18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.Wooooooah there, Paul. What happened to all the "I miss you" and "Surrender to God" and "The Gospel brings Life"?
Reality Check:
Man is living in a fallen world. There are sinful people. God is holy.
3 things stick out to me in this passage:
1) Man suppress the truth by our wickedness
If there's ever been a time when you wondered what sin is, here's a pretty good definition, in my opinion: Sin is the suppression of truth. Think about that. A few verses from now, we'll be talking more about sin, but just think about this for a second - what do we do that covers the truth? Suppresses it? This is sin. Paul goes into this more in a few verses... hold onto this for now.
2) God makes himself known
What may be known of God... is in plain sight? How confusing that is. We think of God as hidden... As Job 11:7-9 says,
"Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.".And yet Paul writes that... He has made himself plain to us. He also writes in Ephesians 3:
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus... 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
3) We really have no excuse
Just stop here for a minute. I, personally, feel like I just got punched in the gut. This passage is strong. Powerful. Maybe a little painful. We have no excuse.
Christ has, "out of his glorious riches", placed the fullness of God in our hearts.
Because of that, creation has doomed itself. It's decided to look at the evidence laid before it and turn away... suppressing the truth in our hearts.
It's heartbreaking, yes? And yet we all do it. Often.
There's no encouraging charge at the end of this post. A charge, yes, but not encouraging.
Friends, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty here. We have no excuse, no way around it. We have suppressed truth. It's time to kneel and repent. Maybe for the first time, realizing your need for salvation. Maybe as an established Christian realizing areas where Satan has strongholds in your life. It's time to start shining a light into the darkest corners of your soul.
Paul's not done yet... check back soon for the next few *painful* verses.
