The Unchanging Truth

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Unchanging Truth, the verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Jerod Gilcher, lead pastor of Christ Community Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. Through the living and active word of God, The Unchanging Truth exists to encourage your soul, transform your life, and help you trust and treasure Christ as redeemer, savior, and king. Now, opening the scriptures and proclaiming the truth that never changes, here is Dr. Jerod Gilcher.

Dr. Jerod Gilcher: The truth about what? The truth about who? Verse 19: The truth about God. Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. Do you see that? All people know deep down in their soul the truth that God exists, that God is real, and that he deserves our highest allegiance. But you see the truth, the tragic truth of verse 18—listen carefully—is that the knee-jerk default response of every man because of sin is not to believe or worship or bow to God’s authority, but instead, Paul says, to suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

That is what man does. That is what we did. Apart from God's awakening grace, you understand we all emerged out of the womb spiritually dead, slaves to sin, suppressing the truth. The word "suppress" there literally means to hold down, to bury underneath, to muffle, to stifle, to smother, to strangle. Like taking a beach ball to the ocean, holding the beach ball underwater, trying to keep it from coming to the surface. That’s what man does.

They try to keep the beach ball of divinity from breaking through the surface and reminding them that God is real, that God is watching, that God exists, and that to this God, they are held accountable. This is the attempt of man to obliterate the truth. And notice the agent with which man suppresses the truth. What does Paul say? They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What does that mean? That means sin piled on top of sin.

Just sin piled on top of sin, all to silence the siren that screams in the soul. And man has come up with countless ways to do this, hasn't he? Arguments, denials, cults, false religions, sexual immorality, psychedelic drugs, and anything else that will blare out the noise, the truth of God that cannot be denied. And this really dawned on me with this recent push to deny that there is such a thing as a man and a woman.

Do you know what I’m talking about? This thing that's emerged where there is no man, there is no woman. And it just became clear to me that this whole movement is just one giant suppression of the truth because think about it. If you can have a man and a woman, you have distinctions that cannot be denied. You have something that is and something that is not. You have a yes and you have a no. Yes, that is a man. No, that is not a woman.

But even that’s too much truth to tolerate. You understand that's a very dangerous concession to make to say that there is a man and a woman because if you have a man and a woman, well then there is the freedom there to say you have a yes and a no, and that leads to right and wrong and truth and error. And it's not long before those implications lead to God himself, and him we cannot have, and so we must deny men and women altogether.

And that is the suppression of the truth. We see it. And yet the question is, the truth about what? What is the truth that mankind desperately wants to bury underneath? And Paul explains—look at verse 19. The anger of God is against the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What truth? Verse 19: "Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them."

And there it is. It doesn't surprise us at all. The truth that man desperately wants to bury and hide and obliterate from memory is the truth about God himself. And that's very interesting, isn't it? Paul says what is known about God. Do you feel the implications of that? That means God is undeniable. The truth about God is clear. It is known. It is able to be understood, which is why Paul says that which is known about God is evident within them.

Evident, he says. *Phaneros* is the Greek word, which is built on a word, the root of which is light. It's the word for light, which means the truth about God is glowing and radiant and luminous, meaning it’s really, really obvious and cannot be denied. And yet notice, however—look at the text—notice where Paul says the truth about God is evident. He says it is evident in them. It's in them. It's internal. It’s inherent. It’s instinctive.

It is intuitive. And I remember this. I remember these days as a non-Christian, having not heard the gospel, knowing nothing about the Bible, and being absolutely certain without question, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God is real. And that sounds crazy, but it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? I mean, you can’t be made by God, in the image of God, living in the universe that God created, and not have some kind of awareness of the reality of God.

It's too close. It’s too ingrained. It's too digital. It's too encoded in the soul, which means very bluntly—and I'll just say it—atheists do not exist. Neither do agnostics. It’s just not true. Now, they might believe their own delusions to the degree that they are willing to believe that they think they don't believe in God. But in the end, it’s just the suppression of the truth that Paul described in verse 18.

And I want to be nice about this, but I don't care what the atheist says. I’m not going to take the word of someone blinded by sin and blinded by the devil over the apostle Paul because in the soul of every man, even if buried under an ocean of sin and lies, is the suppression of the truth and that way deep down in the caverns of the soul is the inescapable reality that God is real. We don’t have to prove to anyone that God exists. They already believe it!

