Our Need For A Savior Series

Our need for a savior Romans 1:18-32

We are told of the sin problem from the beginning of the Bible. Genesis chapter 3 explains the origin of sin, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. The results of sin quickly spiral out of control when Cain, the first son of Adam, kills his brother. The problem of sin runs through every book of the Bible.

The law of the Old Testament is a system dealing with our sin problem. The system of law in the Old Testament tells us that God has a standard of righteousness that we can never meet. We cannot save ourselves. God is holy and we are sinners.

Romans lays out the sin problem of man like no other book of the Bible. The tragedy of sin is in full view. Sin destroys individuals, families, and societies. Romans lays out the problem and gives the solution.

This passage of Scripture lays out the seriousness of our sin and the consequences of our sin. And is there a silver lining to this great problem you may ask? Oh yes! The book tells us how we have righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ that we could never obtain through the system of the law. The fellowship with God that was lost in the Garden of Eden is restored in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ through our faith in Christ.

God’s creation leaves us without excuse Romans 1:18-20

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, 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.

God has revealed himself through nature. What is for you the most wonderous aspect of nature? Its it the Himalayan mountains? Have you ever seen bioluminescent plankton? What about the complexities of the human brain? There are countless natural wonders that should tell you God exists. Our creation has a creator, and that creator is almighty God. The creator God revealing himself through his creation is called natural revelation. We look at the stars of the sky and we are made aware of the power of God.

People are without excuse for their sin. There are those who will suppress the truth and they will experience the wrath of God. That does not give people an excuse for their sin. God has made himself known. The wonder of the natural order known as general revelation is enough to hold you accountable for your sin.

The foolish exchange Romans 1:21-24

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. 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 a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

People have enough knowledge of God through natural revelation to understand there is a God. But instead of seeking how do they know this God they have taken a foolish dark path that has led them to depraved thinking and actions. That has happened because they fail to acknowledge God.

Those who claim the intellectual superiority are the ones acting like fools. If there is an intelligence quotient IQ and an emotional intelligence EQ these claiming to be wise have the low spiritual intelligence quotient, I suppose we can call SQ. If a high IQ individual has turned their back on seeking God, they have become an intelligent fool. Jesus gave the parable of the rich fool, but this is a different kind of person who would be the intelligent fool.

Worship the creator, not the creation Romans 1:25

25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

What is a watershed? A watershed drains all the water into a river system leading to a lake or ocean. At the great continental divide in the United States, we have two watersheds. On one side all rainfall ends up in the Pacific Ocean and on the other just nearby the water ends up in the Atlantic Ocean. This is rainfall that fell at almost the same spot yet, ended up in two drastically different places.

Worshiping the creation instead of the creator is one of those watershed dividing points. It takes you to two drastically different places. How can this happen? Let’s take an example. A farmer has a cow and during a hard time the farmer has no food to feed his family. But the cow provides milk through the whole difficult period and because of that wonderful cow and the milk provided he was able to keep his family alive. He is grateful of course. He is grateful for the cow and the provision that kept his family alive.