Grace Thoughts
GraceLife Thoughts: Love and Wrath (Part 7)
The word ‘wrath’ is found hundreds of times in the Bible. It generally means ‘burning anger, fury, rage, vexation, indignation, agitation, irritation, to be hard, severe or fierce.’ The word is used sometimes for the anger or rage of humans and animals – sometimes for the anger of God. But why would God be angry? Isn’t God ‘love?’
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:7-9
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
That reminds us of what John wrote in his Gospel account – the theme verse for this series –
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
But what about this verse in the same chapter of John’s Gospel?
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:36
Why would a ‘loving’ God be angry with people who don’t ‘believe the Son?’ Why would the wrath of God ‘abide’ (remain, stay) on those people? How do we understand, and explain to others, that God is love and that God is angry? Why would someone of another worldview believe us when we say that God’s wrath ‘abides’ on them because they don’t ‘believe the Son,’ Jesus Christ? Good questions – questions we need to be prepared to answer.
Wrath
The Apostle Paul explains how God’s ‘love and wrath’ work together in Ephesians 2. Please read Ephesians 1 for a full context of what Paul wrote in chapter 2. It appears as if he may have switched tracks spiritually or philosophically, but in fact Paul was building a theological case for how God accomplished a ‘mystery’ – a ‘secret’ – that He had kept to Himself until He revealed it to Paul. It’s called “the mystery of His will” (Ephesians 1:9).
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? Isaiah 40:13
For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ 1 Corinthians 2:16a
Who has known the mind of God? Paul wrote – “But we have the mind of Christ” God has revealed “the mystery of His will” to His people ‘through His Spirit’ who lives in us.
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
Now, with that introduction, let’s see what we can learn about God’s love and His wrath.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3
Paul made it quite clear that everyone, including himself before he was saved, are ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ The word ‘dead’ is νεκροὺς and means – ‘dead, lifeless, a corpse.’ Because we were spiritually ‘dead,’ our only course in life was to follow the ‘course of this world.’ Who or what controls that ‘course?’
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind
Oh, yes, and one more thing –
and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
What does it mean to be ‘by nature children of wrath?’ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς
- ἤμεθα – we exist
- τέκνα – descendant, inhabitant
- φύσει – inherent nature, origin, birth
- ὀργῆς - anger, wrath, punishment, vengeance
Why would our existence as human beings, from birth, include such a terrible relationship with someone? Someone who wanted to ‘punish’ us? For what? Who is that someone? Read on.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7
Every human being is born ‘dead’ – spiritually dead. All we can do is follow the ‘course of this world’ that is ‘according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.’ What does that cause a ‘dead’ person to do? Conduct themselves ‘in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.’ Is that the experience of just ‘some people?’ No. We “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
Paul wrote from a position of common human experience. As Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 15:22 – “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” Every human inherited more than just DNA from Adam. They also inherited a ‘nature’ of ‘wrath’ – God’s wrath.
However, thanks be to God, God is ‘rich in mercy.’ Why? Because of ‘His great love with which He loved us.’ Sounds like John 3:16, doesn’t it? Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, God ‘made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.’
That is how ‘love and wrath’ co-exist in this crazy world of ours. We inherit sin and death through Adam, but forgiveness and life through Christ. Why? Because God loves us. Not only does God love us even though we were ‘by nature children of wrath,’ He also ‘promotes’ us to a ‘Heavenly inheritance’ according to the ‘counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory’ (Ephesians 1:11-12). Where did that come from? ‘the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself’
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!The Lord hath promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
Amen and Amen! God’s Amazing Grace.
So far we’ve seen Jesus speaking with Nicodemus and Paul writing to the church in Ephesus about God’s ‘love and wrath.’ Is that it? Not by a long shot. We’ll get into that in Part Eight of our study.
[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
