The Wrath of God

I know I said that the Supremacy of God was up next, but I will have to renege on that promise. It is a tough subject to approach, not that any other attribute of God is easy to understand. But much more thought needs to be placed into it. So instead, we look at the wrath of God, something I have thought about for quite a bit.

Here’s a question: Does the church in general today ignore this attribute of God?

There is much talk of love, but there is more talk of wrath than love in the Bible. Arthur Pink, in his book, The Attributes of God (a recommended read I would say), brings up this point, stating that a careful search of the concordance shows us that the Bible speaks more of the wrath, anger and fury of God than His love or tenderness.

The subject of wrath has become taboo in some Christian circles. Man cannot reconcile an angry God with a loving God. And they would rather have a loving God than an angry God.Therefore the God of love, the God who IS love, can’t possible be the God of wrath.

The problem with this seeming contradiction lies in a deficient misunderstanding of the holiness and goodness of God and the depravity of man. God is morally perfect. He is good. And as such He cannot, nor will He tolerate evil. Evil must be dealt with. And the ‘dealing with’ is the manifestation of the wrath of God.

But then man surely is not subject to the wrath of God. After all, we’re not all evil. There are some good people. Yet again, the Bible states otherwise – “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We are evil creatures. We have rejected the source of all life, our Creator and Sustainer. That is evil. We may beg to differ – after all we do not go around committing what we consider evil acts, such as killing or raping. But we have committed the ONE supremely evil act of rebellion against God. And it is from this act that all lesser evils against our fellow Man flows forth.

So we have a good, holy and loving God, who will not allow evil to persist forever. He will bring down His fist and crush evil forever. There is joy in this fact, that evil will not go unpunished. That there is justice. The God of wrath is the God of justice.

Taking this down to a personal level, this is somewhat coloured by the reality which we find ourselves living in. We want a God of justice, but we don’t want to let judgment fall on us. Yet we can’t have one without the other. All will be judged. And we will be found wanting. The God of wrath, the God of justice is a terrifying prospect in this light.

But the God of wrath is the God of love. He has provided a means of escape. He has provided a Redeemer. Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sin, if we put our faith in Him and follow Him. Propitiation is a word that supposes wrath. It means the appeasement of wrath. And I believe it also signifies the restoration of joy. The God of wrath is a reality worth rejoicing in yet again, because we know history will terminate in judgment, that there will be moral retribution. Good is repaid with good. Evil is repaid with evil. We no longer need to be terrified, having escaped from the consuming fire of the wrath of our God, and we know that our good works are not in vain.

The unchanging God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Revealing Himself to Moses, He proclaimed His name as such – “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

He is the God of love. And He is the God of wrath. But note one more thing – He is a patient God. He is slow to anger. That’s for the next post.

A few other questions for you to ponder:

1. Why is the wrath of God such a taboo subject? Would you bring it up as you tell the gospel to your friends?
2. What sort of balance should we aim for in a gospel presentation? Yes, God is a God of love and grace. But He is also a God of wrath. And we cannot understand grace and love in their proper context without first comprehending the reality of God’s wrath. How do we incorporate both elements?
3. The wrath of God is surely one of God’s many perfect attributes. Yet we may not perceive it as such. Why? What should our attitudes be towards the wrath of God? What are our attitudes like?

The Attributes of God: My Perception + Additional Note

My readership numbers have been unusually constantly high for the past 2 weeks. It’s either my stat counter is broken, or this fact is true, or I should consider moving to WordPress like everyone seems to be doing nowadays.

That was the additional note. Strangely enough, it came at the start because it came most recent to me. The last shall be first, no?

This is the disclaimer:

In my recent spate of posts on the attributes of God, I write as if intently gazing out one of the many windows of my small abode at the infinite world that lies beyond, and mulling over that which my eye perceives, limited as it is by the finite horizon and more significantly, that tint which stains all my windows, the stain of sin. Yet there is a sheen on my windows. It is the characteristic polish of the inerrant truth of Scripture, graciously applied by the Spirit. And never forget that cross-shaped frame that looms large over the windows – for every so often, a whiff of the outside air, fresh and warm, laden with all sorts of wondrous and exciting scents, filters in through the seams of that glorious frame!

Or explaining my allegory above:

I do have a tendency towards romanticising my writings. It is not a bad tendency as such; but it is one that easily leads to pride. But as it is, as long as I keep that in mind, it is rather fun to write in an uncharacteristic manner! And I believe this is my cleverest one so far.

If you wish to be spared the following process, skip on to the next section.
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The abode represents me and the world in which I live in. Not the world around me per se, but the components that make ME. My thoughts, my experiences, my feelings, my environment, my relationships and that sense of irrationality that seems common to all men (and women). Though in retrospect, perhaps it is not a sense of irrationality, but rationality that conflicts with the irrationality of our rebellion. A common grace if you will. But I digress.

