God’s wrath is not a typical topic to talk about in the New Year. Whenever we hear the word wrath, we have a presupposition that it clashes with God’s most prominent characteristic which is love. 

A few questions come to our mind, how can God be so loving and angry at the same time? Why can’t God just forgive our sins? However, to really know that we’re saved, we must know what we’re saved from. Otherwise, there is no point in saving in the first place. 

What is God’s wrath?

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” Romans 1:18-19 NIV

First of all, wrath is not an attribute of God. God is love. God is holy. God is just. God is not wrath. His wrath is the rightful expression of His holy love in the face of sin and evil.

There are over 600 Old Testament passages that mention the wrath of God, and Romans 1:18 underlined that God’s wrath applies to both Jews and Gentiles. God’s wrath is not like men’s wrath (i.e. losing temper, vengeful). So it is God’s reaction to our sinfulness from one of His attributes, holiness.

“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 judgement will be revealed.” Romans 2:5 NIV

God’s wrath is an expression of His holiness that is rooted in His purity and hatred for sins. The wrath of God entails both final judgement and eternal condemnation.

“But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?” Romans 3:5-6 NIV

So the wrath of God is a consummation of His righteous anger and judgement. If you really love something, and you see something wrong with it, and yet you’re not angry. Dare I say, that is not real love. 

Why is God so angry?

“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” Romans 2:7-8 NIV

When we turn our back on God by worshipping things other than God, this has made God angry. You might ask, what constitutes worshipping things other than God? 

Well, it’s literally everything under the Sun. Here’s a pattern that has transpired in the Bible. Men fell into sin and worshipped things other than God, it made God angry and He sent someone to remind them to repent. They repented, and yet they repeated it again. I’d wager that this still resonates with us now. 

The problem with us is not that we do not know God, but we know God and we still choose not to glorify Him. We live our daily lives as if God’s on the sideline, watching us from a galaxy far far away. We may know doctrines systematically from A to Z, we may be able to cite Bible verses verbatim off the top of our heads, or we may be actively involved in 97% of church ministries. And yet, we still worry about our futures, there are still things that are keeping us awake at night and we hardly involve God in our planning. What gives?

We’re so accustomed to making something good to become the ultimate in our lives. It’s in our default baseline. We’re all worshippers (including unbelievers). We love to worship things. It’s just we worship the wrong things. The question is do you know what you really worship? 

C.S. Lewis once said: There are only two kinds of people in the end: (1) those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and (2) those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”

Now what’s the solution?

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12 NIV

The Bible says no one seeks God. We’re so blinded that we cannot seek God on our own and some of us are too oblivious to His wrath and judgement. We simply cannot save ourselves from God’s wrath no matter how hard we try. Our good deeds simply won’t cut it. Our good deeds are like a spider’s web trying to stop a falling rock. It’s utterly useless and futile. 

Not until God showed His mercy on us two thousand years ago by sending His only Son to die on the cross for our sins. This is the culmination of both God’s wrath and love. 

Without Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins, there would be no reconciliation between us and God. We contributed nothing to our salvation because Jesus Christ paid for our sins in full. Therefore our salvation is 100% Christ’s work on the cross. 

Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven, thank you for a brand new year, a brand new month, and a brand new day. Thank you for everything that has happened in our lives and for what’s about to happen in the future. Most importantly, thank you for sending us your only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us, to redeem us. Now we know what we are saved from, may your Holy Spirit enable us to repent and to glorify You in everything that we do. In Jesus Christ’s we pray, amen.