The World Under God's Wrath
The World Under God's Wrath
2026 Romans Sermon Series | Part 2 Speaker: Lee Chang-moo Text: Romans 1:18–32 Key Verse: Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."
Introduction: Our True Condition Revealed Before the Light of the Gospel
In Romans 1:16–17, the Apostle Paul makes a bold declaration regarding the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God and the greatest news given to this world. Upon hearing this declaration, one cannot help but nod in agreement. The Gospel is glorious and beautiful.
However, in verse 18, Paul suddenly changes direction. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven..." After just proclaiming the power of the Gospel—now wrath? It might feel like a mistake. But it is not. The brightness of the light is only fully understood when we realize how deep the darkness is that the light cannot reach. Paul is not trying to drive the reader away from the light of the Gospel. Instead, he leads them first into the darkness so that they might see just how radiant the light truly is.
Yet, even knowing this, discomfort remains. Idolatry, sexual immorality, and a long list of various evils. It is a natural reaction to want to hear this passage as the story of someone else—"That’s a story about that kind of people." However, Paul is writing to the Roman church—people who already believe in Jesus. This is not a story about "someone else." It is a story about the place we would have occupied if not for the Gospel, and the forces that are still at work within us right now.
Romans 1:18–32 illuminates where a life without God flows into, examined through three layers.
1. Where God is Rejected, the Idol of "I" Takes His Place
Verse 28 identifies the starting point of all this corruption: "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer..." The Greek word translated as "did not see fit" (edoKimasan) is not simple indifference. It implies carefully examining something, deeming it worthless, and intentionally excluding it. This was willful rejection, not ignorance. Verse 21 confirms this: "Knowing God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks..."
They knew but turned away. Why did humans turn away despite knowing? Because the moment God becomes the center of life, one cannot live as they please. To a human who wishes to live by their own desires, their own judgment, and their own chosen direction, the existence of the Creator as the King of life is a fundamental threat. Thus, humanity pushed God out.
Here, a crucial principle emerges: The human heart cannot exist as a vacuum. The spot where God is pushed out is never empty. Something always fills that void.
Consider fastening the buttons on a shirt. If you fasten the first button into the wrong buttonhole, all the subsequent buttons will fail to find their proper holes. The harder you try to align them, the more crooked they become. Only when you try to close the last button do you realize the error from the very beginning. If anything other than God occupies the throne at the very center of your heart, everything underneath it becomes distorted.
Verse 23 shows what the alternative became: "...and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures."
It is significant that this list begins with "man." The alternative humanity chose in place of God was nothing other than themselves. The desire to live one's own way pushed God off the throne and sat "self" in its place.
This is the essence of sin indicated by this text. Doing bad things is a symptom of sin, not the root. The root of sin is placing "I" on the throne where God should sit. On the outside, one might appear decent and moral. But if "I" am sitting on the throne of my own heart, that is the starting point of a "life that rejects God."
The Idol of "I" in Daily Life
This idol does not look like a golden calf. It appears within the concrete realities of daily life. If things go my way, I call it grace; if they don't, I complain against God. Prayer often becomes a ceremony of getting God's stamp of approval on a pre-set plan. Though it looks like worshipping God outwardly, in reality, He is being used as a tool to fulfill one's wishes. On that throne sits not God, but "I."
Uncontrollable anger at minor criticism, fluctuating self-esteem based on others' gazes, and a heart constantly comparing itself—all these stem from here. In the midst of the anger, "How can this happen to me?" lies a massive "I." It is a reaction because the "god within" has been insulted. A life that refuses to step down from the throne of self is always accompanied by anxiety. Anxiety is not merely a sign of weakness; it is the inevitable side effect of wearing the heavy crown of "I must be responsible for my own life." It is only natural for the heart to break when a finite human tries to assume infinite responsibility.
The idol of "I" is packaged in the most sophisticated language of our time: self-actualization, self-improvement, and boosting self-esteem. "You are the protagonist of your own story. Follow your heart." This is the sweetest gospel modern culture offers. Yet, this is precisely the poison that leads humanity furthest from God. In an era that calls centering oneself "health," Paul’s diagnosis sounds sharper than ever.
2. A Centerless Heart Becomes a "Debased" Heart
The second half of verse 28 continues: "...God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not proper." When we think of God's wrath, we often imagine lightning or natural disasters. But the wrath described in this text is much heavier and colder.
Repeated in verses 24, 26, and 28 is the word "gave over." This appears, on the surface, to be the absolute autonomy modern humans crave. "I will do what I want with my life." When humans stubbornly insist on this, God finally says, "Fine, do as you wish," and lets go. However, the Bible declares this to be the reality of the most terrifying punishment. It is handing humanity over to the acceleration of desire with God—the brake—removed. The end of this "giving over" awaits the "debased mind."
The word translated as "debased" (adokimos) in Greek means "worthless, functionless, failed the test." Like metal that has failed inspection, it is a heart that cannot perform its proper function. It is like a person trying to guess colors in a room where the light has gone out—the ability to discern right from wrong, or true happiness from false, has broken down.
Consider a compass. A compass functions because its internal magnet reacts to the earth's magnetic field to always point North. But what happens if you remove that magnet? The needle shakes aimlessly. It can no longer know North. It has the form of a compass, but its core function is gone. This is exactly the human heart. When God is within the heart, it discerns what is true, what is good, and what true happiness is. But the heart that pushed out the Creator is like a compass missing its magnet; it has no grip on reality. Verse 21 already records the symptoms: "...and their foolish heart was darkened."Thoughts become vain, the heart grows dark, and the ability to discern collapses.
