The Wrath Of God – Is It Real?

Feature 2 –March 2016 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The
WRATH of GOD
Is It Real?

God is light and God is love (1 Jn. 1:5, 4:8-16). These two are inseparable. That is, these features in God are always together and act together. When the Lord Jesus, who is the eternal Word and God Himself, came into this world “the Word became flesh” ( NKJV ). This is what we call “the incarnation” (Jn. 1:1-18; Phil. 2:6). He was “full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). From His fullness we – the believers then and now – have received grace upon grace, or grace after grace: an abundance of grace. The amazing thing is that this fullness is always there. It never diminishes, and it provides for every situation and need of the believers. The grace of God is always available for those who come to Him in obedience and faith to receive it.

It is different, however, for those who do not come to God in the right condition, or who come with wrong motives or reasons. Others deny His existence, reject His rights or oppose Him in some other way, blocking for themselves the access to this grace. Remember, “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). The same God who is love and shows this love in grace to those who respond to it also deals with those who reject His grace, who mock Him. He deals with them in His wrath.

God is never indifferent or careless. He is light and is in the light, and He will not forget anything. Yet, provided we are in tune with God through repentance or restoration, we will receive from His super-abundant resources of grace.

Accountable
All humans are accountable to God whether they like it or not. He created them with the ability to give an account, something not possessed by animals. Because of Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden, their relationship with God was broken (read Genesis 2:17 and 3:1-19). In His grace the Lord God provided the sacrifice of an innocent animal, pointing to the coming sacrifice of the Messiah as the basis for restoration of fellowship. Adam and Eve believed God and His provision, and they were able to again have fellowship with Him (Gen. 3:20-21). For such a relationship to exist or to be restored and maintained, repentance and confession is needed – always.

Cain, however, thought that God should accept him on the basis of his own efforts. So he brought of the “fruit of the ground” to God, the results of his own labors, and this from a cursed ground. No, God could not and would not accept this offering. But God accepted the sacrifice that his brother Abel brought, a sacrifice of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat – pleasing God. Cain became jealous and ultimately killed his brother (Gen. 4:1-12). He represents the religious man, what he is and does; whereas Abel shows what a saved sinner is and does, appreciating God’s grace. These two brothers help us understand the differences between God’s grace and God’s wrath.

God postponed the execution of His wrath on Cain, protecting him from vengeance by others through a special mark. Cain did not repent and he will be confronted with God’s wrath at the great white throne judgment. God’s wrath is not inconsistent with His grace. But those who reject His grace will face His wrath, as the Lord Jesus clearly stated: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (Jn. 3:36).

Every Person Is Responsible To God And To Man
In Ezekiel 18 God clearly explained people’s responsibility to repent and get things straightened out, to be right with Him and their fellow-men. God does not desire the death of the sinner. Rather, He wants the sinner to repent and return to Himself, with the right attitude and the proper actions.

When the people of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, Moses reasoned with Pharaoh to let God’s people go (Ex. 4:23). Pharaoh refused to listen to God and was faced with a series of plagues (judgments), representing God’s wrath. But Pharaoh kept hardening himself. With the tenth plague God made an important exception for His people Israel, not because they were better, but because they accepted His gracious provision of the Passover lamb (Ex. 12). This story beautifully illustrates the point we are trying to make in this article: Either one accepts God’s grace, or that one will face God’s wrath.

On the tenth of the first month a lamb without blemish was set aside in each of Israel’s humble dwellings and was sacrificed on the fourteenth day. Its blood was sprinkled above and on the sides, the lintel and doorposts, of the home’s entrance. The blood of the sacrificed lamb provided protection for those inside from God’s judgment that came that very night over the whole land ? a type of God’s coming judgment and wrath over this world.

Reading Exodus 12-15 we discover several wonderful points. Sheltered by the blood of the innocent lamb, its sacrifice also provided a fellowship meal. The whole people, represented in their firstborn, were set apart for God – sanctified. Then, through God’s special intervention, they were set free, saved from Pharaoh’s control. Similarly, believers today are protected by the blood of the Lamb, set apart for God, and freed from Satan’s control. All these details were needed and they were provided by God’s grace, so God would be glorified in true worship and believers could be forever satisfied (see John 4:23).

