God Gave Them Over

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts, to sexual impurity, for the degrading of their bodies with one another. Romans 1:24   (read Read the Scripture: Romans 1:18-32)

The wickedness at work among human beings follows a process which is identified in this passage by the three time repeated phrase, “God gave them over.”

This phrase identifies what is going on in our culture.

The first mark of wickedness in a godless society is widespread sexual immorality — the degrading, or the dishonoring, of the body.
Because men run after other gods and refuse the testimony of their own hearts and do not glorify or thank the true God, God removes his restraints from society so that what is done in secret is allowed to break out into openness and acceptability.
That is the mark of the wrath of God at work.
The first sign of wickedness in a civilization is that sexual immorality becomes widely accepted.

You may ask, “Why is it that sex always seems to be singled out as the sign of God’s judgment”?

Romans passage above begins with sexual impurity and proceeds to sexual perversity.
But, the final result is not sexual sins, but sins of the spirit.

We  all have witnessed how our current society has switched the labels that believers call sin to make sin seem less sinful.
• We call lying, exaggeration.
• We call fornication, safe sex.
• We call murder, a right to choose.
• We call drunkenness, illness.
• We call jealousy, ambition.
• We call pride, self-esteem.
• We call humility, weakness.
• We call money happiness.
• We call entertainment relaxing

 

People really want a sense of total fulfillment, a oneness, an identity.

• Only God can give that fulfillment.
• Only God can satisfy that deep sense of longing for complete identity and unity with another person.

That is why the highest description of the relationship with God possible to a believer is found in the words of Jesus in John 14-15, “You in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).

 

When people think that they are going to find that fulfillment in sex, God says to them,
“Look, it won’t work. But you won’t believe that until you try it out.”

So he removes the restraints and allows immoral sexual practices to become widely accepted, understanding that men indulging in these things will finally find themselves just as dissatisfied, empty and hopeless as they were when they started.

 

Thus they will learn that worshiping God is the only way by which people find fulfillment. 

Worship is the submission of all of my nature (conscience, mind, imagination, heart & will) to God.

Father, thank you that You have not forsaken this world, and that the message of Truth and Light is still as available as ever.   Help us all see, hear and know that YOU are the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life.  Let us all Worship you! Amen