Romans 1:18-23

“The Side of God We Prefer Not to See”

Romans 1:18-23 (Message #3)

January 31, 2016 (Sligo, Ireland)

INTRODUCTION:

        There are things we’d rather not know about or see: for example,

• My sister, Janis, and her gory descriptions of friends and family members' illnesses and injuries
• Your friends commentary about someone’s sinus infection
• The story of somebody’s gastric-bypass surgery
• You feel like shouting, "THAT'S TOO MUCH INFORMATION!"

TRANSITION:

        There may be some things about God that you would rather not know either, so as not to have to deal with them.

• If we can keep Him small He doesn’t frighten us.
• If we can keep Him old and grandfatherly perhaps He’ll wink at our sin.
• If we can keep Him distant we won’t worry about Him seeing us do bad things.

·                             J.B. Phillips, in his classic book, Your God Is Too Small, deals with about a dozen false concepts of God including the resident policeman, the grand-old-man, the meek-and-mild, the parental-hangover, and the managing-director, to name a few.

Today’s passage in Romans 1:18-23 may show you a side of God you’d rather not have to face; namely, that He is the Great and Awesome and Holy God who knows what is going on in this world. Moreover, He is the God of Wrath, and He will deal with sin and sinners.

By way of review, in verses 16-17 Paul speaks of God’s grace and gracious provision of the Gospel and of His Son, Jesus, through whom we can enter into a relationship with God, the Father. However, verse 18 stands in sharp contrast to that grace, for grace rejected brings on God’s wrath, just as light rejected brings darkness, and truth rejected brings falsehood.

Remember, the Book of Romans is all about righteousness.

a. God is righteous, but man is not.

b. God requires righteousness.

c. At issue, "How does sinful man acquire the righteousness that he needs?"

d. Answer: God offers it freely in Christ, but in no other way.

In Chapters 1-3 Paul explains the SIN PROBLEM:

• Today in our text, we’ll see the universality of sin in all mankind.
• Next Sunday we’ll look at sin in the Gentile world.
• The Sunday after that we’ll look at sin in the Jewish world.
• And finally, Paul will recap = “All have sinned and fallen short” 3:23. 

Let’s look at our text for today – Romans 1:18-23: “For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ 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 clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse! ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honour 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.” 

MAIN BODY:

Verse 18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 

• Let’s think about some OT examples of the “wrath of God” e.g. 
• After the rebellion of Korah, Dathan & Abiram in Num. 16:46 (“wrath has gone forth from the Lord”)
• Israel drifted into Baal worship in Numbers 25:3-4 and we read, “…The Lord was fiercely angry against Israel.”
• God was angry at the Babylonians for their mistreatment of Israel (Jer. 50:13). “Because of the indignation of the Lord she will not be inhabited.”   
• “For the wrath of God is revealed”. The Greek word means uncovered, made visible, made knowable. 
• “…against all ungodliness” 
• Against every lack of reverence for God 
• Against every denial of the character or essence of God 
• Against every refusal to acknowledge Him for who He is 
• “…against all…unrighteousness” 
• Against every lack of right conduct toward God and toward men 
• Against every injustice, which always angers God 
• [Against people who, in that state or sphere of unrighteousness] “who suppress the truth” 
•  means to hold down, or conceal the truth
• Illustration: they put truth in a box then sit on the lid 
• What truth? – truth about God, about themselves, and about sin  

Verse 19: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

• Here Paul is describing the Inner Witness of conscience, which is God-given and exists in the heart of every human to draw us near to God to want to know Him better and to please Him.
• "For what can be known about God is plain to them…” The assumption here is that God is knowable because He has chosen to reveal Himself in every man in the very core of his mind and being. However, being sinful, people reject God’s voice and listen to unrighteousness instead.

Verse 20: For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 

• God has also revealed Himself in nature/creation. This is God’s External Witness. [N.B. “Creation is Revelation!”] Psalm 19 is a perfect example of this truth: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. ² Day to day pours out speech, and night-to-night reveals knowledge. ³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. ⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”  
• “Invisible attributes” = “eternal power” and “divine nature” (i.e. His divinity). Illustration: It is always possible to tell something about a man from his handiwork; e.g. my artist friends, Leonard Collins and Herschel McGraw. 
• “…in the things that have been made.” Paul uses the Greek word, poema. This is the word that gives us our English word, “poem.” A poem is an artistic piece of writing using beautiful or unusual language arranged in fixed lines that have a particular beat and often rhyme. It is a literary word of art, a painting using words instead of paint. We find this same word in Ephesians 2:10, where Paul tells us that believers are God’s poems, unique works of art, designed by Him and destined for good works that will bring glory and honor to Him. But here in Romans 1:20 we learn that all of creation is a poem designed by God, for God, to reveal His power and divinity to the sons of men. 
• “So they are without excuse.”  This is God’s conclusion on the matter, not mine. Not only is He the Creator, but He is also the Righteous Judge and God declares that He has revealed enough in nature to hold all men accountable. No one can ever claim that they had no idea that God existed because He has left His fingerprints everywhere, in plain sight. To claim to be an atheist or agnostic, from God’s perspective, is willful ignorance of the observable facts. He says that there is no excuse for such stupidity.

