Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Wrath of God


THE WRATH OF GOD

I am a redemptive person because I believe that God is a redemptive God. HERE are my thoughts.

Jude makes it clear that some respond to the compassion contained within the gospel, while others are stirred by the fear of God. And I suggest that the church has lost any sense of the fear of God. And I am not just speaking of reverence, but I am speaking of literal fear. The church operates without a trace of the fear of God except for a few self righteous people who seem to love God’s wrath.

Rev.6: 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

As we approach the end of all things and the sure coming judgment of God upon this world, we must present a balanced view of Almighty God including the unpleasant aspects of His character. This is not to paint God as a white male with a long beard who relishes in dishing out severe punishment. But this is to present the truth that God has provided a way for redemption, but that all who will stand before Him draped in their own sins will face unfathomable justice without the mercy and grace only found through Jesus Christ. This is no fairy tale; this is no fable; this is no small issue.

I realize that such things are seen as archaic perspectives which have long since given way to a more enlightened picture of the Creator. I realize that things on this earth have become so enjoyable that even Christianity has had to adjust its divine presentations. I realize that our own minds see such things as unreasonable and out of touch with the modern realities. I realize all those things and more. But I implore you to examine your view of God juxtaposed against the revelation of Holy Scripture and with that decide to which will you surrender and pursue. You are not running toward the end. The end is racing toward you.

I was raised in a home where there was little domestic unpleasantness. My mother and father did not fight, and my father was a mild mannered man. But I can remember one day going on a visit with my mother to another home and hearing the father swear and get angry. I was afraid. Perhaps you were raised in a home where there was strife and perhaps you felt uncomfortable and even afraid sometimes. And many children cringe at the thought of an angry father or mother coming at them with anger. It happens in millions of homes.

But now pause and think of what fear we should feel if we give any credibility to the Scriptures. It is almost impossible to imagine the immensity of the wrath of the Creator God. To even bring up the subject in this modern evangelical climate is to lose your evangelical audience. But be that as it may, there are still many clear and undeniable warnings in Scripture that expose a coming judgment from Almighty God. And that fact has found so little place in this modern version of Christianity that people no longer actually believe it and the lost world is no longer confronted with it.

People today only fear death because it may bring a cessation of their personal party. They wish they could extend their earthly stay so as to continue to enjoy its fleshly fancies. And any philosophical suggestion concerning the afterlife seems reasonable and legitimate. In fact, the more pleasant the better. Any hint of judgment is rejected as religious folklore and must be erased in favor of self serving sophistry. The fallen nature of man hungers and thirst for and even demands words of comfort and encouragement even if it means you must tell lies and half truths.

It is true that God is a God of redemption. And that redemption is offered by faith alone in what God the Son has finished for us. But outside that very fine line which begins and ends with Jesus is a territory lined with justice and accountability. Yes, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. It seems so ethereal and filled with fantastic imagery. But what will you do when that which seemed so much Brother’s Grimm materializes into a reality which eclipses everything you thought was reality? What would it cost you to take a month or two and search out if these things are true?

What would it cost you if you do not search them out and you found yourself in the midst of everything you ignored with no way out and without a second chance? One day you will stand before a Holy God. On that day He will either come to you as your Savior, or He will come to you as your judge. As Jesus asked the disciples He asks you today.

“Who do you say that I am”.    

There are many, many truths presented in the Scriptures, and there are many attributes of God also presented in those same Scriptures. But as it pertains to justice, wrath, punishment, retribution, and the eternal consequences of our sin there is only one issue which can cause God to redirect those revelations of who He is and direct His mercy, grace, and life giving attributes toward those who once were pending recipients of His justice.

The issue is Jesus, His Son.

So God has offered up His own Son as a sacrifice for our sin. No human mind can fully comprehend that magnitude of that gift. But to all who refuse that gift of grace there awaits an amazing and mind boggling power called the wrath of God. If you could even get a small glimpse of such power you would immediately be convinced to run to Jesus.

Jn.3: 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

God’s wrath is coming.
For our God is a consuming fire.
There is still time.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

9 comments:

Jamie morgan said...

I belive God gave us fear to protect us from wrath.Just like pain to protect us from things harmful to our physical body.But today Satan has been numbing that fear of God to lead many astray.Thanks once again for a great post. Your brother in Christ, Jamie

Anonymous said...

There can be no argument against this. Amen.

As a Body, we may need to start putting ourselves in other christian's shoes. There are so many situations where each christian has "come out of" and sometimes it takes a lifetime to feel secure in God's arms. Faith is a day to day walk. What I've noticed in my christian walk, is that many of the strong, energetic, healthy christians do succeed in their family lives, their careers, their church lives, and everyday life and they focus entirely on themselves and keep themselves only in the company of their own kind. Yet others, are attacked daily with problems and trials and never seem to rise above. And these also only hang around their own kind. Because what I've experienced, is when we lose jobs, homes, money and health, our friends leave us. And our christian friends leave us as well.

Yet I know too that this life is temporal and all the trials we see here are nothing compared to the glory in heaven.

