Stand Strong in the Word
Stand Strong in the Word is a weekly bible study that teaches through the Bible verse by verse in chronological order. For more information, visit www.standstrongministries.org.
Stand Strong in the Word
#311 “Understanding God's Eternal Power and Divine Nature” (Romans 1:20)
Have you ever looked at creation and thought, “How can anyone not see God in this?” Romans 1:20 tells us that God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen in what He made. In today’s episode, we’re unpacking what that really means—how His eternal power shows up in our daily lives, and how His divine attributes challenge the world’s excuses
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Have you ever looked at creation and thought how can anyone not see God in this? Romans chapter 1, verse 20 tells us that God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen in what he made. We're unpacking what that means on today's episode and how God's eternal power shows up in our daily lives and how his divine attributes challenge the world's excuses. Turn to Romans 1 and let's stand strong in the word together. Well, hey there, my friends, welcome to Stand Strong in the Word podcast. Jason Henneman is with you guys, as always, blessed to be with you as we continue our study here in the book of Romans, chapter 1. And as you guys have been following along, you realize that we are definitely just taking apart a lot of these verses one by one. Now you guys know that when I started this podcast years ago, in chronological order, that we wanted to do kind of expository teaching, kind of verse by verse, and no joke, romans chapter one has certainly been verse by verse. And no joke, romans chapter one has certainly been verse by verse. And so there's just a lot there that as I study and I pray and just enjoying my study really in the book of Romans again and again, this is something that so many of us have studied or returned to time and time again, and it is so rich, and so I just pray that this has been a blessing to you guys. And so, before we dive in, encouraging you guys, if you listen to this podcast and it's been a blessing to your soul and helping you stand strong in your faith and draw closer to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, leave us a review. Wherever you get your podcast, share it with your friends, use it as a Bible study. That would be tremendous. And it's such a blessing to know that the time that we have together is eternal, that we have this eternal perspective and that we come with one mission, with one goal, and that is to please the Lord as we study his word together and to live it out. Not just to know and have that head knowledge, but to live it out. So, with that being said, have that head knowledge, but to live it out. So, with that being said, let's just kind of do a quick little recap as we dive into verse 20. So let me just read the verse and then we'll jump back to verse 18 to see the context.
Speaker 1:So in verse 20 now, there's a bit of a transition in the Greek and it says for his wrath is that's one of the first things that Paul talks about is that God's wrath has been revealed from heaven itself. So we have to understand that something existed prior to us, existing time, space and matter, and that is the spiritual realm. But God is eternal. God has always existed and he will forever exist in his perfect, beautiful presence that permeates and rules over all creation, and notice that it's specifically revealed against the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of man. So we have to remember that as we continue to unpack, that that's what Paul's talking about.
Speaker 1:Everything they do to exchange is the ungodly, unrighteous person and it's in their unrighteousness that they suppress the truth. And remember we talked about the word suppress is to hold down with force and it's anytime God's going to convict them, anytime God's truth is revealed to them through something like intuition, knowing right from wrong, you know, like in having a moral compass and speaking it away. Not that they do the evil, they do the wrong, but they don't acknowledge that God's behind it. And there's this term that Paul will start unpacking as he uses the word suppress Remember it's that word metaeo, and it means to empty. It speaks to vanity, worthlessness, and oftentimes that's in a context of idolatry. And so later in verse 21, you'll see him start speaking directly to that, about how they're exchanging God for other things. They're exchanging God for other things.
Speaker 1:And then we looked at verse 19, where God's truth, who he is, has been plainly shown. This is because God has shown it to them. So not only is you could say indirectly, they see natural order, but God has purposely made creation in a way that he is personally revealing himself. So they're without excuse because God is involved in their lives, in each and every one of us. He's a sovereign God. He knows all things. He's not limited. He knows all things, he's not limited, he's omnipresent in every situation and circumstance.
Speaker 1:So when we see what Paul's saying here and again, understanding when he said the word plain here and it's built off of the Greek term nostantoi theo, and this word plain is again ephan erosin, ephan erosin, ephan erosin, and it's in the eros active tense. So it's not that God gives us a certain amount of revelation and then he stops. God is purposefully and visibly bringing clarity and truth to us. And remember this was taken from the verbal adjective of gnosko, and so there's a level of certainty, something that Paul used when he was speaking about his own knowledge in knowing Christ, that is, that he, you know personally, knows with certainty, with assurance, what he believes in Christ, and so that was applied here in verse 19.
