Not too long ago, my nephew had disobeyed his parents, and as a result, was sent to bed early. While this punishment was well deserved, it was sad for my whole family because he is funny and fun to be around, and we did not want him to have to go to bed early. It turns out the rest of our family was equally punished when my nephew Owen was punished because we missed out on time with him. We never wanted him to have to be punished, but when he disobeyed his mom and dad, he had to face the consequences of his actions. When we talk about the end times and the doctrine of heaven and hell, we must understand that, similarly, God does not desire for any person to spend eternity in hell apart from Him. That was never His intention; it is a consequence of sin in the world.
The Apostle Paul often talked throughout Scripture about the consequences of sin. As he wrote about sin’s consequences, he made it abundantly clear that God hates sin. He is a perfect God, and sin is an affront to His perfection and holiness. According to Paul, “God shows His anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them” (Romans 1:18-19). Sin makes God angry, and sin must be punished. God has made Himself known to each one of us, according to Romans 1:19, but we must decide if we are going to acknowledge Him, His power, and His holiness. Paul even went so far as to explain that those entangled in sin know that, ultimately, the punishment for that sin is death (Romans 1:32). Without turning to and placing one’s faith in Christ, the punishment for sin is death. That is the consequence of living contrary to God and His word.
We must take the consequence of sin seriously. Sin breaks the heart of God. Sin leads to death every time, whether that sin is telling a white lie or something we would consider much greater than a white lie. Thank God who sent Jesus to pay the price demanded for sin for all who hope in Him, for His kindness and forgiveness.
Go on a walk today. Listen to your favorite worship music as you walk. While you are walking and listening to worship music, meditate on God’s love for you and your love for Him. He always has been and always will be taking care of you and providing for you exactly what you need.
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