Verse 21: For although they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

• "…they knew God,” BUT… 
• They refused to honor Him; i.e. they did not respect God’s person by giving Him worship (praise, honor, adoration) 
• They refused to be thankful; i.e. they did not acknowledge His benefits/gifts by giving thanks. 
• N.B. these are part of the reason for man’s existence. 
• “…they became futile in their thinking…their foolish hearts were darkened” The word “futile” means empty, pointless, having no substance. Futile thinking = gasbags, with heads full of air. Moreover, their dark hearts [hearts with no knowledge of the One who is the Light of the world] become even darker, because darkness begets darkness. 
• So we can conclude from this verse that to refuse to acknowledge God and give Him the honour and gratitude that is due Him results in even greater scrambled, empty thinking and hearts plunged into even greater darkness. God describes this sinful state as “foolishness.” But you must understand that this word does not mean mere silliness or larking around. It always has a moral overtone. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.” (Psalm 14:1).

Verse 22: Claiming to be wise, they became fools… 

•  Those so-called “scientists” who claim that the world came about by a series of accidents and serendipitous events are “fools,” to use God’s own words. We must conclude that much of today’s scientific world with all their vaunted claims to higher learning and scientific truth are in for a big surprise someday. The “Big Bang” that they hear will not be a mere theory, but will be the doors of hell slamming shut behind them. Their “wisdom” will be revealed for what it is…utter foolishness and wickedness. 
• It is interesting to note that the Greek word for “fool” is moros, and is the word from which we get the English word “moron.” But as I mentioned, in the Bible the word “fool” always means morally bent or evil. It is not a description of mental illness.

Verses 23: ”…and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” 

• “…and exchanged…” Has there ever been a worse trade in all of history? 
• Anything that takes God’s place is, by definition, an idol. So we’re talking here about the sin of idolatry = the worship of anything that takes God’s rightful place of honor. 
• N.B. Notice how quickly worthless thoughts produce worthless objects of worship to replace God. 
• Also, the very material used is an affront—using corruptible things to represent the Incorruptible God. Illustration: That painting of the Virgin Mary out of elephant dung. 
• Idols are a caricature and a slander. 
• Notice, too, the downward slide:
• Monotheism ==> Polytheism ==> Animism 
• God ==> man ==> birds ==> quadrupeds ==> reptiles 
• Apollo or Aphrodite, of the Greeks 
• The eagle of the Romans
• The bull of the Egyptians 
• The serpent of the Assyrians 
• The scarab (dung beetle) of the Egyptians

So let’s recap: Look at the results of man’s sinful choices. 
1.    (vs. 21) “They became futile in their thinking/speculations” = useless 
2.   (vs. 21) “Their foolish hearts were darkened” = dirty/wicked. Remember that the heart is made up of intellect, emotion, and will. It is the sum total of our being. Paul is saying that man’s rejection brought moral and spiritual darkness. It degraded man’s reasoning abilities and it seriously disabled his powers of moral discernment. 
3.   (vs. 22) “Claiming/professing to be wise, they became fools/morons”full of themselves ==> they became empty, claiming wisdom ==> they became morons 
4.  THE RESULT IS GOD’S WRATH! 

• The sinner, instead of looking outward to God looked inward to himself, making his ideas, his opinions, and his speculations the standard and law of life. 
• Through vain speculations, empty thinking, and foolish reasoning God gets pushed off the throne. Man climbs aboard and creates a self-centered universe more to his liking. 
• NO WONDER GOD IS ANGRY! Mankind has been insulting Him for millennia. It’s a wonder He hasn’t wiped us all out and started over! It’s only because of His grace, love and mercy that He hasn’t. 
• Man has become willfully ignorant of the truth, deliberately blind to God. 
• He worships his own thought and ideas, ignoring God’s revelation. 
• He moves another notch downward into idolatry. [N.B. To turn away from light naturally brings darkness!]

CONCLUSION:

So then, God has revealed Himself in 5 distinct ways:
      1. Within us = our conscience
      2. Within nature; cf. Psalm 19 = His fingerprints on all of creation
      3. In His covenant dealings with Israel = promises made and kept
      4. In the written Word = the Bible
      5. In the Living Word, in flesh = Jesus, the Messiah

He wants us to know Him and to understand that suffering always follows sin. It is an indisputable fact.

• If you break the laws of agriculture the harvest fails.
• If you break the laws of architecture your house collapses.
• If you break the laws of health your body gets sick.
• If you break the law of gravity you crash and burn.
• If you break the laws of holiness your eternity may be lost.

I found a couple of quotes that I thought were relevant to our study today: 

•  “Only they know what it is to be saved, who know what it is to be lost!” 
•  “A man’s sin measures the extent of his salvation.”

To come to God we must…

• Reverence Him for who He is
• Receive His righteousness, for we have none of our own
• Begin to listen to His voice speaking in our heart and mind
• Renounce empty speculation and moronic unbiblical reasoning
• Abandon every idol and worship Him alone

FEEDBACK:

        Any comments, questions, or observations about what I’ve presented?