For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
—Romans 1:21
If you have ever shopped for a diamond, you know the jeweler always lays it out on a bed of black or deep-red velvet. Why? Because against that dark backdrop, when the light hits it, the cut and color and clarity of the stone leap out and shine. You see its beauty precisely because of the darkness behind it.
That is exactly what Paul is doing in the opening chapter of Romans. Before he shows us the brilliance of the gospel, he lays down the dark velvet of human sin. To truly appreciate the good news, we must see the bad news. And here the bad news is grim.
Watch the downward spiral Paul traces. Humanity knew God, at least in that general sense creation makes plain. But they did not honor Him as God or give Him thanks. From there it slid: their thinking became futile, their foolish hearts grew dark, and “claiming to be wise, they became fools.” They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images, for idols, for created things. They traded the truth about God for a lie and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator.
Notice that sin doesn’t usually announce itself as rebellion. It starts as a failure to worship and a failure to be thankful. It starts small, with a heart that has God in view but won’t bow and won’t say thank you. And from that quiet refusal, everything else unravels.
We need to feel the weight of this, because we live in it. We’ve moved as a culture from condemning sin, to tolerating it, to celebrating and marketing it, and now to silencing anyone who dares call it sin. What once slinked down back alleys now marches down Main Street.
But here is why I write this without despair: it is the terrible news that makes the good news so good. The gospel is not a message of tolerance, it is a message of deliverance. Christ can change your heart, your life, your passions, your proclivities. You don’t have to stay in the dark.
Don’t look away from the darkness. Let it drive you to the One who is light.
IT’S THE TERRIBLE NEWS THAT MAKES THE GOOD NEWS SO GOOD. THE GOSPEL IS NOT TOLERANCE, IT’S DELIVERANCE.
