About Doctrines
God's Wrath
God's wrath is a terrible thing, but it is part of his perfect nature. God's wrath is that part of Him that attacks sin, while loving the sinner. This is why Paul could write that God showed His love for us while we were sinners. He loves the individual but hates their actions with a passion. The day will arrive, however, when the sin and the sinner merge in judgment. This is the time Paul looks toward.
The wrath looks forward to the final judgments of God. God is patient but as we have seen there will come a point in history when He will allow His justice and wrath to become fully operational against mankind. We have seen pictures of this wrath throughout the Scriptures. Think of the punishment of the flood. On a lesser, but no less spectacular scale, think of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each of these events shows the picture of God's wrath being directed from heaven. This is a preview of the final chapter of history as prophesied in Revelation.
Indeed, the Temple of love and mercy, the throne room of God, becomes the focal point of wrath. Consider the source of the judgments, as reflected in Revelation chapter 8:
Revelation 8:1-6
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
In this passage, the angels here stand before God. Another angel takes the golden censer and fills it with fire from the altar of God. This is cast to the earth and causes great damage. This is the prelude to the seven trumpet judgments, the second of the three sets of judgments during the Tribulation. It is possible that the angel with the censor is none other than Jesus.
We were enemies of God as sinners. He may have loved us, but we were still at enmity with Him. When we are saved through the blood of Jesus, we are reconciled back to God. To be reconciled is to be brought back into a friendly relationship. In English, reconciliation is always a two-sided coin. But, in the Greek, it may be one sided. God and / or Jesus is always the Reconciler in Scripture. God removes the obstacle which allows us to come into fellowship with Him. This creates the reconciliation. When we come to Christ in faith, God cleanses us and adopts us into His family. What a wonderful reconciliation we experience. Since we are now reconciled to Jesus by justification by faith, we are brought alive spiritually through the life of Christ. We live with Him and through Him.
Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father. Jesus arose from the grave. Jesus is alive! Since Jesus is a living sacrifice for the sins of the world, His sacrifice is available for all of us today, 2000 years after His death on the Cross. By accepting Him, we are covered by His life. We are truly reconciled with God and protected from the judgment and wrath to come.
