Love, Wrath, Love, Wrath - Which one is it God?

NEWS FLASH !!!!!!!

July 24, 2009 7am est.

The A.P. confirmed today that recent reports claiming that the God of the universe had "undergone a radical change" have been proven false! There had been a recent, growing number of religious leaders who had been reporting that the God of the Old Testament (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) was a God of wrath and judgment but had somehow mysteriously changed when he entered the time frame of the New Testament; that he no longer was engaged in wrath and judgment but had since decided to forgo the wrath/judgment thing, turning instead to a policy of love and mercy only. Upon intense investigation, however, it seems that God's nature is unchangeable and he appears to have displayed all four of the above characteristics from the beginning of time, continuing to the present day. There are also reports that God has set a day in the future when he will judge the whole human race but will, from then on, have no further need for judgement because the object of his wrath will no longer be present. It seems that his anger had been directed against a little talked about characteristic of man . . . sin. Stay tuned for more news as it comes in to our station.

Immutability: The doctrine of classical Christian theism that God can not change

This does not mean that he doesn't do different things or alter his actions but that his NATURE does not and can not change. The Bible says in Malachi 3:6 (Old Testament): "I the Lord do not change." and in Hebrews 3:8 (New Testament) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

My purpose today is to tell you the whole story (at least a blog sized version). As I said in a previous post, there are mega-churches and many other churches as well that are preaching a God who loves ONLY and doesn't punish sin, a God who is interested more in our happiness than our salvation, a God who is interested in our self-esteem, a God who created heaven but not hell, in short, a God of their own liking, but not the God of the Bible. My goal is to not pick and choose the parts I like and dismiss or discard the parts that are offensive or scary to me. God is who he is!

Those who preach ONLY a God of the Law, one of judgment and wrath, a God of fire and brimstone do so usually in self-righteousness and have become modern day Pharisees. They forget that Jesus came not to save the righteous but sinners. God has shown us grace through his Son. We, in Christ, aren't "appointed unto wrath"

However, those who preach ONLY God's love, failing to share God's intense distain for sin or those who preach a gospel of universalism (ie. Everyone will go to heaven) are doing so against the clear teaching of scripture and are leading many to an eternity without God. Paul said, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" Bummer, huh!

So to prevent my own eternal condemnation, here is the whole story (condensed for your reading pleasure):

God's nature is revealed to us in the truth of his Word (The Bible) and it tells us that God is a God of love. He loved us enough to create us and prepare a place of perfection for us (Eden) but we (Adam and Eve initially but all of us in our actions and hearts) rebelled against God and have sinned. God is perfectly holy and can not tolerate sin. In fact the Old Testament reveals to us very vividly how serious God is about sin. You may recall that God wiped out the whole world (except Noah and his family) with a 150 day, world-wide flood and he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven. Romans 6:23 tells us that "The wages of sin is death" and that, the often abrupt action of God against sin, is what the Bible labels "wrath". But, is God any less serious about sin in the New Testament? I think not! I would recommend that when you finish reading this post you watch the "The Passion of the Christ" then read the Book of Revelation.

The Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy describes God as a "Consuming fire" but the writer of Hebrews (in the New Testament) also says, " Our God is a consuming fire." God IS as serious about sin now as he was in the Old Testament. Paul wrote in Romans, "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."

But here is the GOOD NEWS, God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin. The Bible says that God's wrath was poured out on him. How crazy! How hard to imagine! Jesus, the one without sin, becoming sin for us. God himself being both the judge and the judged! "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." But look closely because it says, " . . . for those who are in Christ Jesus". That is where many churches fall dangerously short. If you are not in Christ Jesus, God is calling you home. You wouldn't be reading this if it weren't true!

You and I will never be good enough but Christ was. What God asks of us is that we turn from our sins (not that we become sinless, because we can't) and trust that what Jesus did on the cross was payment in full. The wrath goes away and grace comes in. Grace isn't deserved. It is a gift! This isn't written to scare people into the kingdom of God but to tell you how serious God is about sin but also how serious he is about his love for you and me. You've probably read or heard John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's where many pastors would stop. But, Jesus didn't! John 3:18 says, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Jesus would never condemn anyone! "That is judgmental", we shout in protest!! But Jesus goes on in John 3:35-36, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." There is that nasty old word again, "wrath". Love, wrath, love, wrath, love, wrath . . .

So, which is it? The answer is BOTH. That is why the cross was the cross and not a spa. It was a place where justice was served, where penalties were paid. It was the electric chair or the gas chamber. It was a place of pain and of death. Don't let the fact that we wear it as jewelry rob it of its meaning. Both God's LOVE and his WRATH were revealed on that dark Friday on Calvary! In Christ you can have the former and be free of the later!

A wise old preacher and good friend of mine once said, "I'm only delivering the mail.". I pray that I delivered it faithfully and that God continues to work in your heart and in mine. Don't forget that God's nature doesn't change. The God of ancient Israel is the same as the God of Livingston, Montana and your home town today.

Peace,

David