Revelation 15:1-8
15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. 2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” 5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
***********************
It's become, in some of the circles I observe, very unpopular to think about God's wrath. I think there are some good reasons behind this. God is love, and thinking of God being filled with wrath is hard to hold together with the idea of love. We aren't sure quite what to do with the wrath of God.
I think it's important to hold onto to the idea of God's wrath, because it is held in balance with God's love, patience and mercy. I think God has created a world that is good, filled with people he has made in the image of God, people he loves. I believe sin is tearing at the underbelly of God's good creation, bringing chaos and disorder to the world God is trying to restore and redeem. I believe it breaks the heart of God to see the work sin is doing in the world.
Thus, I believe that God's wrath is directed towards sin. In the same way that I would be angry if anyone tried to hurt my children, I believe that God directs his righteous anger towards the powers that threaten to destroy his children. God doesn't approach the situation gently and ask nicely that the powers of sin stop hurting his creation--he pours out his wrath on sin to destroy it.
I also believe that those who choose to cling to sin, despite hearing multiple calls to repentance and warnings about what will happen to them, suffer at the hands of God's wrath. Now, I don't think you get there by missing church too many Sundays, or by accident. Revelation paints a picture of people who actively hate God, people who live in rebellion and know the consequences of their actions and still choose to spit in the face of God. It's not the job of the Christians to label who this might be. It's our job to love all people, to serve them with selflessness and humility rather than pride and arrogance, and we'll trust that God will sort things out in the end. We aren't called to condemn, but rather to love. Only God is righteous and perfect enough to truly know the human heart.
I could go on, because I see the idea of the wrath of God abused by a lot of self-righteous people, and I believe they do great damage to the reputation of the church in the world. We are called to cling to what we believe and what we read in Scripture, but we need to recognize that we, too, would be condemned without the grace of Christ, and we who have received much mercy need to be willing to extend mercy and grace to others. We may not agree with everyone, but we are called to love and serve everyone.
Blessings
15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. 2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” 5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
***********************
It's become, in some of the circles I observe, very unpopular to think about God's wrath. I think there are some good reasons behind this. God is love, and thinking of God being filled with wrath is hard to hold together with the idea of love. We aren't sure quite what to do with the wrath of God.
I think it's important to hold onto to the idea of God's wrath, because it is held in balance with God's love, patience and mercy. I think God has created a world that is good, filled with people he has made in the image of God, people he loves. I believe sin is tearing at the underbelly of God's good creation, bringing chaos and disorder to the world God is trying to restore and redeem. I believe it breaks the heart of God to see the work sin is doing in the world.
Thus, I believe that God's wrath is directed towards sin. In the same way that I would be angry if anyone tried to hurt my children, I believe that God directs his righteous anger towards the powers that threaten to destroy his children. God doesn't approach the situation gently and ask nicely that the powers of sin stop hurting his creation--he pours out his wrath on sin to destroy it.
I also believe that those who choose to cling to sin, despite hearing multiple calls to repentance and warnings about what will happen to them, suffer at the hands of God's wrath. Now, I don't think you get there by missing church too many Sundays, or by accident. Revelation paints a picture of people who actively hate God, people who live in rebellion and know the consequences of their actions and still choose to spit in the face of God. It's not the job of the Christians to label who this might be. It's our job to love all people, to serve them with selflessness and humility rather than pride and arrogance, and we'll trust that God will sort things out in the end. We aren't called to condemn, but rather to love. Only God is righteous and perfect enough to truly know the human heart.
I could go on, because I see the idea of the wrath of God abused by a lot of self-righteous people, and I believe they do great damage to the reputation of the church in the world. We are called to cling to what we believe and what we read in Scripture, but we need to recognize that we, too, would be condemned without the grace of Christ, and we who have received much mercy need to be willing to extend mercy and grace to others. We may not agree with everyone, but we are called to love and serve everyone.
Blessings