Parents, teachers, policemen, and judges all have one thing in common: they regularly hear excuses. One classmate in the seventh grade notoriously told Ms. Clarke, our geography teacher, concerning his homework, "I did my homework, Ms. Clarke, but I left it on the T.V. set." Of course, Ms. Clarke knew that he didn't leave his homework on the television set because he didn't do it in the first place! Just as the parent or policeman or judge knows that the barrage of excuses are just that—thinly veiled lies masquerading as legitimate reasons for neglected responsibilities.
We've all made excuses—lots of them! And the reason is quite simple. We all recognize that authority exists in the world; and even more, that we have responsibilities before those in authority over us. We sense that innately. It's not just a cultural thing. It's part of our nature as created by God. It's true in every culture and people group. So we verbally wiggle and stretch and twist every way to get out from under that sense of responsibility and the guilt that weighs on us. Occasionally, it seems to work. Someone listens to our excuse and buys it. We silently sigh with relief. The immediate accountability may have passed but the reality is that due to our natures, we'll be back in that same, uncomfortable position again and again until we learn that excuses never accomplish anything.
It's one thing to make an excuse to a teacher or parent. It's quite another to make an excuse to One that sees and knows everything. Yet, that does not stop us from trying our excuses out on God. We think that what worked with the teacher and policeman will work with God. Such line of thought fizzles when we face Him as Judge.
Paul moves from the revelation of the gospel to the revelation of wrath. That may appear to be a strange jump; but it's actually quite logical. And this is where the issue of excuses is raised. Because God has revealed His wrath against all sin, mankind hunts for an excuse that will release him from judgment and wrath. Man naturally understands the need to be right with God. He may not know how to explain it theologically, he may not know who this God is, and he may not understand the nature of righteousness; he just senses inwardly that the transcendent exists and he lacks the qualities of rightness before such transcendence. That's why religion exists in every culture—from the primitive to the sophisticated. Man is trying to position himself in favor with the Creator. Yet, until he comes to understand the righteousness of God in the gospel, he will ladle up one excuse after another. But God doesn't accept excuses—only righteousness. That's the good news of the gospel. However, the other side of that good news is the revelation of God's wrath. Because God's wrath is real, we desperately need God's way of deliverance from His wrath. That way is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unless we see something of the impending reality of God's wrath then we probably will not give much thought to the gospel. We'll limp along with our excuses just fine. But God will not accept them. So, let us abandon our excuses before God as we consider His Word this morning; let's see that God not only reveals the gospel but also His wrath. How does wrath relate to the gospel?
Our present focus centers on verses 18-20. The key word that helps us grasp its context is that little word for. Paul uses it to introduce an explanatory clause. He explained why he was eager to preach the gospel in Rome: "for I am not ashamed of the gospel." And why was he not ashamed of the gospel? "For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." But how is it the power of God for salvation? "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." But why is it necessary for me to have such righteousness revealed in the gospel? "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…" But how do I even know that this God exists whom you declare has revealed His wrath? "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."
Do you see how he connects his argument? He wants us to understand why we must live in Christ's righteousness for us each day. To help us unpack this passage, let's begin at the end (v. 20) and move backward (to vv. 19 & 18).
"Without excuse" doesn't come from the classroom but the courtroom of the ancient world. It's built on a root word that means to give a logical reason (e.g. 1 Pet. 3:15). We actually get our English word apologetics from that Greek word. It means to be able to speak through on a subject in a clear, reasoned manner. However, in the courtroom, a negative particle was added to the root, giving it the meaning, "without logical reason" or "no rationale," implying, "without legal defense" [ELKGNT, 317]. So, no grounds exist to defend against the accusation.
Picture the accused sitting in the witness stand, hearing the accusations against him. He realizes that the judge has perfect knowledge of every detail concerning his case. He opens his mouth but has nothing to say. He mumbles. Speak up! Give your reason! But as he looks at the judge, he realizes that he's been stripped of excuses by the judge's perfect knowledge. He has nothing to say. He's condemned.
It's not before men that we stand condemned; that might be serious even though temporal in consequence. We stand before an eternal Judge who knows every thought, every attitude, every omission of duty, every breach of His commands, every action, every word, every deed, every neglected opportunity, and every time we know to do right and don't do it. "So that they are without excuse" paints everyone into the same corner, leaving us condemned to eternal wrath apart from the gospel.
If you have your excuses mapped out that you plan to offer before God, then look again at the certainty: "so that they are without excuse."
But, someone may say, 'I just don't think that's quite fair. Some people have more opportunity than others to hear the Bible taught. Some have never heard anything but false religions. Besides, what if I am not interested in God? What if I don't want to follow Him? Can I not skip judgment and eternity, and just live and let live?'
If there's no God, then certainly, you can live and let live without thought of eternity. Yet the fact is that you know that God exists and that you must one day give an account to Him. That is noted in our text by the second consideration.
