Wrath. When you think of the words “wrath of God” what exactly do you think?
Does it instill fear in you? Do you think of being zapped somehow? Do you look at God in this statement and think of God on the warpath and exacting revenge on all of His enemies? I sure bet you don’t get warm feelings in your brain when you consider this topic. If you feel God is mad at you for whatever it is you did…what are you thinking God is going to do to you? Well, to be able to answer this correctly in your mind you need to know more.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines wrath as “strong vengeful anger or indignation; retributory punishment for an offense or a crime: divine chastisement.
Whoa? There it is again…that punishment thing. So let us dig a bit deeper. If you go by this Merriam-Webster definition alone then you see that while wrath can have a tone of vengeance or revenge, it can also be justified depending on the circumstance. I don’t want God’s vengeance upon me, or my family so let’s study further. I am quite sure most people don’t ever want to face God’s wrath. I sure don’t. But…………if God is upset with us God has a perfect reason to do so and God is always just.
The wrath of God is not an uncontrolled emotion burst of anger like humans often display. Have you been angry in your life and lashed out? Most have to some extent…and some to insane amounts of anger and wrath.
God is justice…perfect justice…and a holy reaction towards anything that is contrary or disobedient against His standards and character. Any judgment or punishment that results from God’s wrath against us is actually an expression of his righteousness and holiness. God is pure, holy, and there is absolutely no sin or evil in Him.
Because God is perfect justice then He has to have perfect justice as well. So think of these: In the past, God’s justified anger and hatred towards sin and rebellion were revealed through such things as the flood, famine, plague, total destruction, a scatter of people, and burning of the land. In the present, God’s anger is seen how, he gives wicked and defiant people over to moral filthiness, spiritual corruption, and ungodly passions. (allowing them to live an ungodly and immoral lifestyle…in His eyes with things such as immoral sex and in your heart you know what those are) That is to say, he allows people who rebel against him to go their own wicked and selfish way, bringing ruin, destruction, and even death to themselves. In the future, God’s wrath will include great distress for the ungodly of the world (Great Tribulation). And a coming day of judgment for all people and nations. For those who rejected God and refused to have a relationship with God’s son. To reject Jesus is to set a day of devastation, darkness, and doom for the one rejecting Jesus. The final end of God’s wrath will be eternal punishment and permanent separation from God for those who refuse to turn from their own way, surrender to His purposes and receive His gift of eternal life.
Now, understand this: God’s wrath is not his final word to humans because He has provide (right now) a way of escape. People can, (right now) turn from their sin, confess it, repent of it (change direction) accept God’s forgiveness, and yield their life to the Lord. It is your choice. God won’t force anyone to come to Him and accept Him. It has to be your choice. This is the greatest choice in your life you will ever make. Choose wisely!
We must identify with and participate in God’s anger against sin, not in retaliation or revenge, but by showing true love for right and hatred for what is wrong and evil in this world. Whatever displeases God needs to displease us as well. It is God’s standards, God’s morals, and God’s rights…we need to identify with that always. Don’t compromise God’s word for anyone. Don’t participate in evil things, or hang out with people who will lead you astray from God. Whatever God called sin will always be sin no matter what laws your government thinks they can change so people will like them better. It is not man we must please but God almighty.
We have all sinned and if you think you haven’t you are lying to yourself. God says we all have sinned and I tend to believe God. So, now in thinking about your sin(s) and we all have had many…and what if you did commit some horrible crime and even had to face a court here on earth? What if that crime held a long time of wrath/justice in the eyes of the law and you being put in jail? We can add all the “what if’s” we want. But what if you did not do the crime (for real) that you were being accused of and yet you were put in prison for that crime? Courts can only see what is presented to them…and we all know that people get their facts wrong, and a lot of people just out and out lie, but God sees everything, hears everything, and knows everything. What we do…God knows. We can’t fool God or catch Him off guard. He just knows it all. To people who lie to cause others pain…it will be dealt with at some point but that, at that time, doesn’t make the person going to jail feel good.
When I think about that alone…I know I sinned and that my sins until confessed and repented kept me out of sorts with God Almighty and I know I never want that feeling again. There is no worse feeling, in my eyes, than to think my God is angry in any way with me. I want to please my Father in heaven. When God looks at our sins that have not been dealt with then God must, in His timing, display justice and sins have consequences. I know that my sins kept me from having that relationship with Jesus. I know that if I continued down that road of sinning and not doing things God’s way then I would miss heaven. Oh, if only I would have come to Him way sooner. My Jesus is wonderful, marvelous, kind, and loving…but my Jesus is also just. I deserved death for my sins, but He took my place on Calvary and gave me a way to Him. I took that opportunity and so can you if you have not done so already.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” (Romans 1:18).
