Today, I am very excited to share a guest post from Bojidar Marinov.
It is easy to speak tomes of God's love. After all, we have seen so much of it! Be it in answers to prayers, in blessings and miracles, in the motivation and inspiration, the reassurance that we experience daily in our walk, we are always surrounded by His grace and mercy. And, as we are commanded to extend this love to our families, to our brothers and sisters in Christ, our neighbors, and even to our enemies, we can experience it fully. How can one not speak of His love!
It is more challenging to speak about God's wrath. For one, most of us don't have as much first-hand experience with it;, especially ones growing up in a Christian family. And when talking to others, it seems like starting off on God's wrath might actually push them away and not drive them in. Nevertheless, we can sometimes see His wrath in all the actions of the unrighteous, their lusts and passions, hardened hearts, lack of a higher purpose and meaning for life, ascribing all events to chance, disparaging of all morals and rules beyond themselves. And, of course, we can also see God's wrath in His response to them: broken families, strained friendships, corrupt nations, all the fallen aspects of this world. Naturally, men always try to find an excuse for this; yet “they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Rom. 1:20b-21a, ESV).
However, despite the perceived and real difficulties, we should not skip explaining God's wrath. God's love and God's wrath are intrinsically linked. We cannot come into full understanding of one without the other.
Like a loving parent, God provides all of His creation with incentives, blessings and curses, to keep it from rebelling completely. Per common grace, the unrighteous are not given much of a chance to run amok, because ignoring God's moral order would destroy them. And of course, God's mercy can be seen in His delaying of full and complete judgement until the end of times, giving all men a chance.
Similarly, without God's wrath, we cannot understand His love. Without his wrath to show us what we deserve, His love would be just a token gesture, devoid of meaning. If we did not know through His wrath how destitute we are, we would not be able to realize how selfless His love is—that He saved us not for some good deed we might do, but selflessly, for us. Without the reality of God's wrath, His greatest act of love, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, would remain a mere curiosity, and not a climax of history.
In the end, both God's love and God's wrath glorify Him. His justice to the unrighteous, His mercy to the unrepented, His grace to the select, His forgiveness to the faithful... all glorify Him. After the end of time, He will be eternally glorified by our work in Heaven, and will be eternally glorified by the just condemnation of the ones cast into the lake of fire. Truly, as the song goes, our God is an awesome God.
When sharing the gospel, we have to make sure we are sharing all of it. “All of the Scriptures is [...] profitable for teaching [...] for reproof and for correction [...]” (2 Tim. 3:16, ESV). While God's “[...] eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived [...]” (Rom. 1:20, ESV), and men’s “conflicting thoughts accuse [...] them” (Rom. 2:15, ESV), still “men [...] by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18, ESV). God's wrath is one of the clearest reminders of the truth of our fallen nature. God's love through Christ is one and only escape away from this wrath. Teaching one without the other will give an incomplete picture. Like in the classic movie The Parent Trap, you need both parts of the picture to understand the truth.
So, therefore, do not be ashamed of God, of any one of His actions. Rest comforted that He knows every single thing that happens, and that He has a purpose for all of it. He never needed to undo His mistakes or recant His words; He is most perfect and true. And while our parents can sometimes make mistakes and embarrass us in front of our friends, He, the perfect Father and Friend, does not. So, don't get embarrassed -tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the ! And may God help you!
Bojidar Marinov is a 20-year-old Christian ex-homeschooler living in Bulgaria. An aspiring writer, he hopes to help others understand God's glory and majesty. Apart from writing, he is also interested in programming and music.
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