And it's evident within them, and the reason it is, verse 19, is because God made it evident to them. Do you see that? It’s internal, and it is external. God is evident within man because God made it evident to man, not in an audible voice, not in a vision or a dream, but physically, tangibly through the creation God has made. Look at verse 20. The anger of God is against men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them.

And yet how did he do that exactly? "For since the creation of the world"—there it is—"his invisible attributes have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." Do you see it? God has revealed himself to all people in and through creation, which is wild and profound, isn't it? The God who is unmade and invisible is clearly seen through what is made and is visible. That’s interesting.

And yet it’s what theologians call general revelation, isn't it? General revelation. And you understand about general revelation, it reveals God’s glory. It samples his beauty. You think about the order and the splendor and the diversity and the variety and the wonders of creation, all give a glimpse of the God who made it. You didn’t know that when you read National Geographic, you were reading a theological journal.

Augustine said this: He said, "Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book in which God is seen, namely the book of creation and the things that are made. Look above you—there it is. Look below you—and there it lies. And now read the book, for God whom you want to discover didn’t write that book with ink; instead, he set it before your eyes in the things he has made. And can you ask for a voice that's louder than that?"

He's exactly right, and Psalm 19 says the exact same, doesn't it? The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and the expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours out speech; night to night reveals knowledge. Do you hear that? Creation declares and tells of the glory of God. It doesn’t say anything, but it says so much! With a silent scream, creation reveals the handiwork of the God who made it.

You look at the ocean, you become a theologian. You look at the mountains, you become a scholar. You walk through the woods, you graduate from seminary. Why? Look what Paul says: "For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." Paul is saying God is clearly seen through creation. You can see it, you can understand it, you can recognize it, you can comprehend it. It is there.

You look at the world, and the only explanation is that there is a God, and he made this. Which is why more than ever, I am persuaded that evolution is evil. It's an evil worldview. It takes the purpose of creation and turns it on its head. Think about it. Creation proves that God is real, but evolution weaponizes creation to try to prove that God isn't real. Which in the end, means it’s nothing more than the suppression of the truth.

It's an elaborate scheme to justify rebellion. It’s a creation myth without a creator. And yet even pagans with no exposure or knowledge of the Bible can identify the reality of God. Aristotle—I think this is in your notes—Aristotle said, "All life belongs to God. We say therefore that God is a living being, eternal, most good, and that life and duration belongs to God." Plato the philosopher said God is transcendent, the highest and most perfect being, the one who gave order and purpose to the universe.

How did they know that? How did these men who never read the Bible, never had any exposure to a Jew who would tell them about the true God, how did they know that God is transcendent, eternal, uncreated, and self-sufficient in his being? They know because they saw him in and through creation. In fact, they saw the things that Paul says you should see in and through creation.

Look at verse 20: "For his invisible attributes from the creation of the world, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen." So creation doesn't just prove that there is a God, it shows certain things about this God. Namely, number one, that he is a God of eternal power. Do you see that there? Meaning you look at mountains and oceans and whales and rhinos and people and planets, and the only logical explanation for those things is a God of sovereign power who has always existed.

But number two, creation reveals a God who has a divine nature. What does that mean? It means he is not like us. He is transcendent, he is holy, he is other, he is lofty and exalted and matchless and supreme. I mean, you look at the world and you look at the universe, and it just makes sense! 400 billion stars just in our galaxy. Just in our little galaxy, and there are billions and billions of galaxies.

The sun is a mere 93 million miles away. And it’s considered a small star—a dwarf, I think is the official term. And it is 864,000 miles across. That’s like going around the earth six times. 1.3 million earths could fit inside the sun, and it is a tiny star compared to the others. The Canis Majoris, the largest star that’s been discovered—get this—it has a diameter, the diameter of the star is 1.7 billion miles.

That’s the distance from earth to Saturn. That is the size of the star! And there are trillions and trillions of those in the universe. Worlds without end, stars without number, space without limit, beauty without measure. What is the point? The point is all of that makes men, end of verse 20, without excuse. Without excuse to worship this God, to cry out to him, to ask him to reveal himself to us, to find out who he is, how we can serve him, how we can honor him, how we can exalt him, how we can love him with every ounce of passion in our souls.

And Paul’s point is—and in fact, that is exactly Paul’s point—man doesn’t do that. Man does the opposite of that. Look at verse 21. We'll look at this in full next week, but Paul says, "Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks. But they were made futile or empty in their reasonings, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools."