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:5).
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36).
Reread those verses. What is the wrath of God in response to. You will see God is responding to godlessness, wickedness, stubbornness, unrepentant hearts, and rejecting Jesus as the savior. A simpler way of putting it is God’s wrath is in response to man’s sin.
If you don’t want God’s wrath…then stop sinning. If you don’t want, one day, to see God’s wrath in the form of justice…then ask Jesus into your heart and life. Stop being wicked, stubborn, and unrepentant, and stop rejecting Jesus…who, by the way, is the only way to heaven no matter who tells you otherwise. God’s justice, no matter how much we hate it, don’t want it…it is always justified.
When God judges sin he is doing so to uphold the principles or laws he has established. Without them, instead of any appearance of order, we would have turmoil. God set the boundaries, all the rules, and tells you what is right and wrong, and what is moral and what is immoral. It is our responsibility to learn the truth…and then do it.
God is loving and merciful…but God is just and His justice is perfect no matter who likes it or doesn’t. God doesn’t answer to us….we answer to Him.
So didn’t Jesus get angry? Yes, but His anger was holy anger. The best way to look at this is to consider Jesus’ response to the money changers in the temple: “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:12-13). When Jesus saw the abuses that were happening in the temple, he got angry. The people were being taken advantage of and the money changers had turned the house of God into a place of business. Greed and profit were the sole motivation of the day. His anger was justified and warranted a response.
So is all your anger justified? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The reason he wasn’t sinning is that he was responding to the desecration of the house of God and the mistreatment of the people. These are proper triggers to anger and are often referred to as righteous anger. Anger that results because people are mistreated. Anger that happens because the most vulnerable are harmed. Anger that arises when those who are defenseless or weak get run over or stepped on by those more powerful are all examples of righteous anger. We sure see that more and more in society today don’t we?
But know this…take it in to your brain and think: However, as right you are to be angry, it does not give you a license to sin. Being angry because of a justifiable reason is ok. Sinning because of that anger is not. I encourage you to heed the words of the Apostle Paul, “In your anger, do not sin…” (Ephesians 4:26).
Think of sin like this: God will have to judge that sin, which is his wrath. The question remains what do we do with this question of judgment? You have a choice to sin or not to sin. Because all sin demands justice and all sin will be judged, God sent Jesus to take all the wrath and judgment of sin on him. God doesn’t want anyone lost and not making it to heaven. God literally took out all his wrath against sin and poured it on Jesus. Jesus took each of our sins and took our punishment. But! If you don’t want the very thing He gave you by doing this for you then you don’t have to and you will remain in your sins. As for me…I know that I sinned and my life pretty much sucked a lot. I was not in a good place. I thank my Lord for all He did for me, and I thank Him for what He did for you. He is great and mighty, but He is pure love and He showed me His love and I am thankful.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). Without Jesus as number one in your life, and without Jesus as your Lord there is no way you will ever see heaven. Jesus must be your Savior and that choice I say again…is your choice. You do not have to accept Jesus as Lord but why would you not want to? Is your life so great? Will your eternal life be so great without Him. NO!
“For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-56 NLT).
Here is the choice that remains: You can accept Christ as your substitution and in him find the complete judgment of your sin paid in full, or you can choose to pay the price yourself. One way or the other the justice and judgment of God for sin will be fulfilled. God’s love and mercy allow you to not have to pay the penalty for your sin because Christ has paid it for you. Here again, we see God’s justice and wrath, but we also see completely God’s love in action.
You don’t have to worry about God’s wrath as long as one condition is met. You have put your total faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. His death gives you complete confidence that the requirements of God’s wrath have been met. As believers, that doesn’t mean God won’t use discipline to correct us. It means that we never have to worry about paying the ultimate penalty for our sin.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Thank you, Lord, for all you did for me. I pray that whoever took the time to read this already is a child of God. However, if you have never asked Jesus to come into your life then I pray that, right now, you will ask Jesus to come into your life and that you will have an eternal relationship with Him. Just tell Him you are a sinner, and you want to spend eternity with Him doing things His way. Ask Him to forgive you for your sins, and now choose to know Him and walk with Him. Open the word of God and really delve into it and get to know Him. He loves you! But remember if you choose not to then someday you will face Him and see His perfect wrath. You can’t change your decision one second after death. Now is the time you must choose whom you will follow. Please………make a wise decision for it is an eternal decision. God bless you!