The trajectory of an object is the path it follows once it has been launched. A path dictated only by the laws of motion, gravity, and possibly resistance. Our godless trajectory was launched with the original sin in the Garden of Eden. Since then, our free will and sinful nature have been moving us full-speed ahead towards eternal consequences.
Paul explained the tragic human condition to the Christians in Rome. He told them that apart from Christ, each of us is stuck in a sad progression, moving from bad to worse. I’ve read these verses often and I had always read them as a description of godless sinners living increasingly godless lives. But when Paul talks about the godless trajectory of mankind, he isn’t talking about some other people. This isn’t just about how they live, it is a description of me apart from God. This is the direction my life was headed before Jesus changed my eternal trajectory. This is the “I was…” part of my story.
We deny the One True God.
Adam & Eve chose to seek after wisdom and power apart from God, and this became our natural inclination. We attribute things to random chance or human effort without acknowledging that all good things come from God. We ignore our God-given conscience and choose to sin, shrugging off the consequences because we don’t believe in a just God. We give no thought to eternity because we don’t acknowledge an eternal God with an eternal plan.
We come up with our own answers.
Instead of acknowledging the Creator and His Word, we come up with our own explanations. We create our own truth, exchanging His truth with lies that make us feel comfortable. When we are confronted with His word, we would rather attempt to discredit it than acknowledge it.
We walk around with blinders on.
We don’t want to know the truth, so we don’t seek it. We go through life with tunnel vision and our hearts become darker as we avoid the Light. If we can live as though there is no truth, we will not be accountable to follow it.
We create our own gods.
We were created with a God-sized hole in our soul. Instead of filling it with the One who put it there, we fill it with countless “gods” of our own creation. Money, power, success…whatever we think will complete us. There is no end because there is no true satisfaction in any of these things.
And God lets us have it our way. He doesn’t force Himself into our story. He reveals Himself all around us but until we open our eyes and see Him, we will continue walking in darkness. The further we move from God, the more depraved our minds become until eventually everything is turned inside out and upside down. The tragic outcome of this godless trajectory is eternal separation from God.
But God!
He did not leave us without hope. He intervened in a mighty way when He sent Jesus to save us from the result of our rebellion. Before Christ, there was no hope. In Christ, we have eternal hope!
And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation…So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. – Romans 5:9,11 NLT
This is the basis of our testimony. I was… But then… And now…