Speaker 1:He says for what can be known about God is plain, and this is why they're without excuse. And on top of that, it's just not known but it's also shown. So that's like, even when you think about as a parent, you can tell your children something, but when you demonstrate, when you display, when you show them how to do it, it's far more effective, it's far more engaging. So when we see all of that, and we come now to verse 20 and it says for his invisible attributes, namely and I love this because Paul is going to specifically lay this out Namely, and I love this because Paul is going to specifically lay this out. So, going back to what we were talking about just a minute ago, in verse 19, he moves from known and shown to what To clearly perceived.
Speaker 1:When Paul writes this, and I like what Thomas Schreiner said in his exegetical commentary, because he refers to this verse as a twofold argument for God's existence. So let's break this down before we go any further, because this will help One. He says there's the internal witness. So you have the conscience, you have the moral objectivity, what I was just saying a minute ago about the intuition of knowing right from wrong. Then you have what is known as the external witness and that is something we would refer to as natural revelation or general revelation.
Speaker 1:So when Paul says that it's been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world what the eternal power, divine nature, so let's understand what that means, because a lot of times when I hear people speak about this, they talk about things in, you know, in generalization, but we really don't unpack the, the knowledge, if you will, philosophically that paul's actually expressing in the greek with eternal power and divine nature. He just didn't just speak to one of them, he speaks to both of them together that have been clearly perceived. So what Paul is speaking about here is God's glorious character. So remember, in verse 18, we're talking about his wrath, we're talking about his righteousness and his justice. Because again, what is being in comparison to that and obviously suspect, is how man lives in their ungodliness and unrighteousness. Well, the reason we know that is because it's measured to God, who's the ultimate standard. So here.
Speaker 1:What Paul's doing is he's going to go back to the beginning of creation, kind of like if you go back to the opening of Genesis. In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. So God is eternal. And so what Paul's talking about here, when he's talking about his eternal power and divine nature, he's more or less pointing out that God is the originating cause something he will refer to in Ephesians 3, verse 9, who created the space-time universe, meaning that creation obviously had a beginning, so there's temporality to the universe, that it came from nothing, that's ex nihilo. So someone, ie God, who's the originating cause, who is eternal, who's always existed and will forever be. He caused something to exist. So out of nothing, god created something, so space-time universe comes into existence. But God isn't just the originating cause, he's also the sustaining cause that keeps everything together.
Speaker 1:This is something Paul will elaborate on in the book of Colossians, in chapter 1, specifically in verse 17. So when you look back at Exodus 20, verse 11, and Moses declared for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. That's what Paul is declaring here, that the answer to people's existential questions of who are we? How did we get here? How are we to live? His invisible attributes, namely his eternal power in divine nature, have been clearly perceived. So, for example, to kind of look at these words that Paul is using, and when you look at certain arguments that are made for the existence of God, this is more or less what Paul is doing here, and this can be coincide, you know, with the debate that he had or the discussion, the lecture that he gave openly at Mars Hill at Oropagus.
Speaker 1:There's something known as the cosmological argument. Now, don't be alarmed, just if you look at the word cosmological, it's the study of the cosmos. Now there's an argument attached to it. So as we examine and we believe, as Christians, that things have been clearly perceived in God's creation, and we believe that, again, as noted earlier, creation is finite, and so the argument, the cosmological argument that is, teaches that every finite thing had a beginning from something beyond, and that cause has to be greater than the effect. And the scientific evidence that we use to support this argument includes, for example, the second law of thermodynamics, the universe expansion radiation echo that we see throughout the universe galaxy seeding. Einstein's theory of general relativity actually points out that the universe had a beginning. And so we come to the conclusion, based on the scientific evidence that we see, again using common sense, that God, or let's put it in the terms of Thomas Aquinas, god, who's the uncaused first cause, he's the all-powerful and intelligent source or cause who adequately and sufficiently and perfectly creates. So he's the explanation, he's the reason for the existence of all things.
Speaker 1:So when we look at Psalm 19, verses one through six, and there it says the heavens declare the glory of God. This is what Paul's feeding off of. And then it goes on to say and the sky above proclaims his handiwork, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There's no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. And then he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. So the act of God as the ultimate designer is clearly evident for all to see.
