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Romans Lesson 3 (2008)

GOD’S WRATH AGAINST HUMANKIND
Romans 1:18-32
Key Verse: 1:21

“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.”

A few weeks ago doctors diagnosed that my wife Joy had a malignant tumor in her ovarian area. My faith was greatly challenged. Before she went into surgery, I had to prepare for the worst scenario. However, it was found to be benign. When the doctors came to see me in the waiting room, they shouted, “Mr. Baik. Good new! It’s benign.” I was overjoyed and greatly relieved. Through this incident, I learned many things. I particularly experienced the difference between the two words “benign” and “malignant.” When you have malignant tumor, your days are numbered. You need to do something about immediately. But many people are not aware and even ignore that they have a malignant tumor in them that is slowly but surely destroying their lives.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is about God’s good news for humankind through His Son, Jesus Christ. He said in verse 16 that he was not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. He also said in verse 17 that in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” “The righteous will live by faith!” What does it mean? Although it may sound simple, Paul had a lot to explain about what it means to live by faith in Jesus. But before explaining further about it, Paul takes a lot of space in 1:18-3:20 to explain why all humankind need to have faith in Jesus and experience God’s salvation. The reason is that we are all under the wrath of God. Verse 18 is the opening statement of the section. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

First of all, we are under God’s wrath. (18-21) The word “wrath” in Greek (orge) means indignation, vengeance and anger. Believe it or not, God is very angry with the sinfulness of all humankind. (Ex 19:10-13; Heb 12:18-21) However, many people don’t like to think that God is angry with us. Instead, we like to believe that since God is love, He is never angry no matter what we do. But that’s a great misunderstanding about God. We must know that God who by nature is loving, kind and patient is also holy, so he cannot tolerate our sins although he may still love us. According to verse 18, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven not just against specific people, race or religion but against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. The word “godlessness” (asebeia) is men’s rebellion against God, and the word “wickedness” (adikia) is injustice against other human beings. These are described in verses 19-32, godlessness in verses 19-27 and wickedness in verses 28-32.

God is angry not simply because we do something wrong. Doesn’t God know that we by nature are imperfect and vulnerable? Yes, he does. Then what makes Him so upset? Why is he angry with humankind? As we carefully think about verse 18, we notice something very important. God is angry not because we do something wrong. He is angry because we suppress the truth by our wickedness. Paul is saying that God is angry because we suppress the truth intentionally. Someone may argue with Paul that it’s unfair for God to condemn people who didn’t know about God. But Paul does not think that is the case. According to verses 19-21, all humankind rebelled against even though they knew the truth about Him.

What truth did Paul have in mind? Of course, it’s not the gospel truth or the Scripture, but the truth about God the Creator, revealed to them through nature. We call it “general revelation.” Read verses 19-20. “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.” According to these verses, nobody has a good excuse because everyone can see the mystery of God’s power and wisdom by looking at what He has created. There is so much evidence about God in nature that no one can miss it. In fact, anyone who says that there is no God is intentionally suppressing the truth of God.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), one of the greatest mathematicians, scientists and philosophers in England, had a replica of the solar system built for his studies. A large golden ball represented the sun at the center, and the known planets revolved around it through a series of cogs, belts, and rods. It was an incredible machine. One day while Newton was studying his model, an agnostic friend stopped by for a visit. The man marveled at the machinery and asked, “Who made this exquisite thing?” Without looking up, Newton replied, “Nobody.” “Nobody?” his friend asked. “That’s right,” said Newton, “all of these balls and cogs and belts and gears just happened to come together, and by chance they began revolving in their set orbits with perfect timing.” The message was clear. Paul said that we have no excuse at all.

Look at verse 21. “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.” According to this verse, men have no excuse for God’s punishment because they know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank Him. Here, we learn that the root problem of humankind is pride. What matters is not that we know about God, because the devil also knows there is God. What really matters is our attitude toward Him. Humility is not just lowering ourselves before people. It is to acknowledge God as God and give thanks to Him. In other words, it is to worship Him, acknowledging Him as God the Creator and giving thanks to him. Honoring God as God and giving thanks to Him are our basic duties to God.

