[Romans Study 5-2]
The Wrath of God [Romans 1:18-32]
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 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 people are without excuse.
Men’s Relationship With God -‘Godlessness’ And ‘Wickedness’
The Apostle is interested, from the foremost, in men’s relationship to God, in their standing in the sight of God, in their eternal destiny to come face to face with God. He knows the essence of all human predicaments. Irrelevant are our position, status, or standing, but in the presence of God—that is what matters.
He proclaims that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Here, we spot two key words of sin: ‘godlessness’ and ‘wickedness’ (NIV); ‘ungodliness’ and ‘unrighteousness’ (KJV). Ungodliness means lack of reverence for God, even rebellion against him; unrighteousness refers to unjust actions between people. As always, the human predicament has both a vertical and horizontal aspect. Once humans have abandoned God, it will not take long for the effects to be felt in their relationships with each other. Once the vertical relationship with God has broken, the breaking of human relationship follows. Simply speaking, godlessness is a refusal to have God in one’s heart while wickedness lead to multitudes of horizontal sins caused as a result of godlessness.
God’s Creation Tells Of His Presence
One may refute this saying, ‘I have never seen or heard God. Why should I bother to acknowledge Him and even have a relationship with Him?’ Paul is saying to look at the world. See how it is constructed. Creation is revelation. They have seen what God is like from God’s world. God’s invisible qualities are clearly seen. God created the world with natural processes, with cause and effect. In the same way that observing a painting leads a person to conclude that there is an artist, so to observe the tremendous creation is to conclude that there is a supreme Creator, one with eternal power and divinity.
God has given humans the power of reasoning, which distinguishes humans from animals, and through which humans can think and analyze. Design implies a designer. Can there be any building built by itself? “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” (Hebrews 3:4)
Psalm 19:1-4 says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun.” God’s creation cannot speak but they do have voice, they proclaim the work of His hands. Their voice goes out into all the world. The creation’s testimony reveals its amazing beauty, intricate detail, order, and power. ‘How great, mysterious, and beautiful is God’s creation!’ They tell us that God exists. They show us God’s eternal power and his divine nature.
Tertullian, the great early Christian Father, says much about his conviction that God can be seen in this world. “Nature,” he said, “is the teacher; the soul is the pupil.” In the world we can see God. It is Paul’s argument – which is quickly validated – that if we look at the world suffering follows sin. Break the laws of agriculture—the harvest fails. Break the laws of architectural engineering—your building collapses. Break the law of health—your body suffers. God made this world in such a way that we break His laws at our peril.
Does anyone have an excuse for not believing in God? The Bible answers with an emphatic no. God has revealed his existence (or divine nature) in his creation. The fact that this creation revelation is not fully effective in convincing humans of a designer’s hand does not mean it is not there. The argument that design implies a designer is not an argument people can’t accept, it is an argument people refuse to accept. Every person, therefore, either recognizes or rejects God. Does anyone have an excuse for his or her action? Again the Bible answers no. God has shown His invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature— to the heart of man. Sin, therefore, is willful opposition to the revealed truth about God that is from God.
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.
Man’s Spirit Seeks God
Furthermore, Paul claims that although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. How bold is Paul! They knew God – that is the premise.
Man is not of flesh only but of the spirit as well. Our soul always yearns for God as the deer pants for streams of water. (Psalm 42:1) We have spiritual desire that our spirit wants to know more about the truth of God- our spirit wants to pray, our spirit calls for God, and our spirit always longs for eternity. Though we may be full with physical food, there is an insatiable abyss within our spirit which can be filled only by God Himself. Our spirit desires primarily to know God.
Humans cannot possibly ignore God, ignoring not only creation design, but dismissing also our intuition and innate nature planted in us, says Paul.
Even a man who does not believe in God seeks God in face of a great crisis. Suppose a man is being drowned. During the fleeting moments while his body is sinking into the water, he would see every evil deed that he has ever committed, and therefore repents and prays to God to give him a second chance to live.
After living a dissatisfied life, Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, finally received the Lord and confessed in his famous book, Confessions: “Our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee. Where do I call Thee to, since Thou art in me?”
Our essence of being is looking for God. We cannot understand a sunflower without comprehending the sun. The word, father, implies son in it. These are great analogies to describe the unbreakable relationship between God and us. Only when a sunflower is pointed toward the sun, and only when the son meets the father, in other words, when I become the ‘true self’, our thirst and emptiness can be filled. Believing in Jesus and knowing God–what does it mean? Simply speaking, it is recovering the ‘lost self.’ My spiritual quest can be quenched only when I restore the original image of God’s creation, and for the heart that longs for this, there is no condition set or impediment against. When the prodigal son returned back to father, the father did not have any conditions in accepting him. It is only when the prodigal son returned back to God, he found true rest. (Luke 15:11-24)
The fall is not that God has deserted us, but that we unilaterally left God. Because we have left God, anxiety and other feelings of emptiness envelop us. Though I have a home to return to, I do not know how I can get there. I do not know who I am. Though I have friends and family, I am still lonely.
Though I try out all things, seeking out after pleasure, even forbidden ones, and making myself busy with piles of works, I still feel empty and bored. Whatever we try to do, if it is not God’s way but of humans, the problems will still persist.
Loneliness and boredom come to man because of the deficiency of love, love besides the true love of God. It can be resolved only by the love of God, when we restore the loving relationship with God. When we accept His love and give our love to God, our agony will be vanished. Truthfully, God, the infinite being, wants only one thing from us, the finite being–that is exchanging love with us, in the loving relationship with Him. All human predicaments such as anxiety, loneliness, and boredom take place when we sever the inseparable relationship with God. The relationship that was meant to exist since the creation of the world, this inseparable relationship with God has been severed. Consequently the problems of the world were introduced.
“Our spirit knows all of these,” says Paul. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God.”(1:21) Furthermore, we do not give thanks to God but our thinking became futile. As we avoid the light and not accept it, the light of truth in people’s heart went out.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Republished with permission from Dr. Christy Tran, the author of “The Epistle to the Romans: Paul’s Love Letter from God.”