Devotional Romans 1: The Power of the Gospel and Creation Reflection on Romans 1: Paul's reasons for visiting Rome, the evidence of God in creation, and the consequences of serving the world rather than God. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Romans 1: The Power of the Gospel and Creation

Today’s devotional is found in the book of Romans, chapter 1, and this is what happened.

Synopsis: This chapter begins with Paul writing a letter to the Romans. Paul starts by greeting his Roman brothers and sisters, giving thanks for all their efforts in the path of holiness. He rejoices to hear from various sources in other nations about the faith of the Romans. Furthermore, he longs to visit them and admits that he has intended to pay them a visit several times, but was prevented from doing so. In the letter, he also mentions his reason for wanting to visit: to strengthen their faith in Christ and enjoy mutual fellowship among Christian believers on the journey of holiness. In addition, Paul points out that God has left more than sufficient evidence of Himself in His creation so that everyone can believe in Him. It is humans who refuse to observe the evidence in the universe and hide behind theories that make no sense. Finally, Paul warned the Romans that no one can serve two masters with devotion, and that we must choose between God and creation.

Observations

These were my observations.

1. We must not be ashamed of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is an observation that, whether we like it or not, I think we all go through at some point. I recall that I rarely identified myself as a Christian—much less had the courage to share the gospel. I made up excuses for not doing so: I didn’t know the Holy Scriptures well enough, my conduct wasn’t yet that of a true Christian, etc. When we don’t want to do something, we become geniuses at inventing excuses. But Jesus Christ warned us that whoever is ashamed of Him and His words, He will also be ashamed of that person when He comes in His glory (Mark 8:38 NIV). And that is not good news for us, as we are sinners and deserve judgment. Therefore, we should not be ashamed to proclaim Jesus Christ. For if we do not acknowledge His name before men, He will not acknowledge our names before God at the final judgment (Matthew 10:32–33 NIV).
2. God left more than enough proof of His existence in creation. Unfortunately, nowadays, many non-believers think God has left no evidence of His existence. But that is not true. Both scientific evidence and the Scriptures point to God. For this reason, Paul states in his letter that the proof of God’s existence is evident and that God’s invisible qualities (His eternal power and divine nature) are clearly perceived in His creation. In other words, no one has any excuse to say there is no evidence of God’s existence (Romans 1:19–20 NIV). Scripture says that God created the earth and the universe (Genesis 1:1 NIV). Science also affirms that the universe had a beginning (the Big Bang theory) and is not eternal, as Aristotle, Parmenides, the Stoics, and some later scientists believed. That means Something or Someone had to create the universe, and the only Entity possessing all the characteristics capable of creating a world like ours (i.e., omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience) is what we call God. Yet, this is only one of countless pieces of evidence pointing to God’s existence.
3. We cannot serve God and the world at the same time. This is probably the hardest battle we will face in our earthly walk as Christians. Because we live in a world cursed on account of original sin (Genesis 3:17–18 NIV). That is, we must fight every day to win the battle between the flesh and the spirit through watchfulness and prayer (Matthew 26:41 NIV). Moreover, most popular and recommended things today go against the spirit and satisfy the desires of the flesh. But as Christians, we must follow the example of Jesus Christ. That is, we must walk by the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh—they are in conflict with each other (Galatians 5:16–17 NIV). When we choose to live for the world rather than for God, He hands us over to the sinful desires of our hearts (Romans 1:24–25 NIV). The things we lament in the world we live in are the result of our rebellion against God. If we want to live in a better world, we must start by changing ourselves first and then helping others do the same.