Under normal circumstances, when we as Christians are asked the question: “Receiving Christ, what have you been saved from?”, or “What have you received?” the normal answers will include such things as:
· Forgiveness of sins
· Eternal life
· Not going to hell
· Joy
· Peace
· Etc.
All these answers are obviously correct. However, has the thought ever occurred to you that you have been saved from the wrath of God? I think the reason why we tend to not say this, is that we actually do not understand what really happened on the cross when Jesus was crucified.
I would like to quote a few Scriptures in this regard:
I want to warn you that these versus are not easy to read and to accept, but they are true.
Romans 5:8-9 - 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Ephesians 2:3-5 - 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Colossians 3:5-7 - 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 - 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
There are many warnings of God’s wrath for the ungodly:
John 3:35-36 - 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Romans 1:18-19 - 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
Romans 2:4-6 - 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”
Romans 2:7-9 - 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
Ephesians 5:5-7 - 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
Revelation 14:9-11 - 9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
Revelation 14:18-20 - 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
The question is: “How can a God of love, pour out his wrath onto the people?”
To answer that question, we have to understand that God’s personality has 2 components:
1. God is just and holy. He hates sin and sin has to be punished. If He does not punish sin, he would not be just. If he accepted sin, He would not be holy.
2. God is also love. He does not desire to punish us. That is why; at the beginning of time He made sure that there was a plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.
To more fully understand God’s wrath, we need to take a look at the cross and what happened there. I think the film: “The Passion of Christ” gives us some idea of the suffering that Jesus had to bear on the cross. Anyone, hanging on a pole (cross) is cursed.
Galatians 3:13 - 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - 22 If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.
As the Son of God was made sin, His eternal fellowship with the Father was broken. All of the sins of the world were placed upon Jesus while He hung on the cross. In that hour, God could no longer have communion with His Son, as He was made sin for us. In a vivid illustration of this moment, God covers the land with darkness. Perhaps, He was speaking of the sadness, the mourning, and anger that was experienced by God during that time.
At noon, (12:00), darkness came on the earth until 3 pm. Nowhere in the Bible does it state why. What we can take from the Bible was Jesus’s words on the cross:
Matthew 27:46- At about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
The moment while Jesus was on the cross, was certainly not pleasant for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who had enjoyed unbroken fellowship forever. Although it certainly pleased the Father for His Son to redeem the world, this was also a time when the full wrath of God was poured out on His Son, who bore those sins.
The eye witness testimony of those who were present at the crucifixion of Jesus, are that from the sixth hour (12 noon), until the ninth hour (3 p.m.), darkness covered all of the land. The significance of this darkness appears to be for the purpose of demonstrating how the sins of the world being placed upon Jesus were reflected in the world that had largely rejected Him.
At that time Jesus was totally forsaken by His Father and the total wrath of God, for our sins, fell on Him. The enormity of the pain and suffering of Jesus cannot be even imagined by us. It was a horrible process that no man could endure. That Jesus did for us.
Now to get back to the question?
Just imagine you being God (not possible) and you sacrificed your son to die for the world’s sins, what would your reaction be? Would you not want to put your anger and wrath on those who rejected your son? Well, I would. But God gives every person a chance to accept the grace and mercy of God. Each one of us can escape God’s wrath by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Have you noticed the actions that invoke God’s wrath?
· Rejecting Jesus
· Rejecting/Denying the truth.
· Sinful living
· The greedy
· The immoral
· The self-seeking.
· False prophets
· People worshipping the beast.
· Etc.
The current cancel culture, the news media that does not tell the truth, film and TV producers that “sell” immoral behavior, music that is demonic and sexual, people that are trying to discredit the Bible as not being inerrant, pastors that forsake the faith, and many more, will inherit the wrath of God. That is a terrible place to be at the second coming. They will be in the presence of this wrath for eternity.
Although we as children of God are not perfect, the blood of Christ shed at Calvary and His resurrection ensures us that the wrath of God will not come onto us but that we will be with God in heaven for eternity.
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