Romans 1:20 – For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Welcome back to our study of Romans. Paul has already begun discussion of the main doctrine found in this book – justification through faith in Jesus Christ. Here is a recap of what we have learned so far: 
Paul begins by showing that all people have sinned and broken the laws of God. The Jews were familiar with the laws of God because they were in covenant with him. They had eye-witness testimony of God’s power, they had revelation given directly from Him, and they had the 10 commandments. It was easy to identify times and places where they had broken God’s laws. Their guilt before God was without question.
The Gentiles, however, had none of these things. Consequently, there were some people who argued that they couldn’t be guilty of sin. Paul addresses this false belief right away. He shows that the Gentiles had at least some knowledge of the truth which God revealed to them through nature. Rather than accepting this truth, the Gentiles rejected it.
GENERAL SUMMARY: Nature proves the existence of a divine being. In other words, nature bears witness to the existence, intelligence, love and power of God. The Gentiles were able to understand and perceive this, because God gives each person the ability to think and reason. He also confirms truths about himself through each person’s conscience.
If the Gentiles had embraced these truths with their hearts and minds, God would have given them an even greater revelation of himself. But instead, they hardened their hearts and kept on sinning until they could no longer hear the witness/conviction of their own consciences. Therefore, they too stand guilty before God and require justification.
DIGGING DEEPER: Let’s pause for a moment and consider a fictional scenario. Suppose you were travelling on your own private jet. All of a sudden, your pilot informs you there is engine trouble, and your flight is way off course. He is going to make an emergency landing on the side of a mountain in the middle of a deserted wilderness.
He safely lands the plane, and you both get out and look around. Just over a hill, you spot a wide street made of stone. You are surprised to find a small city, perfectly laid out in a square. In addition to single homes, you find luxurious, multistory buildings and big parks. Unfortunately, it looks like a ghost town – there are no people anywhere. (That’s the end of the story, but since I love happy endings, we’ll also assume that you are eventually rescued, you become rich by selling your story to a documentary company, and you live happily ever after.)
Although you never spoke to anyone, you can safely assume that the city didn’t just evolve or appear by itself. There must have been a master builder who planned it. There must have been an architect who designed the buildings and produced blueprints. There were people who produced raw materials like lumbar, bricks, windows and paint. There were construction workers that followed the blueprints and used the raw materials to build the buildings. There were skilled gardeners who planned the parks and planted the flowers and trees.
In other words, the fact that the city existed proved that it had been created by someone. Even though you never physically saw these people, you knew they were either alive or had lived at some time.
In the same way, the Gentiles had never seen God, never received the law and never had a direct revelation of him. But despite this, they knew of his existence because nature is proof that there is a divine creator.
Paul testifies that God’s existence (his divine nature) can be clearly perceived or known by looking at creation.
Creation is amazing! It is an astonishingly complex system that we still don’t fully understand despite hundreds of years of observation and study. Did you know that scientists have observed and classified about 1.2 million species of animals, but they estimate there are approximately 8.7 million more (including insects)? Besides that, there are a seemingly infinite number of plants, flowers and trees. Then there are the complex ways in which these species interact with each other and with their habitats. 
As if that were not enough, there are an estimated 200 sextillion (2 x 10 to the 23rd power) stars. The sheer number of stars is far past our comprehension!
Psalms 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.
We could go on and on, but obviously, even a cursory glance at nature proves that an intelligent creator exists. His invisible perfections are manifested by his visible works.
Now let’s change gears and talk about power for a minute. Humans use power all the time.
All human sources of power have one thing in common – they are external to ourselves. In other words, we must use resources outside of ourselves to manufacture power. When that power is used up, we have to have to use additional resources to produce more.
For example, electricity is one of the most common sources of power; we use it in countless applications every single day. Electricity itself is generated through power plants that run on coal, gas or other fuels. We also have refineries that manufacture gas and diesel which we use to power our cars and trucks. Even human beings run on power - we need food to fuel our own bodies! The bottom line is that without power, life would cease.
Now let’s consider God. He is omnipotent, which is a fancy way of saying he possess all power.
Revelation 19:6 – And I [John] heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
Unlike us, God has no need for an external power source – his limitless power comes from within himself. He is power. Because God is also immutable (he never changes) his power can never diminish regardless of how much he expends. He requires absolutely nothing external to replenish his power.
