Good News, Bad News
Intro: Two 90-year-old women, Rose and Barb, had been friends all of their lives. When it was clear that Rose was dying, Barb visited her every day. One day Barb said, "Rose, we both loved playing softball all our lives, and we played all through High School. Please do me one favor: when you get to Heaven, somehow you must let me know if there’s women’s softball there."
Rose looked up at Barb from her deathbed and said, "Barb, you’ve been my best friend for many years. If it’s at all possible, I’ll do this favor for you." Shortly after that, Rose passed on.
At midnight a few nights later, Barb was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to her, "Barb, Barb."
"Who is it?" asked Barb, sitting up suddenly. "Who is it?"
"Barb, it’s me, Rose."
"You’re not Rose. Rose just died."
"I’m telling you, it’s me, Rose," insisted the voice.
"Rose! Where are you?"
"In Heaven," replied Rose. "I have some really good news and a little bad news."
"Tell me the good news first," said Barb.
"The good news," Rose said, "is that there’s Softball in Heaven. Better yet all of our old buddies who died before us are here, too. Better than that, we’re all young again. Better still, it’s always springtime, and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play softball all we want, and we never get tired."
"That’s fantastic," said Barb. "It’s beyond my wildest dreams! So what’s
the bad news?"
"You’re pitching Tuesday." [yelp.com]
-Well, today we will be talking about some good news and bad news. When you think about it, the message that God provided a way for us to do life with Him is good news because our condition without God is bad news! The bad news we will read about in Romans 1:18-32 is that mankind as a whole has rejected God and traded in His glory for cheap trinkets.
-In Rom. 1:17 we see that the good news reveals God’s righteousness to us by faith, showing that righteous people live (or share in God’s life) by having faith in God. But in Rom. 1:18-32 we see the bad news revealed: Godless people will incur the wrath or judgment of God.
-Mankind started off sharing in God’s life and righteousness. They knew nothing else but the righteousness and goodness of God from the beginning. However, after our very first human parents sinned, people began taking steps away from God. They began to live as if there was no God. This downward spiral of Godlessness is what we read about in the next several verses. It is lengthy, but I’d like to go ahead and read it aloud.
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 men are without excuse. 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. 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. 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. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
-Let’s take a few minutes to identify some important thoughts from these verses that show us why this world needs the good news so badly.
I. Knowledge of God is given to all
Romans 1:19-21 “…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 men are without excuse. 21 … they knew God …
-God is in plain sight! Did it ever occur to you that there was a time or two in history when every single human being on this earth knew God? Certainly Adam and Eve, but I’d go years beyond that. Even after they had to leave the Garden of God, their children, including Cain, knew God. God actually spoke to Cain, trying to teach him to live by faith instead of doing things his own way. After Cain killed his brother, he went away from the presence of the Lord, which is characteristic of all of us at one time or another.
-Later, Noah and his family all knew God- even though at least one of his sons may have been influenced by the wickedness of the day before the flood. My point is that it has always taken a deliberate moving away from God for people to become godless and unrighteous. God is in plain sight and people choose to either trust Him or reject Him.
- Abraham Lincoln said, “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”
-Job declared, 12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you. 8 Or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, 10 in whose hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all the human race” (Job 12:7-10)
-The psalmist wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4).
-Although God is invisible, the qualities of His nature “are clearly seen.” Everything in the universe that people can perceive with their senses has the mark of God upon it and bears witness to His power and deity.
-To the animals below us the phenomena of nature may just be a spectacle before their eyes, but make no impressions on their minds. But to man, they have a language, a communication. They awake wonder, awe, a basic idea of God and His righteousness.
-It was the purpose of God to remove from man all possible excuse for ignorance of Himself. Nobody will be able to say, “I had no idea there was a God.” But just knowing there is a God will not save you. Just knowing there is a lifeboat on a ship may not save you. You have to get in! Well, a lot of people did just the opposite. Instead of getting in, they decided to make it up as they went along.
II. Trading off the Truth
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. 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.
-Just as the devil deceived Eve into thinking that God wasn’t really who He said He was, so mankind bought into this same lie and started making God up!
-Since all nations come from one original family it follows that all nations once had some knowledge of the truth originally given to mankind.
-W. E. Vine writes, “Man is essentially constituted a worshipper. If he abandons the worship of God, some other object will be found to take the place of the Creator.”
-To reject God, to turn away from the light, naturally brings darkness. Here we see the beginning of idolatry.
-John Phillips gives an example of the irrational thinking that comes when the one true God is not accepted or known: "In India all things are looked upon as sacred. Snakes and crocodiles, monkeys and cows are all venerated in varying degrees. To kill a cow is as bad as murder, and to eat its flesh is an act of cannibalism. India cannot feed its own starving millions, yet two hundred million head of cattle are allowed to wander far and wide competing with man for food and damaging standing crops. Not even the government of India can liberate the nation from the cow’s divinity, its efforts to do so being met with stubborn opposition from the deluded people."
-Another example of the foolishness of the man who rejects God is the theory of evolution. One reason why it has such a hypnotic effect on the mind of modern man, despite its shortcomings and continued “missing links,” is that it gives man a working hypothesis for rejecting God. The unbeliever can “explain” the universe in terms of natural causes. The theory is plausible enough to convince those who wish to be convinced. But you never get a fair deal when you trade off the truth.
III. Results of Living the Lie
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. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Twisted Desires (sexual impurity, shameful lusts)
Idolatry
A Depraved Mind
Every Kind of Wickedness
Thumbing their noses at God
-Now you know I can’t leave you with such a dismal picture. We need to know that man is not basically good at heart. Even though there are many people who don’t follow Christ who do good things, where did that goodness come from? Where did they get the sense of good or bad, right or wrong? Where did the ideas of love, happiness, peace, patience, gentleness, and goodness come from? You can trace it back to their Creator and those who trust in Him.
-Man is not good when left to himself. We need some serious help! And that is the good news, the gospel- the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes! The righteous will live by faith in the God of the Bible. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes because He is already absolutely good and right and just and everything He claims to be in His word! Do you know Him? (Optional- That’s My King)
-If not, He is calling out to you today from the pages of His word. He is calling your name so you will come home to Him. If you will put your trust in Him, He will forgive you and make you righteous, just as He promised! Even if you could put a check mark by every sin we read about today, the gospel is the power of God that can save you! No sin is too great or too small for what Jesus did for you on the cross. If you want to receive Him today, I’d like to pray with you.
-If you’ve already accepted Christ, I hope you will continue to live and tell the good news about Jesus. Tell your story! It matters! You have something to share! Don’t keep it to yourself. Others need what you have! And always remember that you were lost once, but now you’re found. You were blind, but now you see. And it’s all because of God’s amazing grace!
[Portions of this message borrowed from Jonathan McLeod’s sermon on sermoncentral.com, Will God Excuse Mankind?]
