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Understanding God’s wrath makes me smile about His love!

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This section of my blog is titled “Jesus love”.  You might be surprised then that today I want to talk about “the wrath of God”.  I was driving home this morning thinking about His love and I realized that one of the things that shows His love the most is almost entirely missing in today’s church!  What is that missing thing?  The message of the wrath of God. That’s right, understanding God’s wrath most brilliantly displays His love!  The concept of God’s wrath has been lost to the church.  When’s the last time you heard it mentioned?  Did you know that the glory of the gospel is that it saves us from the “wrath that is to come”? “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.”  (Colossians 3:6) “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” (Romans 5:9) If you think the idea of God “pouring out His wrath” is beneath God, that somehow it doesn’t fit who He is, I urge you to take another look at your bible.  God’s wrath is a key truth that is spoken about throughout the entire book!  To not talk about this is to distort the truth about God, the gospel, and our own condition before Him.  “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”  (Romans 1:18)

The starting place for the gospel

The starting place for the gospel of Jesus Christ is that God’s wrath is being revealed.  He doesn’t like what’s going on down here on planet earth and He’s going to do something about it!  “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power..”   (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9) The pages of God’s word are FILLED with references of the wrath of God; from the Old Testament to the New Covenant this truth is declared.  Why then is God’s wrath hardly ever mentioned in today’s churches?  Are we more concerned with making God look “nice” than we are with telling the truth? Here’s the truth:  God’s love shines even brighter, is made even more glorious, when seen against the backdrop of His wrath! That’s why when I was thinking of His love this morning, His wrath came to mind.  You see, I realize I don’t deserve His love.  If I got what I deserved, it would be punishment, not love.  I’ve fallen short of His glory, sinned, grieved His heart, rebelled against Him and His plans.  I don’t deserve a pat on the back and a smile for that!  The bible tells me “the wages of sin is death.”  (Romans 6.23)  If I got what I deserved I wouldn’t get rewarded for sinning, I’d get punished. God’s love is made even more amazing by the fact that He doesn’t want to punish me.  Yes, the wages of sin are death, but “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

How understanding God’s wrath reveals our need of the gospel

It bears repeating: To really understand God’s love for us, we need to understand His wrath.  Many people have never heard the gospel presented in this way.  They see no reason to “give their life to Jesus” or why they need Jesus to “save them”.  Many “Christians” don’t seem to know this truth either.  They think they “get saved” by praying a prayer.  They walk forward after church and pray the “sinners prayer”, everything’s good and they’re on their way to heaven!   I will cut to the chase and try to make it simple.  God is holy, you are not.  When you sin He has every right to punish you for it.  The punishment for sin is death.  His wrath is real, His anger against sin and rebellion is talked about throughout the entire bible.  This is His world, He created it, he made the rules.  He created you and He has a right to say how you should live.  If you violate His laws and turn away from Him, refusing to acknowledge who He is as the LORD, and creator of all things, He has every right to punish you, and will.  His anger is fierce and hell is real, the bible is clear about that.  God wants you to understand these things and not be in the dark about His wrath.

What about God’s love?

We’ve all been told of His love, and for good reason… There is no love in all creation as great as the love of God!  I could go on forever talking about it and never come to the end! So what do you do with the fact that God is a “God of wrath” and also a “God of love”?  Well, if you know you deserve His wrath, you appeal to His love!  If you know God is holding out a gift of love to save you from his wrath, you take it! That is what Jesus Christ is… a gift of love to save you from God’s wrath.  And not only to save you from God’s wrath, but a way into God’s family!  Can you see why God’s love shines brighter when seen in the truth of His wrath?  You deserve punishment; in Christ you receive forgiveness.  You deserve wrath; in Christ His anger is turned away and you receive love and become a part of God’s family! There is a word I will leave you with, it’s called “propitiation”.  Look this up and study it if you’ve never done that.  It’s a wonderful truth and is at the heart of the gospel.  I won’t even explain it, because I really want you to look it up!  Understanding Christ as your propitiation will give you a BIBLICAL foundation for the gospel and help you to see the love of Jesus so much more clearly.

Tags: God's wrath, Jesus love, love of God, propitiation, the gospel, wrath of God