I like
shocking titles. I’m not sure I achieved
what I set out to say with the title I chose.
I want to be clear. The wrath of
God is good. We would be lost without
it. I’m absolutely indebted to the wrath
of God. I can honestly say that when I
truly take in God’s wrath, I can sleep better at night knowing that all will be
made right in the world.
Where are
these thoughts coming from? I’ve had a
hard couple of weeks. I’ve had to face
some harsh realities of this world. I
have been powerless to change them. They
stink. There is no other way to say
it. There is so much in this world that
is not right and will not be put right in the forseeable future. It is what it is.
But it
isn’t. It may appear to be what it is,
but it isn’t done. It’s not over. What happens in my lifetime is not over when
I die. There is a day when all will be
made right by the wrath of God. The
wrath of God is also the righteousness of God.
He is holding back His wrath so that we humans stand a chance. If God did not hold back His wrath and
invoked His righteousness on us before making a way through Jesus Christ, all
would be hopeless. As it is, it is the
wrath of God that gives us hope.
Julian of
Norwich explained it this way:
There
is a deed that the blessed Trinity shall do on the last day, according to what
I saw. When and how the deed shall be
accomplished is, and shall remain, unknown to all creatures beneath Christ
until the day it is done. What our Lord
wills that we know, through His goodness and love, is that the deed will be
done. ..for by the great deed that our Lord shall do He shall save His word in
all things and He shall make well all that is not well—though how it
shall be done no creature below Christ knows or shall know until it is done.
This is why I feel safe and good
about the wrath of God. It is not that the
wrath of God is not severe. It is that
the wrath of God is as perfect as He is; therefore His wrath will be perfect in
every way. I’m not trying to take the
wrath of God lightly. I know how much my
sins deserve His wrath. I recognize the
intensity of His wrath when I meditate of the events of the cross of Jesus
Christ. When I take in the fierceness of
His wrath, I better comprehend that from which the righteousness of Christ has
saved me.
David rested in the knowledge of
God’s wrath too when he questioned some of the same issues I question. Psalm 10:13 is David’s question, Why does the wicked man revile
God? Why does he say to himself, He won’t call me to account? Psalm 10:14- 18 is the answer he trusts
completely, But you,
God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the
fatherless. Break
the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out. The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you
listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere
earthly mortals will never again strike terror.
I’m grateful that God sent Jesus to
give me righteousness so that through my faith I can stand before God’s
wrath. I’m also grateful that I can trust
and love God’s wrath and wait in faith, believing that all will be made right
in this world because of the wrath of God.
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