The world beyond represents God. Not that He can be conformed to any man-made image, and it would be heretical to do so, but my metaphor as it is will be imperfect and as long as I point out this fundamental flaw, it is alright to proceed.

Then note the dichotomy of small abode and infinite world.

My perception of God is limited as it is by what He allows me to perceive, thus the ‘finite horizon’. Yet I would have no right perception of God at all, for my windows are all stained dark with the reality of sin. In our sin, we believe that if there lies a world beyond our abode, it is a world of our own making. And of course some believe there doesn’t lie one beyond.

Yet in His graciousness, God sends His Son Jesus Christ to take on our sin, and so reconcile us back to God. And thus it is the cross that is the frame of any knowledge I will have of God. It is the image that looms largest. It is through this that I can know God as He truly is. Not just know about Him, but experience Him – that breath of fresh and warm air. And it is the Spirit that guides us into all truth, truth as was, and is, because the word of God is living and active as God Himself is, expressed in the Scriptures – the specific revelation of God.

So the tint remains, for while we are here, our flesh and the Spirit constantly wage war against each other. And while we remain here on this earth, we only perceive God partially, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 – refer back to the post that sparked this off for a slight elaboration of this point. But it is brightly polished.by the Spirit and Scripture, and as such I can now look out and see the world beyond.

And yes, the point of windows is not to look at the windows, but to look at what lies beyond the windows. In a sense, this image echoes a quote I read about, not journeying past the cross, but going deeper into the cross. In the same manner, the more intently we gaze out, the more deeply we go into the cross. Also, on another point, I am looking out through one window. There are many windows, and there are many perceptions of God – same God I must stress, just as you wouldn’t assume to be looking out on Earth through one window, and out on Mars through the next – in His complexity and incomprehensible infinitude.

As I elaborate, I realise that I could extend this allegory much further. I could be having a meal with Jesus. The Spirit could be the one actively cleaning out this house of mine – not as a slave, but as a friend. But I’ll probably hit a lot of issues, so I’d just stop here.

Finally, one day, the door of my abode will open, and I’ll walk out into the world beyond. (Although again the allegory breaks down in that I don’t become one with the world, but rather I walk into the presence of the world, and then substituting world with God, even though I technically should avoid that sort of muddling.)
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Simply put, I don’t write with any claims to being an authority on this subject. I don’t consider my treatment of this topic as complete, in two senses of the word. First in that it is the final say on the matter. And second in that it is the whole truth. It is neither whole, nor final, but I do want to say that as best as I have tried, I have stuck to the truth as is revealed by God through the Bible and the guidance of the Spirit. Also, bear in mind that my interpretation is that of a layman, and not of a dedicated scholar.

I think that was all I had to say. What an amazingly long post!

Next up: The Supremacy of God.

When I have time.

That is to say, when I have time to write.

Not when I have time for it to matter to me.

The Attributes of God: The Solitariness of God

I was listening to the song “God of This City” from the most recent Passion release – great song by the way – and there was a line that resounded deep within my heart:

There is no one like our God.

I would love to throw biblical text after biblical text, psalm after psalm, that screams this very fact. Romans 11:33-38; 1 Timothy 1;17, 6:15-16; Isaiah 40:25 are all but a taste of this amazing truth.

Who is as loving? Who is as gracious? Who is as merciful? Who is as powerful? Who is as holy? Who is as faithful? Who is as sovereign? Who is as wise? Who is as patient?

I could rattle off all the attributes of God, and realise that nothing compares to our God.

And might I stress, ‘our God’. Who is this God? This is the God who made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in it. The God who created man and women, in His own image, and gave them breath and life, and commanded them to subdue the earth. The God who easily crushes His enemies. The God who patiently bore with a corrupt Israel, who time and time again turned from Him.

The God who so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The God who made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. The God who continues to graciously give us all that we need, sustaining us in our time of need. The God who lifts up the broken. The God who restores strength to the weary. And the God who will one day judge the living and the dead, and raise His redeemed people up to heaven where they will be forever satisfied in His presence.

The solitariness of our God is a funny thing. It evokes reverence for certain, and I might add a fearful reverence. But there’s a kind of fear that creates both apprehension and comfort. And a kind of fear that induces terror in the very fibre of a man’s soul. The first kind of fear belongs to His chosen people, the ones He has delivered out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Son He loves. It is a fear that makes us wary of approaching the glorious God, yet it is also a fear that assures us that if He is for us, who can be against us?

The second kind of fear belongs to those who remain condemned for their continued rebellion. It is the sort of fear that strips a man of his defenses, a fear so penetrating and chilling that he can but fall to his knees and beg for undeserved mercy.

But as of now, the first kind of fear only exists. The second sort we will see when Jesus returns.

