"The Just Wrath of God" Romans 1:18–25

The reading for this morning is Romans 1 verses 18 to 25.

Romans 1:18–25

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,

! who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature,

have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse.

For although they know God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him,

but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God

for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creepy things.

Creeping.

Therefore God gave them up in their lusts of their hearts to impurity,

to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.

Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature

rather than the creator, who is blessed forever.

Amen.

A couple weeks ago in Romans chapter 1, 16 and 17,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

we read how the gospel is the power and revealed righteousness of God.

And a very important question that we didn't answer last week,

but that follows Romans chapter 1, 16 and 17, is this.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Why does humanity need God to show his power and righteousness to us?

The answer to that question can be a source of great discomfort, even offense.

For our text this week, Romans 1, 18 to 25,

will tell us that humanity needs the gospel of God to save us from the wrath of God.

The wrath, as we'll find out, is directed at all of humanity for their moral and social corruption,

and that no one is exempt.

And such a God in 21st century Ottawa, 2026,

it seems such a God is aggressive and unrelenting and maybe even vindictive.

Where is the love?

Where is the grace?

Where is the acceptance?

Where is gentle Jesus, meek and mild?

It's a very uncomfortable question to wrestle with about God's wrath.

And yet, it's a question that the church has wrestled with for centuries.

In fact, one of the earliest issues that arose in the church,

one of the earliest controversies,

came in the second century with a man named Marcion.

And he decided to do something about this wrathful and angry God that he found in the Bible.

And what he ended up doing was taking the Bible and chopping it up,

bringing a giant pair of scissors to it,

cutting out the entire Old Testament,

cutting out large portions of the New Testament,

so that all that was left was this benevolent and loving God.

Any hint of wrath, any hint of anger was gone.

And it's been like this throughout the centuries,

throughout the history of the church.

The wrath of God is a very uncomfortable thing that Christians wrestle with.

But as we're going to see in the text today,

the wrath of God is actually a key aspect of who God is.

It's not to say that you can just remove or downplay the wrath of God

and lift up or elevate, rather, his love.

But the wrath of God is a key aspect of who he is.

In fact, it is in keeping with his righteousness.

For both his righteousness and his wrath are introduced by Paul in the exact same way.

Two weeks ago, when we were in Romans 1, 16 and 17,

Paul says in verse 17 that the righteousness of God is being revealed.

And here in verse 18, he'll talk about the wrath of God that is being revealed.

Paul speaks of both righteous, God's righteousness and his wrath,

introducing it in the same type of way.

So we're going to look at what the wrath of God is

and why it is rightly directed at sinful and corrupted humanity.

And we'll see that God's wrath is rightly directed

at those who suppress the truth,

those who steal God's honor,

and those who misplace their worship to other things and other people

beside the one true God.

We have a lot of ground to cover.

So if you want to turn to page 8 of your scripture journal

or Romans 1, verse 18 in your Bible,

Romans 1:18

we'll jump right into it.

So we'll look at God's wrath that is directed and revealed

to those who suppress the truth,

verses 18 to 20.

And this is what it says.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven

against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men

who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them

because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes,

namely his eternal power and divine nature,

have been clearly perceived

ever since the creation of the world

in the things that have been made

so they are without excuse.

So a really important first point to make

is that the wrath of God here

isn't this kind of symbolic way

to speak of the consequences of evil.

There's a great temptation to, like Marcion,

save God from his wrath.

That we need to do some reputation therapy for the Lord

so that he does not come across as a wrathful God.

So wrath could be potentially understood

as more of like a euphemism of something else

except that right off the bat in verses 18,

we see that the wrath of God is actually a personal wrath.

It's manifested by God himself.

It is not this idea of something,

of the just consequences of evil,

but rather it is wrath from God himself

as if wrath would come from me or from you.

This is what it means when the apostle says

that the wrath is being revealed from heaven

for that is God's dwelling place.

It's an important observation

because God's personal wrath implies

that the offense that provokes it

for all the consequences and the collateral damage

that comes about from such evil

is first and foremost against God.

