What Are You Holding On To?

Romans 1:18–25

1. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
2. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
3. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
4. 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.
5. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
6. and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
7. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
8. because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Introduction

The Most Decorated Olympian of All Time

Michael Phelps

He has 28 Olympic medals, 23 of which are gold, and he is a world record holder.

But after the 2012 London Olympics, this most successful athlete in the world sat alone in his room, refusing to leave for days, not wanting to see anyone.

He later said in his own words: "I didn't have any self-love. Honestly, I didn't want to be alive."

Why?

His parents divorced when he was nine, and he later said: "I felt abandoned, and I carried that with me for twenty years." The pool became his place of escape. From the age of 15, he bet his entire life on swimming, not taking a single day off for five years.

After retiring, he realized that apart from the identity of a "swimming champion," he had nothing. He said: "I had no self-esteem, no sense of self-worth. I felt like the world would be better off without me."

28 medals could not fill that void.

The Turning Point

He grew up in a Christian home, but for him, faith was just a background, something optional or expendable. In 2014, he checked into a rehab center due to severe depression.

At his lowest point, a friend gave him a book—The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. After finishing it, he called his friend and said: "This book is incredible; you saved my life."

He began to believe that there was a power greater than himself and that his life had a purpose.

This Is Everyone’s Story

Today, I want to ask you: why would someone bet their whole self on swimming, achieving success and wealth, yet still feel empty inside? What is that void?

Actually, this is not just the story of a star athlete. It is everyone’s story.

Inside each of us, there is something we are holding on to tightly—it could be achievement, the approval of others, a certain relationship, the satisfaction money brings, or the identity of being "a good parent, a good employee, or a good Christian."

We hold on to it, not just because we like it. The deeper reason is: without it, we wouldn't know if we are still a person of value.

This "holding on" has a name—it is called an idol.

Paul’s Question

Romans 1:18–25 is not revealing a psychological problem, but rather bringing to light a problem that concerns everyone:

Why has the world become this way? Why do people, even though they know God, still live in confusion and unrest?

And Paul gives us the answer in verse 23: people have turned away from God and replaced the Creator with the created—that is, idols.

Paul then gives a definition of an idol in verse 25: "they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature."

An idol is not just a statue; it is a lie we choose to believe: thinking that some created thing can give us the security, value, and hope that only God can provide. We start to believe: without it, I am not complete; if I lose it, my life has no meaning.

Phelps seemed to have built his life's value to a large extent on gold medals and achievements. When the gold medal became his answer to "who am I" and "what am I worth," the medal was no longer just a medal—it started to become his idol.

Paul is not merely analyzing human psychology; he is revealing the most fundamental spiritual problem of human fallenness: the object of our worship has been exchanged.

一 · Part 1

When People Lose God, They Begin to Grasp for Security 

Romans 1:18–23

People Are Without Excuse (Romans 1:18–20)

Paul first affirms that although God is invisible, He is clearly knowable. The problem is that people reject God, failing to honor or thank Him.

Paul says that people are "without excuse," and this phrase is significant. It is because people actually already know. Verse 20 says that through what has been made, God’s eternal power and divine nature are clearly perceived.

People worship idols not because they cannot find God, but because they are unwilling to face God. Finding a substitute is easier than facing the true God.

What Does the Wrath of God Look Like?

And God is angry because of this; His wrath is stirred because people do not lack knowledge of God's existence, but intentionally suppress the truth.

God's wrath does not involve raining down fireballs from heaven to destroy cities; rather, it is leaving people to continue doing what they want to do.

Then people discover that after leaving God, human life becomes empty, loses true rest and order, and they try to grasp everything that gives them a sense of security.

The first thing Adam and Eve did after sinning was to grab fig leaves to cover themselves.

Why do people need to grasp things? Imagine you have fallen into the sea, your feet cannot touch the bottom, and there is a piece of wood in front of you; what is the first thing you would do?

There is actually a person in the Bible who lived out the portrait of Romans chapter 1.

He is Jacob, whose name in Hebrew literally means "to grasp" or "supplanter." He knew God—the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. God continuously gave him promises throughout his life journey, but he did not rely on God, nor did he honor Him; he used every possible method to grasp things that would make him feel secure.

He was not the firstborn, so he used red lentil stew to trick him out of his birthright; his father favored Esau, so he used goat skins to trick his father into giving him the blessing; while at Laban's, he used his clever mind to grasp wealth.

This is exactly what Paul describes in verse 21: "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him." Jacob did not exchange God for a statue, but for the birthright, his father's blessing, and wealth, yet the essence is the same.

Jacob Spent His Whole Life Grasping

Jacob spent his whole life grasping. He wanted status, blessings, and wealth. Are these things inherently bad?

We cannot deny that Jacob had a greedy side; his life was a constant pursuit of the next thing. However, a greedy person simply says, "I want more." Jacob's problem was deeper; it seems he was always trying to determine his own place and value by grasping for blessings.

In that era, a person's identity was determined largely by birth. The firstborn possessed the birthright, the blessing, and the right of inheritance. Jacob was born the second son, and he was deeply preoccupied with the things that did not originally belong to him. Thus, he grasped for the birthright, for his father's blessing, and for wealth.

However, when people base their identity, value, and hope on these things, they cease to be blessings and slowly become idols.

Their Thinking Became Futile

Jacob used red lentil stew to trade for the birthright, used deception to trade for the blessing, and used schemes to trade for wealth. This is exactly what Paul says: their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Jacob’s life seemed to be built on a hypothesis: as long as I grasp enough, I will have security. But the more he grasped, the more afraid he became of losing it.

