One of the electives offered on most college campuses is anthropology—the study of man. Anthropologists research people from city dwellers to thatched hut dwellers to cave dwellers trying to determine common links and differences among various people. They consider diet, clothing, and social networking. They look at marriage, family, and patriarchal structures. They investigate cultural mores, work habits, and religious beliefs. Each study of a particular people seeks to understand how a people group has developed its own distinctions.
The Apostle Paul proved to be an exceptional anthropologist. He certainly traveled and observed more people groups than most in his day. As he amassed his research this is what he concluded about every people group: "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one" (Rom 3:10-12).
Anthropologists may be able to tell us many things about culture, family, work, and even religion among the various peoples of the world. But one thing is common to every people and culture: we're all sinners and under God's judgment; we all desperately need Christ to redeem us from our sins.
Obviously, many object to this assessment, thinking that mankind is inherently good, and if given the right environment, will choose good over evil. Yet objectively, we've never seen an example of this taking place! No parent has ever had to teach his children to sin. Yes, some make better decisions than others; some are more moral than others. Yet the sad reality is that the tendency to sin is woven into our DNA. Sin shows up quite regularly in all of our lives! "By nature," we are, as Paul told the Ephesians, "children of wrath, even as the rest [of humanity]" (Eph. 2:3).
At the root of this sinful propensity and practice in humanity is an arrogant rejection of the revelation of God. It's common to all humanity. We share a similar reaction to God's revelation of Himself in nature and conscience. In spite of God's clear self-revelation, humanity consistently suppresses the truth of God to its own condemnation. How does this affect the human race? Consider how Paul "the anthropologist" examines it.
Paul juxtaposed two revelations of God. On one hand, He revealed "the righteousness of God" in the gospel. Here he speaks of Christ's righteous obedience to the Law on our behalf and His God-justifying death in our place. The gospel tells us of this righteousness through Christ alone. On the other hand, "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Both revelations come from God. One leads to life; the other explains our condemnation before God, thus showing our need for Christ as revealed in the gospel.
In our previous study, we considered how Paul amplified the nature of ungodliness and unrighteousness in the suppression of the truth. Ungodliness points to the lack of relationship to God while unrighteousness points to the lack of a right standing with God. Because man's relationship with God is ruined so also is his standing. But characterizing ungodliness and unrighteousness is suppression of the truth in unrighteousness—that is, a suppression or holding down of the general revelation of God that is evidenced by a complete disregard for the need of a right standing with Him. Man sees no need for eternal justice. He has rejected the revelation of God's majesty, holiness, and righteousness. He has scorned God's authority as Creator and Sovereign. In doing so, he has inwardly—at minimum—suppressed the truth; and quite often, he has done so outwardly by scoffing at the Scripture or giving no heed to the proclamation of the gospel or attempting to denigrate God's Word.
But how do you recognize when someone has suppressed the truth of God? It is indeed a dangerous position to find oneself. What does it look like in practice? That's what Paul explains in verse 21 by showing what unbelieving man refuses concerning God.
The opening word of verse 21, translated as "for even though" in the NASB ("For although" in NIV and ESV), shows the astonishing response of man to God's self-revelation. "For even though they knew God," prepares us to recognize that this knowledge of God common to all men through the Creator's handiwork in nature and the stamp of His image in the conscience, means little to unregenerate men. They disregard it in that "they did not honor Him as God." The Greek can be translated, "Even though knowing [or perceiving God or understanding God] God they did not glorify Him as God." God created humanity with the capacity to perceive glory and to recognize where to bestow honor; and yet man has refused to honor God.
"Honor" as a verb or "to glorify" as we might translate it, refers to recognizing the weightiness and worth of another, and acknowledging it in a worthy manner. It's a great word that expresses the basic idea in worship. Our English word for worship originally meant "worth-ship." We recognize God's worth and offer Him honor and glory; we magnify Him above ourselves and attribute glory to Him that we would not dare offer to another. At least, that's the appropriate way to honor God. Yet, even though seeing the displays of God's inherent glory in the created order, and even though recognizing that He alone should receive all honor and worship, humanity has suppressed this truth, refusing to glorify God.
Think about this capacity to recognize glory that is part of the stamp of the divine image in man. Can you drive through a mountain pass with snow-covered, cascading heights all around you, and remain unmoved? Can you see the orange glow of the sun settling into the ocean's horizon and it not affect you? Our natural tendency in such occasions is verbal elation over the beauty, magnificence, and glory of such sights.
Likewise, the capacity to recognize glory and honor in human achievement is bound up in us. Even if one doesn't care for opera, to hear Andreas Bocelli do things with a voice that seem other-worldly, causes a response of elation. Or even if you will never step on a snowboard, watching Shaun White turn flips on the "half-pipe" at the 2006 Olympics causes an elative response. Or if a decorated war-veteran takes the stage, there's an immediate urge to stand and applaud in order to show honor. It's a natural human response to give glory and honor when recognizing worthiness in some arena.
If we can do this so readily with nature and with human achievement, should we not even more do so with the Lord? Man's folly surfaces time and again when he recognizes and acknowledges the lesser glory while denying the ultimate glory. What has more glory—the creation or the One who created it? The writer of Hebrews pointed to the same argument. Moses was accounted worthy of honor among the children of Israel. But Christ "has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house" (Heb. 3:2-3).
This brings us to our basic purpose for existence: the glory of God. Everywhere we turn, God's glory is evident, yet due to depraved natures, we suppress the truth and refuse to give Him glory. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God," wrote the Psalmist (19:1), yet we suppress this. As Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph, the chief priests and scribes complained about the glory and honor that the masses showered upon Christ. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they indignantly inquired. Jesus responded, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself?" (Matt. 21:14-17). Our God has so designed the universe that the natural response to His revelation should be praise. We were created to worship—that's the chief occupation of heaven and should be the priority of everyone hoping to live there one day! As we worship the Lord, we set Him apart in our thinking and adoration as deserving such honor and glory as no other. We elevate Him; we exult in His worthiness. Yet, we only do so if we've been united to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
Gratitude acknowledges the source of some good thing. With gratitude, we pause long enough to contemplate a need that has been met and then acknowledge the one meeting the need. Gratitude—the act of giving thanks—is in itself an act of humility by which we acknowledge our neediness and someone else's kindness to meet that need.
James tells us, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow" (James 1:17). Even in general revelation there is enough evidence of God's generosity and provision that ought to elicit gratitude from every human. "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matt. 5:45). Yet, because men have suppressed the truth in revelation, "they did not…give thanks." Ingratitude, Paul points out, is a root trait of human depravity. Consider how ingratitude lies at the root of so much sin. Thanklessness to God implies that we deserve everything good (thus denying God's common grace); it acts as though everyone and everything exists for my comfort and happiness (thus denying God's providence in comfort and discomfort). Ingratitude lives as though nothing has value or importance except as it contributes to my satisfaction (thus denying the good gifts and wisdom of God). To seal my lips when gratitude should part them declares that I consider myself as the center of the universe so that all else is subservient to my desires (thus denying our position as servant and Christ as Lord).
"But what has God done for me?" someone asks. He has given you life and breath. He has allowed you to share the benefit of His creative work in the world. You would not have employment or education or a future had God not provided for each. The fact is, while we should be grateful to God ("Enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name"—Psa. 100:4), the reason we are not is because we resent God's authority, preferring our own sovereign rule over the creation instead of His. We object to God's honor, preferring ourselves to be the focus of human praise. We deny God's provision of grace in Christ, thinking that we have nothing in us worthy of condemnation. Ingratitude rules our hearts in defiance of God's kindness toward us.
Such is man's response to God's revelation. We refuse to glorify Him as God; we refuse to express gratitude to Him as the giver of every good and perfect gift. We did this because we have suppressed the truth of God in unrighteousness.
How do we explain the behavior of humanity in defiance of God? Instead of responding to God's self-revelation in nature and in conscience, we've suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, and consequently, we've refused to honor God as God or give thanks to Him as our Provider and Sustainer. As creatures, we exist that we might worship and magnify the Creator. Yet in refusing our position and purpose, we face inevitable consequences.
There's no neutrality when it comes to the revelation of God. One either responds in worship or ultimately worships another god. One either orients the details of life with the revelation of God in the gospel as central or else he develops his own flawed view of life that operates without the Lord as the focal point. Notice how Paul puts this in response to not honoring God as God or thanking Him as gracious Provider. "But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." He shows the common tie of humanity by the plural pronoun with the singular heart. It's not just some of the human race that are flawed at root but the whole race! Apart from the righteousness of Christ in the gospel, every person's worldview is flawed.
Worldview refers "to the ultimate framework of ideas and beliefs by which a person understands and interacts with the world" [W. Andrew Hoeffecker, editor, Revolutions in Worldview, 378]. It's the way that you see, perceive, understand, think, and rationalize about all the things around you. Each of us has a worldview. It is both shaped and informed by the revelation of God in Christ; or it is shaped by the sinful world about us. Paul describes the latter. "Speculations" [dialogismois from which we get 'dialogue'] refers to one's reasoning, thought, and motives. It's what takes place when your mind is working. You are contemplating something; you are planning something; behind it all you have some motive that drives your plans and thoughts. But the problem, apart from the revelation of God, is that the "speculations" become "futile" or worthless. The passive voice of the verb indicates that suppressing the revelation of God in unrighteousness led to futility in one's speculations. There's a cause and effect relationship.
The same is true with the next consequence, "their foolish heart was darkened." Foolish is an adjective that describes the heart. The "heart" is viewed as the seat of mental and intellectual, and even more so, moral foundation. The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart (Luke 6:45). The heart is foundational, the seat of moral action. Yet when a person suppresses the truth of God in unrighteousness, his heart is characterized as "foolish" or dull, senseless, without insight [Cleon Rogers, ELKGNT, 317 and Gramcord, asunetos]. So, the heart is unresponsive to the revelation of God. It's not oriented by God's character or framed by His eternal purpose. It's foolish! This is further described by the passive verb—"was darkened." Again, the verb indicates that the reason the heart is darkened is due to suppressing the truth of God, along with dishonoring Him and ingratitude to Him. It also indicates that the darkness grows. The more one dishonors God the darker his heart becomes.