It is this profound eternal power that not only created the universe, but constantly maintains it. Among other things, God’s unmatched power ensures that day follows night, that the earth continues to spin and orbit the sun, that seasons change, and that there will always be seed time and harvest:
Genesis 8:22 – While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
God keeps the universe flowing along smoothly, day after day, year after year, century after century, in countless ways that we could never understand. Only God is capable of doing this; His unlimited power and intelligence make it possible.
Thus, we find that creation is an exhibition or a public display of God’s omnipotence and divinity. He has revealed himself in a way that all of mankind can recognize, if only they will.
As William Burkitt’s Expository Notes put it, “The strokes of the Creator’s hand are engraven in all parts of the universe: the heavens, the earth, and the capacious sea with all things contained in them, are evident testimonies of the excellency of their original cause… any who will not see the footsteps of a Deity in the works of creation and providence are, and will be, everlastingly left without excuse.”
Thus, we see that God has given clear proof of his existence, power and other attributes to the Gentiles. Those who reject him are just as guilty of sin as the Jews and they stand under the same judgment/condemnation.
Romans 1:21 – For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
GENERAL SUMMARY: God has revealed himself to all people, in one way or another. Failure to acknowledge him as God and to be obedient to his laws is the first step in the downward spiral of sin.
The next step is a refusal to honor him and to be thankful for his blessings. This in turn leads to moral failure/degradation, which is the natural consequence of dishonoring God. Moral degradation eventually results in utter wickedness. Paul outlines these steps for us in the following verses.
DIGGING DEEPER: Although they knew God – As Paul pointed out in verse 20, God had revealed himself to mankind. This means that mankind had the means/ability to know him and to discern what was right and what was wrong. But despite this, mankind decided to choose sin over righteousness. 
They glorified him not as God – In other words, the heathen did not acknowledge and honor God for who he is. To glorify him is to have respect for him, to trust him, to acknowledge his attributes (power, holiness, goodness, etc), and to obey his laws. It also means that mankind would glorify him alone because there can be but one infinite creator. This willingness to honor God (to revere, love and obey him) would act as a restraint to sin.
But the opposite is also true. If sinners are not willing to honor God as God, they will spiral deeper into sin and its bondages. Think of it this way: man WILL worship something, because that is how he has been created. If he rejects the worship of God, he must substitute something else. Thus, we find that sinners will choose a god by looking inward to the sinful desires of their own hearts and imaginations.
And sure enough, when we look at history, what do we find? Man created a whole host of idols and other false gods to worship, glorify and serve. This proves that they rejected the God of creation.
Neither were they thankful - Those who honor God are inherently thankful to him. This desire to be grateful is a natural outcome when we acknowledge God’s mercies, love and goodness towards us. Scripture tells us that God is the source of all our blessings, both temporal and spiritual:
James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Simply stated, when we acknowledge God, it is natural to give him praise and to be thankful for these blessings.
But because the sinner has chosen a false god/idol, they will be unable to give God the glory for his blessings. They ascribe the benefits and blessings of God to chance or fortune or good luck, or destiny or the stars or their own wisdom and hard work, or the lump of silver they formed into the image of an idol/beast.
The bottom line is that it is impossible to give God glory for our blessings, if we don’t admit that God is their only source. This in turn leads to vain imaginations.
They became vain in their imaginations – Vain is defined as worthless, fruitless, empty or void of purpose. Again, keep in mind that Paul is showing us the progression of sin in the lives of the Gentiles: Because they refused to acknowledge God, they could not glorify him as God, neither could they worship or praise him for the blessings he gave them. Because they could not worship and praise him, they had to set their affections on something else. This in turn lead to vain ideas and speculation about the true God.
In the case of such sinners, the foolishness and wickedness of their hearts darkened their intellectual powers and faculties; their understanding was perverted. As a result, some Gentiles denied the existence of God altogether. Others claimed there were multiple gods, not just one. Still others said that a deity existed, but that he was cold and aloof and simply walked away from his creation.
These worthless speculations led them further and further from the truth of Jehovah as the one, infinite, all powerful and loving creator. In the end, their vain speculations led them into confusion. Paul describes this has having their hearts darkened. 
