Opening illustration: Video depicting idol worship (downloaded and edited to reduce duration) ~ puts shame to our worship of the living God.
Let us turn to Romans 1 and check out the kind of worship Paul was talking to the Romans about. Apparently this kind of worship was not new, it had gone on for ages and still does. We will also get some insights from God’s Word as to why this is prevalent in the society, even today.
Introduction: The apostle begins to show that all mankind need the salvation of the gospel, because none could obtain the favor of God, or escape his wrath by their own works. For no man can plead that he has fulfilled all his obligations to God and to his neighbor; nor can any truly say that he has fully acted up to the light afforded him. The sinfulness of man is described as ungodliness against the laws of the first table, and unrighteousness against those of the second. The cause of that sinfulness is holding the truth in unrighteousness. All, more or less, do what they know to be wrong, and omit what they know to be right, so that the plea of ignorance cannot be allowed from any. Our Creator’s invisible power and Godhead are so clearly shown in the works he has made, that even idolaters and wicked Gentiles are left without excuse. They foolishly followed idolatry; and rational creatures changed the worship of the glorious Creator, for that of brutes, reptiles, and senseless images. They wandered from God, till all traces of true religion must have been lost, had not the revelation of the gospel prevented it. For whatever may be pretended, as to the sufficiency of man’s reason to discover Divine truth and moral obligation, or to govern the practice aright, facts cannot be denied. And these plainly show that men have dishonored God by the most absurd idolatries and superstitions; and have degraded themselves by the vilest affections and most abominable deeds.
Why did / does worship shift from ‘The Creator’ to the creatures?
1. Rejecting the ‘Truth’ [God] ~ (vs. 18 – 20)
People’s unrighteousness often leads them to suppress the truth and hold false views of God or the teachings of the Bible because they know that the truth would require that they repent. Why shouldn’t God release His wrath? They have substituted the truth about Him with a fantasy of their own imagination. They have stifled the truth God naturally reveals to all people in order to believe anything that supports their own self-centered life-styles. God cannot tolerate sin because His nature is morally perfect. He cannot ignore or condone such willful rebellion. God wants to remove the sin and restore the sinner – and He is able to, as long as the sinner does not stubbornly distort or reject the truth. But His wrath erupts against those who persist in sinning.
Does anyone have an excuse for not believing in Christ? God’s Word has an answer which is an emphatic ‘No.’ God has revealed what He is like in and through His creation. Every person, therefore, either accepts or rejects God. Don’t be fooled. When the day comes for God to judge our responses to Him, no excuses will be accepted. If people suppress God’s truth in order to live their own way, they have no excuse. They know the truth, and they will have to endure the consequences for ignoring it. Begin today to give your devotion and worship to Him.
Application: Make sure you are not pursuing a fantasy rather than the true God. Don’t suppress the truth about Him merely to protect your own life-style.
Illustration: Consequences for rejecting God have always been disastrous. Every time the Israelites rejected God and worshiped other gods, they ended down in a hole. Every nation or community that has rejected their creator doesn’t last long. The crumbling can be heard at a distance. Many nations and civilizations have just disappeared because of this grievous sin. One of the greatest examples we have in God’s Word ~ the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
2. Embracing ‘Worldly Wisdom’ ~ (vs. 21 – 23)
Paul goes on to insist that men cannot plead ignorance of God. They could have seen what God is like from His handiwork. Their rejection brings upon them the wrath of God, which is the inevitable punishment of sin. In the world we can see God. It is Paul’s argument – and it is completely valid – that if we look at the world ‘suffering follows sin.’ Break the laws of agriculture – the harvest falls. Break the laws of architecture – your building collapses. Break the laws of health – your body suffers. Paul was saying, “Look at the world! See how it is constructed! From a world like that you know what God is like.” The sinner is left without excuse.
But Paul goes a step further. What did the sinner do? How can intelligent people turn to idolatry? Instead of looking out to God, they see themselves as the center of the whole universe. He involved himself in futile (vain, empty, foolish, useless, confused) speculations and though he was wise, while all the time he was a fool. Why so? He was a fool because he made his ideas, his opinions, his speculations the standard and law of life, instead of the will of God. The sinner’s folly consisted in making “man the master of things.” He found his standards in his own opinions and not in the laws of God, because he looked into himself and not out to God. He lived in a self-centered instead of a God centered universe. Instead of walking looking unto God, he walked looking unto himself, and like any man who does not look where he is going, he fell.
