within them through years of suppression…but the knowledge of God is already in them because God put it there. And that means that we will never be the first ones to tell anyone about God, we are simply adding our affirmation-our personal testimony-to the witness that God has already given them. And it seems to me that knowing that God has gone before us into every witnessing opportunity that comes our way ought to be a great encouragement to all of us.
May God give us the courage to counter the suppression of truth with a bold and faithful witness to the Gospel, which remains to this very day the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum