Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Last week, I outlined seven things the Apostle Paul mentioned about humanity.
- People knew God perfectly well.
- Refusing to worship him.
- They trivialized themselves.
- There was neither sense nor direction.
- They were illiterate regarding life.
- They traded the glory of God for cheap figurines.
- They were living in a pigpen.
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The Apostle Paul continues by saying, “Worse followed.” This part caught my attention and aptly describes today’s humanity.
Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either – women didn’t know how to be women, men didn’t know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men – all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it – emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches. Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s face. And they don’t care – worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best! Romans 1:26-32 The Message
They forget how to be human
Women didn’t know how to be women, and men didn’t know how to be men.
Let me be clear that this is NOT talking about stereotypical dogmas about a woman’s place in the kitchen or the man bringing home the bacon.
Do not forget that in the beginning, God created man, the male, and woman, the female, using a rib bone from the male.
They were created to complete each other and to stand alongside each other. It wasn’t until after the Sin that God put a distinction between the species.
The man would farm the land through toiling labor, and the woman would have toiling labor in childbirth.
The issue to be pointed out in forgetting how to be human is to miss WHY we are human.
We are human because God created us to be companions with him and each other. However, when you forget God, you eventually forget how to be human.
Sexually confused
This is huge today, and I will be labeled any number of “phobics” for mentioning it. But it was written in the Word of God by the author of nearly two-thirds of the New Testament close to two thousand years ago. (A lesson in itself).
Do you suppose it was a coincidence that the apostle wrote something so accurate that long ago, or can you wrap your brain around the idea that God, who stands in past, present, and future at the same time, prompted the apostle to pen something only God could know?
It has yet to be seen the full impact of, “And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it.”
Whatever “paid for it” means, it doesn’t sound promising.
God quit bothering them
The Apostle Paul says they quit acknowledging God, so God quit bothering them. This is another important lesson.
Humanity is created with the ability to choose. For example, you can choose to read this or choose not to believe any of it. It is your God-ordained choice, and that will not change.
The Apostle Peter writes in his second book bearing his name, that God does not want anyone to be destroyed, rather, he wants everyone to repent. II Peter 3:9
God’s desire does not override your choice.
Look at the results of such decisions.
- all hell broke loose
- rampant evil
- grabbing and grasping
- vicious backstabbing
- made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating
- mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers
- Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags
- They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives
- They ditch their parents when they get in the way
- Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded
Does any of this sound like the world we live in?
It’s not that they don’t know better
Rember the people the Apostle Paul is talking about did not forget God, they refused to acknowledge him as God.
I believe religion plays a large part in this. Religion is an attempt to get close to God without knowing God.
I used to say it was a manmade attempt, but I have since changed my opinion to say it is a devil-inspired method to keep people bound because it has nothing to do with getting close to God.
Jesus addressed this numerous times in his dealings with the religious leaders of his time. They equated a completed list of duties as being close to God.
Jesus said come and sit; then you can go and do. (There is a huge difference).
I believe something happened in people’s lives where they earnestly looked to God for something that did not happen, or turn out the way they wanted. Because it did not go their way, the adversary, the devil, took advantage to whisper lies about God not caring, not being there, or any number of reasons, and the natural response was to walk away—angry, broken, and hurt.
Their wrecked minds and emotions became a breeding ground for all sorts of lies and deceptions—the very things the Apostle Paul is speaking about.
I can build a convincing case how God doesn’t care—as can the people I mentioned.
However, there is a passage of Old Testament scripture in the book of Proverbs that says something like, the first argument in a court case is convincing—until the cross examination starts. (It’s in The Message).
The Bible tells us that God will never leave us, nor forsake us.
When life doesn’t turn out like we hoped or planned, we must understand his plans are eternal, which means his plans for you are geared to prepare you for eternity.
The things you go through in this life are meant to prepare and position you for God’s eternal purpose for you.
You may say, I want nothing to do with someone determining anything about my life—and you possess that choice.
However, the outcome is an eternal life without God, which is hell.
To be continued…
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation that is full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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