Speaker 1:So we come to the conclusion, based on that, that no one has an excuse to challenge God, claiming, if you will, that he didn't provide enough evidence. There's not enough reason or even love or power for them to accept him. And then, as you move from the cosmological argument, you get into what I think is one of the strongest pieces, if you will, of evidence for God's existence is morality. Or when you look at objective moral laws and you see that you know many writers will refer to them as objective moral laws act, or as a prescriptive imperative that they're undeniable, or as a prescriptive imperative that they're undeniable. So when you look at Romans 2, verses 14 through 15, where this is something Paul is going to go in greater detail from here in verse 20 into chapter 2, verse 14 to 15, where he talks about, humans have a conscience, there's intuition, they have a sense of right and wrong In fact it's referred to as that.
Speaker 1:They have the law, they have God's truth, they have God's morality. That is written on our hearts. And so the law that is written on human hearts prescribes what ought or ought not to be done. This intuitive knowledge is action guided. It's not just descriptive but it has a prescriber behind it, just as we have a originator who created all things. And in this creation there's objectivity, in this reality there is morality that tells us how we are to live. And this set of laws, it's objective and it binds on all people to act or refrain from certain actions. So God's truth never changes and his morality never changes. So objective moral laws necessitate a moral agent behind the law, and it's one with a purpose, and we refer to this agent as a moral lawgiver.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously, there's two atheistic arguments in opposition to what we're talking about in this verse, and that is known as moral subjectivism. And the other alternative view is a pantheistic perspective or pantheistic illusion. And so both cases, whether it's an atheist who believes in reality and is subjective in their interpretation and holds to a social construct, if you will, a makeup of morality, and then you have the pantheist who believes that really, in the end, this is all an illusion. And so this is an attempt on either side to object, if you will, to objective moral laws, to make the case that we are here and there's no need for a higher power. But again, I don't have time to elaborate so much on this. I have other works you can go to stance from ministriesorg and some books that I've written, that I tackle this issue. But if you look at these arguments they fail. I mean moral subjectivism, this atheistic point of view.
Speaker 1:It posits that all morals are sociobiological nature. Well, first and foremost, how do you know that? And secondly, the results are arbitrary. They're relativistically permissive through the account or the experience, or the fortitude, if you will, that's very limited and finite of the individual, and so they can't account for the objectivity of moral laws. They may verify it, they may say they're conclusive, but again, that's only measured through the lens of the human being.
Speaker 1:The pantheistic illusion aspect. Through pantheism, right regards reality, capital R as an illusion. So how do you even know that? How do you know that what you know is just an illusion? If it's just an illusion, then you couldn't really concretely and exhaustively know. And so the other thing that's an issue here is that it denies a sociological foundation for moral laws and also fails to account for their objectivity.
Speaker 1:But when you look at the Christian worldview something that you see Paul laying out here again when you're reading this verse, it says for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, and when you and I see that in the Christian worldview, it explains an objective moral law this way that God again, who's the originating cause, who's the sustainer of all things, is the objective moral lawgiver, he is the ultimate prescriber, and humanity is naturally aware of moral values and moral duties. Because, if you go back, god created us in his image and he created us good, with free will, which is good, because forced love is a contradiction Right, and so an objective moral lawgiver would have to be infinite in their goodness, so infinitely good, in which all finite moral goods would flow. So when you look at the infinite good that is God, he is the source of all finite goods, and so this provides for the reality of objective moral laws and acknowledging good, love, sacrifice. And then you look at evil murder, bondage, lies, deception, cunningness, slavery, manipulation, exploitation. We know again, again, that is wrong, and so when we acknowledge good and evil, that's to acknowledge that God has a moral order for us. So when we strike back again, going back to verse 18, remember God's wrath has been revealed to ungodliness and unrighteousness. So when we don't live according to God's standards, that will be clearly conveyed, if you will, through different avenues, different ways, but no one's without an excuse. So the moral lawgiver, god, who is the ground of all being which is a phrase I love when the philosophers have used, that he's the ground of all being. This provides for us a philosophically coherent and theologically compelling case for the existence of God.
Speaker 1:In examples of this, you and I see when someone says you know, like human rights, do not murder, do not steal, that doesn't come from us, those aren't sociobiological things that just over time, through evolution, that we have constructed this in order to survive and to some degree thrive, whatever that means, if it's just all arbitrary, these rights in the underlining duty, right of justice, that all points or is all recognized to God, and you see this throughout culture, you see this throughout religion. Recognize to God, and you see this throughout culture, you see this throughout religion. Now, over time, as we're going to be unpacking Romans, we exchange that truth, man, exchange that truth for a lie, and they don't want to acknowledge the Lord, they don't want to acknowledge an objective moral lawgiver that explains the reality of these objective moral laws that we know exist. And so we have to understand when Paul's bringing out this case here in verse 20, that what he's pointing to here is that he's speaking to these moral oughts and ought nots and that we have a sense of this, and that's one reason why Paul says that these are clearly perceived in our lives.
