God of Wrath

The Emotions of God in regards to His people and towards those who have rejected Him: 

Part One

This is the first in what will be a four-part series discussing the emotions of the God of scripture. Jesus Christ came to earth as a man and of course, was subject to human emotions and feelings. What I hope to look at however, are the emotions we see in scripture in regards to the God the Father. The first one we will look at is the God of Wrath. 

God of Wrath

Anger brought about by sin and immorality. 

Psalm 2:12- Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. 

     The wrath of God is a commonly overlooked attribute. As human beings, subject to passion and sinful natures, we act improperly within our anger, and thus commit sin. God's anger is righteous; brought about by the sins of His people and the unconverted. It is also fully justified through His holiness. He does not sin in His anger nor does He sin when He carries out His wrath through judgment of the wicked. As a God who is perfectly righteous and just, He cannot accept sin. Light and dark cannot dwell with one another. It is because of His love that we see His intolerance for sin which is manifest by His fierce anger towards that which goes against His Word. He will not allow the wicked to go unpunished. He will not allow those living for Him to live in continuous sin; it is an impossibility. And it is driven by His holiness and love for His children. Let's take a look in scripture at some of the reason's for God's wrath.

Anger Towards the Unconverted; God's Wrath Brings Judgement

God's anger is provoked by the sins of the unconverted

Romans 1:18- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. 

John 2:36- Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Ezekiel 25:17- I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay My vengeance upon them. 

Nahum 1:2-3a, 6-  The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty... Who can stand before his indignation. Who can endure the heat of his anger? 

Who is this "adversary" of the Lord that is spoken of? It refers to the unrepentant sinner who has rejected Him. This passage also says the Lord is slow to anger. He does not "React" in anger as we do. He is patient in his anger but the unrighteous will not slip by unnoticed. 

Romans 2:5- But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgement will be revealed. 

Revelation 9:15- From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 

Ezekiel 8:18- Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9- In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. 

     How then do we have hope? Our only savior from this wrath which would ultimately manifest in our damnation to hell at the judgment, is Christ's work on the Cross. This act of love fully satisfies the wrath of God. (Romans 3:21-25, Hebrews 2:17)

Anger Towards His People; God's Wrath Brings Repentance

• God's anger can be provoked by the sins of his people. (Jeremiah 8:29 and Hosea 11:8-9) 

     For those of us who are in Christ, we are saved from God's wrath at the judgment. We are however, still subject to His anger towards our sin. This indignation will not force us away from Him as before but instead He will chasten us for the committed sin, and thus ultimately bring us closer to Him. So we see that this does not mean that God is suddenly tolerant of our sin. Instead, his anger towards our sin brings about a heart in us that is, in turn, more sensitive to the things of God and more distasteful towards sin. Through this work, the Christian is being sanctified and becoming more like Christ. God is our Father, guiding and instructing His children. He will not allow those who are His to continue living in sin. 

Colossians 3:5-6- Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 

Psalm 90:7- For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.

Numbers 11:1-2a- Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

Numbers 32:13- So the Lord's anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord were destroyed. 

     The wrath of God is an important attribute to understand. Were it not for God's hatred towards sin, his holiness would not exist because a righteous God cannot allow sin to go unpunished. If that righteousness did not exist, Christ is without perfection, and thus an incomplete sacrifice at Calvary. Without Christ to take our place at the cross, who would be able to stand before the throne and declare us sinless before the Father? God's wrath proves his righteousness. His righteousness is our only hope because our attempts at righteousness will always fall woefully short. Through the wrath of our God, we see his love manifest through the drawing of His people to Himself. 

     Another aspect of his wrath we must understand is how it correlates with God's love. Reading the scriptures above (And trust me, there are many others to be found) we can grasp a small understanding of how very much God hates sin. He also knows every sin we have committed and ever will. Yet He still loves us and through the sacrifice of His Son to satisfy his justice, He is willing to look at us and declare us righteous. This wrath does not bind us by the fury of an outraged God, but instead sets us free through His beautiful holiness and unfathomable love. 

1 Peter 1:15-21- ...As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct... and if you call on the Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile way inherited from your forefathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

     This poem (Author unknown) sums up this subject well:

Sovereign ruler, Lord of all, prostrate at Thy feet I fall. Hear, O hear my ardent cry. Frown not lest I faint and die.

Depth of mercy can there be mercy still reserved for me? Can my God his wrath forebear, me the chief of sinners spare? 

I have long withstood his grace, long provoked him to his face. Would not harken to his call, grieved him by a thousand falls. 

Now incline me to repent, let me now my sins lament. Now my foul revolt deplore: weep, believe, and sin no more.

Justly might they kindled art cleanse this healing broken heart. Justly might thy kindled ire send me to eternal fire. 

But with Thee is mercy found. Balm to heal my every wound. Soothe, O soothe this troubled breast. Give the weary wand'r rest.