"Our God is a consuming fire. "
Hebrews 12:29
A TOUGH SUBJECT
Read It: Nahum 1:2-6 The story is told of a little boy whose mother got upset when he refused to eat his prunes. She told him that if he didn't eat, God was going to get mad at him. But the boy said no and took off to his room. As soon as he got there, a huge thunderstorm broke out with lots of thunder and lightning. Thinking her son might be afraid, his mother rushed into his room and saw him staring out the window "Mama, all this fuss over some prunes?" God's wrath is a lot more serious than that. It's not an easy subject to talk about, but it's as integral to God's nature as His other perfections, so we need to acquaint ourselves well with this divine attribute if we want to know Him. The wrath of God is His necessary, just, and righteous retribution ribution against sin. The Bible has more to say about God's wrath than it does about His love. Of course God is good, kind, loving, and forgiving. But if you put a period there, you've got an incomplete story. God is a God of wrath too.
I want to give you the straight scoop because it's better to have a headache now than a "hell ache" later. The Bible's words for wrath indicate God's intense displeasure at sin and His judgment ment against it. God does not throw temper tantrums or pitch fits, but His anger against sin is intense. In fact, God takes torrid displeasure at sin-big sin, little sin, medium-sized sized sin. Because He is holy, all sin is repulsive to Him. Romans 1:18 is the most concise statement of God's wrath in the Bible, and we do well to pay close attention to it: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness." Notice that God is not hiding His wrath. He's not putting it under a bushel. It's part of His character. That's why I can't skip preaching about it as a pastor. He's telling us in advance that this is part of who He is. Aren't you glad God told us the truth about His wrath so we could escape it by running to Christ? I am! Think About It We have to adjust to God's wrath because He doesn't change (Malachi 3:6). This is God's universe, run by His rules.
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