What Paul wants to bring out is that people are not just adding an extra object of worship, but have exchanged God for something else.

We Are the Same

We are the same. We all want to receive blessings, live in peace, have successful careers, and see our children succeed, but what we truly rely on is very likely still our own ability, our own planning, resources, and connections to prove our own capability and value.

It is not that we deny God, but God's position has been exchanged. We rely on ourselves in life, and only rely on God when we pray; God is a backup plan, not the primary reliance.

When the object of worship is wrong, we naturally will not honor God as God. We still ask Him for blessings and still pray to Him, yet we build our security on other things; we want what God gives, but we do not truly want God Himself.

This is what Paul meant when he said: "They did not honor him as God or give thanks to him."

What are you holding on to? Are you enough?

二 · Part 2

 "Gave Them Over" and Brokenness 

Romans 1:24–25

"God Gave Them Over"

Paul knew that when people turn away from God, they will look for idols to replace God’s place. What will God do? In verses 24 and 25:

"God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

God gave them over. God justly allows people to experience the path they have chosen.

This phrase appears three times in Romans chapter 1: verses 24, 26, and 28. This is a very important term. "Gave them over" does not mean that God no longer cares for people, but that He actively hands them over, letting them bear the consequences of their own choices.

The Cycle of the Lie

Verses 24 and 25 describe a cycle: people exchange the truth about God for a lie, and God gives them over to experience the consequences that the lie brings. A lie can never give people what it promises. The story of Jacob is a living example of this cycle.

Jacob grasped many things, using deception to steal the birthright, his father's blessing, and wealth. What Paul calls "their thinking became futile" is the belief that the more you grasp, the more secure you are.

But he had to flee from his brother, living in toil for twenty years. By the time he could return home, he was still filled with great fear and distress.

If these things could truly give a person security, why was he still living like this? This is what is futile.

Jacob’s story also shows us that the "giving over" Paul speaks of is not an immediate destruction of a person, but allowing them to continue chasing after the things they rely on, letting a person reach the end of their own idols.

The Ford of the Jabbok

But God did not give up on Jacob, until Jacob reached the ford of the Jabbok, where he finally reached the end of his own strength.

Thirty years later, Jacob was returning home, and Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. He was afraid that Esau would kill him. At that moment, the scripture says, "Jacob was left alone." He had nothing left to grasp.

That night, Jacob did not seek God. It was God who took the initiative to come to him.

That night, Jacob finally discovered that what he truly needed to grasp was not the blessing that God gives, but the God who gives the blessing.

The Difference Between Idols and Faith

Idols are things we use to prove our own value. But true faith is simply grasping hold of God Himself.

And this is precisely where the Gospel wants to take us.

三 · Part 3

The Gospel: You Don't Have to Grasp Anymore

The Same Word, Two Verdicts

In Romans chapter 1, God "gave over" sinners to the path they chose; this is judgment.

But when we reach Romans chapter 4, Paul uses the same root word to describe Jesus being handed over. The difference is that Jesus was not handed over because of His own sins, but was handed over for our transgressions. He endured the judgment that was supposed to come upon us.

Jesus walked to the very end that idols lead people to; He was rejected, judged, and separated from God. He walked that path in our place; He bore the consequences of being "given over" for us.

Romans 1 says that God gave sinners over to sin. But the good news of the Gospel is: God did not give us over to the very end; God gave His own Son over to sinners.

One is righteous judgment. The other is salvation born of love.

We were originally those who were to be given over, but Jesus became the Lord who was given over.

Jesus on the Cross

Jesus chose to walk to the cross, not for His own sake, but for ours. He had no clothes left, the disciples beside Him had all run away, and He bore the greatest human shame alone on the cross. It was to bring us back into the presence of God.

After Jesus rose again, He still kept the nail marks on His hands. Those nailed hands remind us: He did not come to grasp, but to sacrifice Himself; He did not come to gain, but to give.

He gave us the foundation of life, and precisely because of this, we can let go of those things we have been gripping tightly and take hold of God Himself once again. This is the Gospel.

The Gospel Reverses Everything

Paul says there are three human problems: not honoring God, not thanking God, and thinking becoming futile. The Gospel reverses these three things—not by effort, but because the foundation has changed.

When we know that we have been completely accepted in Christ, complaining begins to turn into thanksgiving; grasping begins to turn into contentment; glorifying ourselves begins to turn into glorifying God.

Conclusion

The Gospel tells us: You don't have to grasp anymore.

What Are You Holding On To?

I do not know what you are holding on to right now. But often, behind what we are gripping tightly is a profound question: "If I don't have these things, do I still have value?"

God found Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok, and He also revealed Himself to Phelps at the darkest time of his life. Phelps said that book helped him see that life had a purpose. Today, this passage we have heard also points to Jesus, who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

The Gospel does not tell us to try harder to grasp God, but lets us see that when we cannot hold on to ourselves, God has actually already grasped us in Christ.

And today, He uses this passage to ask us the same question: "What are you holding on to?" He invites us to be honest with ourselves.

Hands Open Wide

Jesus let go with His hands, letting people see the nail marks; that which was meant to be shame became glory.

Jesus on the cross, His hands open wide, was not grasping, but sacrificing. When you think of that image, what you are holding in your hands will slowly loosen. This is not because your willpower is amazing, but because you have seen the love of God.

May we, like Jacob, slowly loosen those hands that are gripping so tightly within the grace of God. May we no longer exchange God for created things, and no longer place the blessings God gives above God Himself.

Psalm 73

The Psalmist says:

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you."

Having God — I have enough.