¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

Horrific in every way, the wrath of God should strike terror in the heart of every human being. In today’s world people fear many things, from natural disasters to terrorist attacks, to government taking over our lives and supplanting our rights, to the media corrupting our children’s minds and souls. But these all pale in comparison to the anger of God—there is nothing that can stop the consequences except God Himself.

This is where the gospel message begins as Paul starts fleshing out the summary statement of verses 16-17. The quest to gain the righteousness of God, to be right with our Creator, must begin with coming to terms with our most fundamental dilemma: our spiritual failure in rejecting God in the first place. Unless we get that right, all other solutions to the problems we humans have will prove superficial and short-lived if, in the end, our Creator is angry with us.

So Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, begins with showing how humanity has fallen short of God’s righteousness. We have rejected what we have known of God. Most religions see the human quest as a journey to discover God. But Christianity begins with the assumption that we already know enough about Him to adjudicate our case and to be found guilty. Gaining more knowledge will not change the verdict, because more knowledge of God will simply confirm what is already established. If we reject the sufficient knowledge that we do have, how would we respond any differently to more knowledge?

This passage teaches that God has made known to everyone certain basic truths about His existence that are “evident” to us. Arm-chair philosophers and skeptics are quick to assert, “Well, those things are not evident to me!” However, all systems of thought must begin with certain axioms, that is, things for which no proof is offered, but that are inherently true and must be accepted as true for the rest of the things said to also be true. Paul appeals to the universal sense of the axiomatic truth in question. But how do we know it is actually true?

The truth of our passage today is “revealed.” It is true because God says so and He made it so. The appeal is made to the inner person, beyond the constraints of limited human reasoning and resistant pride. No one will ever stand before the judgment seat of God and say, “I didn’t know…” Rather they will acknowledge, “Yes, I did know; I just didn’t want to accept the implications.”

Lord, thank You for shining the light of Your knowledge in me.