The Normal Christian Life: A Journey Through Romans
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, I offer my praise and worship for who You are, and for all the qualities that You possess as God: You are all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, and at the same time You love me and every other person on the planet, knowing each of us by name, and calling each of us into a vital, living relationship with Your Son, Jesus! I confess that I am not worthy of Your love and grace. I am deserving of Your wrath, and the penalty of death that goes with it for my sing. I praise You for sending Jesus to pay the penalty for my sin, and ask that You will fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may live in Your grace and power. Use me to show my family and friends the reality of Your salvation, by empowering me to think, speak and act in ways that honor and glorify You. God let my faith be active today. Let me stand up for You in everything that I think say and do. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God’s Word Today—Romans 1:18-20
Romans 1:18-20 NLT
18But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. 19For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
Romans 1:18-20 NIV*
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
*Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Reflecting on God’s Word
Look through all three of the translations of Romans 1:16-17 once again. Ask God to show you ANYTHING you have missed, and reflect on how You can respond to that in a way that will deepen your walk with Jesus, and make you a more effective witness for Him.
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
Look at Romans 1:19 in both the NLT and the NIV, what differences do you note in the language of the two translations? What difference do the differences make?
Which translation is more understandable to you? Why?
Understanding God’s Purpose for Us
What does it say to you about God’s purpose for you that He has put a knowledge of Himself in your heart?
Applying God’s Word to Our Purpose
Take a few minutes and list all the ways that God has made Himself known to You personally:
After completing the list, take a few more minutes and thank God for revealing Himself to You in each of these ways!
Thoughts - The Truth About God Is Known...
The Apostle Paul made it clear that God has not left us to guess about His existence. He has made Himself known to us through that “inner voice” we often call the conscience and through a sense of His reality in our heart. While the statement made in 1:18 that God’s anger or wrath is being revealed against our sin (godlessness, wickedness, suppression of the truth) is a hard one to swallow, Paul wants to make sure that we understand that God’s wrath is a last resort, carried out against those who won’t take His instinctive “cues” about the truth of His existence and power into their lives. Once again, Paul’s words may seem to run against the grain of our scientific, modern thinking, which says that unless we can taste, touch, see, hear or smell something it doesn’t exist, but nothing is more “scientific” than recognizing that beings created by the living God would exhibit an innate ability to know He exists. Sometimes, we get lost in our desire to be objective or scientific in our approach to life, failing to recognize that science is based on faith, just as surely as Paul’s contention that knowing God is instinctive in human beings. What I mean by that is that science postulates a universe that somehow came into existence through randomness, chaos and chance. Paul postulates a Creator who brought the universe into existence, created us in His own image and likeness and placed within us an instinctive understanding that He exists. When view objectively—truly OBJECTIVELY—we must admit that both viewpoints ultimately stand on faith. I can’t prove that Paul is right, but His truth is much more reasonable than the scientific “truth” most of us have been exposed to all our lives. God doesn’t want us to close our minds in order to trust in Him. He wants us to use them to recognize that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. There is enough room for doubt that faith is required in order for us to believe, but there is so much evidence that points to the truth about God being known in our hearts. Thankfully, the truth is sure, and when we stand in it, our lives are anchored firmly, and we can live with confidence in Him!
This Week’s Memory Verse:
They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. Romans 1:19