What was the result of this? Idolatry! The glory of God was exchanged for images of human and animal forms. What is the root sin of idolatry? Selfishness! A man makes an idol. He brings it offerings and addresses prayers to it. Why? So that his own schemes, dreams and objectives may be achieved. His whole worship is for his own sake and not for God’s sake.
In this passage we are face to face with the fact that the very essence and basis of sin is to put self in the place of God. Sin is when man worships himself instead of God. That is what worldly wisdom is all about ~ to make you happy (because it is all about self) not holy (it is about God)!
Application: Idolaters worship the things God made rather than God Himself. Is there anything you feel you cannot live without? Is there any priority greater than God? Do you have a dream you would sacrifice everything to realize? Does God take first place? Do you worship God or idols of your own making?
Illustration: How many preachers, talk-show hosts, churches and happy-dandy institutions are out there to make you feel good and happy? Be careful not to get lured by their sweet-talk.
3. Slavery to ‘Sin’ ~ (vs. 24 – 25)
These people chose to reject God, and God allowed them to do it. God does not usually stop us from making choices that are against His will. He lets us declare our supposed independence from Him, even though He knows that in time we will become slaves to our own rebellious choices – we will lose our freedom not to sin. A man thinks that sin is for his happiness but in the end it brings ruin, which is apparently very far from holiness, which God desires of each one of us. Does life without God look like freedom to you? Look more closely. There is no worse slavery than slavery to sin.
Lust ~ (epithumia) is the passionate desire for forbidden pleasure. It is the desire which makes men do nameless and shameless things. It is a kind of insanity which makes man do things that he would never have done if this desire had not taken away his sense of honor, prudence and decency. It is the sign of a man who has set his heart on the things and the pleasures which this world can supply and who has completely forgotten the Creator of the world. It is the way of life of a man who has become so completely immersed in the world that he has ceased to be aware of God at all.
Gave them up ~ there is more than that. It is not even condemnation or judgment. It is one of the grim facts of life that sin begets sin. The more a man sins, the easier it is to sin. He may begin by sinning with a kind of shuddering awareness of what he is doing, and end up sinning without a second thought. It is not that God is punishing the man. It is that he is bringing punishment upon himself. He is steadily making himself desensitized to sin and slowly becoming a slave to sin.
Application: People tend to believe lies that reinforce their own selfish personal beliefs. Today, more than ever, we need to be careful about the input we allow to form our beliefs. With TV, music, movies and the rest of the media often presenting sinful life-styles and unwholesome values, we find ourselves constantly bombarded by attitudes and beliefs that are totally opposed to God’s Word. Be careful about what you allow to form your opinions. The Bible is the only standard of truth. Evaluate all other opinions in the light of its teachings.
Illustration: Two girlfriends go to Mexico for a visit and smuggle in a giant mouse to the US assuming it to be a puppy. It wheezes throughout the night and they just pet and snuggle him to bring relief to his pain. In the morning they take him to the Vet who discloses to them that it is a rat with rabies. Unassumingly that is exactly how sin can creep into ones life and then bring utter destruction.
Conclusion: Though there is no mention of fire and brimstone at this point in Romans, there is a process underway that is not altogether distinct from hell. If people really want their sinful lifestyles, then the awesome reality is God will give them over to it. As C. S. Lewis as aptly remarked, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell chose it.” The point is that although Paul is not talking about hell here, and indeed there is still hope for these people, there is nonetheless a continuum between their present existence and their future plight. If a person really wants God out of their thoughts, as these people most definitely do, Love has decided to provide a place in the end where they can choose to go and never have to think about him again.
Rejecting God, embracing the worldly ways and wisdom and living a life-style of sin has assisted man in shifting his worship from God to His creatures. If we are one of them, the end result is evident from past analogies. We just hope that we learn a good lesson from them and continue to worship only and alone our Creator, our Father in heaven in Jesus name, Amen!