Speaker 1:The Greek word here means to acknowledge with a sense of reflection and understanding, and that is something that we can't dismiss. In fact, when I was diving deeper into this Greek term, I looked at Vincent's word studies. It carries it as a way of pointing to an intellectual apprehension, meaning that God has given humans comprehensible awareness that gives them the ability to perceive God in the natural world. So God's attributes are not hidden from people. They're clearly visible in creation, which this is something theologians again refer to as universal or general revelation. John Stott in fact referred to it by saying God's self-revelation in nature is not obscure but clear, and this is something that God has given us since creation. So from the very beginning God has given his creation everything that it has needed to not only live but to know him, to go to the source.
Speaker 1:And I love when you go back in the book of Acts, particularly in chapter 14, verses 16 through 18. This is something that Paul and Barnabas, while they were in Lystra, they they were perceiving that the people were doing something unusual and remember this was a culture of polytheists, they're very paganistic, and they began to obviously identify Zeus as Barnabas and Paul, who's a spokesperson, as Hermas, and they wanted to worship them as gods. And so they vehemently obviously denied these claims and they spoke to the crowd by saying in past generations, god allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven in fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. So, even with these words, the people they were trying to offer sacrifices right, they were going nuts and Paul was letting them know like you guys, god himself, you guys are worshiping all these false gods and we're not gods, we just human beings. But god has clearly revealed himself in creation, and so what was happening obviously, is when the rains would come. It's because they felt that they gave sacrifices to certain deities who had the power to do that or to withhold the rain to punish their enemies. So, when you take into account all of what we just looked at, even going back to verse 18 again, if you missed those episodes, go back to them and see the case that Paul is making.
Speaker 1:And when you really look at what the Bible's teaching here and you have a friend who is an atheist who adamantly, vehemently, talks about how there is absolutely no evidence, they, I guarantee, yes, the God of this age has blinded them. Sin in their life, selfishness, pride. But again, the bottom line is this that person is suppressing the truth and it's not about us feeding them more evidence, it's praying they will repent, because notice the very end of this verse. So they are without excuse. No one is justified in rejecting God, his laws and the gift of salvation. There's no valid argument that can be made from man's sinfulness Again, their unrighteousness, their ungodliness that we saw in verse 18.
Speaker 1:To indict God for treasonous behavior. And don't you find it ironic with all the atheists that I've read? To indict God for treasonous behavior. And don't you find it ironic with all the atheists that I've read, again, this is not saying all of them say this, but that new atheist movement that has been around with the four horsemen that started it, with Daniel Dennett, christopher Hitchens, sam Harris, richard Dawkins. Inevitably they will address, quote the character or the behavior of God Right Again, they masquerade around this, but they're so specific about these behaviors of if God were real, but it's man who is lawless, it's man who is helpless, it's man who is dead in their trespasses and sins. And so I encourage you, my friends, as this has been an encouragement for me.
Speaker 1:When I do talk to people who are struggling, who don't know, they say and they're searching and they're looking, most people are. You know, very few encounters that I've had with atheists are very belligerent, right and disrespectful. Most of them will say, look, I tried it, but but the reasons why they walked away are more personal than being very objective and looking at the evidence, if you will. So a lot of times it's not about that. A lot of times it's about them suppressing the truth in their life and holding on to bitterness and resentment. And so I hope that, as we looked at this passage today, that this has really helped you understand people that are in the world, that are lost, and they need you and I, who are standing strong in our faith and grounded in God's word, to engage them as the Holy Spirit leads us. So thank you guys for listening. Know that I love you guys. I'm praying for you If you guys have any questions regarding the Bible, anything specific, or you have issues regarding spiritual warfare.
Speaker 1:As many of you know that that's the new project that I'm working on right now and I hope to at some point. On this podcast I can kind of introduce some of these things that we can examine scripture in and we'll definitely, you know, touch on some of them, as scripture, you know, specifically deals with some aspects of spiritual warfare. But if you even have questions regarding that, make sure that you guys know that you can contact us by emailing us at info at stanstrongministriesorg. But I encourage you guys, as always, leave us a review, spread the word about this podcast so more Christians just like you can stand strong in God's word together. Until next time, keep standing strong in your faith. You.