Lesson 4 – Romans Chapter 1:18-21
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness (Paul switches gears)
Rom. 1:18-19
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
(NLT) “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them.”
We now in a way, we enter into God’s courtroom.
We just talked about the righteousness of God, and now we’re about to uncover man’s un-righteousness. We need to understand that until man realizes he’s a sinner, he will not understand his need for God’s salvation, and he will continue down the path of self-satisfaction and self-destruction, resulting in facing God’s wrath.
John MacArthur;
“The idea of a wrathful God goes against the wishful thinking of fallen human nature and is even a stumbling block to many Christians. Much contemporary evangelism talks only about abundant life in Christ, the joys and blessing of salvation, and the peace with God that faith in Christ brings. All of those benefits do result from true faith, but they are not the whole picture of God’s plan of salvation. The consequence truth of God’s judgment against sin and those who participate in it must also be heard.”
Paul wants people to know the true reality of what it would be like under the wrath of God, before he teaches them that grace is available from God as well.
Wrath; or-gay’ (are-gay) means: anger, the natural disposition, temper, and character.
The wrath of God that the New Testament speaks of, is to be expressed in judgment of a wicked, rebellious people… and upon those who refuse to believe in, and accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world.
John 3:36
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
When we hear about the wrath of God, we can’t help but think about the Lake of Fire… which is associated with three thoughts.
1. Being thrown into the lake of fire, where the wicked are permanently separated from God’s love and creation… consequently they will experience what is called the “second death.”
2. That “fire” denotes God’s searing holiness, demanding a reckoning for all evil deeds.
3. The “unquenchable fire” portrays hell as everlasting.
One of my thoughts is, for those who are condemned… just before their receive their coming judgement, perhaps they get a glimpse of God, seeing Him in all His glory (because that’s what a person truly yearns for deep inside) and then in the moment they understand how wonderful eternity would be with God, then it is snatched away from them, only to increase the torment they will face all throughout eternity. Just a thought.
As God’s love is so infinitely profound for us to comprehend, so is His displeasure, hate, anger, wrath and vengeance. There is good reason for the writer of Hebrews to warn sinful people that; “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God..” Hebrews 10:31
I guess there’s a difference between being in God’s hand as opposed to falling into God’s hands.
God’s anger and wrath must always be seen in relation to God, maintaining and defending His attributes of love and holiness, as well as His righteousness and justice… otherwise He just wouldn’t be a Holy God. When we study both sides of this, it gives us a more complete picture of God.
James 4:4
“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”
Falling into the hands of God (meaning, not being one of His own), that would make you an enemy of God… a most dangerous position to find yourself.
This section of scripture doesn’t teach an evolution of man, that he started low and climbed to a high position, it’s a de-evolution, man started high and because of sin sank lower than the animals.
Man began his journey by knowing God (God walked with Adam), but then he turned from the truth and rejected God. The wrath of God is revealed against those who are determined to go their own way, regardless of what they know is true.
God’s wrath goes against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men.
The one little word we can’t leave out here is the word “all,” all means all.
Webster’s Dictionary it means: every member or individual component of.
Rom. 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The word ungodliness, speaks of a lack of reverence toward God, having no respect whatsoever.
Jude 14-15
“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
Enoch is speaking of the ones who have completely disregarded God’s law, the ones who walk in ungodliness. This provokes God’s anger.
We’re talking about all people who don’t have a right relationship with God. The scary thing is, at one time we fell into this category as well, the time before we were saved.
Eph. 2:3
“Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
“All ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men.”
Ungodliness inevitably leads a person to the place of unrighteousness.
This all causes an individual to have the wrong relationship with God, which is, not having a relationship at all. A person in this situation will live for themselves and not for God, making them a child of satan, whether they realize it or not. (Children of wrath)
All through history past and into today, we see the effects of the Children of wrath; they attack, murder, rape, steal, fornicate, and make war. The prime suspect; Sin… God hates sin… and God will deal with sin by His wrath.
“Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Man began knowing God, but then turned from the Truth and rejected God.
• What is the truth that man turned from?
The truth… that God is our loving creator and deserves all our respect, adoration, and worship.
John MacArthur; “But how is it,” we ask, “that God can hold everyone responsible for moral and spiritual failure, and be so angry when some people have so much less opportunity than others for hearing the gospel and coming to know God?” the answer is that, because of his sinful disposition, every person is naturally inclined to follow sin and resist God. This phrase “Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” could be rendered, “who are constantly attempting to suppress the truth by steadfastly holding to their sin. Unrighteousness is so much a part of man’s nature that every person has a built-in, natural, compelling desire to suppress and oppose God’s truth.”
Psalm 14:1
“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.”
Foolish man thinks to himself… “If I believe there is no God, then there is no God, and I can continue to live my life just as I please.” The problem with that line of thinking is, you can deny, reject, and refuse to believe that God is real, but at the end judgment is coming… like it or not.
Psalm 37:13
“The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.”
Heb. 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”
Rom. 1:19-20
“Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 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,”
A paraphrase of this would be; “Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of His divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.”
“What may be known of God is manifest in them.”
They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.
We saw this when the tower of Babel was built, all the people recognized at that time how great God was, as was it also with the wicked sinful people of Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s greatness is seen today, even with all the distractions of today’s modern technology, so no one has an excuse to deny God’s existence.
People can deny it all they want. The truth is, God puts in each one of us, the understanding of something of the reality of God, whether it’s seeing a beautiful sunset or just seeing the intricacy of the human body.
Some say, “At one time, there was a great explosion that took place, and that’s what started everything.” I say to them, “And just where did the substance that started that explosion come from?” They have no answer.
We simply cannot deny the existence of our God.
Psalm 19:1-4
“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.” (NLT)
“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 thinking about God’s invisible attributes, such as His eternal power and Godhead, it points us to His divine nature, and it can be clearly seen by just thinking about His awesome works in all of creation. To ponder in our mind as to just how big God is, and how He created all things, can be quite taxing on a person’s mind.
Jeremiah 10:10
“But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.”
Walking with a group of admirals one evening who were discussing whether or not God existed, Napoleon is said to have pointed to the heavens and said, “Sirs, if you’re going to get rid of God, you must get rid of these first.” Napoleon was right. The heavens declare the glory, the substance, and reality of God.
The human heart is about the size of a person’s fist. An adult heart weighs less than half a pound, yet it can do enough work in about twelve hours to lift 65 tons one inch off the ground. The Archerfish is able to fire drops of water with amazing force and accuracy, knocking insects out of the air.
The bombardier beetle separately produces two different chemicals, which, when released and combined, explode in the face of an enemy. Yet the explosion never occurs prematurely and never harms the beetle itself.
Do you think a Big Bang produced all that? I don’t think so. We serve a very big God!
Rom. 1:21
“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.”
“Although they knew God”
In verse 18 Paul said, “men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Man knew of God through his environment and all creation. God gave man a brain to know and understand. Man learned how to create, farm, hunt, and many other things, but man still chooses the world over God.
“They did not glorify Him as God” they didn’t glorify or honor God, why, because of “self,” man-kind loves to think about himself, or we could call it “pride.”
I John 2:16 “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”
Why did man suppress the truth? Because he wanted his own way, he wanted to satisfy himself with all the worldly pleasures he could dream up.
• Are worldly pleasures bad?
No. Worldly pleasures become bad when they push you away from God. It’s just like when a person is obsessed with money, to point that making more money is all they can think about… thus leaving them with no thoughts of God.
I Tim. 6:10
“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (NLT)
When it comes to man’s pride, there’s no room for God.
“They became futile in their thoughts or speculations”
To reject God is to reject everything that is good. God is the only One that can give life true meaning and purpose in life.
“And their foolish hearts were darkened”
Eph. 4:18
“Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.” (NLT)