FROM GENUINE TO COUNTERFEIT (ROMANS 1:21-23) SERIES: GOD’S AMAZING GRACE, PART 5 GCEFC: FEBRUARY 5, 2012 -23) SERIES: GOD’S AMAZING GRACE, PART 5 GCEFC: FEBRUARY 5, 2012 INTRODUCTION 1. We saw last week that the biggest problem every human being must face in life is the wrath of God. A problem that most don’t even know they have. 2. So why is God angry with humanity? Because human beings as a whole have taken the truth God made known and suppressed it. 3. So what truth has God made known? He’s made 2 of his attributes known clearly and unmistakably. Those attributes are his eternal power/divine nature. 4. These 2 qualities of God are manifest in the universe he’s made. When a person looks at the creation with a neutral eye, they should come away convinced of 2 things. a. That God is powerful beyond all comprehension. b. That God has a divine nature. God is not like the human beings he’s created. God is eternal, he’s perfect, he’s holy, he’s righteous, and he’s sovereign—we are not. 5. But rather than believe what is obvious to anyone who looks. Rather than accept the revelation of God in his creation as proof of who he is and what he’s done. 6. Rather than respond to the truth as anyone should respond—people suppress the truth. 7. Why suppress it? Because they don’t like the truth—it stifles their freedom. 8. It stands in the way of their autonomy. It holds them accountable for their behavior. It means they’re not a law unto themselves. 9. ROM 1:18: They suppress the truth by their wickedness. Wickedness is essentially a disregard for the sovereign rule and Lordship of God. 10. But if I suppress the truth of God—then I can eat, drink, and be merry—because I have no accountability imposing itself on my sinful options. A. THEY KNEW GOD BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH 1. Today we continue our look at how people respond to what God made known. V21: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. 2. For although they knew God. So who is ‘they’ in this verse? ‘They’ refers to most people in the ancient world. And by implication most in the modern world. 3. ‘They’ refers to the majority of people in human history who have seen the clear testimony of who God is—and they’ve suppressed that truth. 4. Notice it says they ‘knew God.’ In what sense? They know certain things about God. Not all they need to know, but enough for an informed decision. a. Suppose you’re driving down the road too fast and you’re pulled over by a uniformed police officer. The officer approaches your car and the routine ensues. b. You know very little about this officer. You don’t know where he’s from, his age, whether he’s married, whether he has kids. You don’t know his financial status, his hobbies, where he lives, what his favorite foods are, or who his favorite sports teams are. You know very little about this man. c. What you know is that he’s a police officer, and that he has authority to pull you over and write you a ticket. d. What you know is that you’re being held accountable for your actions by one who has the authority to hold you accountable for them. e. There are other things about this officer that can be known. But for now what you know about him is enough to condemn you—though not enough to save you. 5. No one is saved by believing God’s self-testimony in creation. Knowing God is eternally powerful and has a divine nature is not enough information to save you if you believe it—it’s only enough information to condemn you if you don’t believe it! 6. But…the Bible seems to indicate that if we respond to the light of truth God makes known—he’ll provide the additional light of truth we need. 7. If we don’t suppress the knowledge we do have—God will nurture that knowledge. 8. On the other hand, if we reject the light he’s given, God is under no obligation to provide any additional light. As LU 16:10 reminds us: Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much… B. THEY DIDN’T HONOR GOD NOR THANK GOD 1. This verse also teaches that there’s a response that is so basic to life, that to neglect it is self-condemning for all who do. 2. V21: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 3. Notice that as part of this suppression of the truth, there’s also a fundamental failure to respond in a way that’s incumbent upon every human being. 4. They’ve failed at 2 points. They’ve failed to glorify God as God. They’ve failed to give thanks to him. 5. Two of the most basic human responses to who God is and what God has done are— worship/gratitude. 6. They’ve failed to give God his due regarding who he is. And they’ve failed to give God his due regarding what he’s done. 7. They’ve extended no worship to God because he possesses a divine nature. And no thanksgiving to God for what he’s done through his eternal power. 8. These people have failed to acknowledge God’s existence and true nature. And they’ve failed to thank God for the countless things he’s done on their behalf. 9. A good biblical expression of the first appears in HEB 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 10. An expression of the second appears in Paul’s debate with the philosophers in ACTS 17: The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ 11. Every human being owes God at least 2 things fundamentally. God possesses a divine nature. For this every human being owes God adoration and worship. 12. And God possesses eternal power, which he has used to provide us good things. At the minimum we’ve been given physical life and the possibility of eternal life in heaven. 13. Most have been given much more. For this we owe God thanksgiving and gratitude. 