The Once and Future Sin

Scripture: But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts. Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day. Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn’t admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead. Romans 1:18-22

Observation: Paul outlines his understanding of the issues pertaining to nature of the issues of the Roman way of life as this ... while all mankind knows that God exists, they choose to reject him, create their own ideas, and intentionally live a life aligned to their wishes instead.

Application: If Paul were writing to the "Church in Seattle" in 2021, he would clearly say ... the EXACT same thing.

I often consider the fact that ~71% of people claim they are not Christian, and yet every single one of them either knows something of God, or has an understanding of God's nature, and makes explicit decisions to reject this knowledge for various alternative truths they choose. Some believe they are rejecting God and God's nature based on scientific observations, or based on a perception of justice, or based on a preferred concept of love, or based on their own self-sufficiency. Paul goes on to tie this to sexual acts, and that is re-enforced in modern life ... where foolish minds create concepts like gender fluidity, that respect involves how we use pronouns, and all kinds of ideas that even the proponents describe as confusion.

But the core issue is this: People actually know of God. He has put knowledge in their hearts. All people long for meaning, purpose, and understanding of creation. They have as their first thought about it all, the truth ... that there exists a creator with great eternal power who desires love and good for all. And they instead push away that truth and come up with silly ideas about what God is really like, then work beyond that to find dark confusion about the world, and ultimately fall into foolishness.

Paul says that their judgment will be based on this fact ... they actually know deep down that God exists. If for no other reason, they know this because they have made - and usually re-make often - a decision to actively reject God.

The great sin - the sin of Israel and Judah, the sin of Rome, and the sin today - is rejecting God in favor of a different priority to worship. It always has been, and always will be.

Prayer: Lord, I was once someone who consciously rejected you, so I understand that thinking. If I can be used to help others rethink that decision, here I am. Amen.