God’s wrath is His righteous response to the wickedness of sin and all who defy Him. His wrath is not an emotional response like human anger. God does not seek “payback” or “to get even.” Instead, God’s wrath is His settled, holy and measured reaction to the evil that destroys the beauty and wholeness He created. Because God is holy, He cannot compromise with sin and look the other way. God’s overwhelming passion for purity and all that is just and good moves Him to action. God exercises His wrath as a judicial act against rebellion and those who sin against Him (Exodus 15:7; Luke 21:22-24; Romans 1:18-20; 2:5-6; Revelation 6:16).
All people are born with a sin nature, and God’s wrath “rests” on every person from birth. Because of our sin nature, God’s wrath is the biggest problem people face, though most do not realize this. Only those who believe in Jesus Christ escape God’s wrath (John 3:36; Romans 5:9; 8:1; Ephesians 2:3-5). Believers deserve God’s wrath just like unbelievers but are rescued from wrath only because Jesus took the wrath that believers deserve.
Some dismiss God’s wrath as a “hellfire and brimstone” message intended to scare people into loving God. Most people reject or ignore the reality of God’s wrath and judgment. The thought that God would stand against people He created offends many. When Abraham heard of the grievous evil in Sodom, he struggled with God’s plan to destroy the city. When we fail to believe in God’s wrath, this wrong thinking leads to a casual approach to God and sin.
In our culture today, many people will not call anything wrong, much less sinful. Public opinion scoffs at the idea that God even cares about what people do. People reject the gospel because they fail to believe that personal sinfulness deserves God’s holy judgment. This is a serious, fatal and eternal error.
The reality of God’s wrath may not be pleasant, but awakens us to the seriousness of rejecting God’s offer of grace and rescue through Jesus Christ. Discomfort with this truth does not make it less true. Does the reality of God’s wrath motivate you to pray for unbelievers and to share the gospel?
Understanding God’s wrath helps you recognize the seriousness of sin and its offense to Holy God. Believing we deserve God’s wrath elevates the wonder of salvation in Christ. The depth of this truth should be intensely personal. How incredible that God would love, seek and save ME, a rebel!
Habakkuk prayed, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath, remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:1-2). If I am in Christ, though I deserve wrath, I receive mercy. What a wonderful, merciful Savior! (BSF International)
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