“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteaousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”
(Romans 1:18).
Have you ever experienced a fit of anger? Were you the victim or the perpetrator? Some people even consider this a normal, universal thing, a matter of universal – on other words, something everyone experiences.
But God’s anger is more difficult to understand and accept. How can it be that a God who is good could be angry? The Bible talks about man’s wrath and warns us of all rampant anger or outbursts of fury; and it likewise talks about the wrath of God. Just as God’s justice is revealed, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven,” and the recipient of God’s wrath is the “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18).
It is not about a feeling, an emotion, or rage on God’s part, but an act of retribution and divine justice. It is an act against ungodliness and unrighteaousness. Ungodliness is doing wrong against God and unrighteousness is doing wrong against man. Ungodliness is evil in the heart (in other words, the seed) and unrighteousness is the evil in the action (in other words, the plant or the fruit).
God loves the sinner but hates sin, because sin has damaged His creatures, and someday His wrath (in other words, His justice) will be manifested. “The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God” (The Great Controversy, p. 561).
What “appeases” God’s wrath? The death and sacrifice of Christ. When we accept that sacrifice in our place, we are “fleeing” from God’s wrath (see Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7). The story of Jonah and his mission to go to Nineveh makes the divine purpose clear. God sent the prophet to save Nineveh. The Lord gave him a message to transmit: from that moment, in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed, which shows that God did not want to destroy but to save. The time of grace granted was a call to repentance and life. The message was heard, the opportunities were taken, and salvation reached the souls.
The great day of God’s wrath is near. He does not want the death of those who die but wants everyone to proceed toward repentance (Re. 6:17; Ez. 16:32; 2 Pet. 3:9). We live with a dilemma: on one hand, we wish for God to do justice, and on the other, we complain… because He delivers justice.
The promise is sure: God will make “new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).
Those who do not accept Jesus as their Intercessor
will face Him as a Judge. You can be outside of God’s wrath
if only you choose to remain within His love.
God bless you, may you remain within His love…