God's Revelation Rejected

MARCH 8, 2023 STUDY NOTES ROMANS 1:19-23 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES GOD’S REVELATION REJECTED INTRODUCTION Paul now tells us why ungodly man deserves the wrath of God He told us in the previous verse that fallen man has suppressed the truth of righteousness Fallen man is without excuse, man has had many God-given opportunities to know of God Man is not in his fallen state before God because he didn’t know about God Man has rejected the revelation of God unto man Man has the revelation of God in creation, which is called “natural revelation” (vss.19-20) Man has the revelation of God in his inner being, which is called the conscience (vss.21-23) Man has rejected the revelation of God in creation and conscience So now the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ungodly man (vs.18) Paul is not presenting a salvation experience through believing that God created all things He is presenting a knowledge for man that would lead fallen man to seek knowing God GOD SHOWED MAN--Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. Verse 19 & 21 begin with “because that,” with the meaning of “this is the reason why” Verse 19 is the reason that God’s wrath has been revealed from heaven against ungodly man Because God had previously revealed Himself unto man, “that which may be known of God” God had revealed Himself in such a way that man could know of God and have a desire for God But instead of desiring to know more about God, man turned to making idols to worship God revealed that which is knowable unto man who was capable of knowing Man was capable of an intellectual knowledge of God Which would lead man to desire a spiritual knowledge of God Through that spiritual knowledge of God, he would experience a personal relationship That which could be known of God “is manifest in them” That which could be known of God was made clear unto fallen man, it was evident It was “in them” which means “in their hearts” or “in their conscience” “For God hath shewed it unto them” “For God,” it was God Himself who made the revelation very conspicuous Because fallen man could clearly see God’s revelation, he was obligated to observe it Therefore, there was a duty, an obligation based upon what man could know about God God showed man that there was a Creator, which man could clearly see--MAN COULD CLEARLY SEE GOD--Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: “For” refers back to verse 19 and what God has shown them The “invisible things” of God are “clearly seen” The invisible things of God consist of His attributes which were made visible That which could not be seen with the physical eye was shown to exist God has made His nature visible and identifiable unto the human mind Now Paul tells us how God did it, “from the creation of the world are clearly seen” God made Himself visible through the act of creation That which was created was “the world,” which refers to the cosmos or universe Page 1 of 5 The word “world” also has the thought of arrangement and a system of order The universe not only exists, it’s under the controlled order of God and Christ, Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Christ made all things, sustains all things, holds all things together, all controls all things) Ever since “the creation of the world” the heavens have declared the Glory of God, Psa 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. The universe declares the handiwork of God, Psa 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; God’s creation is ever before the eyes of man, through creation man can see that God is omnipotent Creation reveals the almighty power of God, Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Through creation man can see that God is omniscient The superior knowledge and wisdom of God is seen throughout the order the universe Through creation man can see that God is omnipresent God as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe is everywhere present Through creation God has made known His eternal power, His wisdom, and His divine nature Fallen man has an understanding of God through God’s creation “Being understood by the things that are made” Creation itself is enough to make man understand that there is a true and living God And with that understanding man should seek God and desire to know more, Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Faith believes that all things were made by God through Christ, Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Christ is the creator, Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: All things are because of Him, Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. God’s creation speaks to man, creation communicates a message to man The workmanship of God “being understood” by means of the material creation Why is there such a systematic order to the universe? What power sustains the universe? The answer is simple, “even his eternal power” The word translated “eternal” is a unique word found only one other time in the NT, Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. In Jude, the thought of “eternal” is perpetual, or without end There will be no end to the state of the punishment of these fallen angels which is described as in chains Paul’s use of “eternal” points out that God’s power is self-existent It speaks of the “Divine Nature” of God, identifying that God is God God is self-existent, without beginning or end, no other power existed before God Only God could be the “power” who created and sustains the universe The unseen person and power of God can be seen in God’s creation That “eternal power” can be none other than the “Godhead” The word translated “Godhead” is found only here in the NT Through creation God has revealed that He is “Divinity,” the One and Only God of power Through creation man can learn of His power and Majesty and therefore desire to know Him A similar Greek word is also translated “Godhead” in, Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The totality of the Divine Nature of God dwells in the person of Jesus God dwells in Christ, God came to the earth in the person of Jesus, God dwells in Jesus in bodily form Page 2 of 5 All that God is, is found in the person of Jesus Through His Son God has revealed that He is also a personal God The divine power of God in Christ has given us everything we need for life and godliness, 2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Fallen man has seen the power of God in creation and should desire God’s power for self But man has not desired the personal presence of God within them, “so that they are without excuse” Fallen man has rejected God, fallen man has rejected a clear revelation of God Fallen man has no excuse, he has no defense for his unbelief or his actions MAN CLEARLY REJECTED GOD--Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. “Because that,” verse 21 begins the same way that verse 19 did, meaning “this is the reason why” “Because that” they knew all the time that there was a God, which they refused to acknowledge They had come to know God through the revelation of creation Having come to the knowledge of God through creation they should have worshiped God Creation reveals unto man the truth of God and that God is to be glorified and worshiped They knew God as Creator and did not glorify Him as the Almighty God God is everywhere around us, the hand of God can be clearly seen They could also know God