Wrath of God Revealed

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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. Romans 1:18-20

Background Notes written by Pastor Bob Brown
Pastor of Adult Education and Sunday Evening Worship

No doubt about it! I was without excuse! The security guard caught me with the stolen baseballs in my coat pocket. He marched me and my two accomplices into a back room and did the thing I dreaded most...he called my dad.

There were no formal charges filed against me, because I faced the ultimate punishment for my crime as I faced the wrath (anger) of my dad. What was I to do? There was no pleading my case. No blaming anyone else. I knew that stealing was wrong, but I chose to take what wasn’t mine. I suppressed the truth to get what I wanted with no regard for its impact. In doing so, my punishment was just and deserving.

And so it is with God, His punishment will be just, His wrath is revealed against all the godlessness and wickedness of men. The sad thing is we are all without excuse! The Bible tells us “since the creation of the world His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…” Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Ever look up at a clear starry sky and stand in awe? What about a beautiful sunrise or sunset when the sky is splashed with a myriad of colors? Something deep inside whispers, “this can’t be all there is” –

In spite of us being without excuse, many choose to become fools, exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. They choose to exchange the truth of God for a lie, worshiping and serving created things rather than the Creator. Because of these choices God gives them over to their sinful desires (Romans 1:22-26).

Exchanging the truth of God for a lie is a “result of clear human choices that are guided by strong motives. There is nothing accidental about human sinfulness, nor are human beings the innocent victims of a cosmic conspiracy over which they have no control…human beings want to live a certain way and therefore they find ways to control the truth according to their liking.” (BN, 14)

And God, because of man’s choices, gives them over to a depraved mind, since they don’t think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of Him. The sad thing is they know the punishment of these choices is death, but they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:28-32).

The Bad News is Bad News, but there is HOPE in the Good News! God did not leave us without Hope as Paul declares in the beginning of Romans, the Good News is “the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes“(BN, 22).

Dig Deeper by reading through the sermon notes prepared by Rev. Bob Brown – Bad News Good News