Real Wrath of God Stuff

The rest of Romans chapter 1 is tough going. It is all about "the wrath of God being revealed from heaven." But in chapter 1, this is not end of the world judgment; it is wrath visible NOW on earth, as God allows human beings to eat the consequences of their own choices. We are free to make sinful choices; but we are NOT free to escape the consequences of those choices.

The Root Cause: Truth Suppression (1:18b)

This is somewhat surprising! Many people think if only we could craft the perfect Case for Faith (a la Lee Stroebel) that every reasonable person would have to agree that our faith is true. Paul claims that there is a deeper process going on; people do not believe in, obey or acknowledge God, not because of a lack of evidence, but because of a willing choice to reject God! AFTER that, they suppress the evidence! Jesus said people prefer the darkness to the light "because their deeds were evil." If the mirror shows your face is dirty, you either wash your face or break the mirror. Thus many turn from God's light and willingly prefer darkness.

The Evidence for God

Paul claims it is there, clearly evident for all people. It is actively "shown" by God (Ps. 19); constant, from creation until now; and clearly perceived, a phrase which implies drawing a conclusion from evidence. People who reject God are, in Paul's words, "without excuse." God has revealed Himself, both through nature and through His own intentional communication in words (the Bible) and Word (Jesus). From nature itself, any honest and rational creature should be able to know several things about God: He exists, He must be mighty and wonderful; He is moral and expects morality from us (1:32).

There is a "knowing" that is spiritual, deeper than consciousness. Our blindness toward God is willingly self imposed. To quote John Piper, "Every person we know already knows God, deep down, and knows God's law. That is an astonishing truth for anyone who wants to communicate the gospel." When we do stand before God, when He is revealed to us and we are revealed to ourselves, I do not believe ANY of us will say, as Bertrand Russell claims, "Why did you not make the evidence of your existence more obvious?" Instead, we will say, "I have know all along you were real, and that this day was coming."

Why would human beings make this terrible choice, suppress this truth about God? Tune in next blog time, next blog channel...