Romans 1:18
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Our text tonight is one of the clearest descriptions in the Bible of our relationship with God because of our sin. You can find Romans 118 on the front of your bulletin. Listen to God's Word. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Once more, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness that have rejected God and replace the worship of God with the worship of his creation.
and as a result we experience the right judgment of a good God. Let me say that one more time. As humans we are all idolaters that have rejected God and replaced the worship of him with the worship of his creation and as a result we experience the right judgment of a good God. This is a heavy text. Our first verse introduces God's wrath, and then it moves on to our sin.
But we're going to be thinking about it tonight in reverse. We'll think about it in two sections. The first section will be the effects of human unrighteousness and idolatry. And the second will be God's righteous wrath. So first point, first point, the effects of human unrighteousness or idolatry. I think in this verse we see unrighteousness that suppresses the truth. And that may sound like it's a specific sin, but I don't think it's so specific.
I think what it's saying is that all of us are idolaters. In creating an idol, we lie about who God is and what his place is in this world. We suppress truth. We reject the rightful place of God at the center of the universe, and we put ourselves and our idols there. The Christian definition of idolatry is what I gave in the main idea. It is the replacement of the worship of God with the worship of his creation.
In other words, things that are meant to cause us to love or fear God becomes the objects of our love and fear instead of him. So we suppress the truth of God's place in the world by putting other things in his place. Here's how an idol works. There's a good gift of God. I think an idol that I've identified in my life is an idolatry of rest and leisure. So using that as an example, leisure in and of itself is a good gift from God.
rest was built into the pattern of creation by God himself who rested on the seventh day. Taking time to do fun things with your family or friends is a healthy and good thing. It's good to rest and relax and take time to recharge. But what I found in my life is that I can prioritize it when it should not be prioritized. So I procrastinate or just plain avoid duties and responsibilities and justify it as being good for my mental health. My family suffers because we spend a weekend goofing off or because I don't do something for my family that I should do.
I get impatient and angry with my spouse with my children when their legitimate needs interfere with my taking some time to myself and left unchecked but for the grace of God it could destroy my family, could destroy my marriage. What I'm doing in creating that idol is that instead of praising God that I'm in any position at all to have rest because of his gracious provision to me, I pursue it and I think of it instead as a right. So instead of pursuing what god would have for me i choose my own path and reject his word something this is the way all idols work so something is elevated and pursued to the detriment of others and the rejection of god and therefore as this verse says god's wrath is revealed in the
terrible effects of our idols. So, the love of leisure becomes the shirking of responsibility and unproductivity. The love of money becomes greed and cheating and excessive gambling. The fear of losing one's health turns into obsession and an endless pursuit of you. It's to nothing but more evil.
As individuals and as societies, our moral decay is a result of what we idolize. We replace God's place in the world, and as a result, he judges us by giving us what our idols and what our unrighteous needs lead to. So war, economic inequality, broken homes, crime, and ultimately death are the results of our idolatry. you know practically for us as christians we should fight this idolatry we should fight idolatry in our hearts i don't want to dwell on this too long because i think when we read these verses we are supposed to feel a little bit helpless in the in the face of our unrighteousness but very quickly let me just give you two tools that i found helpful in fighting idolatry first first, bring your idols into the light. I have a friend who became a Christian out of a Hindu background. One of the first things we did in our discipleship was we threw away his idols.
We actually threw them away. So let me tell you, as mystical as those idols look arranged on his windowsill with incense and an offering in front of him, they looked pretty silly in the trash can next to a rotten banana idols look silly when they're brought into the light i feel a little silly telling you that i can idolize my leisure time bring your idols out tell other people without them nothing is worse for an idol than for it to be revealed for what it is secondly fight idolatry by just being busy with other things and let me explain that the natural rhythms of a faithful church member are a great antidote to idolatry. It's hard to love money when you're regularly giving it away. It's hard to idolize leisure time when you're spending a significant time serving other members of the church. Do you idolize your work? Take time during your week to get coffee with someone and encourage each other. Are sports your idol? Use your Sundays
to gather with God's people. I'd encourage everyone here to regularly take a look at our church covenant that we make to think through ways that you, with the means God has given you, can execute it more faithfully. Be busy with simple faithfulness. It honors God and it kills idols. I hope those things are helpful, but like I said, I think we should spend some time because I think this verse should create in us a sense of helplessness in the face of our sin and idolatry. And that brings me to the second point, God's righteous wrath.
God's wrath in this verse is ascribed to something present and active. We've all experienced it. The ultimate end of idolatry and the effects of sin bring nothing good to humanity. We all know that we will one day die and we see the unnatural effects of death all around us. We have two problems because of our sin. Our first problem is that a good God will not let sin go unpunished. I think that all of us at some level want God's wrath to be revealed.
We see injustice and evil in the world, and we want it to be punished. We just don't want to be included in that punishment. But for justice to be met, we as sinners must be punished. The second problem is that we're all hopeless idolaters. The injustice and evil of the world are the result of the same sin that all of us have committed. We've removed God from his rightful place. We are all guilty of idolatry. We, by ourselves, are stuck in a hopeless cycle.
God must punish sinners, and we from birth are idolaters who must be punished. We need something outside of ourselves to save us. We need to understand our helplessness before God so that we can understand the great gift that we have in Jesus. Let me read Mark 4, verses 35 through 41. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, Let us go across to the other side.
And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, Why are you so afraid?
Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Jesus was the only person in history for whom death was not inevitable. We can't imagine that. We can't imagine a life free from the threat of death. Jesus was not deserving of the wrath of God. He never in his heart took God out of his rightful place. He walked with perfect justice and sinned against no one.
While our sin hurts ourselves and others, Jesus only ever blessed and helped those around him. storms stopped at his command, diseases fled at his touch, food multiplied through his prayers. And yet, he willingly went to his death. He didn't have to die, but he chose to die. He chose to take on God's wrath. Jesus is uniquely qualified to save us. He goes to the cross, undeserving of it.
And when God's wrath is poured out on him, It is wrath that comes from other people's idolatry, from our idolatry. Wrath reserved for us goes on to him. God's justice is satisfied. And those who trust in Jesus no longer have to bear the weight and judgment of their own sins. Why would Jesus do this? Why would God go to such lengths? I think the answer is pretty simple. God loves us. So Jonah accurately describes God's character in chapter 4.
I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster. So what does that mean for us? If you are a Christian, it means that whatever wrath you feel because of your sin can serve as nothing but a warning to drive you to Christ and to faithfulness. Death is toothless for you. You don't need to get to a certain self-determined place of victory over one idol or another before you really start pursuing God.
You don't worry about yesterday. You repent and choose faithfulness and trust in Christ today. God's wrath is sure, but his love is also sure. Jesus, because of his love, has satisfied God's wrath. As humans, we are idolaters that have rejected God and replaced the worship of God with the worship of his creation. And as a result, we experience the right judgment of a good God.
But for those of us who are in Christ, that judgment has been satisfied. Let's pray. Lord, when we reflect on our sinfulness, Lord, we can't help but thank you for your grace to us. Lord, we pray that we would know our sin and that it would help us understand your grace even more.
We pray in your Son's name. Amen.