God’s Wrath Warns Those Who Abandon the Truth About God for a Lie!

Glow stars are plastic stars that stick to ceilings or walls and glow in the dark. Like the stars in the sky, they were created by someone for us to enjoy. The manufacturer information for glow stars is on the box, and for the stars in the sky you can look to the Bible for the Creator information.

Denying stars were created is foolish. Whether it is glow stars or the stars in the sky, both were created. If someone told you about their finding of a box of glow stars in a parking lot and proceeded to tell you with great detail, wonder, enthusiasm, etc. their theory about how the elements came together to form the glow stars, the packaging around them and the writing on the packaging, then you would tell them that they are being foolish and the box just fell out of someone’s bag after coming from the store. The same goes for the creation of the stars in the sky as we hear about in our Psalm for today, Psalm 19,

1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

The stars in the sky and the sky itself whether by day or night did not come from nothing nor did they come to their complex form from something simple and inanimate. Even without a manufacturer’s label, even without a written language, the stars and sky communicate to each individual person God created the vast, complex, interdependent and life supporting heavens and earth. Stars are created whether the glowing ones from a box to the ones blazing bright in the sky.

Denying God as the Creator has greater implications than confusion about the origin of stars. In today’s New Testament reading from Romans 1, God reveals denying him as the Creator exchanges the truth for lies, it is wicked and brings God’s wrath. Paul wrote in Romans 1,

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For 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 people are without excuse.

There is no excuse to deny God’s existence. We get our English word “apologetic” from the Greek word translated as “excuse.” God made his existence so obvious and beyond reasonable doubt through his creation of the heavens and the earth that there is no excuse, no apologetic, no argument, no defense, no explanation, that can remove God from reality. Those who deny God’s existence are wicked and godless, and God’s wrath is against them. They bring God’s wrath because their denial of him is more than denial of him as the Creator as we continue reading in Romans 1,

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

The willful, systematic rejection of God is at the heart of a futile and foolish way of thinking and living. There is no thankfulness or wisdom among those who deny God’s existence. They are foolish for exchanging worship of the Creator, the highest being, for created things, even lower than humans. For the rejection of the plain, clear truth of God’s existence, we read in Romans 1,

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

God gave the godless wicked over to an animalistic way of living where lust and cravings rule, where selfish, emotional and carnal desires degrade the whole person. In their sinful denial of the truth about God they fall from their high place in creation to putting themselves below lesser things that cannot save them from God’s wrath.

You often join God in his wrath against those who abandon the truth about God for a lie. God is justified in his wrath, and so often you join in the outpouring of condemnation of the wicked and godless. But as you condemn the wicked and godless, and the rampant sexual impurity of those who deny God’s clear order of male and female in creation, do not forget your own sin. You too worship created things. For example, you abandon God to listen to the call, bow down to and follow the pattern of thinking, living, acting, speaking of a mortal friend, coworker, family member, classmate, teacher, influencer, newscaster, politician, scientist, religious leader, philosopher, producer, artist, etc. which is idolatry. You fall into sins of impurity and degrade your body. You are tempted to mingle the truth of God the Creator with evolution, or you keep quiet when the topic arises fearing the repercussions of humans rather than fear of God, rather than trust in God’s power to call people to repentance and faith when they hear the truth, rather than consider the need for another soul to be rescued from a wicked, godless life. When we turn back to sinful ways, when we worship created things, when we are quick to judge the wicked, godless and impure when there is still time for them to hear the truth, God’s wrath rightly falls on us as well. Sin is the great equalizer. We are all sinful creatures and there is only one Creator, one God, and none are righteous before him.

Our Creator saved us from his wrath. Last week, the sermon was based on the reading from Isaiah and this week, we hear again from Isaiah in our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 44, 6 “This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” At Isaiah’s time Judah had abandoned the truth about God for lies by worshipping idols. So, God allowed Babylon to destroy them, but God’s wrath did not last, and he promised deliverance. Here in Isaiah 44, we hear God call himself by many names teaching us that he is King, immortal, the one truth God and the Redeemer. To deliver all people from God’s wrath, God himself was born into this world, and Jesus redeemed us by paying the price for our wickedness and godlessness. The redemption price was his life sacrificed on the cross enduring all God’s wrath. God also saved us through his righteousness. In the verse just before our New Testament reading from Romans 1, we hear God’s righteousness gives us life, 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” You are no longer under God’s wrath, but his righteousness. God was righteous as he carried out his wrath against sin through Jesus and he gave you the gift of Jesus’ righteous life as your own. God has restored your status in his eyes as righteous, not wicked and godless, through his gift of faith as we hear later in Romans 8, 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. God wanted you to be saved from his wrath. He chose to call you to faith, to be given the image of his Son, the image of righteousness and to have eternal life in heaven. This has all been done for you by God. You are redeemed and restored through Jesus.

Teach others about God’s wrath. It is so easy to fall into condemning the wicked and pray God would bring his full wrath down on them. Instead, in our Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus changes our perspective with a parable about a man who sowed good seed in his garden, but during the night his enemy came and spread weed seeds. When the weeds sprouted, 28 “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’” The man said that the weeds must be left or else in pulling them out the good wheat plants will be damaged, so all was left until they could be separated at the harvest. Then, Jesus explained the meaning of the parable,

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.”

We want a quick fix to evil with the removal of the wicked and godless, but God is patient with his plan to punish evil. Many already feel his wrath in this world in their foolish, darkened, degraded way of living, and then on Judgment Day all the wicked and godless will be sent to hell. You know about God’s wrath and are ready for Judgment Day because you have faith in Jesus. You know your Creator and are not afraid to meet him because you have his own righteousness as your own. But in our New Testament reading from Romans 1, we hear again, 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. There are many who have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, but there is still time for them. Use God’s creation to start a conversation about God. Then, if the person says that they do not need God or that they are a good person living their best life without fear of death or judgment, then tell them about their sin and God’s punishment. Or if the person is drowning in troubles, hardship, guilt, regret and fear of death, judgment and God, tell them about Jesus’ sacrifice and his free gift of righteousness.

Both glow stars and bright burning stars in the sky are created. Denying stars were created is foolish, and denying God as your Creator brings his wrath. The Creator saved us from his wrath. Jesus the Son of God was punished for all our sins, even doubts about God as the Creator. And, as a loving gift he gave us his righteousness by faith. When you see the stars, remember God created them, he created you, he saved you through Jesus and someday he will bring you to live with him in heaven. While we are in this world, God’s wrath warns those who abandon the truth about God for a lie. Amen.