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THE WRATH OF GOD

Nahum 1:1-8

1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies.
3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty
     unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel
     wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
5 The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence,
     the world and all who live in it.
6 Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured
     out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.
7 The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,
8 but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of [Nineveh]; he will pursue his foes
     into darkness.

People get so disturbed, when you talk about the wrath of God. How can the God of love express wrath? Many Christians and non Christians alike both believe that God is so loving and forgiving that he will not even hurt a fly, when people die and when they meet God, he will wink at their sins and give a bear hug. Satan has done a good job in deceiving the nature of God, and it is sad to say that many believe this doctrine of demons. Yes, God is love and God will not compromise with sin. He is the God of justice too.

The Church is responsible for not teaching sound doctrine and the whole council of God, today there are many sermons, books, tracts and Bible studies on the love of God, the power of God or how God can help your immediate needs rather than sin, repentance, holiness of God, the wrath of God and his judgment. But the early Christians presented the gospel first on the subject of the wrath of God, his judgment for sins. The modern view is, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you." Either the modern view is correct or there is something crucial wrong in presenting salvation. The fact is we cannot understand salvation without knowing the wrath of God. I have asked many Christians, " Are you saved?" They say, "Yes." Then my next question is, " From whom did you get saved.?" They think for a while and have a difficult time answering the question. The Bible teaches the truth as it says,

Romans 5:9, How much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him.

There are three basic elements that we need to understand of God, when it comes to the wrath of God.

1. He is the Creator.
2. He is the Judge.
3. He is the Redeemer.

CREATOR

As the Creator he is perfect and all his creations are perfect, because he is infinitely holy. He is above his creations. He is awesome and majestic. "Who among the gods is like you O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness and glory."

We are all his creation and we all belong to him. We are to be holy as he is holy. When sin entered his divine creation was under a curse. God will not tolerate sin and he will deal with sin as he is holy.

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and the wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness." (Romans 1:18)

Why is God wrathful? Is he over reacting to a certain situation and hot headed? The Bible says that God is slow to anger and long suffering. Why should he get angry, which sounds like the bad guy who always have a bad temper. God’s anger is not like the human anger, his anger is the purest form of anger, it is the righteous anger against justice and sin.

The wrath of God is connected to his holiness. God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil and cannot tolerate any wrong. Habakkuk 2:13)

God cannot take pleasure in evil, the sinners cannot live with God. (Psalm 5:4)

It was his holiness that destroyed the earth with a flood.
It was his holiness that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
It was his holiness that destroyed Pharaoh and his army.
It was his holiness that destroyed even some of the Israelites when they disobeyed.

God is the Creator, and he is holy in all his creations and he will not tolerate sin nor compromise sin or allow to sin to go unpunished.

JUDGE

Man is obligated to God as he is the Judge. We have moral obligations to his laws, commandments and his Word.

"The Lord will judge the ends of the earth." (1Sam. 2:10)
"God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day." (Psalm 7:11)

Man has broken his commandments and stand guilty before him, man is disobedient to God. ( Rom. 3:19-20)

Therefore man is under the wrath of God. ( Rom. 1:18)

The wrath of God proves his goodness and demonstrates his righteousness. He is the judge of the Universe and a good judge will punish the guilty party, a good judge will not compromise with the law breakers. "….The Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished." (Nahum 1:2-3)

REDEEMER

God is the Creator and the Judge. Mankind is in deep trouble before the Judge. (Hebrews 9:27) We are all guilty before the judge, and the wages of sin is death. God will punish the sinners as it is his duty as the Judge to be righteous. But man is incapable of saving himself and God himself became the Redeemer. God became a man.

As God he never pours out his wrath without a warning.
Before the flood he warned the people through Noah for 120 years. He warned Nineveh through Jonah. God will deal sin in two ways. That is by grace or wrath. Man is lost and under the wrath of God, and man desperately needs a redeemer.

This salvation cannot come from man, as man died. It is not possible for a dead man to save himself. Man is a sinner and he cannot save himself and cannot raise himself from the dead. Self salvation through being a good person, going to the right Church, having the right religion is utterly in vain. It took Jonah to realize when he came out from the belly of the fish, "Salvation is of the Lord." (Jonah 2:9)

God initiates salvation to save man from his wrath. Jesus became our redeemer as he took the punishment for our sins, as God poured out his wrath on Jesus on the cross. Jesus came for the sinners and he died for the ungodly, if you realize that you have sinned against the almighty holy God and that Christ took the wrath of God on your behalf, you can be pardoned from the wrath of God, as Christ becomes your savior.

The Christian is saved from the penalty of sin, the power of sin and from death. There are three kinds of death.

1. Spiritual death. (Separation from God.)
2. Physical death. (Separation of the body from the soul.)
3. Eternal death. ( Separation of body and soul and the eternal punishment in the lake of fire.)

The death of Jesus on the cross saves us from all of the above.

We are saved from God’s wrath through him!

How shall a person get saved from the wrath of God? Realize that you have sinned against God. You may say, I am not that bad. Listen, have you ever told a lie? It makes only one lie to make you a liar. Have you ever stole something? Anything even something small. It takes only one thing to steal to make you a thief. Have you ever looked at a woman with lust in your heart? Jesus said, when you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery. Now you have become a liar, a thief and an adulterer. God's standard is to be perfect, God is perfect and for us to be with God, we need to be perfect. But we have sinned against him, we deserve the wrath of God.

Cry out for God and ask for his mercy instead of his wrath. Ask for forgiveness, and he will forgive you. Trust in him and read the Bible daily. Spend time in his Word and prayer. Attend a Church that is strong in the Word of God. Please let us know if there is anyway we can help you to grow in the Lord.

Agape Chapel Ministries                             Agape Chapel Ministries
P.O. Box 59084                                         Lagtang, Talisay
Norwalk, CA 90652                                  Cebu, Philippines.