Theologians refer to two types of revelation: general or natural revelation and special or direct revelation. The first is God's self-disclosure through nature and the conscience. It is adequate to frame a bare understanding of God as Creator and Sovereign, though inadequate to understand God's righteousness. The second is God's self-disclosure through Holy Scripture, as He progressively revealed Himself through the Old Testament until the culmination of revelation in His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-4).
What Paul makes clear in these verses is that God judges us for the light of revelation that we have, not for what we do not have. Even with the barest light, God discloses Himself, and men are without excuse for not acknowledging and worshiping Him as God (1:21-23).
Verse 20 offers a classic oxymoron with seeing the invisible. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." The invisible can be seen, that is, it can be "understood" or grasped "through what has been made." What can people in even remote tribal areas know about God? Obviously, they will not know His name without special revelation; they certainly will not know the triune nature of God without special revelation. But they can know the basic nature of God as God through general revelation.
First, Paul says that "His invisible attributes" are revealed. By that, he refers to God's majesty, glory, and sovereignty. We might call these His personal attributes because they tell us something of what He is like. How do we see this in creation? Consider the vastness of the universe. Gaze in the night sky and see thousands of stars clustered together, realizing that you cannot number them and that each has its own distinct place in the structure of the universe. Think of how tiny you are in comparison to the earth, to our solar system, and to the universe. Does that not tell you something of His majesty as the Creator? Or consider the rays of the sun peaking over a snow-capped mountain, presenting a picture that no human brush can do justice to. Or look at the flashes of lightning in the night sky as they illumine heaven and earth. Does that not tell you something of His glory as the Creator? Or consider the way that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west each day; or the way that the constellations hold together generation after generation so that sailors can chart their course across the ocean by their stable position. Or consider the four seasons that follow in timely order year after year. Does that not tell you something of God's sovereignty? (cf. Psalm 19)
What about His moral attributes? Obviously, we may not know precisely what to call them apart from special revelation but there's an innate recognition of God's moral character as the Creator. His holiness is recognized by the creation itself, in that the world could not have been made by one of us. The sense of otherness, that consciousness that the Creator is distinctly different from us, looms over every detail in creation. His righteousness is recognized even in tribal areas that have no knowledge of the great law codes of civilization. They have an innate sense of right and wrong that is developed into some codified moral standard. God's justice is further reflected when the creature has a sense that unrighteousness must be addressed. Though there may be disagreement over how the justice is to be meted out, there's common recognition that murderers, thieves, and rapists must face justice.
Second, God's "eternal power" refers to His power as Creator and Sovereign over the creation. The strongest evidence of this is in the creation itself with its magnificence, order, and distinct natural laws put into operation by the Creator. I know that there are many that insist that there's no Creator but that the world came into existence through a primeval explosion. I've tried to fathom such a position. I've read some of Dawkins and Gould's arguments. They begin from the position that God doesn't exist so we must give some explanation to the world from an a-theological basis. But their positions inevitably have huge gaps. They draw conclusions in defiance of logic and reason; just because they do not want to admit, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Third, God's "divine nature" shows up in creation, especially in the human race. The image of God, though defiled by the Fall in the Garden (Gen. 3), still lingers upon us as moral creatures. We stand apart from animals in the way that we rule over the creation as vice regents of the Creator (Gen. 1:26). The moral compass of our conscience bears the stamp of God upon our lives. Paul tells us that these things "have been clearly seen."
Two present tense verbs point to a process of understanding God by observing creation. His attributes, power, and nature "have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." So, it's not that a person necessarily takes one look at the creation and figures out that God called it into existence. Rather, he takes one look here and another there. He puts one thing together with another and another until he realizes the imprint of the divine.
Paul's particular vocabulary is important. The word translated "has been made," is the Greek poiemasin. If I shorten it to its root, it's poiema which sounds like poem and is the root of our English word. Artistry is rooted in the Greek term. Listen to John Piper's beautiful explanation about Paul's use of this word.
What's the point of this word? The point is that in a poem there is manifest design and intention and wisdom and power. The wind might create a letter in the sand, but not a poem. That's the point. God acted. God planned. God designed. God crafted. He created and made. And in doing that, Paul says in verse 19, God made himself evident to all mankind. The universe is a poem about God [www.desiringgod.org, "Displays of God Remove the Excuse for Failed Worship," Romans 1:18-21, Sept. 27, 1998].
Everywhere you look the poem is seen and heard declaring the glory of God! Richard Dawkins, the atheist and renowned evolutionist, told of receiving a letter from a former atheist who was converted shortly after reading a National Geographic article. The essay told of the intricate way that a particular species of orchid was pollinated by a particular species of male wasp. So stunned was he as he considered how every detail had to be perfectly arranged for the orchid to continue existence, that he suddenly realized the existence of God. Though Dawkins sought to circumvent the man's findings, he curiously offered this man's beautify testimony of his sudden revelation of God through natural revelation.
