As believers we celebrate a lot of things about God. We celebrate the love, mercy, and condescension of God at Christmas. We celebrate the power and promises of God at Easter. Did you know we also celebrate the wrath of God? We do. At communion.
During communion we celebrate the humiliation of the Son, His sacrifice, and His love. However, we also celebrate God's wrath being poured out on Jesus. It goes without saying that we don't celebrate God's wrath in the sense that we jump in the streets and sing, but some day I believe we may.
Heaven points to God's wrath as a facet of His glory radiating to the universe.
Listen to what the Spirit says:
22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
Romans 9:22-24.
So then, according to Scripture God puts His attributes on display for His glory, including His wrath. He does so purely for His glory. This is frightening. He claims to prepare vessels for destruction on purpose in order "to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy."
The plight of the unsaved is incomprehensible. According to verse 23, they are allowed to live for a time on this earth in order to glorify God by showing His mercy to the elect. God's mercy on you, if you are saved, is a shining star in an unlit coal mine of the sin of others and the wrath that awaits them. It's the job of the unsaved to glorify God in their sin and punishment. God uses them in this way without their permission or knowledge, while they revel in their idolatries and evil acts. The atheist is a puppet of the God he hates. The drunk is taking part in an ingenious dance choreographed by God before the universe existed.
Do you see an apology from God for His sovereign dealings with men, destroying one and saving another for His glory? The cosmos watches unblinking as the majestic dance of Providence unfolds to demonstrate the power, righteousness, holiness, mercy, and love of God. The infinitely angry wrath of God is shown so that His power can be demonstrated and His love known in its full depth. Oh, the GLORY OF GOD!
Examine yourselves. Make your calling and election sure.
In Christ,
Phil Perkins.
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Following The Good Shepherd Into Winter
3 months ago
4 comments:
Phil,
I've never thought about God's glory being shown through His wrath. Thanks for showing the other side. I don't know if you been able to listen to Pastor John's message on "loving one another no matter what", But in the message he talks about the right kind of hate. A righteous hatred. He used the story of David when he asked God to search his heart to make sure that he was hating with a righteous hatred because of God being blasphemed and not for personal attacks against himself.
Again, keep fighting the good fight of faith!
Eddie
Eddie,
Thanks for the encouragement.
In Christ,
Phil.
Eddie,
Where can I find that sermon?
Phil.
Phil, Just go to gty.org, click on broadcast, and then the sermon date is Feb0107, you can either listen to it or downlaod the transcript...which is what i do most of the time. Pastor John's sermons make for some great reading.
Eddie
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