14. So we see that to suppress this truth. To deny who God is. To disregard what God has done. To disbelieve his clear and powerful testimony. To scoff at his divine law. 15. It’s easy to see how this could not only invite God’s wrath—but it could invite God’s judgment and condemnation. The bad news is…it does. 16. As I was thinking about this in the past week, I realized this is no less than what we all want. We all want at least these 2 basic things ourselves. a. We want others to acknowledge us for who we are. From others we want acceptance. b. And…we want others to acknowledge what we’ve done for them and be thankful for it. If we haven’t done anything for them, then okay, no thanks is necessary. c. If we have, the only right thing to do is acknowledge that we have and be thankful. d. Now if we, as sinful and fallen creatures expect this ourselves—then how much more should God, who is perfect and infinitely holy expect it from us? C. THEIR ACTIONS RESULTED IN STUPIDITY AND FUTILITY 1. But not only have people throughout history typically suppressed the truth God has revealed, notice from V21 where it takes them. 2. It takes them to Stupidiville—But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 3. When you reject the clear testimony God has given. When you deny the very truth that God asserts. When you throw out the wisdom and truth God has made manifest. 4. You’re not going to end up in any place that’s good. Next stop—Stupidville. 5. When we fail to acknowledge God for who he is. When we fail to thank God for what he’s done. We enter a place where we’re left to our own wisdom as fallen human beings. 6. Lest anyone forget, PSA 14:1 says: The fool says in his heart there is no God. The Hebrew word here doesn’t mean intellectually deficient but morally deficient. 7. There are some very intelligent spiritual dum-dums out there. ROM 1 is talking about a moral stupidity. A moral futile thinking. Which is, by the way, the worst kind. 8. God doesn’t condemn someone for intellectual limitations. We don’t choose to be intellectually deficient. We do choose to be morally deficient. 9. Because moral stupidity is a choice we make, God is free to condemn us for it. Moral stupidity comes from suppressing the truth God made known. D. THEY EXCHANGED REALITY FOR A FANTASY 1. There’s an irony that's hard to miss. V22: Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 2. There’s an old proverb that says: He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool. It’s one thing to know you’re a fool when you are. It’s another to not know you’re a fool when you are. 3. Those who suppress the truth of God actually think they’re doing something smart. Something wise. 4. Belief in a supernatural being and the revelation of that being is seen as archaic and primitive. That only the unenlightened believe in a supernatural God and his Word. 5. But in the ancient world and in the modern world, rejecting God and his testimony is not smart or wise. It produces conceit, pride of intellect, and arrogant self-assurance. 6. Nearly all of the 119th PSA’s 176 verses address the value and wisdom of what God said. a. V105: Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. b. V138: The statues you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. c. V130: The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. 7. We’re familiar with the idea of measuring intelligence, and the IQ test claims to do that. 8. And not too long ago we were introduced to the idea of emotional intelligence, or EI. 9. But the most important kind of intelligence is spiritual intelligence. This is the very intelligence we sacrifice when we suppress the truth God has made known. 10. And it’s what happens in the example Paul gives. Those who thought they were exercising greater intelligence by suppressing God’s truth were deceived. 11. So where does this suppression of truth lead to besides Stupidville? It also leads to Exchangeville. A place where you exchange revealed truth for a counterfeit. 12. A place where (V23): the glory of the immortal God is exchanged for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 13. Let’s call it a very bad trade. A very bad exchange. It’s an exchange of the genuine for a counterfeit. Of the real for the imaginary. Of reality for a fantasy. Of truth for a lie. 14. What they’ve done is exchange the glory of the immortal God for mortal things. They’ve taken the truth of God’s eternal power and divine nature, his immortality, his glory, his holiness—and traded it in for something infinitely less. 15. They’ve traded these wonderful things for…idols. Idols are simply an exchange of the genuine article for a counterfeit. An idol is whatever takes the rightful place of God. 16. Human beings have always been religious and have always liked to worship—they just prefer to worship something other than the true God. 17. But moderns don’t exchange the glory of the immortal God for the same things the ancients did. The ancients preferred eagles, trees, crocodiles, serpents, golden calves, and in some cases deified men and women. 18. But moderns are far too sophisticated for this. Moderns prefer idols like money and wealth, power and control, fame and prestige, experience and personal fulfillment, pleasure and sensuality, education and knowledge, career and success. 19. Moderns prefer designer idols. But the idea remains. It’s still the substitution of the false for the true. A lie for the truth. Counterfeit for the genuine. 20. So I’ll leave us all, including myself, with a warning from ROM 1:21-23. That warning it to beware of the danger in suppressing the truth God has made known. 21. Beware of denying or disregarding what God has declared to be true. Beware of calling something other than what it is. 22. Isaiah sounded the warning 3,000 years ago. In 5:20: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. sight. 23. We must learn to recognize truth when we see it. We must be quick to accept it and not reject or suppress it. We must act in obedient response to it. 24. God has revealed truth in 2 key places. First, in creation, where his unspoken revelation testifies to his eternal power and his divine nature. 25. It starts there because without faith it’s impossible to please God, and anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists. 26. Second, in his written Word, the Bible, where God reveals everything else we need to know for life and godliness. 27. How God works in the world he’s made. How our sins can be forgiven. How to relate to one another. How to live wisely. 28. God has revealed in the Bible the truth we need to know. And he’s given us the commands we need to obey. 29. If we neglect the truth God’s revealed, we have no one to blame but ourselves when we end up in spiritual Stupidville. That’s a stop we’ll all want to miss.