People want to be happy, so they do many things to find happiness. Sometimes, they even do crazy things to be happy. However, most people are miserable even though they are rich, talented and successful. Why? It’s because of their pride and unthankfulness. When we are proud, we cannot be thankful. Worst of all, we lose our touch with God. Our thinking becomes futile and our foolish hearts are darkened. Here, we learn that humility and thankfulness go hand in hand just as pride and unthankfulness go hand in hand. We cannot be thankful and proud at the same time or be humble and unthankful. More fundamentally, as we read verse 18, anyone who is proud and thankful cannot be truly happy because they are under God’s wrath. When you are under God’s wrath, you cannot be happy. We can be joyful and fully satisfied when we are humble and thankful before God. Our happiness comes through our healthy relationship with God our Father. To have healthy relationship with God, we need humility and thankfulness before him.

We are created in God’s image and in His own likeness. We are wonderfully made in His wisdom for His great purpose. But when we read verses 21-32, we see the serious degradation of humankind. Some parts of the Bible is PG-13. This part of the Bible is one of them. Men and women who are created in God’s image have become so dehumanized and have become despicable creatures. And we notice that this degradation is not just a natural consequence of men’s sins but also a result of God’s punishment of their sins. How is God’s wrath being revealed to them?

First, they become idol worshipers. Look at verses 21b-23. “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.” When we don’t worship God the Creator, we have to worship something else because it is our innate desire to worship. Throughout history, almost everyone in the world worshiped some kind of gods. During Paul’s time, Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, was one of the most widely venerated of the gods in the Greco-Roman world. When Paul went to Athens, he found that people were very religious. There were many human-like gods. He also found the inscription dedicated to an “Unknown god.” There are many forms of idol worship today. Anything or anyone that replaces God in our hearts is an idol. People today may not carve idols out of wood and stone, some people still worship idols, such as money, sex, sports, music or fame as if they are gods. Why do people become idol worshipers or get involved in unhealthy religion? It’s because without God, they feel empty and insecure.

Second, God gave them over to their sinful desires. (24-31). In verses 24-28, the phrase “God gave them over” is repeated three times. When people abandoned God from their hearts and lives, God also gave them over to their sexual impurity, perversion and depraved mind. Look at verse 24. “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.” Verse 26 reads, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.” Especially, in Paul’s time, lesbianism and homosexuality were regarded as superior form of physical love. But Paul clearly declares that sexual impurity and homosexuality are degradation and perversion of God’s purpose in human sexuality. God gave them over to such degradation because they insisted on living like that. God was saying to them, “Well, if that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” (The Message)

Read verses 28-31. “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 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.” We can summarize all these forms of degradation in two words “total depravity.” Total depravity itself is God’s punishment for their sin of suppression of God’s truth through their pride and unthankfulness.

Third, God’s final judgment (32) Read verse 32. “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” This verse is a concluding statement of the human depravity. Paul reminds of that they knew God’s righteous decree and God’s truth that those who do such things deserve death, they don’t even care anything. They gave up everything. They do whatever they feel like doing. I heard someone actually saying to me, “If God sends me to hell, I will go. I don’t care.” It seems that he gave up everything, his dignity and respect for himself. Some people even become inventors and big promoters of evil doing. This reminds us of Galatians 6:7-9, which reads, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Some people don’t like to believe that there is a hell. I don’t either. Revelation 21:8 says, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – there place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” I don’t know where this lake of burning sulfur is located. But I have seen several volcanic explosions through films and ‘DVD’s. Even these are really scary to look at. However, God’s punishment will not happen just in the future. God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men and women who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Life without God is like living in hell. However, God provided the good new of salvation for all humankind. Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We must face the spiritual reality before it’s too late.

From time to time, it’s easy for us to envy those who are successful in the world even while they suppress the truth of God by their wickedness. In this ungodly and depraved society, it’s much easier to follow evil than to follow the truth of God unless we believe that God is in control over everything. But we must know that throughout history God’s wrath is being revealed against those who deliberately suppressed truth for the sake of evil. Therefore, we must fear God and trust Him in every aspect of our lives. God is holy. Pride and unthankfulness are the root of all our sins and unhappiness. It’s much easier for God to demolish all filthy people with one blow than being patient with them, suffering in grief. But why is God so patient with us? It’s because he loves us dearly. May we repent of our pride and unthankfulness and have intimate fellowship with Him and live lives pleasing to Him.

 

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