Message by Pastor Arnold De Guzman
Sunday - June 23, 2024
FORSAKEN, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Romans 1: 24 - 32
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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
When men completely rejected God, He was left with no other choice but to pronounce judgment on them, which began with His abandonment of humanity to their sin.
GOD GAVE HUMANITY OVER TO IMPURITY.
Idolaters contaminate themselves by worshipping “the creature rather than the Creator.”
Romans 1: 24 -25 (NLT)
So GOD ABANDONED THEM to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
GOD GAVE HUMANITY OVER TO DEGRADING PASSIONS.
Men abused God’s wonderful gift of human sexuality.
Romans 1: 26 - 27 (NLT)
That is why GOD ABANDONED THEM to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
GOD GAVE HUMANITY OVER TO MORALLY CORRUPT MIND.
Men rejected God as creator, standard of good, and judge between right and wrong.
Romans 1: 28 - 32 (NLT)
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, HE ABANDONED THEM to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.
They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
CONCLUSION
God’s “judicial abandonment” is not eternal rejection or condemnation to hell. It is the first part of his redemption plan. Man learned how tough it is to exist outside of His protection and covering.
REFLECTIONS
What in the list of 21 vices that Paul listed in Romans 1: 29-31 are you still struggling with?
How can the small group and the church help you overcome this vice?