God is Serious About Sin!
Romans: Building the Body Through the Gospel • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Introduction
If I were to ask you to come up on this stage and explain the gospel, the good news, how would you start?
Often times, people who desire to communicate the Gospel start with the fact that God loves them.
But I think it is interesting that as Paul starts his lengthy discourse on the gospel - explaining it in depth to a church of gentile and Jewish Christians. He starts with some really bad news! What’s the bad news?
God hates and is against Sin and we are all Sinners
God is not cavalier about sin. The truth is, to Him sin is an abomination!
And the sooner we understand this, I mean really grasp this, the better.
Brant Hansen’s book “The Truth About Us”
“The Very Good News About How Very Bad We Are”
I highly recommend the book and I highly recommend the title.
Paul knows these believers need to understand where to start when it comes to the gospel. And He starts with How the God of the bible Hates sin...
Romans: An Introduction and Commentary A. The Pagan World (1:18–32)
Before Paul elaborates further the manner in which God’s way of righteousness is set forth in the gospel, he shows why it is so urgently necessary that the way to get right with God should be known. As things are, human beings are ‘in the wrong’ with God, and his wrath is revealed against them. There is a moral law in life that men and women are left to the consequences of their own freely chosen course of action, and unless this tendency is reversed by divine grace, their situation will go from bad to worse. Three times over the words of doom recur: ‘God gave them up’ (verses 24, 26, 28).
Paul’s aim is to show that the whole of humanity is morally bankrupt, unable to claim a favourable verdict at the judgment bar of God, desperately in need of his mercy and pardon.
If I can boil this down to what my very wise mother-in-law said to me in regard to those who do not yet believe, “You’ve got to get them lost before you can get them saved.”
And Paul is helping this church understand that the gospel starts with helping people know the good news of just how very bad they are and what God is doing about it!
Main Idea: God is Angry and Against All Who Sin
Interrogative: Now wait a minute. You mean to tell me that God, the God of love is against sinful people? How can this be?
Two reasons from the text that we will study today as to why this is true...
1. All Suppress the Truth
2. All Fail to Honor and Thank God
Body
1. All Suppress the Truth (vs. 18-20)
Lead in...What is the tension here? Remember, Paul is teaching the Roman church this. He wants the church to fully grasp the gospel! And the first thing he teaches them is...
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
I told you! This is not a nice picture of God. Do you remember “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”? The first verse does not picture a warm, fuzzy, benevolent, grandpa in the sky, kind of God....
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
he hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword;
his truth is marching on.
Our God is a wrathful God. It is not a popular notion - even in the evangelical world today, yet this is the raw, unvarnished and necessary truth for the world to understand.
What is the wrath of God? Well, the word has different
It is not “thumos” anger -
When 2372 /thymós ("expressed passion") is used of people it indicates rage(personal venting of anger, worth). This flaw is completely absent of the Lord expressing (inspiring) intense anger. Accordingly, thymós is used of God's perfect, holy wrath in Revelation (Rev 14:10,19,15:1, etc.). This anger is directed against sin with intense opposition and without sin. [Only the Lord exercises righteous wrath, so we must depend solely on Him as we experience (express) anger.] https://biblehub.com/greek/2372.htm
So, this “Thumos” anger will be fully expressed one day. But this is not the word the apostle uses in verse 18. He uses a different greek word for wrath/anger.
9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
The wrath of God is...
God’s “orge” anger
"Orgē comes from the verb oragō meaning, 'to teem, to swell'; and thus implies that it is not a sudden outburst, but rather (referring to God's) fixed, controlled, passionate feeling against sin . . . a settled indignation (so Hendriksen)" (D. E. Hiebert, at 1 Thes 1:10).] https://biblehub.com/str/greek/3709.htm
Orgē does the slow and controlled burn against two qualities of people that Paul identifies. Literally this wrath is “constantly revealed” against. God is personally angry against sin.
All Ungodliness - impious, ungodly, wicked. Impiety toward God, ungodliness, lack of reverence
Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
All Unrighteousness - “This refers to the result of ungodliness: a lack of conformity in thought, word, and deed to the character and law of God (see note on 1:17).” MSB
And it is “by their unrighteousness they suppress the truth.”
“restrain, hinder, withhold, stifle”
What does it mean to suppress?
Try holding a beach ball under water!
It takes constant effort. Unrelenting effort.
This is the picture of the ungodly, unrighteous man as they interact with the truth regarding God. And the reason the have to make a concious, ongoing effort is simple. It’s because the truth is so plainly obvious.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
David pens a beautiful psalm that paints a poignant picture of what theologians call “God’s General Revelation”
1 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.
