God’s desire is that you would know Him and honor Him as God.  The Apostle Paul describes how God’s general revelation reveals the splendor of God,

 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  (Romans 1:20)

God wants all people to know Him, but we see that even though they knew about God, they did not honor Him as God.  A moral slide started as they became futile in their speculations, and their hearts were darkened.  Their moral slide was exacerbated as Paul describes their mindset,

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  (Romans 1:22-23)

The first step in a moral slide is a lack of knowledge of the true God.  If this error is not corrected, then God will let you continue down that path.  Chapter One of Romans illustrates the devolution of mankind with the continuing refrain, God gave them over,

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.  (Romans 1:24)

The word “impurity” conveys the idea of uncleanness, especially in a moral sense.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.  This sounds like our celebrity culture where people can be famous for being famous even though they do not have any particular talent.  Why do people like the Kardashians and Paris Hilton have such a large following?  If left unchecked, the slide continues,

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.  (Romans 1:26-27)

The legalization of same sex marriage is a symptom of a much deeper systemic problem.  Actress Kristen Stewart commented, “I think in three or four years, there are going to be a whole lot more people who don’t think it’s necessary to figure out if you’re gay or straight. It’s like, just do your thing.”  Miley Cyrus echoed a similar opinion, “[I don’t] relate to being boy or girl, and I don’t have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.”

James Emery White cites a study in the United Kingdom that, “nearly half of all young people don’t think they are exclusively heterosexual. The YouGov survey revealed that 49% of people between the ages of 18 and 24 identified as something other than 100% heterosexual. This despite the repeated findings that only about 4% of the entire adult population are actually homosexual.”  (“Nearly half of young people don’t think they are heterosexual,” by Helena Horton, The Telegraph, August 17, 2015).  As the moral slide continues, violence is not only condoned but it is given approval.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.  (Romans 1:28-32)

The above paragraph reads like our current headlines as we hear of one senseless murder after another.  Several years ago Robert Bork presented a devastatingly insightful exposé of a culture in decline in his book Slouching Towards Gomorrah.  He paints the picture of a nation in serious moral trouble as its foundations were crumbling and it is slouching not towards the Bethlehem envisioned by the poet Yeats, but towards Gomorrah.  Recent history has unfortunately validated his prophetic warning.

C.S. Lewis cogently observes,  “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.   No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it.  Those who seek find.  To those who knock it is opened”  (The Great Divorce).  Much of the pain and suffering we see in the world is not God punishing mankind, but rather it’s the natural consequences of not following God’s moral order.

Romans One paints a bleak picture of mankind but the story does not end there.  God knows and cares about His people,

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter:  rickhiggins5