‘… there
is nothing here to suggest that Paul only has some kinds of homosexual acts in
mind. As a cultured and traveled Roman citizen, Paul would have been very
familiar with long-term, stable, loving relationships between same-sex couples.
That does not stop him from identifying them as not the Creator’s intention for
human flourishing.’ (Keller, pp32-33)
Christopher Ash:
A. The charge is stated (v18)
B. The charge is proved (vv19-32)
(a) what God has done (vv19-20) – God has
revealed some things plainly about himself in creation
Acts
14:15-17
Ps 19
(b) what people have done (vv21-23) – people
reject the knowledge of God which they have
Our
thinking and our feeling and darkened by our rejection of God (v21)
(c) what God has done (vv24-31) – God gave
people over to their sin
Because
we do not love God as we should, all our loves become disordered.
We have
a wrong relationship to our creator and a wrong relationship with creation and
our fellow creatures follows.
Homosexuality
graphically illustrates an exchange (v23, v25, v26) of the God given created
order.
Same sex
desire is, for Paul, a clear example of disordered desire.
From a
Jewish point of view, homosexuality was a particularly appalling Gentile sin.
V23 - Exchanged
glory – Ps 106:20 (Golden calf, Ex 32); Jer 2:11
(Human
beings were meant to rule the creation under God but they end up serving
created things)
The
foolishness of idolatry – Is 44:13
Dt
4:15-18
Moral
chaos is a sign of God’s judgement.
The mess
of the world shows that God has handed it over to its sin.
(d) what people have done (v32) – people not
only do what is wrong, but they also accept and approve of wrongdoing
Is 3:9
Paul is
showing us the need for rescue and that faith in Jesus is the only means of
rescue.
Humanity
is without excuse and cannot save itself.
Lk 18:11
We are
really without excuse (v20)
V21 –
the great sin of forgetfulness of God and ingratitude
We live
in God’s world as if he didn’t exist
We’ll
take the good gifts he gives, but we don’t want him interfering in our lives
There is
level ground at the cross.
We are
all the undeserving recipients of grace.
Our world needs the message of God’s saving
righteousness in Christ.
Kruse’s
headings:
(a)
Humanity’s rejection of the revelation of God in nature (vv18-23)
(b) The
divine reaction to human rejection (vv24-32)
Vaughan Roberts – 14th Oct 2006 –
Why is God so angry?
This
passage holds up a mirror to us – and it’s not a pretty sight
This bad
news helps us to appreciate the good news.
Against
this black back-cloth, the brilliant diamond of the gospel shines more
brightly.
3
surprising themes run through this passage:
(1)
Revelation (v19) – we all know some
truth about God
General revelation in creation to all people
The
invisible God has to some extent made himself visible (v20)
We
should all know from the world around us that there is a God and he is very
powerful.
Of
course the vast majority of people down the centuries and around the world have
believed in God.
The
scale and beauty of the universe
Time and
chance?
(about
16 minutes for statistics about the sun and galaxies)
(2)
Rebellion (v18) – we’ve all rejected
that truth
We often
claim our problem is lack of knowledge:
"If only
God would make himself known!"
"Why
doesn’t God reveal himself more clearly?"
Hide and
seek?
People
imagine God is hiding
It’s the
other way round:
God
seeks us, we hide from him (cf. Gen 3)
Jesus
came to seek and to save the lost
John –
men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil
V21 – we
know we ought to glorify God and give thanks to him
How
often do we do that?
We are
all guilty of idolatry whether our idols are metal or mental
(3)
Wrath (v18) – we all face God’s judgment
God is
not like a constantly smiling indulgent old uncle
Sex
outside of marriage damages and degrades and leads to the breakdown of society
Homosexual
practice not homosexual feelings
It’s not
as if homosexual sex is uniquely sinful.
All of
us are included in this catalogue of sin.
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