The theological phrase for this is God’s General Revelation...
General Revelation - “God’s communication of himself to all peoples at all times and in all places by which they may know of his existence, some of his attributes, and something of his moral law. General revelation has four modes: the created order (Rm 1:18-25), the human conscience or internal moral sense (Rm 2:12-16), God’s providential care (Ac 14:8-18, and an innate sense of God (Ac 17:22-31). The intended response to general revelation is worship, thanksgiving, submission, and obedience to God. People actually respond with idolatry, disobedience, and self-reliance. This failed response results in God’s righteous judgment falling on rebellious people.” BISB
Here in Romans 1, Paul’s focus is that His attributes have been clear and evident in His creation...
Plain = manifest. It is clear! No secret here!
You do not need a vast intellect to determine that something bigger than us brought this world and universe into existence.
And the point is this. There needs to be a consistent and conscious effort to suppress this truth. Why? Because if one admits that God is behind all there is, one then must submit one’s life to that creator God.
If He is my creator God, they I must do what He says.
The creator has creative rights over the creation.
God has revealed Himself to this world. His creation is a giant billboard saying “Made by God!”
The text says, “because God has shown it to them.” How has He done this? Look at verse 20.
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.
Paul is clear in this verse and names the invisible attributes...
“His eternal power and divine nature” - The all-powerful God who called all creation into existence by the word of His mouth continues to sustain it through His great power.
These attributes are not hidden or hard to understand. And this plain evidence is sufficient for condemnation...
Dr. David Jeremiah puts it very well...
“People who have not heard about Christ will not be judged for rejecting Him. But the charges against them for rejecting the revelation given them through their conscience and creation will stand. Anyone can freely reject God despite the testimony of creation and conscience, and apart from the work of the Spirit regenerating hearts, many do.” DJSB
His attributes are as plain as the nose on your face.
In fact, the nose on your face is an example of God’s creative genius.
There is so much evidence that is around us that there is no that God is the Creator. Ironically, it is His Crown Jewel of creation that refuses to see it.
R.Kent Hughes support all I’ve said so far when he says...
Romans—Righteousness From Heaven The First Distinctive of Unbelief: the Suppression of Truth (vv. 18-20)
The truth is, it takes a concerted act of the will to deny that a vastly powerful God made and sustains the Creation. If one is not at least searching after God, he or she is suppressing the truth.
God’s creation screams that there is a creative, wise, omnipotent being behind it all!
Darwin - the father of the evolutionary worldview admits that his system cannot answer the complexity of creation...
“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” - Darwin
https://answersingenesis.org/charles-darwin/didnt-darwin-call-the-evolution-of-the-eye-absurd/
Yet interestingly enough, Darwin goes on to say in the same article in which this quote occurs, as absurd as it may be, he still believed natural selection was the best option available to answer the complexity of creation.
Talk about holding a beachball underwater! Talk about suppressing the truth!
He and all who reject the obvious handiwork of God are - in the damning words of Paul...
“WITHOUT EXCUSE!”
In other words, no one can stand before God at the end of his life and say, “I didn’t know! I didn’t understand!”
Argumentation - Again, I ask you the question, why is Paul sharing this with a church? I mean I understand if he were like Billy Graham preaching to a crowd of unbelievers, it would make sense. But He is communicating to a local congregation in Rome (perhaps multiple congregations). Why?
Well, last week looked at verses 16-17. Take a look again...
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul is doing many things in this letter to Rome and we will uncover and discover them as we continue to walk through this beautiful letter.
But I think what he is doing here is helping the church at Rome to understand that they have no reason to be ashamed of the gospel. That the burden of proof is on the unbeliever to show unequivocally there is no God. And that, my friends, it a fools errand!
All you need to do is, as I said last week, launch the rocket of the gospel.
Application - So, for the believer - don’t be intimidated. God has made himself plain to the world around us. You do not believe in a fairy-tail! Those who reject God do! You have the universe around you backing you up! (Angie and the OJ)
The world is blind to this reality and there needs to be a supernatural working of the Holy Spirit to open their eyes coupled with the word of Christ. And that word is, God is angry at their sin...
Review - God is Angry and Against All Who Sin
All Suppress the Truth
2. All Fail to Honor and Thank God (vs. 21-23)
Lead in...What is the tension here?
“I pity the fool!” - Mr. T.
We humans, on the whole, rarely regard ourselves at fools. We think way more highly of ourselves than that!
