Human Sin meets God's Wrath (pt.1)

Paul continues in the letter to the Romans as he momentarily diverts his message from preaching the gospel of Jesus to remind us of who God is and the power He possesses. He reminds us that living in sin is a choice that we all make and if we continue to choose to live in sin God's wrath will fall upon each one of us.

God's wrath can be defined as His divine displeasure with sin. Divine wrath is not the same as human wrath where human wrath is self-centered, vindictive and usually has intent on harming another. God's wrath has no sinful qualities or characteristics, in other words God's wrath has no human emotional content.

God shows no favoritism when it comes to discipline and His wrath. There are several reasons one will be subjected to God's wrath: 1. if you decide to live in sin without a repentant heart; and 2. if you lie or mislead people about Christ. Intentionally casting dispersions of who Jesus is and the blatant rejection of Christ as the Messiah, denying that He is the Son of God sent by God for the redemption of our sins. For these reasons Paul addresses both Jews and Gentiles for their rejection of God calling out the Gentiles as outlined in (verses 1:21-32) and then calling out the Jews in (verses 2:1-29). Because God is a righteous judge and due to rejecting God's truth both the Jews and the Gentiles will fall under the same wrath.

In the ancient world people would worship all kinds of animals (bulls, jackals, hawks, serpents, etc.). God conveyed to mankind from the writing of the Ten Commandment as the very first commandment that "thou shalt have no other idols before me". There should be no surprise that God's wrath falls upon the sinner because of the lack of respect we have for God. Additionally, in the book of Psalms the psalmist speaks about turning away from God and turning towards animals (Psalm 106:20) pointing out just how far from reverencing God we have fallen. That behavior still continues to this day. Even to the point where over time, man has gone from worshiping statues of humans to animals to creepy crawly creatures. How debased can you be to put these things before the creator of everything?

God shows us His love, mercy, longsuffering and patience along with His other characteristics through His creations and His power on a daily basis. Through God's great creations we recognize and know that He truly exists. The problem we have just as the Romans did in the first century is this, it is not a matter of knowing Him, as it becomes a matter of rejecting or receiving Him. Developing a personal relationship with God is based on a morale decision.

As followers of Christ we have an obligation to live a better life with Christ. A life that includes developing a close personal relationship with God through Jesus. This is accomplished by reading God's word daily, glorifying God for all things, recognizing right from wrong, up from down, left from right. Never compromising God's principles or His word and when we do repent and seek forgiveness. We are all commanded to repent from our sin (Acts 17:30). How can we recognize the greatness of God and Jesus on the cross if we do not recognize sin? It is through our relationship with Christ that we recognize and acknowledge the power of God by striving to become like His son Jesus Christ so that we may understand just how blessed we are through the grace and mercy of the Triune God

My prayer is that we would seek the Lord and develop that close personal relationship with Him through His son Jesus Christ. That we would not compromise the word of God and that we as true believers will live in such a way that God is the center of our lives. That we will raise godly children that put no other idols before God. That we collectively will repent of our sins and seek forgiveness of the things we deem are important but are diametrically opposed to the godly principles we are taught. In Jesus Mighty Name I pray this Amen! Amen!