God’s wrath was poured out on Pharaoh and his army, but for the believing Israelites it had fallen on the innocent lamb that was killed. In the fullness of time God sent His own Son to redeem us (Gal. 4:4-7; 3:13). What a Savior! What a Sacrifice!

God Is Longsuffering
The LORD told Moses that He is slow to anger, or longsuffering (Ex. 34:6). On several occasions during their wilderness journey, and later in the Promised Land, God’s people provoked Him to anger. Because of this, His wrath1 came on them (Num. 25:11; Dt. 4:25, 9:7,18), on Aaron and Miriam (Num. 12:9), and even on Moses himself when the people provoked him to anger and he transgressed God’s orders (Dt. 4:21). God’s anger and wrath will come on His people in the future (Dt. 11:17) because of their idolatry (Isa. 40-48) and rejection of the Messiah (Isa. 49-58). Many other Scriptures speak about these matters, such as: “How long ... will Your wrath burn like fire?” (Ps. 89:46). These examples of God’s ways in discipline and of His government could be multiplied.

Comparing some good translations, we see four different terms in Nahum 1:6 about God’s wrath: “indignation,” “fierceness,” “anger” and “fury.” Such details show that God’s wrath is real, for unbelievers and believers. Unbelievers will suffer eternal damnation despite the fact that God is patient and merciful (light and love). For believers, however, God is longsuffering. His dealings are in the context of His love for them, to do them good (consider Deuteronomy 8:16) and bring them back to Himself.

Repentance
In the relationship between God and His own, the matter of repentance and confession is essential. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). The apostle Peter spoke these words to unbelieving Jews who had rejected, reviled and killed their Messiah through the hands of wicked men, the Roman soldiers. He told the Jews that they still could, and should, repent and turn from their sins to God and be cleansed.

In his appeal, Peter linked these three concepts together:

• They should change their minds about Jesus of Nazareth. Repentance implies a radical change of mind, thinking and attitude, implying that one sees himself in God’s presence as convicted, as in Isaiah’s cry, “Woe is me” (Isa. 6:5).
• The plea “be converted” implies a turning away from their former lifestyle to a new way of life ? like a U-turn ? caused by a change of mind and resulting in turning back to God. When Peter spoke on Pentecost 3,000 men and women repented (Acts 2:41), and throughout the ages a remnant has done so in every generation. In a future day Israel will repent when the nation will be encouraged by their rabbis and leaders to do so (Isa. 53; Zech. 12:10; see Amos 5:15 and Jeremiah 29:13). God will pour out His wrath on unrepentant people, but those who repent will have their sins blotted out (Acts 3:19).
• The term “to blot out” is sometimes used as a figure of speech meaning “to erase,” 2 especially of something written (Col. 2:14; Rev. 3:5). In this case, God is the One who erases. The writing in relation to the Jews is a list of sins in addition to their sin of killing the Author of Life, the Messiah. It includes all their sins (Ps. 103:12; Isa. 1:18; Mic. 7:18). God used this term with respect to what will happen in the future when Israel will repent, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isa. 43:25). Only then will Messiah return (Mt. 23:39).

God’s Wrath
What would God gain in producing a list of sins? God will use such a list to convict and condemn unrepentant sinners when they stand before “the great white throne” (Rev. 20:11-15). Their refusal to repent will lead to the condemnation under God’s wrath. During the day of grace, however, that list can be totally erased because of the power of Christ’s work on the cross and the shedding of His blood (Col. 1:20; 2:14-15).

According to Romans 3:23, every person who ever lived has such a list of sins. God offers the divine erasing of that list to everyone, but it is only granted to the individual who truly repents and believes. The epistle to the Romans shows every human being as guilty before God and beyond recovery on his own terms, for the human race is utterly depraved. From a judicial and moral viewpoint there is no difference between races, nations, Jews or Gentiles (10:12), because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (3:23 KJV). All are condemned, standing on the same level of condemnation before a holy and righteous God.