I know we should never be a respecter of persons and I know that the Body is made up of many parts, some strong, and others weak, but in today's church, neither group are helping each other, and I don't necessarily mean financially. I'm talking about taking the time to visit and encourage and edify. And do it out of the love of Christ, not for church points or stars. The strong become workaholics doing their brand of charity for their strong christian friends, and the weak and poor and struggling are preoccupied with just surviving. There is a great divide in the church and it's a "class" divide. The arms are in battle with the legs. The arms are the higher ups and have need of nothing in terms of material or physical needs. Then, the legs are the ones that carry the load, and they are crushed with the heaviness of it all. Yet the legs are ignored. And sometimes the legs have a bad attitude as well. So, in my view, if we, as a Body, can't have most all things in common like the early church, or can't come to terms and ask each other for forgiveness and repent of our neglect, we will continue down this road - the arms who don't fear God enough because they rely on their own strengths, and the legs who have too many burdens and are so mentally weary that thinking about pre-or post-tribulation and the end days depresses them exceedingly. And when the strong say that the church must go through the tribulation, it sets the legs all wiggly because the legs are so faint, they feel alone, unloved, and know they won't reach the caves when God's wrath begins. And the ones who love to talk about the church "going" through the tribulation may be the ones who think they have a way out. I wonder if they even believe in a tribulation; I wonder if they think that by the time the great tribulation arrives, that they will have conquered the dominion of God's Kingdom on earth by way of the 7 mountains and will be in prosperity and in charge for a very long time before any tribulation comes. Maybe that is why some in the U.S. church do not want to bring attention to God's wrath. They're hoping they can get a little head start in a power grab before the Lord comes.

So if part of the church lives in a very rich country, that part will take God for granted in every way. They'll start to believe they're special and must warrant God's continual favor, like spoiled children do. I'm afraid the fearless attitude and the lack of concern over the other parts of the Body all around the world might bring on God's judgment and we know it starts in the House of God first.

Anonymous said...

Is Gods wrath unfair? Yes! We all deserve it
Is salvation fair? No! None of us deserve it . Is Gods unexplained free gift unearned unfair ? If you like that God should make any escape available to anyone
From a brother.

Reine Gnade said...

In order to start to understand the immensity of the wrath of the Creator God we ought to remember that He ushered in the flood and decided to rescue only eight people. He said "Yes" I will allow World War 1 and World War 2 and He says "Yes" there will be a time of great tribulation.

Let's confront the lost world with the fact that Judgment Day is drawing closer and closer.

John 3: 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.

Unrepentant sinners worldwide, God’s wrath is coming, for our God is a consuming fire. There is still time for you to turn from your self-sufficient ways. The good news is: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

Precious readers, fear of the future can be overcome, for God's perfect love casts out fear! Precious readers, the destination of Christians isn't caves, but the glorious presence of Christ. And be encouraged for where there are true Christians there will be encouragement and edification!

Reine Gnade said...

Let's serve God with profound reverence and unwavering fidelity. Let's recall that only the righteous can withstand the consuming fire of God’s wrath against sin.

Truly sin is an offense to God’s holiness. No amount of our own righteousness is sufficient (Isaiah 64:6). Christ is truly God, and though he is full of grace and mercy, yet he will appear in great wrath to his enemies, who will not have him to reign over them.

Christ is not a consuming fire to the saints but he is their protector, defender and director.

“God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), but no saint need fear the consuming fire of God’s wrath for they are covered by the purifying blood of Christ.
.
Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Anonymous said...



Just another thought for today. This should be on the post of the "Fear of God" but, I'm noticing and certain everyone here notices the increased bold statements made by secular media, that we depend on, for news (and of which soon we may not even be able to depend on for accuracy).

It's the disrespectful references to "Jesus" that are made, and I'm not talking about the liberal media and the night time hosts and comedians who use satire and mock christianity for laughs. It's those who promote values and morals where hosts sell things with the name of "Jesus", like Bill O'Reilly on Fox. Nothing against the man, I don't know much about him and am not judging him, but many 'christians' follow Fox News' where anything that comes out of her is taken as gospel. The "Killing Lincoln, "Killing Kennedy" books by O'Reilly now have a "Killing Jesus" to add.

As a once faithful buyer of many christian books at christian book stores by various authors for this and that, I found the words just stirred confusion in my mind. They were just author's opinions. Some authors would imply they were Holy Spirit inspired. But, when someone sells a Holy Spirit revelation it's wrong. If someone sells what God has taught them through their refining process, it's wrong. Because if the book's contents can't be shared to the poor in the corners of the earth, who can't afford books, or even read English, then they have failed God. And the lack of godfearing media giants who sell their books and are signing contracts to spin it into a movie, in a secular historical view of Jesus is just plain wrong, in my view.

I'm worried that more and more apostates are cashing in on everything "Jesus" because it's making a big profit lately. Jesus is a trend that many can capitalize on. Capitalism cashing in on Jesus. It really grieves me. Yet if a natural disaster struck, christian broadcasting hosts and ministries would be blaming sinners.

I'm still shaking my head. Greedy already wealthy-paid tv hosts now believe they can make MORE money by using Jesus. Is this the final straw for the Lord? He is so merciful and long-suffering and patient so that no one would perish, but we are watching men drag His Holy name through the mud. And the worst? These people and their followers believe they are the elect and don't realize how they have fallen. And I don't want to fall into any trap, either, I pray.

I never received a theology degree, or any university degree and was taught the bible primarily from pastors who never got to 10th grade school level. I got so much teaching and a healthy dose of fear of God, and it really helped me face these times now. I have a lot more to learn and get it on this site. Thank the Lord for the men of God, who are the true servants of the Lord.

Cherie c. said...

Chris,

Responded to your post on the "Gay Marriage" post.

your sister in Christ Jesus,
Cherie c.

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Radiance said...

I think this lack of fear of God is the root cause of all the ailments that plague modern society. The fear of God is not supposed to inspire in us distress and anxiety, the way the petty fears we instead entertain do (fear of losing money for example) but a sense of awe and wonder for who God is, for His Creation, for the universe. This awe and wonder is what inspired the great works of art of old, but today we waste the energies given to us to marvel at God and His universe and instead "marvel" at rather trivial objects like Apple Ipads.

It was and is this fear of God which allows the great saints and martyrs to be fearLESS in the face of persecution and death.