Romans 1:22-25

Part of God’s charge against ancient Israel was that their eyes were fixed on idols (Ezekiel 20:24). We know that they also set up idols in their hearts, and we have considered some ways that could apply today. But God repeatedly warns against a physical representation of Him because it cannot be done in truth. His infinite nature cannot be limited, which is what mankind continually tries to do.

In Romans 1:22-25, Paul describes the unrighteous as those who change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man. Paul calls them fools. He says they exchange the truth of God for the lie. Trying to make God like a man is a lie. And foolish.

I mentioned one exception, which was Christ’s incarnation. The Word became flesh. His human body contained the full measure of the divine nature. John says they beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. His glory was not what He looked like, but how He lived—how He behaved and responded, what He said and the way He said it. Everything was motivated by the Spirit of the Father, and all of it was glorious. Every word, every expression, all His body language, every deed was perfect. His goodness, His anger, His compassion, His sorrow, His mercy, His rebukes, His joy—it all demonstrated God-life.

Now, let’s explore this for a moment. Imagine that you are at the funeral of a good friend, a friend whose life was truly remarkable in every way. However, for his own reasons, your friend had not allowed a single picture of him to be taken. Instead, he had left a book that told of his life and his worldview. To really know what he was like, you had to read and meditate on his book.

Nevertheless, the organizers of the funeral for your friend have pictures of him placed at various places. Of course, they aren’t truly pictures of him, because nobody knew what he looked like. Yet the organizers have sketches and paintings and AI-generated photos of what they think your friend looked like. But they are all absurd caricatures, mere cartoons compared to who and what your friend really was. What is worse, these two-dimensional impressions overwhelmingly focus on your friend’s gruesome death rather than his incredible life.

What is even worse is that the organizers show video clips of your friend’s life. Except your friend had not left any recordings, only his book. So, the clips aren’t actually of your friend. They are of some guy with long hair, which your friend certainly did not have. Anybody who had read his book could have figured that out. But the guy with long hair tries to fill in for your incomparable friend. He speaks your friend’s words, but they sound hollow. This guy with long hair tries to mimic your friend’s kindness and mercy and authority and wisdom, but none of it can hold a candle to the glory and the beauty of your friend’s life. The imitation is so shallow compared to the reality that it is an abomination to you.

And to add insult to your injury, after having their eyes fixed on the imitations, people come away feeling like they had learned something about your friend. But they hadn’t, not really—they just had an image of some guy with long hair stuck in their minds. If they want to learn about your friend, they should read his book.

Our concept of the Father and the Son is absolutely critical to worshiping in spirit and truth. This is why pictures of Jesus break the Second Commandment. Such a representation misrepresents and limits Who He was as a man and Who He is now. The picture is a caricature, a shallow and crude attempt to portray what cannot be portrayed because it misses His perfect character. Not only that, but the picture is also stuck in time, leaving the one who fixes his eyes on the idol with a single expression, a single look in the eyes, a single sentiment. Again, it limits the Holy One, which He takes great exception to. It … . . .

Romans 1:21-23

Here we have the introductory statement. It is sort of like a cannon shot across the bow where Paul asserts that men "stuff the truth." Mankind does it. It is evident that God exists and that there is a Creator. And not only that there is a Creator, but this God also provides for His creation. He cares for it. He is concerned about it. He loves it. But men still stuff that and they suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

In this case the truth was the evidence manifested at creation that there is a Creator God. The lie, in this context, is the idol. They exchanged the fact of a Creator for something that they could see and say, "This is our god."

In Paul's explanation, truth comes very close to being personified, that is, given life. And it is almost as if truth, being a living thing, is held down, strangled, and throttled until its very life is almost gone. That is why he says here (I substituted the word "stuffed") the truth is "stuffed" and if stuffing of the truth is allowed to continue unchecked, then it is inevitably going to lead to idolatry.

Now catch that. That is very important to pick from what Paul is saying. The idolatry will be a direct consequence of ignoring the evidence of the truth of the existence of the Creator God, because if that is ignored or stuffed or suppressed, then what is the natural consequence? The natural consequence of that is man is left on his own to devise his own means of worshipping a god.

Is man going to come up with the truth about the Creator God on his own? It is impossible. Absolutely impossible. Because whatever representation he comes up with is going to automatically be a lie because he does not know what God looks like since he is stuffing the existence of a Creator God. He does not really know how that Creator God thinks. He does not know the Creator God's purpose. He does not know the whys, the wherefores, or the hows of that Creator. So whatever he comes up with is going to be idolatry.

Romans 1:22

Remember the series that Paul gave us. First the heart, then the conscience, and then faith, and then the product is love. Now what happens if the heart is darkened rather than enlightened? In which direction is the conscience going to go? You already know the answer to that. It is not going to go up. The standards and ideals are not going to become higher. If God is left out of the picture, the conscience is going to slide into the gutter, and that is the illustration here.

What is the conscience going to be like that is in a debased mind? Their vain reasoning led to foolishness. I think what undoubtedly happened was that they did not want to retain God in their knowledge, and so God just let them do their thing. What resulted then was a reprobate mind whose standards permitted such things. A reprobate mind is a mind devoid of judgment. How trustworthy is a mind that cannot judge properly? How can it judge properly if it does not have the right standards?

What follows in the remaining portions of this chapter tell then the action that follows when standards other than God's are substituted in place of God's because God is left out of one's knowledge.

Think of this in terms of a cultural thing. As each person is born, his mind accepts what is a part of that culture, and his conscience adapts. What kind of action then follows? The same things that we see listed here at the end of Romans 1 are what follow. There is one additional thing. Because the tendency of human nature is downward, especially in a culture in which God is not a part, each generation takes it one step lower. That is why Paul could constantly say that evil men shall grow worse and worse.

Romans 1:21-23

What is he saying? He is saying people know. They know what is right. They know that there is a God. He has shown it to them. If they claim they do not know, they are lying; they are simply remaining willfully ignorant of that, and He says they have no excuse.

So they do not want to worship God because He places restrictions on them. He places responsibilities on them. They ignore His law. They ignore all the ways that He has shown that He is there and He is enforcing His way, and so God says they are without excuse. They have done it to themselves.

Romans 1:21-23

So foolish humanity has rejected God. It says it very clearly there in Romans 1:21-23, taking gods from creation rather than the true God. And those people call us who have been turned into the wise, the elect of God who have been given at least a little bit of the wisdom of God, fools. But Paul says those the world calls fools and weak are the ones that are going to confound those who believe they are wise.