I have written on the
following Scripture passage before, but feel the need to address it
once more.
I may even do so again sometime in the future, if we’re still here.
Romans 1:18-23
“The wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who
suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is
plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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. 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. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal
human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”
It is my opinion that we as a
nation have declined to a spiritual abyss of which we cannot recover. I fault
much of this, but not all, to the rise of Hollywood from the 40s, and
especially the 60s, through today. What comes from Hollywood has a tremendous
influence on society and it can be seen all around us.
We, as any other nation of
people, love to be entertained, and we have allowed entertainment to mold our
lives in what we see portrayed in the theaters and on television.
Movies and television, in and
of themselves, are not bad, no more so than guns are bad. The corrupt hearts
behind these avenues are the source of the problem. Corrupt hearts produce
corrupt actions.
Many good movies have come
from Hollywood, and many Christian movies and shows have been used as a source
to tell others about Jesus Christ. However, by far, the majority have only gone
from innocent in the beginning to scenes of the most violent and decadent
nature coming from the projectors’ lens today.
What is shown on the screens
of America today leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination when it comes to
the evil of mankind. It entices man to it, like flies drawn to a corpse.
Murder, vulgarity, sex, hate,
lust, theft, blasphemies against God, nothing is taboo. Whether from movies,
biographies, news, political events, music, most religious shows, talk shows,
game shows, weekly series, “real life” shows, soaps, and sports all are used to
promote any and everything opposed to our Creator God.
I do believe we have been
turned over to repeat the “rewards” of our own sins. We have snubbed our noses
at God, kicked Him in the shins, and spit in His direction. We have made it
quite clear we do not want or believe in Him, and want to be left alone, and
that is exactly where we are now as a nation.
I agree with one Bible
teacher that the following verses are the result of verses 18-23 shown above in
Romans chapter one. In three stages, God has turned us over to our own desires.
Romans 1:24-25
“Therefore God gave them over
in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of
their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,
and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever
praised. Amen.”
Sexual sins have always been
a problem with people of all ages since the beginning of time. Only God knows
for sure if we are the most decadent society that has ever existed, but if not,
we’re right up there on top with the best of them.
We must certainly be in first
place however when replacing God’s truth for a lie. We of all societies should
have more belief in an Almighty Creator God than any before us. Why? We have
traversed the heavens and seen so much more than any before us. We have
traveled through the lens of the microscope and seen God’s mighty wonders. And
yet we are more adamant than any society in history that there is no God. As
Hitler, we think we are the super race. Science is our god.
From microbiologists, to
geologists, to astronomers we think we have all the answers, and we are now our
own gods. “So be it,” says God, “you think you know so much, have at it.”
I’ve heard it said of some
people, “I’d like to buy them for what they think they’re worth, and sell them
for what they’re worth.” God says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an
haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 6:18)
Romans 1:26-27
“Because of this, God gave
them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations
for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations
with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful
acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their
error.”
Homosexuality is not new. God
warned about it in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Remember
Sodom and Gomorrah?
Satan pulls man down to his
level a little at a time until finally he has them right where he wants them,
in the sewers.
When I was growing up, this
type of sin against God was rarely mentioned. People just didn’t think along
those lines. If it were discovered that someone had fallen into this trap, it
was too horrible to think about, but not so now. Not only is it thought about, it’s
talked about, applauded, and shoved in the face of every decent person. We hug
a corpse and reap the maggots.
Why has this happened? Why
have we as a society allowed this? Satan is much more manipulative than we
could ever imagine, and this is one of his tools to destroy the family which
God originated with our first parents, Adam and Eve. I think it’s plain to see
that we, as a society, have fallen prey to the lion who seeks to devour, since
we are rotting from within.
Remember Sodom and Gomorrah?
Romans 1:28-32
“Furthermore, just as they
did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them
over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have
become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They
are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers,
God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,
no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such
things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also
approve of those who practice them.”
This final phase of our fall
into certain judgment shows hearts totally blackened and without any light from
God. We are in that phase, now, as a nation. There is nothing in the verses
just read that we are not consumed with. The waste waters of the sewers are
above our nostrils. All that remains is drowning in our own filth. No evil
imagination of the heart is foreign to us. We embrace them all.
Is there any hope whatsoever?
As a nation, in my opinion, there is no hope, but as individuals, our hope is
always in Jesus Christ. Any individual, regardless of the sins in their life,
can be saved from the wrath to come by putting his or her faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus can clean them up and make them white as snow.
“Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah
1:18)
Only Jesus can take a
blackened heart and change it to one that shines with His own brightness.
Our blind hearts will bring
nothing but judgment down upon our heads, but by trusting in Jesus, we can be
forgiven and assured of our home in Heaven.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