The offense that provokes God's wrath

is an evil rebellion

against his person,

against who he is and what he has done.

It denies God as the eternal king,

as creator and as Lord.

It seeks to destroy or corrupt or malign

God's good design

and properly ordered creation.

Because we do not have the power to do so,

we instead attempt to suppress the truth.

So it's as if we say to God,

you are not worthy to be God,

you are not worthy to sit on your throne,

we will be the ones who will take over

and yet we do not have the power to do so.

So we go on a bit of a smear campaign.

We suppress the truth.

We deny that God exists.

And because we can deny that God exists,

it frees us from his supposed tyrannical rule.

And Paul describes such behavior

as ungodliness and unrighteousness.

It's an evil first against God

and then it's an evil then

that leads us to denigrate

and to downplay the integrity of fellow people.

We suppress the truth.

And this is something that all humans,

Paul says, are guilty of.

Every person has knowledge that there is a God

and yet every person in some way or another

suppresses the truth.

It's an audacious claim that Paul makes here.

Every human heart understands

that there is a divine creator.

It's a bit of a difficult thing to wrestle with

because many of us know people that are atheists.

Maybe we ourselves are good churchgoers,

but if we are oppressed,

maybe we have atheistic tendencies

or atheistic thoughts, atheistic beliefs.

And yet Paul says,

every human heart understands

that there is a divine creator.

He is, verse 20,

eternally powerful and divine,

meaning that he is not some mortal super being

or a figment of one's imagination,

that he is eternal and divine.

And this is something that God has revealed

in the created world for all of humanity to see.

So theologians throughout the centuries

have called this God's natural revelation,

that the invisible and unknowable God

has made himself visible and knowable to humanity.

And he's done this in at least three different ways.

The first is through creation.

The world we live in is vast and complex.

It's capable of supporting life

and not just supporting life,

but seeing life flourish.

Everything is perfectly calibrated and intertwined.

consider the cosmos

and the sheer size of the universe we inhabit.

To think that all of this is a result of chance and time

is to be blind to a designer,

an intelligent designer,

God as designer.

Sir Isaac Newton,

he speaks of God's intelligent design this way.

He says,

in the absence of any proof,

the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence.

The second way,

and I'm going a bit quickly through

these examples of God's natural revelation,

the second way that God has made himself noble

is through beauty.

That there is something that can be observed

objectively as beautiful,

and that this is proof that life isn't merely about survival,

but that it is about enjoyment

and an elevation of the spirit.

This is key to our existence.

Good music and good song

and good poetry and good art.

All of it,

it is the means by which beauty is conveyed

and it seems that it is not just

something that is peripheral,

but is rather integral.

It is something that we need to see.

A life devoid of beauty

is a life devoid of goodness,

a life devoid of enjoyment,

and ultimately it points to a source of beauty.

And then finally,

God has revealed himself

in the universality of morality,

of ethics,

meaning that whenever there is injustice felt,

wherever there is theft or murder or deception or abuse,

and the like,

it is identified as not good.

Conversely,

benevolence and joy and love

in its purest forms,

it is recognized and it is heralded as good.

And these things

mean that we can know

what is right and wrong objectively,

and it isn't merely a social construct

or socially conditioned.

All such knowledge and creation

and beauty and morality,

they are means by which God makes himself known to all

and reveals our need to be connected

and reconciled with him.

Whether we can articulate it

in a biblical way or not,

God has left

proof of his existence

and has put within us

a yearning to

touch

the transcendent

to in

some way

connect with

the divine.

However,

this is where we bump up

against the limits

of natural revelation.

For although it reveals

our need to be connected to God,

our desire to be connected to him,

it doesn't offer salvation.

Or put another way,

natural revelation

shows us our need for salvation,

our need to

be reconciled with God,

but it cannot be our means

of salvation.

Yet Paul says

that all this

was denied

and suppressed.

There is no God,

or if

the God of the scripture

is not that God,

then his lordship

has no claim upon us.

functionally,

we

function,

rather,

as people

that are in open rebellion

to God,

denying his existence

or at the very least

denying his lordship.

