More thoughts on chapter one. In the NIV, we find verses 24 and 26 start with, "and God gave them over." Their resistance of God was so strong and resolute that God let them have their own way. Many times God is not punishing us in the since that the Lord picks up a stick and hits us over the head with it. Notice in verse 27 Paul says, "...they receive in themselves their due penalty for their perversion." Acts of disobedience will in and of themselves cause a person to reap of the flesh. What we sew is what we reap. The most dangerous position to be in for any human being is for God to give them over to their own desires.

We were made to glorify God. We were created for the Lord. The real order of things is for everything to be in it's proper relationship to God. We have ruined that order, hence the ministry of reconciliation. In Romans chapter one we see how far we have fallen. We see the need for the ministry of reconciliation. Thank God that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. It is only the power of the Gospel that can bring a person back to the original order of things with God as the center and not man. Man really wants to play God. Man wants to be the center of his universe and anyone else that will join in to worship him.

When people see a follower of Christ, what they should witness is a person returning to the original design of the universe. The world should observe a person who has God in the center of their lives and is serving with joy and love. Think about the opportunity we have with our unchurched friends to introduce them to sanity--the right order of things. When we here things like, "it's as if the world has gone crazy," we need to say it is crazy and it went crazy a long time ago. Many strive to make the crazy things seem as normal and to take the normal things like serving God through Christ as a crazy notion and worse yet, a poisonous one at that. Ladies and gentlemen we live in a crazy world and God wants us to introduce people to sanity. Let's go for it.

I was in an airport recently and of course I was in the book store. Two books are out right now that are anti-God and anti-Christian. One wants to blame Christianity for about every human ill out there and the other says that God has a problem because He does not explain suffering to us. So here we go again. These are old and warn out arguments against Christianity and yet they persist. Why? Read Romans chapter one and you will see. These arguments and others will be resurrected every generation and each generation has to look to God for the answer. The Scriptures tell us over and over again that God is not obliged to give us answers. We are obliged to give an answer to the Lord. We reverse the order of things because we think the world revolves around us. Surprise, surprise, surprise it does not revolve around us! I have friends and family who suffer and it is heart wrenching but there is a better place and God sent His Son into this world to suffer for us.

We fell and we fell hard--we chose the wrong path. Romans chapter one really puts it all on us. The Word of God gives us many answers to many of our questions and we, if we are honest don't like the answers. I have been there where I try to figure it out for myself and I find the answer in the Scriptures, but I don't like that answer. I want sight. I want touch. I want evidence on my own terms not on God's terms. I do not say any of this lightly, because I do have friends and family who suffer.

The point that will be driven home by Paul over and over again is that we are locked up to God's grace and to faith. No one has an edge above these two words. We all need God's grace and the faith to say yes to the Lord. What do you need to believe God for today? What is not there by sight that God is saying, "Believe Me."

How can a loving and merciful God get so mad? I like Stott's insight into God's wrath that it is not like us humans who tend to fly off the handle. God has not lost His temper. God is revealing His wrath against people who know better. They suppress the truth in wickedness. One thing I have really come to terms with is that God is not going to judge anyone that does not deserve it. Everyone is made in the image of God and they can see all that is around them. They are connecting the dots, but do not want to admit the "crisis of belief" that would incur if they went with what their heart was telling them. We know better and still go our own pitiful way--anyways. They knew God and would not give God the credit. We must be careful of the same thing except in a different vein. When we know God has spoken to us and is redirecting our lives we must not hold back from the Lord. We must give Him the glory and have faith that leads to proper action.

Remember reading the book of Romans over and over again is one of the goals. Make sure you are picking out some verses to memorize. God bless you all.