I will never forget the sinking feeling that overwhelmed me, because it became clear to me in that minute that some kind of God in some kind of fashion must exist, and have an ongoing relationship with the processes by which things come into being. That in short, the creator God was not some antediluvian myth, but something real. And, most reluctantly, I also saw at once that I must search to find out more about that God [Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (New York: Basic Books, 1995), 59-60].
Again, keep in mind that through natural or general revelation, we do not come to know God personally. We just know that He exists. It's only through God's revelation of Himself as Redeemer through Jesus Christ that we come to know Him. Let's move to verse 19 to see how God introduces Himself to the creation.
"Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." Paul sweeps the broad circle of humanity to tell us that what is known about God is evident "within them." What does he mean by that prepositional phrase? Williams translates it, "is clear to their inner moral sense." The New English Bible translates it, "lies plain before their eyes." Knox translates it, "is clear to their minds." Curtis Vaughan summarizes, "The words speak of a manifestation in the minds and consciences of men" [Curtis Vaughan & Bruce Corley, Bible Study Commentary: Romans, 27]. I think that Vaughan strikes the right balance. Our minds perceive something of God as Creator by the wondrous scenes of creation. Look at the intricate and delicate construction of a flower; feel the crescendo of the rumbling thunder. Think of the complexity of the human body with its miles of blood vessels, its amazing coordination of the neurological, skeletal and muscular systems, its ability to adapt to temperatures, its massive collection of data contained in the brain, and its ability to see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and speak. Think of the distinct moral difference between a person and an animal. The animal has no conscience, no soul. Here is God making Himself "evident within them." There's enough of God revealed in creation and humanity so as to render every person without excuse.
Paul presses it further: "for God made it evident to them." It's no accident that you wonder about the existence of God. He has introduced Himself to you through the creation so that you might see that your reason for existence must be centered in Him. Over the years, missionaries have traveled to places that have never heard of the Bible or Jesus Christ, yet they have found people who understood the existence of God. What the missionaries learned was that they could not just jump in and begin to teach these people about Jesus. They had to begin with creation. They "storied" the Bible, telling the stories through the Old Testament to the New Testament's revelation of God in Christ. Time after time, as they told the stories of the Bible, the lights came on! Their hearers would understand who created them, what He demanded of them, how they had offended Him by their sin, and what God has done through His Son to deliver them from sin and reconcile them to Himself. God introduced Himself to them through natural revelation. But only as they heard the gospel of Christ could they trust in God.
What is wrath? It's not a temper-tantrum on a celestial scale. Rather, wrath is "the reaction of the Divine righteousness when it comes into collision with sin" [Vaughan quoting Sanday & Headlam, 24]. C.K. Barrett explains, "Wrath is God's personal (though never malicious or in a bad sense, emotional) reaction against sin." Moule says that it is "the eternal repulsion of evil by good." Vaughan adds, that wrath is "the expression of God's holy hatred of sin" [Barrett & Moule quoted by Vaughan, 25]. Each explanation demonstrates the justice of wrath as the divine response to sin. Paul clarifies it as "the wrath of God." How is that wrath revealed?
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven…" The present tense indicates that wrath is continually being revealed by God. We know of the eschatological wrath foretold in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and through the book of Revelation. But this indicates the foreshadowing of final wrath, demonstrating that God's continued disposition toward sin is holy hatred and wrath. John Piper points out three ways that Romans teaches the present displays of the wrath of God.
Yet the gospel changes each of these. The Christian finds death as "a gateway into paradise" (1 Cor. 15:55-57). For the believer, "futility and suffering are pathways to holiness" (Rom. 8:28; Heb. 12). For Christians, "the power of sin is replaced with a love of righteousness (Rom. 6) [Piper, www.desiringgod.org, "The Wrath of God Against Ungodliness and Unrighteousness," Rom. 1:18, August 30, 1998].
Notice that God's wrath is universal: "against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Ungodliness abandons relationship to God, choosing instead the idols of this world. Unrighteousness involves the pursuit of man's own desires contrary to the revealed will of God. Or let me put it like this. God's wrath comes on all that live for their own glory as though the glory of God holds no importance. And it comes on all following after their own desires as though the commands of the Creator did not matter.
Paul further describes the human race living under God's wrath, as "men who suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness." The truth of God revealed in the creation and stamped on the conscience is suppressed or held down or ignored. God will not ignore such defiance by the creature toward the Creator! His wrath presses even now upon everyone suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
I conclude with two certainties. (1) God's wrath is certain toward all that refuse the truth of His revelation. (2) No excuses will work to dodge His wrath.
The only safe place from God's wrath is where the wrath has already fallen—at the cross of Jesus Christ. Even in the face of wrath there's good news for all that will flee to Christ and find eternal refuge in Him.
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