Romans 1:18–22 · NASB 1995
God has made Himself plain in the world He built, and the man who studies that world and still denies God is not missing evidence—he is pushing the truth down because he does not want the God it points to.
Hold a beach ball underwater and it fights to rise. You have to keep pressing, keep your weight on it. The moment you stop, it breaks the surface. Romans 1 says that is what men do with the truth about God: it keeps rising, and they keep pressing it down.
God showed Himself; men did not find Him by being clever. You never see power itself—you see what it does. Creation shows the Maker, but it does not preach the cross.
To suppress is to hold down so it will not surface. The trouble is not lost evidence; the truth would cost a man his own way of living. They would not honor God or give thanks.
A man can be brilliant about the world and a fool about God. Rule Him out at the start and you never reach real wisdom. The empty place never stays empty—something gets lifted into His place.
Romans 1:18–23 (main text)
Romans 1:16–17
John 3:19–20
Romans 10:17
Proverbs 1:7
Psalm 139:23–24
1. What has God made evident, and who made it evident (Romans 1:19–20)?
2. What does it mean to “suppress” the truth (Romans 1:18)?
3. What two things did they refuse to give God (Romans 1:21)?
4. What does creation reveal, and what does it not reveal about salvation?
1. Why is “there is no God” a conclusion a man carries in rather than one he finds under a microscope?
2. Where is the difference between honest study of the world and a verdict against its Maker?
3. Romans 1 is a mirror before it is a weapon. Where might you be holding a known truth underwater?
Practice the opposite of Romans 1:21. Each day, take one ordinary gift—rain, food, a clear mind, another morning—name the God who gave it, thank Him out loud, and do the one thing that gift asks of you.
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Creation tells you that you stand before the living God, but the stars cannot forgive you. Hear the word of Christ; believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who died and rose; repent, confess His name, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Christian—take your hands off the truth you have been holding down. Repent, confess it, and ask the church to pray with you.
The Truth He Holds Underwater · Romans 1:18–22 · Waupaca Church of Christ · Scripture: NASB 1995, The Lockman Foundation