The fallout of the fall was vast, thorough, and ongoing, distorting and perverting everything. What was once natural was now rejected for unnatural passions and lusts, and with all sense of appropriate order went any sense of shame for what they were doing. People don’t just do these things; they develop a support base to help others do them. All the while, seeking to avoid the consequences of their rebellion against what God has clearly revealed of Himself in the world around them: without Him, they die.

Romans 1 is the story of humanity’s seeking to detour itself from the consequences of its rebellion against God, and thereby making the situation all the worse. Romans 1:18 explains that God reveals Himself to humanity in nature. Simply put, nature has God’s fingerprints all over it. We understand this as artistic beings. If I paint a room, or my father-in-law paints a room, you’ll learn something very quickly. Something will be revealed to you about me or him: Joel can’t paint well; Johann can paint extremely well. When we create something, our fingerprints, real and figurative, are all over it. So it is with God and His created order: His character (nature) and his ability (power) shine brightly, more brightly than even the stars on a clear, Kansas night. And with that, people are without excuse. There is enough trace evidence of the maker to know we are made and should live in service to our maker.

But, as humanity gazed at the stars, eyes quickly went out of focus, and the beauty of God’s nature and power shifted abruptly to displaying His wrath. In our fall, and our fallen-ness, we rejected the Creator’s glory and fell in love with His reflection in the world: ourselves. The fallout of the fall was vast, thorough, and ongoing, distorting and perverting everything. What was once natural was now rejected for unnatural passions and lusts, and with all sense of appropriate order went any sense of shame for what they were doing.

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Romans 1:28-32 (ESV)

People don’t just do these things; they develop a support base to help others do them. All the while, seeking to avoid the consequences of their rebellion against what God has clearly revealed of Himself in the world around them: without Him, they die. The rebellion of their hearts leads to death and, ultimately, hell.

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