I have often struggled with the thought of some people that say God is a God of love. They say this as if that is all there is to God, usually in order to justify some belief or lifestyle that is counter to Scripture. Yes, God is love (1 John 4:16), but that doesn't give us the full and complete picture of Him. It's like someone attempting to describe me. "Jeff? Well, he's all love." While I wish that were an accurate statement of who I am, it is incomplete. While I have the capacity to love and to show love, I also have the capability of being unloving at times, even angry. This is because I am a sinner, but thankfully, one that has been saved by grace.
Yes, God is love, but that's simply describing one attribute of God, like only looking at one surface of a diamond and ignoring the others. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice. God displays His love to us, as in His Son Jesus Christ (John 3:16), but the same God is also a God of wrath. How do I know this? Because the Bible tells us so.
"For God's wrath is revealed from heaven" (Romans 1:18). Before we delve any deeper into this, we need to define what this wrath is. Godquestions.org gives a pretty good definition:
Wrath is defined as “the emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice,” often translated as “anger,” “indignation,” “vexation,” or “irritation.” Both humans and God express wrath. But there is vast difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of man. God’s wrath is holy and always justified; man’s is never holy and rarely justified.
In the Old Testament, the wrath of God is a divine response to human sin and disobedience. Idolatry was most often the occasion for divine wrath. Psalm 78:56-66 describes Israel’s idolatry. The wrath of God is consistently directed towards those who do not follow His will (Deuteronomy 1:26-46; Joshua 7:1; Psalm 2:1-6). The Old Testament prophets often wrote of a day in the future, the "day of wrath" (Zephaniah 1:14-15). God’s wrath against sin and disobedience is perfectly justified because His plan for mankind is holy and perfect, just as God Himself is holy and perfect. God provided a way to gain divine favor—repentance—which turns God’s wrath away from the sinner. To reject that perfect plan is to reject God’s love, mercy, grace and favor and incur His righteous wrath.
Yes, one of the primary characteristics of God is His great capacity to love. But God cannot and does not love sin in any of its forms. I love my two sons with a deep love. Yet, when they were younger, I would scold them and correct them when they did something wrong. There was a standard they were to live by. God, being the one who created us, has a standard. It is when we decide to break that standard, to willfully do what we want to do, that we incur God's wrath.
Notice what causes His wrath. "For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them" (v. 18-19). God hates sin, because sin is rebellion against God and His truth. It is a suppression of truth so that one can do what they want to do.
And God is justified in His wrath. The reasons for this is spelled out in the rest of the chapter. It describes mankind's rejection of God's revelation and, as a result, they incur His wrath. As you read the rest of the chapter notice it is mankind that deliberately defies God and continues down the path of rebellion. It is an act of free will. The path that leads away from God will always lead to wrath.
But the good news is God has not left us without a way out. Out of His great love for us He gave us is one and only Son, Jesus Christ. "But now He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). It is through Jesus Christ that sin is atoned for and the wrath of God is turned away from us. Thanks be to God for His marvelous gift!
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