This has nothing to do with intelligence or mental aptitude. Instead, the futile speculations and foolish, darkened heart indicate a flawed worldview. One's whole framework of thought and action in relationships, occupation, economics, and religion will be oriented away from a God-glorifying, God-thanking life. While "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," he has chosen to toss aside wisdom for an approach to life that ends in eternal disaster.
One's theology is what he believes about God. When a person rejects the revelation of God, then he begins to form his own theology—his own belief system—unshaped by the truth of God. He considers the revelation of God to be outdated, archaic, and perhaps, even silly. He casts it aside, thinking that his way is wiser than God's revelation. "Professing to be wise, they became fools," is Paul's assessment.
"Professing" is a strong word, indicating an affirmation or an assertion or a claim. Here's the claim. 'God is not wise; I am. God's revelation in nature means nothing to me. God's revelation of righteousness in the gospel is silly to me. I am the wise one. I understand the past and I am captain of my future. I don't need God because God cannot improve me.'
Such an assertion claims that God's revelation of Himself is not worthy to acknowledge or to believe. This kind of theology puts self at the center of the universe. He thinks, 'I may not have been around at the creation of the universe but if I had, I would have done a better job at creation than God. I may not be able to control the world but if it were left in my hands, the world would be better off.' Having suppressed the truth of God so intensely, this person asserts his wisdom over the wisdom of God.
Hear the divine assertion: "they became fools." The language indicates that the mindset that would profess to be wise leads to a settled state of a fool. It is quite apparent in the way that he thinks himself wise. The professed wise person assesses and analyzes the revelation of God. He tosses it aside as the opiate of the masses, as one of the Communist leaders once called it. Yet where was this wise man when the world did not exist? Where was he when God called the universe into existence? Where was he, when God condemned the world to judgment by the flood, yet preserved humanity and the animal kingdom? Where was he when God pursued sinners to redeem them through the death of His own Son? Where was he when God raised Jesus from the dead? Where was he, when God superintended over forty human authors over a period of 1500 years to give them the written revelation we call Holy Scripture? And where will the wise man be when his body lies cold and lifeless in the grave? Is he so wise that he denies God as Creator, choosing instead to saddle his life and eternity on the likes of Darwin, Dawkins, and Gould? Will he dare to question the Sovereign Lord's wisdom and purpose? Will he worship another god of his own making or liking? He may do it for a few years but the day will come when he faces death. Will he be so wise in the face of eternity?
The ultimate folly is that of suppressing the truth of God's revelation and instead, worshiping another god. Note the way Paul puts it: "they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." We may pause, and offer some commendation. 'Well, at least he worships something! Isn't it better to worship something than nothing?' No, it is an even greater folly to worship another god than to worship nothing; though, actually, everyone worships something, even if it is self.
Interestingly, this is not a wholesale rejection of religion or deity. In human wisdom, the idolater thinks that he knows more than God, so he exchanges God's glory revealed in nature (not to speak of revelation through Scripture!) for something corrupt and temporal. The contrast is staggering! They "exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man…" On one hand, we have the weightiness of eternal glory in God. On the other, the decaying image of a man or bird or beast or reptile that tarnishes, chips, burns, or crumbles with age. Just take a tour of Rome or Athens or the British Museum. What were once worshiped as gods are now museum pieces!
The glory of the immortal and eternal is exchanged for the mortal and temporal. The Creator is exchanged for some image in the creation. Substitutes for the glory of God are endless as the depraved, devious minds of men. It may be the multi-breasted, distorted figure of Diana in Ephesus; or the many lizards, snakes, and other reptile images among the Hindus deities of India. It may be the statues of Zeus or Apollo or Aphrodite in Greek and Roman mythology. It may be Isis and Osiris in Egyptian mythology.
Millions bow to images, offer incense, burn candles, pray to, worship, and praise. They sing to images, fast in devotion to images, march around images, cry before images, and wail in appeals to images. Yet these images can be easily destroyed. They cannot create or recreate themselves. They cannot redeem their worshipers. They cannot hear the prayers offered or accept the sacrifices to them. They have no true glory! Yet in the wisdom of men, they are worshiped.
Of course, we might say, none of us would ever offer incense to a statue or bow before a god of stone or wood! Our gods are more sophisticated than that! We have gods of wealth, stardom, entertainment, music, athletics, work, power, and a thousand other non-imaged gods. Yet they are gods because they receive the devotion and glory that belongs only to God. If anything in your life takes the place of utter devotion and dependence upon God, then you have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for another god.
You were created to bow before true glory and never before a withering, decaying substitute. To reject God's revelation of Himself and give the honor due Him to another is the way of fools. Sin stands in the way of responding rightly to God's revelation. It's love of sin and self that denies the simplest revelation of God as God. Yet, in spite of our anarchy toward Him, He has provided the way of deliverance from sin's bondage and consequence. That way is through Jesus Christ, God's Son. Only Christ can deliver us from sin, creature worship, and the ingratitude so intertwined in human nature. He's a merciful Savior that is ready to save all that will call upon Him in repentance and faith.
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