We live in a day where there is an abundance of some information but a dearth of other information. I am fearful that this current generation is overloaded with information that is of little value, while at the same time, has very little, if any, information that is of supreme value. Technology is extremely important, but values are of little importance.
The Apostle Paul in Romans, Chapter One, shares some extremely important information. He also informs us why there is a very limited amount of information available and where this information is to be found. Some information is widely known, but other information is so limited. Paul indicates that some of the information that is vitally important to us has been kept under wraps and, therefore, must be searched out from reliable sources.
In Romans, Chapter One, Paul shares three vitally important things;
The Gospel
True righteousness
The source of creation.
Note what he says about the Gospel; “…it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes”. [Romans 1:18] He is saying that the only way to bring about lasting change in the human heart is through Jesus Christ. He alone has the power to change who we are.
Righteousness is directly connected to The Gospel. “For in it [the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed”. [Romans 1:17] In other words, God’s righteousness is implanted in me by faith, and I become a reflection of God’s character. This goes far beyond “religion”. This is not intellectual but transformational. Who God is and what His character is like will be reflected through me.
What is the source of creation? Our universe and those thousands of other universes must have had a source. What was it? “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes have become known…”. [Romans 1:20] Paul is inferring that God has revealed Himself through what we see in creation. He has created all things that are in existence even that which we have not yet discovered. It all is a reflection of His creative nature.
However, Paul says that we, his creation, have suppressed this fact. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of those who suppress this truth…”. In other words, we, His very creation, have hidden this truth, so the information about God and His righteousness is hard to find. We are ignorant of God, His Gospel, and His creative nature.
The result of this is “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven…”. [Romans 1:18] God is not happy with the fact that what He has given to us, we have taken credit for.
Have you suppressed what you know about God? Has His righteousness been reflected through your character? Has God lost His footprint because His nature and character have been suppressed in your character? In this chapter we see three characteristics of God; first, His invisible attributes; second, His eternal power, and third, His divine nature. Have we suppressed these characteristics of God?
If we would just examine some of the features of the planet on which we live, we could see the precise nature of God. The temperature of the sun is 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the heat that we have comes from the sun. It is just the right temperature to produce life here on this earth. The earth is just the right distance from the sun, 93,000,000 miles. We are neither too hot nor too cold. If the earth’s temperature was just 50 degrees hotter or colder, all life would cease. I ask, why is the sun just 12,000,000 miles away? Why not further, or closer? Why does the earth rotate 365 times in its journey around the sun? If this were to be altered, it would change ours days and nights and there would be too much heat and too much cold. Why is the earth sitting 23 degrees off its axis? This gives us our seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall. Why doesn’t it sit at 45 degrees or straight up on its axis? If that were to be, it would be too hot in the middle [equator] and too cold on the poles. How about the air we are breathing? Oxygen constitutes 21% of our atmosphere. This is the only planet with proper oxygen content. Why is that number not l05% or even 50%? Is this all by chance? What are the odds of all of this being sufficient for our lives? This is Paul’s whole argument. God has made it evident that He has created it all and has placed us here. However, man has suppressed this information. We have no knowledge of this God, who has revealed Himself in the very world that we live in. How could there be a design, without a designer? How could there be a thought without a thinker? How could there be a plan without a planer? God’s nature, God’s gospel and God’s creativeness have all been suppressed, until we are left with a world that is full of information, but there is no information about God. How tragic!
Once God has been replaced, what have we replaced Him with? If man has suppressed the truth and disavowed his creator, what has he put in its place?
>Idolatry
>Immorality
>Iniquity [Romans 1:21-32]
There are three places where Paul says, “God gave them over to…”:
* He gave them over to lust. [verse 24] This is idolatry.
* He gave them over to degrading passion. [verse 26] This is immorality.
* He gave them over to a depraved mind. [verse 28] This is iniquity
As we go over this list, it is tragic to think of what we have replaced God with. He, who is the perfection of righteousness has been replaced with the qualities of a depraved mind. Why? Because the truth of who God is and the power of His Gospel, has been suppressed.
Who, or what, am I reflecting?