Why is this so serious? Because losing direction means that no matter which way you go, you are lost. No matter how hard or fast you run—if there is no direction, all that effort may lead to deeper destruction. Life without God is not freedom; it is drifting without direction. It is a ship on the vast sea without a compass, drifting wherever the wind blows—that is the actual state of living by one's heart without God.
The Deepest Trap of a Debased Heart
The most terrifying characteristic of a debased heart is that it does not realize it is broken. A person holding a broken compass still believes the needle points North. They are completely lost but are convinced they are going the right way. Verse 22 captures this accurately: "Professing to be wise, they became fools."
The most foolish state is not knowing that one is foolish.
The debased heart shows specific symptoms in life. When truth is gone, emotions take the throne. One stops asking "Is this right?" and only asks "Is this pleasant?" What was right yesterday becomes wrong today, based on mood. Spiritual senses grow dull. Hearing the Word brings no feeling. There is no strength for worship, no heart for prayer.
However, there is a more dangerous stage. A debased heart begins to mobilize all its intellect to construct a solid logic that everything is fine without God. It passes off arrogance as confidence, packaging greed as vision, and justifying disobedience as pragmatism. The needle, unaware it is broken, sincerely and confidently convinces itself that its direction is right. This is the deepest trap of a debased heart, from which it is hardest to escape. Because the intellect itself becomes a tool for self-deception, this state cannot be easily corrected from the outside.
3. A Broken Heart Spreads "Disorder" to All Areas of Life
Verses 29–31 list twenty-one sins: "...being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, arrogant, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful."
At first glance, one might think, "Oh, there are really bad people in the world." But looking closer, this list contains no extreme acts. Next to murder is whispering. There is pride. There is boasting. There is disobedience to parents. Paul is saying that every human appears somewhere on this list, and that they all grow from the same root.
What is that root? A twisted throne. A heart that has made space for everything but God, but has no place for Him. Sin is not far away. It is in the exaggerations and half-truths for personal gain. It hides in the secret satisfaction felt when a competitor fails. It appears as selfishness at home, and quiet gossip and murmuring within the community. Subtle self-promotion, unconscious contempt for others, cold indifference to another's pain—all of this is in the list.
Consider drawing a circle with a compass. To draw a perfect circle, the center point must be firmly fixed. The moment the center slides, no matter how carefully you draw, the circle will be distorted. Life is the same. If the center of the heart—the throne—is fixed correctly, order flows through life. If the center wavers, every part of life slowly tilts.
Paul adds a decisive diagnosis in verse 32: "...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."
It is not just that they commit sins. They no longer even recognize them as sins. Furthermore—they applaud them. If the throne is completely overturned, that overturned state feels normal. The abnormal becomes normal. And when this permeates the entire culture, it becomes the air everyone breathes.
The Root of Disorder, and the Most Tragic State
If you stand before this list and think, "I don't commit murder. I don't commit fraud. I am fine," you are completely missing the point. The point is not the magnitude of the act. The point is the destruction of relationships flowing from a heart with a twisted center.
If "I" am on the throne, other people become tools for my satisfaction rather than objects of love. Manipulation and exploitation do not spare even those closest—family and friends. Competitors are secretly pulled down, rumors are spread, and half-truths are delivered. There is one root behind all this disorder: "I am the most important." In a kingdom where "I" am king, everyone is either a god or an enemy. There is no true rest, no true personal encounter.
This disorder grows on small compromises. The reason whispering and subtle boasting are in the same list as murder is no coincidence. A 1-degree error in the center looks small at first. But after 100 meters, it is on a completely different trajectory. Today’s small disorder becomes a fracture that splits a life tomorrow.
The most tragic state is calling this disorder "justice." Verse 32 warns that approving sin is more terrifying than committing it. "Be confidently yourself. Respecting your feelings is the highest virtue." While the world applauds, we walk a path sentenced to death, calling it a march toward freedom.
Conclusion: The Gospel that Changes the Root
We have seen three things in this text. When God is pushed out, the idol of "I" takes His place. A heart that has lost its true center becomes a heart that has lost its way. And a broken heart spreads disorder to all areas of life.
So, what is the answer? It is not plucking off leaves one by one. It is changing the root. It is changing who sits on the throne of the heart.
Can we do this ourselves? No. The "I" on the throne does not voluntarily step down. A resolution to "live better" is ultimately just "I" trying to fix "I." Just as a broken compass cannot restore its own magnetism, a debased heart cannot correct itself. Here, every human project of self-improvement hits a wall.
Then, who can do it? Only the Gospel can.
While we pushed God out and played the king, Jesus Christ came. He paid the penalty for our rebellion on the cross and opened the way to new life through His resurrection. The Gospel is not a moral lecture. It is the declaration that God Himself did exactly what we never could. Before asking us to live a better life, the Gospel first faces us with the fact that we cannot do it ourselves. At that place of despair, grace begins.
To believe in the Gospel is to come down from the throne of "I." To lay down that futile attempt at the cross and receive Jesus Christ as Lord, God gives us a new heart. As promised in Ezekiel 36:26, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." He changes the root. He restores the throne.
If there is disorder in life, what is needed is not more effort—it is the Gospel. If there is anxiety and emptiness in the heart, what is needed is not more achievement—it is the Gospel. The very place of despair where we know we cannot fix ourselves—this is precisely where grace begins. As John 6:37 says, "Him who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."
Handing the throne of the heart over to the Lord—this is the response this text calls us to. He will personally heal our broken lives and restore the peace and order of heaven to our disorderly hearts. To trust in the power of the Gospel is to acknowledge that our change depends not on our resolution, but on God’s work. Upon that acknowledgment, the history of new creation begins.