The No-Wrath Of God

"When death had done all death could do and Jesus' body lay dead, God's life came."

GOD IS NOT ANGRY. This is Truth we must accept in order to trust Him. He never was angry. He does speak of vengeance, but His vengeance is merciful love (Romans 12:19). Over and over in the Old Covenant, we see His mercy. He waited to flood the earth until only 8 righteous remained. Only Noah’s family worshipped Him. The rest of the world system was violent (chamas) (Genesis 6:11). And yes, that’s a familiar word. But regardless, the Truth of God’s nature is REVEALED in the life of Jesus. It isn’t ALTERED from who He was. This goes against Scripture. God, very plainly, says, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed (Malachi 3:6).” Notice, NOT CONSUMED because His mercy is continual. He isn’t UNMERCIFUL. He insisted on mercy.

When Israel said, “Just set us free to worship as we want. We’ll take the consequences,’ God said, “For my name’s sake, I will draw you to me. I will be merciful.” (Ezekiel 20:37) When Israel sat defeated, Jerusalem empty, the Father mourned her, and the prophet Jeremiah cried out, “Great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23).” He would keep His covenant with His people, Israel, so that He could send His Son to be King of them and show His mercy. His SO LOVE. Love WAS the Father’s motive. NOT what we call retribution. Yes, He condemned the devil and destroyed him and his works (Hebrews 2:14;1 John 3:8), and yes, He showed Himself Victor over death … when death had done all death could do and Jesus’ body lay dead, God’s life came … but our salvation was because He loved us so much even His own death was worth the cost. Jesus died on the Father’s behalf, as the Father cannot die, and the Father held His hand, the Spirit carried His sicknesses and distresses, He cleansed us of ours, because They loved Him, and He loves us.

There was no wrath involved. As if God carried a weight He must dispense with and needed a target. No, Jesus’ death was for our honor, was because God wanted to do what would return us to the beauty in which we were created. Angels were created to display the glory and splendor of God. Man was created in God’s image and after His likeness to commune with Him forever as family. Sin and death which came from sin became a tearing away. Suddenly, Adam and Eve weren’t in His Presence anymore and work was hard that shouldn’t have been, and conceiving was painful that wasn’t meant to be, and there, at the first generation, we have murder. “These things ought not so to be (James 3:10).”

God would bury it, burying it as deep as the sea, part us from it as east never meets west, and there was not one drop of wrath in that. Wrath as we know it is the product of sin. God removed sin from us forever and day-by-day heals the minds of those who seek Him so that it isn’t a reaction anymore. We don’t have to overcome it. We don’t think that way. The apostle Paul is our example. He went from a man who murdered people and justified it to one who loved them to the point of his own physical suffering. When an earthquake shook the jail and the doors opened, he and Silas chose to lead the jailor to Christ instead of fleeing (Acts 16:31). Like Jesus. We are made like Jesus, and He was made like us. What you see of Him in the gospels is who the Father is.

Wrath did not hang Him on the cross. Love did.

“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:46)

“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10)

“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” (John 16:32)

Photo by Dyu - Ha on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com