from within their own consciousness Man can sense within his inner being that God is present, but man did not glorify God “They glorified Him not as God” Having recognized God as the Creator, knowing Who He was and what He had done Man should have celebrated their knowledge of God by praise and worship of God Within the heart man knows that God is worthy of praise and glory His holiness should be praised, His power should be praised, His perfection should be praised Man should have realized that he was created to bring honor and glory unto God But man’s knowledge of God did not lead to man receiving God, but to rejection of God Paul says that man was not even grateful toward God, “neither were thankful” Man knew that God created man, Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. God gave life itself unto man, Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Because of man’s existence he should be thankful to God Man is the highest order of God’s creation he received the very best of life from God Man accepts the goodness and greatness of God’s creation by living daily in the grace of God But refuses to thank God for His day-by day goodness God’s creation provided for man’s food, clothing, and shelter Paul tells us of the witness of God’s goodness, Act 14:17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. Man should have sensed that he was responsible toward God and been thankful for God But instead of a thankful heart man had a futile mind, “but became vain in their imaginations” Because fallen man would not thank God or give God glory, man had to do something Man had to come up with a reason why he would reject God’s revelation God calls the reasoning of man “vain” Man’s thinking was “vain” because God was left out of his reasoning There was no real wisdom of man because God was not in their reasoning or “imaginations” Their opinion was a man-made philosophy which denied the truth of God Therefore, their thinking was senseless, useless, worthless, and without purpose Page 3 of 5 It was foolish for man to even think of such foolishness Paul speaks of an unintelligent intellect, Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, The deliberations of fallen man’s mind had an effect upon their heart “And their foolish heart was darkened” Paul describes the heart of fallen man in two ways First, it is a “foolish heart” the word “foolish” means without insight or understanding Which means that the understanding of man without God is without any understanding Second, it is a “darkened” heart, which Paul explains in, Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: So, they were “Unwise Fools” UNWISE FOOLS--Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, They boasted of their self-claimed wisdom, asserting themselves to be wise “Wise” is the key word in this verse which refers to the philosophy of man They do not lack intelligence, they are not uneducated, they are well educated They have an understanding of the philosophy of man But they have no understanding of God, they are therefore unwise God’s wisdom allows us to apply to our daily life “Biblical Truth,” Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. Educated man today thinks that he has the ability to do anything, so, he doesn’t need God Sophisticated man today senses that he can come up with a solution to solve all problems Man thought that he had it all figured out, but instead “they became fools” The wisdom that comes from man is foolishness according to God They acted like fools it is stupid to act like a fool God is telling us, man without God in his life is insane, man who denies God is insane He is not only foolish in his mind and words, he is also foolish in his actions, Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Because man was a fool, he began to act in a foolish way They acted like fools when they began to worship their man-made idols MAN’S FOOLISH CHANGES--Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. “Changed” means to cause one thing to cease and another to take its place It means to exchange one thing for another and that is what fallen man did Fallen man exchanged the Glory of the incorruptible God for idols They set up images in the place of the One and Only True God Foolish man had to attempt to change God because they refused to change themselves Man can learn from creation that God is not capable of corruption Idols are the attempt of corruptible man to change the “incorruptible God” “Into an image made like to corruptible man” Idols are the hands of sinful man attempting to make a god-like image of man The only god that fallen man could make was a god likeness of man Which man attempted to make and place above the only true God They violated God’s first commandment which was against idolatry, Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. They violated God’s second commandment which was against representations of God, Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is Page 4 of 5 in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Since the fall of man, man has continually moved away from God Man left to himself, and his worldly ways is not moving closer to God Every step of human religion is downward and further away from God Walking further away from the truth and righteousness that God has for man The human concept of God is revealed in their man-made images Their man-made gods reveal how foolish they really are Paul presents the downward steps of idolatry Which is not an evolving scale, it is a descending scale He begins with man making images of men Then each of the next man-made idols are another step down the ladder of likeness Birds, beasts, and creeping things all have the same problem There is no resemblance to God in man-made images, Act 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. Paul identifies those foolish man-made images “And to birds,” there are birds that can be taught to talk to man But man talking to a bird as though it was God is for the birds “And fourfooted beasts” Man who worships an animal with four legs does not have a leg to stand on “And creeping things,” crawling creatures such as creepy bugs and slithering snakes Idolatry has moved from an image of the likeness of man to a snake in the grass Through the worship of idols man is worming his way to nothing other than a creeping creature CONCLUSION Man made idols which are supposed to take the place of God are more technical today Man knows more about the physical realm than he has ever known before Man has rapidly advanced in the world of technology So, man feels that he has become self-sufficient But he is rapidly moving further away from God Intellectual achievements of man in so many fields of today is not a spiritual movement Man’s idols can now communicate with you and give you information They are no longer a dummy just sitting there for you to look at American idols today consist of that which is related to pleasure, entertainment, sex, and sports All of which is rapidly turning man further away from God and His Word Consider the time and money that our society has committed toward these idols Consider all of the sin and immorality that is encouraged and involved in participation of those idols Fallen man has gone from foolish thinking to stupid acts Listen to Paul, Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And the fool says, there is no God, Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Page 5 of 5