When God Gets Angry

Have you ever been mad?

No, I don’t mean like somebody cut you off in traffic mad.

I mean somebody did something so reprehensible. So horrible, that everything inside of you just shakes with righteous anger.

It’s not often that we experience true, righteous anger that is not to some degree selfishly motivated.

I believe I’ve had some of those moments.

And each one involved someone hurting a helpless, innocent baby or child.

The one that sticks out the most to me happened one day while I was on patrol.

The 911 call came in from the boyfriend of a young mom whose two-month old he was babysitting. She had just gone to the store to get something.

He was trying to change the baby’s diaper, and the baby wouldn’t stop crying and moving around. And the boyfriend got mad.

I won’t go into any detail because it would make you sick, but we ended up in the trauma room at the ER, and I was in the room when the doctor called the time of death.

Needless to say, we were all filled with righteous anger, because it was obvious what happened to that baby.

What you are feeling right now… revulsion, anger…

God’s anger is directed at all sin. From the most heinous, egregious sin imaginable, to the one you and I probably committed this morning. Most likely… the sin of pride. We do tend to be pretty proud of ourselves. By the way, the bible calls the sin of pride an abomination. Proverbs 16:5.

Now that I’ve got your attention, we’ve spent the last few weeks looking at Paul’s introduction to the Book of Romans. He’s talked about the power of the gospel, the righteousness of God, and the fact that salvation is by faith from start to finish.

But now, beginning in verse 18, Paul shifts gears.

If Romans were a courtroom scene, this is where the prosecutor begins to lay out the evidence. And he doesn’t just point to one group of people. He points to everyone, Jews, Gentiles, religious, secular, every single person stands guilty before God.

We tend to think that Paul is speaking to heathens, pagans, and the like in Romans chapter 1.

While most commentators suggest that Paul is dealing here with the sins of pagans, or the Gentiles, we need to remember that the Gentiles, biblically speaking, are the entire human race minus Israel.

Are you Jewish? No, then, tag… you’re it. Paul is speaking to everyone. He’ll get to the hypocritical Jews in chapter 2.

You see, we all stand guilty before God.

Why? Well, number one, we’re all sinners.

But God is showing us a pattern.

The picture Paul paints here is an ugly one. This section doesn’t teach evolution (that man started low and climbed high), but devolution: he started high and, because of sin, sank lower than the beasts.

Because when people suppress God’s truth, when they trade His glory for cheap substitutes, life always unravels.

So let’s walk through this passage together because what Paul wrote 2,000 years ago, I believe still describes our world, and our lives, today.

We Talked about God’s Wrath, His Anger. But What is it all About? (18)

Romans 1:18 NKJV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Now, let’s be honest, the word wrath makes people uncomfortable. We imagine rage, fury, uncontrolled anger. But that’s not what Paul means here.

The Greek word is orgē. It describes God’s settled, righteous anger against sin. One commentator calls it “the holy revulsion of God’s being against all that contradicts His holiness.”

In other words, God’s wrath isn’t about God flying off the handle. It’s about God responding to sin the way a holy, loving, just God should respond.

There should be no doubt that verses 17 and verse 18 are closely connected.

In verse 17, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is being revealed (present tense in the Gk. it’s still being revealed) and the wrath of God in verse 18 is an expression of His personal righteousness.

God’s wrath is directed against all the godlessness (asebeian, “lack of proper reverence for God”) and wickedness (adikian, “unrighteousness” or the lack of righteousness) of men, not against people, as such. God hates sin and judges it, but loves sinners and desires their salvation.

We should note that the word’s “revealed” are the same word translated in verse 18 as it is in verse 17. The word from which we get our English word “apocalypse,” or “revelation.”

Human history began with man knowing God. Human history is not the story of a beast that worshiped idols, and then evolved into a man worshiping one God.

Human history is just the opposite: mankind began knowing God, but turned from the truth and rejected God.

And notice the phrase: “who suppress the truth.”

That word suppress—katechō—means “to hold down, to restrain.” Picture someone trying to hold a beach ball under the water. The truth keeps popping up, but they push it down because they don’t want to deal with it.

Men knew the truth about God, but they didn’t allow this truth to work in their lives. They suppressed it so that they might live their own lives and not be convicted by God’s truth.

And here’s what Paul’s telling us: when you keep pushing down God’s truth, when you keep resisting it, when you trade it for something else, you set yourself on a path that leads to emptiness, darkness, and judgment.

Mankind generally has the wrong idea of God’s righteousness.

To stand before a perfectly, absolutely righteous God is uncomfortable. So what does mankind do?

They try to suppress it. To turn righteousness into something “squishy.” To make it mean whatever you want. Explain it away. Or, simply not deal with it.

What is Paul saying? Stop pushing down what you know is true about God.

Paul goes on… He tells us…

God’s Truth is Clearly Seen by Everyone (19-20)

Romans 1:19–20 NKJV

19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

These verses tell us that knowledge concerning God is available to all. This knowledge is called natural revelation because it is seen in the created world, and is accessible to the entire human race.

Three words jump out in these two verses:

The first one is, Paul called this knowledge plain. “manifest” or “made clear.”

God has shown Himself and His divine design clearly to mankind since the beginning of creation.

It’s not like we go outside everyday and don’t see signs of a master designer in the creation around us.

It’s not like we haven’t seen it.

I like the way one commentator puts it. He says it’s not like the case of a father who chastens his teenager for something he never told him to do.

Instead, it’s case of the teenager leaving school, and all the way home seeing billboards, street signs, flashing marquees, signs on buses, bumper stickers, airplanes pulling message banners—“Billy, don’t forget to set the garbage out for the trash truck!”

Then, when he gets home, there are phone messages, e-mail messages, and television commercials reminding him of the same thing. That is how plainly God has made knowledge of himself available to the human race.