And unfortunately for us,

suppressing the truth

has dire consequences.

It will limit our ability

to know what truly

makes us human

and what our purpose is

because all that makes

humanity truly human,

it has to be connected

to God

for he is the one

who made us,

he designed us,

he has breathed life

into us.

We are made in his image

and his likeness

and most importantly

for his glory and purposes.

It means that our

our existence

has

a true

end,

a true telos

and it is found

in union

with God himself.

But in a pluralistic

society,

especially one we live in,

all of this

can be easily denied.

I mean,

again,

you know atheists,

your friends,

family members,

again,

maybe you yourself,

you're wrestling with it

and a lot of these

people live very good

and moral

and upright lives.

The God of the Bible

or any other God

for that matter

can be denied

and life seems

to continue to flourish,

progress continues

unabated,

but is that really

the case?

This leads to our

second point

that the wrath

of God

is revealed

against those

who steal his honor.

Look with me

at verses 21

and 22.

For although

they knew God,

they did not honor

him as God

or give thanks to him,

but they became futile

in their thinking

and their foolish hearts

were darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools.

Paul is doing

something subtle

but unmistakable.

He is universalizing

this open rebellion

against God

by linking it

not to culture,

not to an era,

not to a specific

social or ethnic group,

but to the very first

parents of all

of humanity

because this is

a very subtle

but unmistakable link

to the opening chapters

of Genesis.

So what Paul is doing

here in this section

but really in all

of verses 18

to 32,

he is rehearsing

the fall of man

that we can read about

in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

When sin entered

the world,

when mankind

became corrupted

and bent,

such suppression

of the truth

has been happening

since the very beginning

in every place

and among every people

ever since.

It always culminates

in idolatry,

idolatry being

the worship of any,

sorry,

the worshiping of

and sacrificing

to something

or someone

other than God.

In this case,

mankind tries to

claim creation

apart from God,

feeling justified

in being more

than just a steward

of God's good creation

and a worshiper

of God.

Instead,

we assume

the role

of creator,

claiming with

such bravado

that we can truly

enjoy life

apart from

the one true God.

We say to ourselves

that we are

the change makers.

We are the

beauty creators.

We are the

benevolent ones.

We are the ones

worthy to be glorified

and honored.

There's no honor

directed to God,

no thanksgiving

for his gift of life,

no recognition

of his goodness

and provision

of grace,

understanding

that the entire

cosmos,

all of creation,

was designed

by him

intelligently

and lovingly

for our benefits.

I've likened it

in some ways

to stolen valor,

if you've seen it

on the news

around Remembrance Day

or Veterans Day

in the States,

people that have

never served

will dress up

in military dress

and take part

in a ceremony

as if they served,

as if they sacrificed

and it is incredibly

offensive

to steal

the honor

of those

that have served,

veterans

or active

duty members

of the armed forces

and it's very

similar

to what we are

doing

only on a very,

very more

grand scale.

We try to steal

God's honor

and his valor.

We do not

thank him

for who he is

and ironically,

we do not produce

this new

or better creation

or even build

and approve

upon the existing one

but only distort

and corrupt

God's good

and godly design.

I watched a movie

so I was sick

all week.

I watched way

too much

Netflix and Prime

but I ended up

watching a movie

that highlighted

a type of

architecture

called brutalism

and it was

an alright story.

We talk about

the movie after

but the one thing

about architecture,

brutalist architecture

is that it is

devoid of beauty

and you could say

well listen,

there's meaning

behind it,

there's,

you know,

okay,

I'm not convinced

personally

that brutalism

could ever be beautiful

and I think

in some ways

when we engage

in creation

that does not

look to the Lord,

does not recognize

who he is,

does not bring honor

to him,

then we end up

building something

that does not

seem beautiful

or good

or doesn't bring

our eyes up

to the divine

to transcend

this world

but instead

it leaves us

kind of feeling

cold

and it feels

ugly

and I think

it's very clear

that this is

the outworking

of Adam's

rebellion.

Here's the thing,

such stolen honor

and the suppression

of the truth

causes a great deal

of delusion.