Their foolish hearts were darkened - Because the heathen rebelled against the light or revelation they had received, their minds and their understanding were confused and obscured more and more. They could no longer recognize the truth.
Some scholars believe this verse refers specifically to the ancient Gentile philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, Seneca and others. It is their position that these philosophers knew more about God than most, but they hid the truth from the masses of common people.
Because of this, God made them void of judgment. They lost the truth/understanding they had because they refused to follow it to its logical conclusion (there is one divine creator) and share that truth with the common people. Eventually, they descended into thoughts and ideas that made no sense.
Romans 1:22 – Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Many scholars apply this verse primarily to the ancient philosophers who happily boasted of their excessive wisdom in the knowledge of all things, including God. This group would include the philosophers of the Greeks, the priests of the Egyptians, the magi of the Persians and even the Rabbins of the Jews. And there is no question, this verse certainly applies to them.
But in reality, there is no reason to interpret this passage in such narrow terms. In all nations and in all generations, we find people who feel their wisdom and their knowledge of spiritual things far surpasses that of others.
Here is the problem with their alleged wisdom: These people rejected the revelation that God gave them of himself. Therefore, they had absolutely no wisdom at all!
Jeremiah 8:8-9 – “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?’ But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom is in them?”
Many people (both past and present) consider themselves wise, but once they reject God, they are left with nothing except what their limited imaginations and faulty reasoning can manufacture. Distorting the majesty and glory of God, they form him into a mold of their own corrupt thinking and reasoning. Thus, instead of worshiping a God who is infinitely wise, powerful, good and past understanding, they create a god who is on their own corrupt, limited level.
Because of their rejection of God, they became fools - God inflicted foolish/wrong thinking upon them as a punishment for falling away from him.
God describes this process in detail for us in Isaiah 44:9-20. In this passage (stop and read it if you have time), the prophet talks about foolish people who cut down a tree (which God made) and use part of it to build a fire for warmth and to cook food. These foolish people then use the rest to carve an idol which they bow to and worship.
Because these fools have rejected the truth of God for a lie, God makes them spiritually blind so they can no longer think clearly:
Isaiah 44:18,20 – They [sinners] know not, nor do they discern, for he [God] has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so they cannot understand. He [the sinner] feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
The bottom line is that because they rejected the truth, the thoughts and doctrines of the heathen were foolish. In turn, this led to corrupt conduct and deeper sin.
Romans 1:23 - … and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
GENERAL SUMMARY: The Gentiles were given a chance to worship Jehovah, the only eternal, true, unchanging God, who is perfect and glorious. Their rejection of him led them to degrading and humiliating worship practices, like bowing down to idols made in the images of mortal men/women. Worse yet, they also worshipped images of animals/birds and even reptiles and bugs.
DIGGING DEEPER: And exchanged the glory of the immortal God: God is perfect and glorious. He is the source of all light and love. He is immortal (your translation may say ‘incorruptible’), which shows that he is unchanging, sovereign and eternal. People in all generations can turn to him with the assurance that he never ceases, diminishes or changes.
Malachi 3:6 – For I am the Lord, I change not…
I Timothy 1:17 – To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Jehovah is utterly worthy to be praised, worshiped and served. In fact, it is both an honor and a privilege to worship him.
For images resembling mortal men: Sadly, the Gentiles threw away the privilege of worshiping God. Instead, they chose to worship vain, worthless, corrupt images.
An image is a representation or likeness of something, whether made by painting, carved from wood/stone, or cast with metal (most commonly silver or gold). These images are collectively known as idols or false gods.
Many ancient nations worshiped idols in human form. For example, artisans made human sculptures of figures like Jupiter, Hercules, Venus, Apollo and Romulus. Once these images took shape, people deified them - they gave them human attributes like extraordinary strength or matchless beauty. They also assigned human passions to them, but without any kind of moral code or principles. Their made-up gods had unlimited powers and engaged in every form of sensual gratification (revenge, murder, torture, sex acts, gluttony, etc). In essence, they made their gods exactly like they were, or wished to be!
The ancients even went so far as to honor these gods by erecting temples and altars for them. These temples were venues for cult prostitution and lavish feasts which often resulted in gross immorality. Worshipers could bring these idols any and every kind of sacrifice.
We know these kinds of temples and images were very common in the Roman and Greek cultures. Paul speaks of seeing many of them when he visited Athens (Acts 17:16-34).
