Thursday, July 13

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understand from what he has made, so that people are without excuse....  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator -- who is forever praised....  Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.... " (Romans 1:20,25,28)

Paul's writing in Romans lays out the theological background for the truth that (1) "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and (2) "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (3:23; 6:23)

In these verses above, we see the elements that have given birth to sin through the sinful nature.  On its surface, sin often seems better than the alternative of righteousness.  The essence of temptation is that it draws us away from a greater good by offering a lesser good (or not-so-good).

Paul starts by explaining that God's self-revelation has reached all people through Creation.  He argues that God has made His existence clear -- and, beyond that, His "eternal power and divine nature" -- through the created order visible to us all.  Given that revelation, "people are without excuse."  The writer of Hebrews notes that God will reward those who earnestly seek Him; by looking at Creation, we have the capacity and prompting to seek God.

Yet, many people have chosen not to seek God or chosen to seek other things.  How did this happen?  Paul explains that every person has, in part or on the whole, "exchanged the truth of God for a lie."  While this statement sounds like a mental exercise, it really has a spiritual root, as the following phrase makes clear.  That "exchange" leads us to "worship and serve created things rather than the Creator."  Paul points out that the human heart is saturated with worship tissue; we have a genuine direction towards worshiping.  Without the truth of God in our hearts, however, our worship will be polluted and lean towards created things.  This worship -- and the spiritual off-centeredness accompanying it -- causes us to pursue sin rather than to pursue God.  It may bring short-term pleasure, but leads to long-term pain.

Paul wraps us the meta-description here with a comment on the "depraved mind."  With our hearts corrupted and leaning towards worship of created things, we then find our minds in the wrong place.  We may then justify our sin and even celebrate it.  It creates a vicious cycle that pulls us and others away from God.

This challenging passage and the others from Romans 2 and 3 support Paul's longer argument that we need the loving intervention of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Seeing the nature of our sin makes me hungry to know God better and to become renewed in body, mind, and spirit so that I may worship Him completely.  This spiritual battle continues daily, and, in victory and knowing Him better, there is joy.

Lord God, thank You for using Your servant Paul to indicate the truth behind our sinful nature.  Give us grace to seek You with all our hearts, even when depravity is more of our nature.  Reveal Your truth more fully in our lives.  Make us into strong oaks of righteousness.  Help us to turn away from the fleeting pleasures of sin and towards You.  Point out those lies that we have believe that have caused us to stray from You.  We love You and worship You today.  In Jesus's Name, amen.