We fashion ourselves

as being more clever

than we are,

we reimagine the world

in our own image

and with our own

ideals

and in doing so

what we do

is we cut ourselves

from the source

of wisdom

and knowledge

and beauty

and goodness

so that in thinking

we are wise

we become utterly foolish.

This is what the apostle

is getting at

in verses 21 and 22.

Verse 22,

claiming to be wise

they have become fools.

By the way,

this is a reflection

of our intellect.

The modern materialistic

atheistic mind

has created

incredible technologies,

has deciphered

many mysteries

but its end

is always

in self-congratulation

and self-aggrandizement.

Never for the glory

of God.

Never thanking him

or honoring him.

Never helping

other people

look up

and turn their gaze

upward.

Therefore our minds

never truly ascend

or become enlightened.

They only become

more clouded

and darkened.

And now we begin

to understand

how the wrath of God

is revealed here

because we see

that God leaves us

to reap what we sow.

As we shed his good

and godly lordship

we find that we

are no longer connected

to this source

and substance

of life

because God

doesn't simply

create the world

but he sustains

the world

by his power

in Hebrews chapter 1

Hebrews 1:3

verse 3.

So we have no hope

of supplanting him,

of kicking him

off the throne

and doing a better job

than him.

We are powerless

to do what only

he can do.

We can't create a world

and we certainly

can't sustain it.

And in God's

just wrath

what does he do?

He allows us

to feel the futility

of our thinking

and the outworking

of our actions

to know the darkness

of our foolish hearts.

We'll see this

in the next section

as we see

the utter futility

of misplaced worship.

Read with me

verses 22

to 25.

Claiming to be wise

they became fools

and exchanged

the glory

of the immortal God

for images

resembling mortal man

and birds

and animals

and creeping things.

Therefore God

gave them up

in the lusts

of their hearts

to impurity

to the dishonoring

of their bodies

among themselves

because they exchanged

the truth about God

for a lie

and worshipped

and served the creature

rather than the creator

who is forever blessed.

Amen.

The knowledge of God

should lead us

to worship him.

It should begin

the pursuit

of knowing him

in deeper ways

engaging with him

and transcending

this life

to enter

into the divine life

with the transcendent God

or at least

die trying.

That's what it should

lead to.

However as we have seen

the suppression

of the truth

of God

and the subsequent

theft of his glory

and honor

render such a pursuit

impossible.

You cannot worship

one you deny.

You cannot worship

one whom you steal

glory from.

But friends

that doesn't mean

we're not worshipers.

Our worship

is merely

redirected from God

to something else.

So throughout the Bible

the understanding

is not

if humans worship

but what do they worship

or who do they worship.

The Bible takes for granted

that human beings worship.

We are worshipping beings.

It's the way God

has created us.

And the who

and most often

here in Ottawa

it's the what

we worship.

the what we worship

will dictate

how we live.

And in every case

misplaced worship

away from

the one

true triune God

and towards

other things

it will always

result

in some form

of immorality.

And this is what

Paul is referring to

here in verse 24.

Verse 24

he says

therefore God

gave them up.

By the way

we'll see this

next week

when we

look at

verses 22

to the end

of 32

that God

that the

Apostle Paul

will say

that God

gave them up

three different

times.

It's the way

in which God

reveals his

justice.

He gives us

over

lets us

reap what we

sow

but that God

gave us

up

to

the lusts

of our

flesh

literally

our

desires

but our

over desires

our desires

without

limits

without

any kind

of checks

such

over desires

of the

heart

lead to

impurity

to the

dishonoring

of our

bodies

among

ourselves.

So next

week we're

going to

look at

how such

giving over

to these

over desires

will touch

every aspect

of who we

are including

our sexuality

but even

here in

verses 24

and 25

we begin

to see

how God

gives us

up to

feel the

full extent

of our

misplaced

worship

as our

desires

are unrestrained

as they

are over

desires.

So let me

give a few

examples.

If we

over desire

success

above all

what will we

do to get

that success?