And so it is a wondrous sort of fear. A fear that trembles before the magnificence of a God, who has no equal, yet steadies us with the warm reassurance of the gracious love of God, expressed through His Son Jesus Christ. Fear becomes mingled with profound gratitude. We never lose this sense of transcendence, nor should we, but there is an indescribable feeling that comes from the immanence of God. That God would draw close to us is incomprehensible, yet true. And our hearts expand as we are filled with the reality of His being, and we overflow with genuine joy and heartfelt thanksgiving.

There is no one like our God.

The Attributes of God: God is Light

God is Spirit. God is Light. And God is Love. This is the insight we gain from John into the person of God. This post deviates from grace, to talk about the phrase “God is Light”.

We don’t understand the significance of this phrase because light has become mundane for us. It is not only mundane, it is now subject to our command. We can flip a switch at will. And in doing so, we sometimes jokingly refer to the first words of God in the Bible:

Let there be light.

These first words are packed with so much power and truth, yet we so easily glance over it. It has become familiar to us – mundane was the word I used.

We need to look afresh at these very words. God is Light. And the first words we know He said were “Let there be light.”

Or, “Let there be God.”

I do not take this to mean God created Himself. No, the very existence of God lies outside of our understanding. What is the Clay to say to the Potter, “Why have you made me like this?” What more can the Clay say to the Potter, “Who made you?”

Instead, I take it to be the truest expression of God. God revealed Himself. It is who He is. He reveals Himself. Genesis was the revelation of God in creation. Without light we do not see. By light, we see everything. All of creation, we see by light. Therefore, is it not unsurprising that His first words were as such? For all things reveal God, and God reveals Himself through all things.

Yet we take this for granted as well. Creation has become mundane to us. We are no longer awed by it. Perhaps we’re surrounded by familiar sights. The same wall that lies beyond the screen of my laptop. The table cluttered with books on which my laptop rests. These are familiar sights. So familiar that I give them no second thought.

This is a testament of man in his utter rebellion. He does not treasure light. He does not treasure all that it reveals. He is merely interested in subjecting it to his will. As such, how can he even begin to treasure its source?

But once again, we can treasure light, as it was, and as it truly is. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It is the marvelous light of redemption by which we can perceive everything anew!

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined

This is the ‘true light’ as John calls it. The marvelous light of redemption. For a people condemned to eternal wrath by their rebellion against God, God has said once again, “Let there be light.” This light is Jesus Christ. The Jesus who died for our sin, taking upon Himself the wrath of God, and was raised for our righteousness, a righteousness we cannot earn; rather His righteousness is now credited to us if we accept Jesus as Lord. The good news of what Jesus did on the cross – this is the marvelous light of redemption.

Those who live in Jesus, the one who died for our sins and was raised for our justification, live in the light. And those living in the light, do not live in darkness. Yes they are surrounded by a land of deep darkness. But on them a light has shined. A light that overcomes the darkness. It is everything bright and true. It is everything good. By this light we see things as they were, good. We see man as he was. Very good. We see things as they are now. Subject to futility. We see man as he is now. Utterly sinful and deserving of the wrath of God. And by this light, we see clearly who we are now. Saved. By grace. I guess we can never stray too far from grace.

Because we can never stray too far from the cross. The marvelous light of redemption. And it is by this light that we live. Despite the greatest of temptations, this light has overcome all darkness. Sin has lost its power. Keep bearing in mind this is the light that has given us this life. Keep bearing in mind this is the light in whom we live. Keep bearing in mind the power of this light in whom we live.

Dare we treat light so mundanely? Perhaps you might think differently next time you switch on your lights.

The Attributes of God: The mystery of grace, Part 1

I’ve felt prompted for quite some time now to write a post on the grace of God. But I’ve been cracking my head trying to think up a metaphor that beautifully illustrates the grace of God, and haven’t been able to find one. Which is why I never got round to writing this.

So now that I’m writing this, does that mean I’ve thought of an illustration?

The answer is no. And yes. I have not found an illustration, but I’ve stumbled on an even bigger illustration in the process itself. The reason why I cannot find an appropriate illustration may be because I’m just not a very creative person. But deep down, I also believe it’s because nothing comes close to illustrating the grace of God, unique and incomprehensible in its very nature.

How do you define grace? There are several definitions I’ve found. The common one is that grace is unmerited favour. I think this does not define grace fully. Another one I’ve read is that grace is unmerited favour bestowed by God on His elect. This brings in the idea of grace being sovereign as well, that God chooses who He is gracious to. Again it is accurate, yet I feel it is incomplete.

To me the best definition of grace is this: Grace is God’s favour through Christ to people who deserve his disfavour. I’ve talked much about undeserved favour, but do we ever consider how undeserved it is?