As bad as this was, the Gentiles sunk even lower. They also bowed down in worship to images of creatures such as birds, animals and ‘creeping things’. This type of worship was especially prevalent in the Egyptian and Oriental cultures.
Birds – The Egyptians worshiped the hawk and the ibis, while the Romans worshiped the eagle. 
Animals – The Egyptians worshiped the monkey, as well as the ox (apis). This, of course, is where the children of Israel got the idea for their golden calf.
Creeping things – This category includes animals that have no feet or such short legs that they seem to crawl on the ground. In Egyptian culture, this included beetles, snakes and even crocodiles.
Worship of this kind is abominable, degrading and humiliating. It is also worthless and senseless. It proves that when man abandons a relationship with God, he sinks into the lowest depths of depravity and wickedness.
One other thing should be noted here. Lest we condemn the Gentiles too much, keep in mind that the Jews were guilty of similar practices, even though they were in covenant with God (Ezekiel 8:10-12).
Let me offer you some encouragement:
In today’s post we talked about people who worshiped the sun, moon and stars as well as images of humans, animals and even bugs. Collectively, these are referred to as idols. They took the place of God in the lives of those who worshiped them.
We may be tempted to think that here in America, people do not worship idols. But is that really so?
An idol is technically defined as anything on which our affections are strongly (often excessively) set; any object of passionate devotion or adoration, anything that takes the place of God.
For some people, work is an idol; they are so passionate about their jobs they think of nothing else, talk of nothing else and do nothing else. All their hopes, desires and affections are set on their job. All their time is devoted to their work. They will spend whatever money is necessary to buy clothes or other items for the job. Essentially, they worship their job.
Other modern idols include self-gratification of all kinds (including sex, drugs, entertainment, etc), children, education, sports, social media, cars or even food.
Keep this in mind: There is nothing wrong with any of these things, as long as we keep them in their proper place in our lives. When we worship God as we should, we can add these things into our lives as blessings, not idols.
Take a few moments to examine yourself. Is there anything that you have been putting before God in your life?
Let me offer you some relief:
Our study today focuses on just how big, powerful and amazing our Creator is. Yes, he constantly keeps the universe flowing along smoothly, but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten you!
During difficult times, we are tempted to think that God doesn’t see us or our situation. But nothing could be further from the truth. Scripture tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 29:30). He is aware of when we get up, when we sit down and he even knows what our words will be before we speak them (Psalms 139:1-4). He knit us together in the womb, and he has determined the number of our days, before we were even born (Psalms 139:13-16)!
God loves you so much he died for you (Romans 5:8); there is NO WAY he would ever forget you or neglect you!
Let me offer you some strength:
The bible tells us that God is the creator of the world. Man tells us that evolution created the world.
This is a prime example of the distorted, darkened thinking that people will embrace once they have rejected the God of the universe. We can’t go into a full-blown study of evolution here, but even a quick glance shows the depravity of man’s thinking:
Evolution says that life on earth descended from a single-celled, self-replicating organism which randomly mutated over time. These mutations were passed from generation to generation and resulted in ever-increasingly complex organisms. That in and of itself makes no sense.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, the universe tends towards disorder and disorganization, not to order and complexity. The longer the time span, the more disorganized the universe becomes. Yet, evolutionists think the world became increasingly more complex over a period of billions of years.
Although they offer no answers as to how the original organism came to life (or maintained that life), they believe that somehow it was responsible for all of the rich, diverse, complex, dynamic life that you see on the planet. How ridiculous! It makes much more sense to believe that God created the world (and all that is in it) in six days and that he keeps it running smoothly (Genesis 2:1-3).
Furthermore, in his foolish thinking Charles Darwin (the scientist which developed the theory of evolution), asserts that men descended from apes. This too is in direct contradiction to both common sense and the bible.
Scriptures tell us that mankind is the crown jewel of God’s creation. We are made in his image and likeness:
Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let us make man in our images, after our likeness.”
We were created with a special purpose – to reflect and represent God on the earth and to steward creation for him.
Despite what others may claim, stand strong in your faith. Don’t allow the lies of darkened confused minds to cloud your thinking – the God we worship and serve is the Creator of all that you now see. He created you, he reached out to you in your sin, and he will make you his son or daughter, if only you will ask him!