We will

sacrifice our

integrity

our commitments

to family

our ethics

may go out

the window

they may

no longer

seem like a

strength but a

liability

we will do

whatever we

can to

be successful

and ironically

the true

form of

success isn't

the accumulation

of things

or titles

but is to

have well

ordered

loving

relationships.

So a

well

sorry

for

over desire

for success

will not

result in

success in

the end

but will

instead result

in a life

that is

broken.

If we

over desire

belonging or

respect above

all we will

compromise our

convictions

we'll take

offense easily

we will not

offer forgiveness

liberally

it's a recipe

for loneliness

it is not a

recipe for

respect or

belonging

and you could

fill in some

more I'll give

one final

example if we

over desire

pleasure

we can see

people not

as worthy

of integrity

but as

objects to

use lust

will be

justified

as necessary

maybe even

integral

to who we

are self

control

will go out

the window

will be

downplayed

we will

never know

real pleasure

only the

painful pursuit

of chasing

after something

we can never

attain.

This is

what the

apostle Paul

is saying

that the

wrath of

God is

being

revealed

how?

By God

giving us

up to

our own

over desires

to reap

what we

sow.

We begin

to see this

full picture

of God's

revealed

wrath

it is

giving us

what our

truth

suppressing

valor

stealing

misplaced

worshiping

hearts

overly

desire

God no

longer

shields us

from ourselves

so that we

experience

rather the

fullness

of our

futility

not the

fullness

of his

goodness

friends

such a

life will

not lead

to godliness

or righteousness

but to

again we

see this

in verses

18 and

19

ungodliness

and unrighteousness

and this is

always a

lesser life

it is always

a subpar

existence

this is the

core of

idolatry

we sacrifice

and sacrifice

and sacrifice

for a promise

that will never

deliver

psalm 115

says that

those that

sacrifice to

idols become

like them

which is to

say less

human

broken and

frail

but praise

be to god

there is a

better way

see unlike the

false gods that

we find ourselves

worshiping and

sacrificing to

the triune god

does not demand

our sacrifice

for appeasement

and satisfaction

of his wrath

for he knows

we are incapable

of such a

sacrifice

instead

god the son

of god

comes to us

taking upon

himself human

flesh

becoming fully

human and

offering himself

as a sacrifice

for us

in order that

we

putting our

trust in him

are no longer

subject to the

just wrath

of god

why

how

for we

begin

by faith

to come

under his

good and

godly rule

we recognize

that the

righteousness

and the

power we

need are

not found

within but

our gifts

from without

to be received

by faith

and as we

learn to live

according to

his ways

trusting in

his word

our lives

become fashioned

according to

his will

and by his

power we

begin to

flourish as

he intended

us to

flourish

and that

doesn't mean

by the way

that we

will live

materially

better lives

but that we

will have a

satisfaction

and a joy

we will know

a love

that will

transcend this

life into

the life to

come

we will know

our telos

we will know

our purpose

we will know

our end

our lives

will become

rightly ordered

we can

then learn

to live

not by lies

learn to

give glory

and honor

and thanksgiving

to god

we will learn

to rightly

worship him

as the only

one worthy

of all

honor and

praise

and then we

begin to

enjoy life

for what

it is

a gift

and if you

were here

through ecclesiastes

this is really

a huge message

of ecclesiastes

the joy

of a rightly

ordered life

if your life

is not rightly

ordered this

morning

and I'm sure

there are

parts of

your life

that are

certainly

not rightly

ordered

where you

have over

desires

and they

are wreaking

havoc

maybe you're

good at

suppressing

them

in some

kind of

way

to do

a bit

of crisis

management

but if

you're

honest

you have

a problem

with suppressing

the truth

you have a

problem

with not

giving god

the honor

and glory

and thanksgiving

he deserves

you have a

problem with

worshiping

other things

and not

the one

true god

who is

eternally

blessed

forever

amen

then look

to him

call out

to him

confess

your sin

to him

confess

your need

for him

and watch

what he

will do

ask him

to rightly

order your

lives

and friends

by god's

good

grace

and kindness

he will

help you

will you

embrace

the gospel

by faith

this morning