I’m reading a book called “Living the Cross Centered Life” by C.J. Mahaney right now. In it, I was struck by the enormity of the grace of God at the cross. I’ve often mentioned how we deserve the wrath of God for our rebellion to His authority, and I’ve compared it as infinitely worse to the fear and punishment we receive from angry parents as a small child, but I have never seen it in the light portrayed in this book.

The light here is Gethsemane. I had to play the role of Jesus in Gethsemane this Easter for the Sunday School kids, and even there I realised I could barely comprehend the agony Jesus suffered during this time. Mahaney says this of Gethsemane, along with a quote taken from William Lane’s commentary on the gospel of Mark:

Jesus entered the garden ‘to be with the Father for an interlude before his betrayal, but found Hell rather than Heaven open before him.’ Knowing the hour for His death is fast approaching, Jesus has come here in need as never before of His Father’s comfort and strength. instead, hell – utter separation from God – is thrust in His face.

We hear Him cry out: Father – is there an alternative? Is there any way to avoid this? If there’s a way this cup could pass from Me, would you please provide that to Me?

Silence. We can see it in His face – Jesus receives no answer to this desperate entreaty.

A second time He pleads for an alternative to that horror of abandonment by His Father. If such an alternative existed, the Father would most surely provide it. But the obedient Son’s plea to His loving Father is met with silence. Why?

Listen to this verse again for the very first time: For God so loved the world…that He is silent to His Son’s agonising appeal.

This is what bearing our sin means to Him – utter distress of soul as He confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from His father on the cross, a distress and an abandonment and a rejection we cannot begin to grasp.

In this, our Saviour’s darkest hour…do you recognise His love for you?

The wrath of God is the thrust of Hell upon us. Eternal separation from God. Pain that Jesus chose to endure on our behalf. That is grace. We deserved everything Jesus endured, but He willingly drank of the cup of wrath so that we could drink from the cup of salvation. You cannot cherish the grace of God without truly understanding the depths of our depravity and the magnitude of the holy wrath directed at us. Mahaney ends the chapter with the following insight:

We can drink from this cup [of salvation] only because Jesus spoke those words about the other cup [of wrath]: “yet not what I will, but what you will.”

I will drink it all.

As we watch Jesus pray in agony in Gethsemane, He has every right to turn His tearful eyes toward you and me and shout, “This is your cup. You’re responsible for this. It’s your sin! You drink it.” This cup should rightfully be thrust into my hand and yours.

Instead, Jesus freely takes it Himself…so that from the cross He can look down at you and me, whisper our names, and say, “I drain this cup for you – for you who have lived in defiance of me, who have hated Me, who have opposed Me. I drink it all…for you.”

This is what our sin makes necessary. This is what’s required by your pride and my pride, by your selfishness and my selfishness, by your disobedience and my disobedience. Behold Him…behold His suffering…and recognise His love.

The love of God is a gracious love. It is a love that took our cup and drained it for us at great cost, so that we could drink from the other cup. Look no further than the cross for the illustration of grace.

And let us not spit on it.

The Attributes of God: Thunderstorms

With the recent spate of afternoon thunderstorms, it seemed fitting to use this image to illustrate my first point.

God chose to answer Job out of a storm. Why?

It took me several afternoons to appreciate the magnificence of a thunderstorm. The sheer deluge of water sweeping across the sky, the howling wind, the deafening thunder, the brilliant flashes of lightning that leave a tingle in your spine – there are massive forces at work in a thunderstorm. And for God to speak out of a storm seems most appropriate to me, that God would choose to demonstrate His power and sovereignty in such a befitting manner.

Befitting?

“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?”

“Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?”

The answer is no. No, if we are only human. But what is impossible with man is possible with God. Man attempts to predict the weather. They even try to create it. But only God can create something as magnificent as a thunderstorm.

And not only does He create it, He is in control of it! He sends the lightning bolts on their way. Who says lightning cannot strike twice? If God chooses to strike a 100 times, He can strike a 100 times.

This is the God whose power we can barely comprehend. And through Jesus Christ, He is in us.

Contemplate the sheer power we possess.

Bronze mirrors

A comment I heard today prompted this thought. Have you ever wondered about all the strange things you don’t understand in the Bible, and then thought – well, when I get to heaven I’ll just ask God what He meant?

Funny thing is – the Bible is meant to reveal who God is. So when we do get to heaven and see God, we won’t really have any need to ask Him what He meant. Paul sums this up when he says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Somewhere in my gut, I think I might start a series on the person of God. The God who made Himself known through Jesus Christ.

Watch this space.

NOTE: We will understand what we knew in part because we can see, but we will not see fully, for the glories of God are infinite riches that we will mine for all of eternity. So we know fully, but we do not see fully. We will spend eternity seeing more and more of God.