The only exception to this was our Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, did no sin and in whom was no sin. He is the One who took our judgment upon Himself (Gal. 3:13). God’s message of sovereign grace, therefore, is directed to all.

God Is Waiting
Although every unbeliever is condemned (Jn. 3:36), the actual execution of God’s judgment is waiting (2 Pet. 3:9) until the day arrives when all opportunities and means for repentance will have been exhausted. Then our Lord Jesus Christ, seated on “a great white throne,” will carry out the final act of judgment. The Savior will be the Judge and Executioner (Rev. 20:11-15; Acts 10:42, 17:31). “All have sinned” and do not reach to the glory of God and are thus under His judgment (Rom. 3:23). And all who are under the Law are declared guilty by that Law (v.19). Either way, all unbelievers are guilty and under God’s condemnation or wrath.

But God’s righteous Judge is now presenting the good news of God’s grace that people may be saved (Eph. 2:17). Christ in heaven is at work to achieve this goal, using the believers on earth as His instruments. Paul felt the urgency of God’s appeal when he wrote, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God as it were beseeching by us, we entreat for Christ, Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20 JND).

God has resurrected the Man of His choice, the Lord Jesus Christ, from among the dead – amazing! Also He has appointed Him to be the Judge on the day of judgment (Acts 17:31; Rev. 20:11-15). On Mars’ Hill, Paul explained that Christ’s resurrection is a definite proof of judgment to come. No one will escape His scrutiny.

If you are reading this article and are not yet saved, God says to you, “Repent!” Or in my words, “Don’t wait any longer, for soon God will condemn you by the same One through whom you might be saved today.” For the unrepentant ones, God has only one solution: They are already condemned under God’s wrath. During the day of grace in which we live, God postpones the execution of this wrath, but it will come. Don’t fool yourself by thinking, “I’ll be OK.” Solomon said, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11 NKJV). God’s judgment will surely come, but He is still waiting (2 Pet. 3:9), giving you time to be saved.

The Great White Throne
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).

Revelation shows that Christ, the Lamb of God who died to be the sin-offering, is the One who executes God’s wrath (Rev. 4-5). He will do so as described in Revelation 6-19 and many other passages. After these judgments He will reign on earth and over the whole universe during a thousand year period. Satan will be bound during that time in the bottomless pit, with no influence whatsoever, in contrast to what he did with Adam and Eve and the human race ever since (Rev. 20:1-3). At the end of the thousand years he will be released for a short time. God will show through this that the heart of unregenerate men and women will not have changed during those thousand years, for Satan will seduce many against God (v.8), even though many people will have been born again during the time of His blessed reign. The verses quoted at the beginning of this section show that God’s ultimate judgment will take place, and it will be executed by the Lamb of God, who gave Himself as the supreme sacrifice. God’s offer of grace (2 Cor. 5:20-21) will end. After this, everyone at the great white throne will be examined and condemned by the Savior, who is the same One who will sit on the throne of judgment.

No one will be able to say to God, “Your standards and requirements were too high for human beings.” No, the Judge is the Son of Man who lived on this earth for 33 years, as a dependent and obedient Man. That is why the apostle Paul said to the philosophers of his day, “God ... now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30) because He has “appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (v.31).

Once you stand before that throne of judgment, it will be forever too late to repent. That is why Paul wrote, “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2 NASB).

Not tomorrow, but NOW!

END NOTES
1. In Psalm 90 Moses describes this wrath in terms everyone can understand. On average 80 people died every day during Israel’s wilderness journey. The whole generation that had left Egypt died, except for Joshua and Caleb, together with those who were under twenty years of age when they departed from Egypt.

2. Consider Moses’ plea with God to be blotted out from His Book, willing to take the place of God’s people (Ex. 32:32-33). Only the true and great Mediator was able to do so, giving Himself as the ultimate sacrifice (1 Tim. 2:5-6). The term “to blot out” is also used of Amalek’s memory (Ex. 17:14), as well as for the wiping out of all life by the flood (Gen. 9:15).

By Alfred Bouter