The Seriousness of God's Wrath

There are some topics that never seem to find their way to the pulpit. I'm sure there's a fear of certain topics and what kind of response would result from a sermon focused on one of those topics. But, I just write blogs and I don't even know who reads them, so if what I write scares someone away, I'll be okay! I'm confident in the truth that I write about, and trust that God will use Biblical truths to lead people where He wants them to be.

Ever since I started reading the Bible I've always been confused how a loving God can command the Israelites to go into a town and kill every living thing, including women and children. Even Jesus told us that unless we approach Him as little children, we have no place in Heaven. Through Jesus, we know that God loves children immensely and He instructs us to protect them in every way we can. If Jesus is God and shares the same Spirit as God, then why do we see two completely different attitudes when it comes to sinners and children?

The answer is in the character of God. I can't even begin to explain the character of God through one little post, but we can touch on a couple little pieces.

• God is 100% free of sin and can not be approached by sin. That means that not one person, baby or elder can approach God. Romans 3:23 tells us; "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Through this verse and others, the Bible teaches us that we are born sinners. As soon as we have life, we are already destined for Hell. Nothing our parents do can help us escape that fault. The sin of Adam and Eve opened up the door to allow all of humanity to be affected by temptation and sin that separates us from God. This means that the babies and women that God commanded the Israelites to kill were not pure and blameless as we like to see most people through our worldly eyes, but they were just as guilty as the robbers, murderers, sexual immoral, and other transgressors of that time and our time. 

• God sent Jesus to bridge the gap. God wasn't able to be around sin, but loved the people that were covered in sin. Imagine someone who gags around poop and a baby that's covered in it. That person can love that baby more than anything, but until someone else comes and cleans the baby up, they aren't able to approach the child. Because of God's character, He wasn't able to cleanse us of our sin Himself, because He couldn't get that close to it, so He sent Jesus to clean us up. The only way that Jesus was able to provide a way for us to be clean was to die a sinless Man. So, God sent His Son to die for our sins because He loved us so much that He didn't want to be eternally separated from us. 

I think this also explains the phrase "the fear of God". We learn to fear God in a healthy way when we realize that he completely hates the sin in our lives. It's never permissible. It's never ok. It's never something that He can just accept as a mistake. It's never just a little booboo. Every time we sin, it's deserving of death... as powerful of death as killing off an entire city of babies because of it! That's hard to hear, but the God who loves us can not stand the evilness that lives in us when we are living in sin. The only solution we have and the only reason the New Testament is completely about love and is completely free of God commanding people to kill others is that fact that Jesus washed us clean. He died once and for all to wash us clean for ever. We now have the freedom to approach God as clean children, and to be seen by Him as forgiven, clean and pure. 

I'm thankful for the sacrifice Jesus paid and the love that God had for us that led to a way we could be with Him. There's nothing greater.