The Wrath of God

To understand Calvary, to understand the crucifixion, we must understand the wrath of God! If you missed the last entry, go back in the archives and read to get the whole story.

Let me share with you a few things about that wrath, all of which are understatements.

First, God's Wrath is Frightful. God's wrath is frightful to say the least. We have not seen or experienced the extent of the frightfulness of His wrath, however God, in his mercy, has given us a glimpse of his wrath. We see the wrath of God in the course of this world. In schools, children and teens are taught that we are evolving. Any fool can see that we are doing no such thing. We are devolving and we are devolving because of our sin and the judgment of God. Romans 8:19-23 states, For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. We see a glimpse of his wrath in the course of this world. We see the wrath of God in the carelessness of the world. Just look at how careless we are about the wrath of God. There was a debate between an atheist and a Christian professor years ago. During the debate, the atheist boldly stood and challenged God, if he existed, to strike him dead within the next five minutes. Five minutes of silence came and passed as the atheist stood on stage untouched. He looked at his opponent, a Christian professor, and said, "What do you have to say about that and your God?" the professor responded, "Did you think that you could exhaust the mercy of God in 5 min?" That sounds good, but it is wrong! That is not the mercy of God. That is the wrath of God. You see, if God struck that atheist dead, every person in that room would have witnessed it and many would have come to believe and be saved! Instead he let him continue his journey to hell, and many of those in that room with him. God hiding himself is judgment! That is wrath! We see the wrath of God in the condition of the world. Consider how dreadful the wrath of God is in this world, only in little tastes. Hurrican Katrina was just a taste of His wrath! The Tsunamai was just a taste of His wrath! The Earthquake in Peru was just a taste of His wrath! The Fires of California were just a taste of His wrath. The Floods, and the famines, and the sicknesses and pains of this world are just tastes of His wrath. Can you imagine how dreadful the full wrath of God must be? Add all of these tastes of his wrath together and they would not stand for a second! God's wrath is here, but it is restrained to a large degree. As frightful as his wrath is in its restrained form, how frightful must his full wrath be! John Owen wrote, When a few drops or little sprinkling of wrath is so distressing and overbearing to the soul, how must it be when God opens the flood-gates, and lets the mighty deluge of his wrath come pouring down upon men's guilty heads, and brings in all his waves and billows upon their souls! God showed up in frightful wrath to Jerusalem this day, and that is an understatement.

God's wrath is not only frightful, but God's Wrath is Full! His wrath shall be poured out upon every part of a sinner. It will be unleashed and felt by every ounce of the being. God's Wrath is full. Jonathan Edwards said, It will be poured out upon the body: The body, which was so tender that it could not bear heat or cold, shall be tormented in the winepress of God's wrath. Those eyes which before could behold beautiful objects, shall be tormented with the sight of devils. The ears, which before were delighted with music, shall be tormented with the hideous shrieks of the damned. The wrath of God shall seize upon the soul, the mind, the will, and emotions of a reprobate. The memory will be tormented to remember what means of grace have been abused. The conscience will be tormented with self-accusations. There is not one part of our being that will be free from the wrath of God! This wrath is total because he totally removes Himself from you. Psalm 16:11 says, "in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." If his presence is fullness of joy, then is his absence fullness of sorrow? If at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore, then apart from his hand there can be nothing but misery forevermore. God brought the fullness of his wrath to Jerusalem that day, and that is an understatement.

God's wrath is not only frightful and full, but God's wrath is Forceful as well. There is no escaping it. Rev 14:19-20 states, "So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia." Ps 2:1-5 states, "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath." There is no escaping the wrath of God. We may oppose God's ways, but not his wrath. After all, what are you going to do? Avoid aging? Avoid sickness? Will you avoid death? No you will die! You will stand before God. And you will face his wrath if you die without Christ. Rev 20:11-13 states, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them." There was no stopping his wrath in Jerusalem that day.

Finally, we see that the wrath of God is Final. The wrath of God is eternal. It never ever ends. In all the pains of this life we can hope for relief. The sufferings of this life will not continue forever. Either what is tormenting us will cease to exist, or we will cease living. We all know of those who have been so sick and in such suffering that they have longed to die. There will be no such relief under the full wrath of God. His wrath is the final state…no relief. Rev 14:9-11 states, "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." There is not a minute's rest.

This is what showed up in the darkness at Calvary that day. This is what really made the crucifixion stand out! The wrath of God descended on Jerusalem! The judgment of God showed up. But why? And for who? We will see that next time.