By Pastor Will Kang

Romans 1:21-28

According to these verses, what happens when people fail to respond to the knowledge of God that is available to all humanity? Their thinking becomes futile and their foolish hearts become darkened. They become fools and they end up worshipping an aspect of creation instead of the immortal God. Why are there these natural consequences to not responding to our knowledge of God?

Because the truth is that God exists, that he is the creator, and he is the reason behind our own existence. To ignore God or the worship of God is to ignore reality and truth. And so those who ignore the knowledge of God must construct his own explanation for existence of the world and for his desire for worship. And so he worships something that he sees or experiences. He worships something temporary. This is futile thinking because, first, it is not true, and second it leads to the horrible consequence of judgment.

Note the “exchanges” described in the text. What is so tragic and absurd about these exchanges?

What is tragic is that men exchange greater for lesser, eternal for temporary, the creator for creation. What is absurd about these exchanges is that they don’t make sense if you look at the values that are being exchanged.

Are there areas of my life in which I have “exchanged” a God-given blessing with something that is inferior? What lasting consequences have I reaped from these “exchanges?”

When I was in high school I exchanged the God given blessings of church and my faith for a life of enjoying what the world had to offer. In other words I thought that what I could enjoy from the world was much more valuable and exciting than what I could enjoy from the church and from God. And so I stopped going to church to enjoy what the world had to offer. And what the world had to offer was vices. I thought that these vices wouldn’t affect me, but they did. They negatively affected my thinking, my values and my heart.

What does the recurring statement “God gave them over” say about the nature of God’s judgment?

What this says is that God ultimately gives people what they want. God is not necessarily punishing them because he hates them for not believing him. He just gave them what they wanted. Some people don’t feel it worthwhile to know God and to honor God as god. And so, he needs to provide a place where they can continue to do what they want.

Reflect on the state of this world as described in these verses. How much does this heighten my sense of mission in this world?

This text greatly heightens my sense of mission. The world is fallen and it desperately needs God What changes do I need to make in my life in order to fulfill my mission in this world? One thing that I can do is to recognize that my primary identity as a Christian is to be an ambassador for Christ. I must recognize that my place on this earth, as a Christian, is not to find happiness or to fulfill all of my dreams. Rather it is to help Jesus fulfill the great commission to spread the gospel message to others.