And here it is—this is the theological revolution—they, we, exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of the image of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. And that is why God is angry. And that is why he was angry with us. We all emerged—I hope you know this—we all emerged from the womb as rebels in a revolution, as spiritually dead slaves to sin, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, exchanging the glory of God for the worship of idols.

And you see, that is exactly why people need the saving righteousness of God in the gospel. Romans 3:10: "There is none righteous, there is not even one." Romans 3:23: You know it well, don't you? "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And yet God has made a way, hasn't he? God has made a way to find sinners not guilty without dropping the charges. Put it like this: The righteous God has made a way to righteously righteous the unrighteous, to declare them as righteous and adopt them as his sons.

Turn to chapter 3, verse 24. Chapter 3, verse 24. Paul says we are justified as a gift by his grace. Here it is: "Through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation through faith in his blood for the display of his righteousness because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed." Now, that was deep, but you can see the chain reaction, can't you?

Redemption plus propitiation equals justification. Do you see it there? Redemption plus propitiation equals justification. Meaning the death of Christ was a ransom price that satisfied the wrath of God so that when we put our faith in him, the guilt and wrath for sin was gone, and we became reconciled to God as daughters and sons. Look at chapter 5. Turn over there, chapter 5, verse 8. Chapter 5, verse 8. You know it well: "But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

"And having therefore been justified now by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath of God." And then turn to chapter 8. Chapter 8, verse 3: "For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: after sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous ordinance of the law would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit."

Do you see this? The love of God sent the Son of God to bear the wrath of God that we might be sons of God who have the righteousness of God for the glory of God in the kingdom of God. No wonder Paul says in Romans 10, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon him.

And I'm almost done here. If you have not called upon him, if you have not called upon him in repentance and faith, you need to know the righteous wrath and fury of God is upon you. That's real. You’re part of a revolution against a God of eternal power and divine nature that is going to end in a disaster. You are, Romans 2:5, storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

And yet if you still have a pulse, there is still time. There is not much time, but there is time to abandon, to lay down the weapons of rebellion, and to wave the white flag of surrender, and to yield yourself by faith to the custody of Jesus Christ as Lord and God and King and Savior and treasure of the soul. How could you refuse such an offer? How could you spurn the summons to savor the riches of eternal life and fellowship with the living God? Today, right now, at this moment, is the moment to yield.

Because this here, Romans 1, what does this do for us? This does some pretty profound things for us. Grim though it is, it gives us three things. It equips us; it trains us in the proclamation of the gospel. And I argue it gives us three things. Number one: Romans 1 gives us clarity, doesn't it? This gives us clarity. This chapter is the most penetrating cultural analysis and exposé in the history of the world on what’s wrong with human beings and what it is they need the most.

And we know exactly what they need the most. We know what the problem is and the solution. Which leads to number two: compassion. Compassion. How could one former slave to sin not look upon current slaves to sin and plead with them to flee the wrath to come? To flee by faith to Jesus Christ who took the wrath he didn’t deserve for the sins he didn’t commit? Because number three, clarity and compassion lead to courage.

To courage. Not just to be nice moral people, but people bold and vocal in the proclamation of the gospel, right? People unashamed by the message of the cross. That if sinners must be damned, they must be damned as they leap over our dead bodies, and with our arms grappling about their legs. That if hell is to be filled, that none who fill it will be unwarned, unprayed for, or unpreached to by us. Because we're not going to stand by while the world burns. We’re not going to take this lying down. We will seize who we can from the fire through the proclamation of the gospel, which is nothing less than the power of God to save.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for The Unchanging Truth, the verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Jerod Gilcher and Christ Community Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. At Christ Community Bible Church, we exist to prize, portray, and proclaim the supremacy of Christ as we trust in his word and wait for his return. We hope today's teaching has encouraged your soul and helped you trust and treasure Christ as your redeemer, savior, and king.

If you're in the DFW area and looking for a church home, join us for worship Sunday mornings at 10:30. To learn more about the mission of the church, meet the pastoral staff, or plan a visit, go to ccbiblechurch.com. You'll find ministry services and additional teachings there as well. Just click on the resources tab to get started. That's ccbiblechurch.com. Join us again next time as we open the scriptures together and proclaim the truth that never changes. This has been The Unchanging Truth.