If we don’t understand that God’s ultimate purpose is to
glorify Himself, we won’t fully understand His holiness, if we don’t understand His
holiness, we won’t understand sin, if we don’t understand sin, we won’t
understand God’s wrath (it won’t make sense to us), if we don’t understand
God’s wrath, we can’t really understand why Jesus died on the cross, which
means we won’t fully understand God’s grace, and we’ll totally miss the most
beautiful picture of Love there is.
You see how missing even one of these affects the rest?
That’s where we get all these silly ideas like: “God is just mean and cruel,”
“I’m not as bad as Hitler, so I’m a good person,” and “All God had to do was
just forgive us…Jesus didn’t have to die on the cross.”
Most people want to avoid the subject of the wrath of God,
but if we skip that part, we will only have part of the recipe, and without
that key ingredient, we’ll never experience the full flavor of the character
and nature of God. It’s kind of like making a chocolate cake. Sugar, eggs, and
chocolate are all good on their own, but, like God’s wrath, no one wants to
just eat the flour. But if you toss out the flour, you’ll never be able to make
chocolate cake.
I. Wrath of God:
Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress
the truth in righteousness.”
Romans 2:5-8: “Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant
heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to
every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good
seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly
ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
wrath and indignation.”
Romans 12:19: “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but
leave room for the wrath [of God], for it is written, “Vengeance is
mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”
Ephesians 2:3: “We were by nature children of
wrath, even as the rest.”
Ephesians 5:6: “The wrath of God is coming upon the sons
of disobedience.”
Colossians 3:5: “Immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry … it is
on account of these things that the wrath of God will come.”
Revelation 6:16: “They will say to the mountains and to the
rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us … from the wrath of the Lamb; for the
great day of … wrath has come; and who is able to stand?’”
Because God is holy, He cannot simply overlook sin. If He
did, He would cease to be just and, therefore, cease to be good. It’s because
God is good that He has to bring sin to justice. God would be unjust to simply
forgive us and say, “I love you so much that I’m just going to forgive you.” In
doing so He’d be belittling His own holiness.
Once we understand holiness and the glory of God and that
our sin is an enemy against that, then we will get a good picture of why God’s
wrath is so severe.
II. The Cup:
Habakkuk 2:16: “The cup in the LORD’s right hand will
come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!”
All throughout the bible, the cup is synonymous with shame
and the wrath of God towards man’s rebellion against Him.
So, in Luke 22:42 Jesus says, “Father, if you are
willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be
done.”
So, in the end, when we understand our sin and how God’s wrath
is His answer to that, then we will say, “I deserve that cup.” But here’s the
beautiful thing. When it’s time for that cup to be poured on me, it’s going to
be empty. Do you know why it’s empty? Because it was already poured out. It was
poured out on Jesus on the cross.
Hebrews 12:3-4, “Consider Him (Jesus) who endured from
sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or
fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the
point of shedding your blood.”
…..but Jesus did.
God is so jealous for His glory that He will preserve it at ALL costs, and the cross is the
ultimate picture of that. So, in a way we are beneficiaries of God being for
God. But at the same time that God is displaying His wrath toward our sin and rebellion, He is also
displaying His Love toward us.
Think about it. He could have just wiped us all out, right?
He could have said, “That’s it. It’s over,” and He’d have been right to do so.
He didn’t have to do all that it says in Philippians 2 that He did:
-Emptied Himself
-Came to earth as a
man
-Not just as a man but a servant
-Humbled Himself & was obedient to the point of death on
a cross.
III. God’s Grace:
“God so loved the
world that He sent His only Son.” (John 3:16)
“For the joy set
before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2)
“While we were still
sinners Christ died for us,” etc. (Romans 5:8)
The cross is a perfect picture of God’s wrath and God’s love
working together to bring Him glory.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
“God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Justice = getting what you deserve
Mercy = not getting what you deserve
Grace = getting what you do not deserve
In the end, we will
ALL be affected by God’s wrath: you will either be the object of His righteous
wrath when you die (hell), or you will be a monument of God’s grace through the
wrath-absorbing sacrifice of His Son on the cross.
