Wrath & Grace part 1

A God of Wrath

Most people, both Christian and non-Christian, tend to view God as being a sort of cosmic teddy bear. They see him as big and warm and soft, full of infinite love and forgiveness. On the Day of Judgment, God will simply give everyone a big hug and wink at their sins. The only problem with this wonderfully comforting image is that it is a lie straight from the pit of hell.

Satan wants us to ignore an aspect of God and he has been very successful. The Bible teaches that God is perfectly holy. Because of this attribute of his character, He cannot tolerate sin. “The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Num 14:18). The Bible says God must deal with sin, and He does so in one of two ways—grace or wrath.

Check this out, the Bible says… “God's wrath will fall when Jesus returns. (Jude 14-15) The passage in Revelation which pictures the return of Jesus says that he will return in righteousness to "judge and wage war." (Rev 19:11) The first time Jesus came, he came in loving compassion. But when He returns, He will come in vengeance (Rev 6:12-17), with eyes like a flame of fire (Rev 19:12). He will come to destroy the enemies of God (Rev 19:11) The presidents and kings and leaders of the world will get on their knees and cry out for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them, so great will be the terror of the Lord (Rev 6:15-17).

Does this make God a monster? No! It actually proves his goodness; how could a good God ignore sin and allow it to go unpunished? His wrath against evil will demonstrate His righteousness.

God's wrath is never motivated primarily by a desire to punish. Rather, it is designed to bring people to repentance so that they might be saved. God demonstrates his mercy in wrath by never pouring out his wrath without warning. He warned Noah's world through 120 years of preaching. He sent both Jonah and Nahum to warn the pagan city of Nineveh. He has sent numerous prophets and even His own Son to warn us of God's wrath and point us toward His mercy and grace.

We respect the character of a father who stands against disobedience or promiscuity, we admire the government official who is above reproach, so why shouldn’t we be pleased with a God who is just, and refuses to tolerate sin?

God’s wrath proves his power and it is not a loss of His temper . The wrath of God is directly connected with his character. He gets angry because his people whom he loves are endangered.

Martin Luther said, "If I were God and the world treated me the way it treated him, I’d kick the wretched thing to pieces." But fortunately, this God of Wrath doesn’t—for now. He wants all men to come to repentance.