Verse 20 ties back to verse 19. “In light of the fact that God has made it obvious what can be known about Him…”

Romans 1:20 NKJV

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

In verse 20 we see the next important word…

One word that means, “clearly seen.”

Since God is spirit, He’s made His invisible qualities evident in creation.

The Psalmist describes how the creation speaks of the creator.

Psalm 19:1–4 NKJV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

Study science. Study astronomy. Study physics. All these scream out, there was an external intelligence at work in order to make all these work together so intricately and beautifully to sustain human life on this planet.

And then in verse 20 we see the third important word.

“Understood”

Also in the present tense. Mankind is understanding that there is something outside of him and higher than him that has put all of this here.

Why do you think that every culture on the planet worships something outside of themselves. Some cultures, it’s the sun. Others, the moon. Stars, etc.

Every sunrise, every star-filled sky, every mountain peak screams, “There is a Creator!”

And Paul says because God has revealed Himself this way, we are without excuse. No one will stand before God one day and say, “I just didn’t know.”

Let me tell you about the time I was taken to jail.

I was working for a communications company in Lafayette in the early 1980s. I was on the way to work on a radio system in Crowley. It was a little after 8 in the morning and I had just gone through the city of Rayne on Hwy. 90.

I was tooling along and I looked up in my rearview mirror and saw flashing blue lights. I pulled over. I had no clue why I was being stopped. I looked down and I thought I was driving the speed limit.

The officer walked up to my truck window and requested my license and registration. He looked at them both and asked, “is this your truck?” And anybody who knows me well, knows my sarcasm is finely honed. The first thing that came to my mind was, “Yes, and no.” The truck was registered in my boss’s name. It was my company truck. Immediately I knew we got off on the wrong foot when he looked at me and said, “Don’t be a smart a****leck.” That’s not the word he used by the way.

He then went on to ask, “Do you why I stopped you?” Again, be careful what you say to a cop. The next thing that came to my mind was, “I don’t have a clue. But I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

I’m on a roll. He said, “You just went through a school zone. The speed limit is 25. You were doing 45.” To which I said, “I never noticed. I didn’t even see the school.”

Now, to my credit, that was not a lie. I was in my own world and oblivious. I didn’t even see the school, much less the signs.

To which the officer said, you guessed it, “That’s no excuse.” Then he says, “Follow me to the station.”

OK. What did I get myself into?

So we get out at the police station. He takes me inside and brings me to the front desk in front of the sergeant.

He looks at the ticket, and I didn’t know it at the time, but later, having written my share of citations and have done the same thing, most likely wrote on the department copy about my attitude.

The sergeant, looking at the ticket says that will be… and he gives me the amount of the ticket. I said, “I can mail it in.” He says, “No, you don’t understand. It’s payable right now. I said, let me get my checkbook. He said, “Is it from a local bank?” Again, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Yes, but not local to here.” He said, “Then that’ll be cash.” I said, “I don’t have that much cash.” He says, “That’s ok. We can put you up for the night.” I new what he meant when I saw the grin on his face.

Then it came to me. My boss’s dad lived near Crowley. So they let me call him and he brought enough cash to pay my ticket.

I think I learned my lesson. Oh, and I’ve heard the excuse many times since from other motorists, “I didn’t know.” To which I would reply… “That’s no excuse.”

The problem here in Romans chapter 1 isn’t lack of evidence. The problem is we don’t want to acknowledge the evidence we already have.

Application: Pay attention to the ways God reveals Himself, in creation, in conscience, and ultimately in Christ.

What are the consequences of rejecting God. Let’s move on the next three verses.

Romans 1:21–23 NKJV

21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Here we see…

The Downward Spiral of Rejecting God (21-23)

Man knew God; this is clear. But mankind did not want to know God or honor Him as God.

Instead of being thankful for all that God had given him, mankind refused to thank God or give Him the glory He deserves. Man was willing to use God’s gifts, but he was not willing to worship and praise God for His gifts.

The result was an empty mind and a darkened heart. Man the worshiper became man the philosopher, but his empty wisdom only showed his foolishness.

Paul summarized all of Greek history in one dramatic statement: “the times of this ignorance” in Acts 17:30.

Paul says four things happen when people suppress the truth about God:

They knew God – Human history began with people aware of God.

They ignored Him – They refused to glorify or thank Him.

They replaced Him – “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” That word fools—emōranthēsan—is where we get the English word “moron.”

They worshiped creation – Instead of worshiping the Creator, they worshiped idols, images, anything but the true God.

And here’s the principle: when you stop worshiping God, you don’t worship nothing. You worship anything. And everything starts to unravel.

Having held down God’s truth and refusing to acknowledge God’s glory, man was left without a god; and man is so constituted that he must worship something. If he will not worship the true God, he will worship a false god, even if he has to manufacture it himself!

Idolatry in the modern world may not look like statues of birds or animals, but people are still bowing down to things that can’t save them.

Application: Don’t trade God’s glory for cheap substitutes. Things like pleasure, success, stuff, status, or self.

Conclusion:

Paul wants us to see what happens when people suppress God’s truth:

God’s wrath is revealed—not because He’s cruel, but because He’s holy and loving.

His truth is clear—through creation and conscience, no one can claim ignorance.

Rejecting Him leads to emptiness, darkness, and idolatry. And ultimately, eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire.

The point? When you push God out, you lose more than you think.

So here’s the challenge: Instead of suppressing the truth, receive it. Instead of trading God’s glory for something less, worship Him as the only One worthy of it all.

Because in the end, the only life worth living is the one centered on the God who made you, loves you, and gave His Son for you.

Trust Jesus and what He did on the cross to forgive your sin and make you right with God.