But when we look into the mirror of the bible, we see a much different picture. We see a true picture of God and a true picture of ourselves.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
So what does this mean that “they knew God”? To whom is Paul referring? He referring to Adam and Eve both before and after they fell into sin.
The point is, people knew God. And this text, on the whole proves that there is a knowledge of God that every person has because of evidence around them. And this evidence is sufficient for condemnation.
They Failed to Honor God - Glorify Him (Seriously, think about this!)
They Failed to Thank God - Isn’t it interesting to see that when things are going right people tend to congratulate themselves and, in essence thank themselves by patting themselves on their backs. But when the hard times his, we see the same people shaking their fists at God blaming Him for their misfortune.
What is the result? God’s judgment! What does His judgment look like? Look at verse 22
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
They declared themselves to be wise! First of all if you need to make that statement, it probably ain’t true.
Secondly, The wisest sage that this world has to offer is a bumbling fool if they reject the wisdom of God.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
One know’s nothing if one doesn’t know God.
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,
This is why Spurgeon says, “It is better to preach five of God’s words than five million words of man’s wisdom.”
How did they express their foolishness? Paul is very clear in verse 23...
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Imagine this picture! THE GLORY OF THE IMMORTAL GOD. In fact we cannot picture it because He and His magnificence is beyond our comprehension.
Paul had a taste of it when He was caught up into the third heaven and what he saw and heard...
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
He couldn’t put it to words
Isaiah attempted to articulate His experience in front of God and His glory...
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Moses had to be hidden in the cleft of the rock and was only allowed to catch a glimpse of God’s glory as He passed by.
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
And we, mere humans, have rejected the One and True glorious, immortal, eternal creator God! And instead exchanged Him for IMAGES of creatures that God has created. Now just let your brain soak on this for a minute.
Is this not the height of foolishness? I mean, what an insult to the Creator God. That His Creation rejects Him and worships His creation?
9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Dr. Bookman once said, “Sin make you stupid.” This is what happens when we, the creation cease to honor God (live as faithful subjects) and we stop thanking God (for who He is and what He constantly does for us).
An image of a created thing can do nothing for you. It’s foolishness
Illustration - Spirit Houses in Thailand
Argumentation - You cannot help but see the progression downward in verses 21-21. They reject God. They fail to honor or give thanks to God. Their thinking becomes futile. Their hearts grow darker and darker. They are deluded in their self-proclamation that they are wise. The reality is, from God’s perspective, they are fools. And their foolishness is exhibited in their worship of the creature rather than their Creator.
Application - Why does Paul take the time to explain this to the church at Rome (as well as to us)? A few reasons...
Christian, remember from whence you came! You were there not too long ago.
If God opened your foolish hearts, he can and will do it for others...
If your heart is closed today, hear me! God is Angry and will punish you for your sin, in Hell, for all eternity. You need to turn to Him and Him alone for rescue...
“God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies.” (Mere Christianity pg. 31 C.S. Lewis)
Review - God is Angry and Against All Who Sin
All Have No Excuse
All Have Become Fools
Conclusion
I started this sermon off this afternoon with the question, If I were to ask you to come up on this stage and explain the gospel, the good news, how would you start?
What if I came up to you and informed you passionately that you needed to start taking this bottle of medication right now! You absolutely need to have this medicine in your body! There is no question that you should start taking it asap.
What would you say to me? You’d probably think I was crazy and politely run away from me!
Now, what if I were your doctor and I just finished running some tests and I told you you have cancer and you need to start chemotherapy and radiation treatment asap. That you absolutely need this medicine in your body.
What would you say to me? Most people would listen intently and take the advice of the doctor.
Well, Dr. Paul has given his diagnosis. And like any good doctor, he starts off with the bad news first.
God’s anger is burning against all people everywhere.
All people everywhere are sick with sin and their condition leads to foolish thinking and drives them farther and father away from God. Even though the truth is right before them, they cannot see it and they are facing God orge wrath today and his thumos wrath for all eternity.
They need to understand their dire diagnosis. They need to know that God’s wrath isn’t just coming, but is already on them. And that their only Hope is Christ and the gospel.
God hates sin so much that He must punish it. He loves you so much He took the punishment on Himself.
“They that will not be taught by the word shall be judged by the word.” Thomas Watson
Connection Group Reflection Questions
1. What do these verses teach me about our character?
2. What do these verses teach me about God and his character?
3. Because these words are from God, they are TRUTH! What truth is he asking me to believe?
4. What do I need to do to obey him?
5. With whom can I share these truths?