God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn anyone. The truth of the matter is- we were already ‘condemned’ because all of us had sinned (Rom. 3:23; John 3:36). Jesus came in order that we might be ‘saved’...and saved from the wrath of God that was, is, and continues to be on this world today. (John 3:17-18; Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 5:9)

Let me also say...I am fully aware that it is beyond my power or ability to convince anyone to ‘believe’ what I am sharing here; but God has not called me to persuade anyone of anything. My only compelling I have is to share from our beloved Bibles with anyone who ‘has ears to hear’ and is willing to pick up and look these verses up for themselves ...and see what is clearly written in these pages. What anyone does with this information is between them and God. 

I know if you have been reading here for any length of time...it seems I write often about God’s ‘law and wrath’. And that seems so ‘old fashioned’ and out of date. People aren’t interested in hearing about that anymore; my goodness times are tough and people need to be encouraged and uplifted with inspiring songs and words, filled with hope. But take a moment and look at the indictment brought against God’s people by Isaiah: “This is a rebellious people, lying children...children who will not hear the law of the Lord;...they say to the prophets...don’t prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth and pleasant things...and get off this path about the Holy One of Israel...” (30:9-11).

I don’t know who needs to hear this...but we can’t ‘sing our way to heaven’. (Amos 5:21-24; 1 Sam. 15:16-23; Matt. 7:21-23; Heb. 5:9)

Allow me to explain why I believe there is a huge lack of understanding and much confusion when it comes to this topic of God’s ‘wrath’ these days. Not only has there been a lack of teaching on it in our ‘churches’, but there is an abundance of ignorance when it comes to the subject of God’s law. Just like back in the days of Josiah...the ‘law has been lost’, and we are suffering the consequences for it. Anyone out there burdened for these younger generations of people who don't know Jesus, or who are not walking with Him... perhaps even your own children? Take a look at Hosea 4:6 again, you should know the first half of that verse by now, but go underline the last part of that sentence, the part where God said why He would ‘forget our children’.

When God said ‘His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge’...what ‘knowledge’ was He referring to? I think the answer is clear-it has to do with His law and His wrath, which is what Jesus came to ‘save’ us from if I read Romans 5:9 and John 3:17-19,36 correctly.

Many sincere professing believers today are under the (false) assumption that God’s wrath is no longer around today. It may have been 'poured out' back in those old testament times, and may be unleashed during this ‘great coming tribulation’ that scriptures seems to talk about... but today? Meh...not so much. Oh, we can be flippant when we hear about earthquakes or flooding and fires or hurricanes and tornados in other parts of the world and shake our heads muttering something under our breath about ‘God’s wrath’... but we are missing it if that is the extent of our understanding on the topic.

Here’s the thing - you can’t separate God’s law from His wrath, because His law...’brings wrath’ when we break it (Rom. 4:15). Why do you suppose Jesus taught to ‘sin no more or something worse will happen to you’? (John 5:14). And Jesus made it quite clear, as we talked about the other day...God’s law was never abolished or done away with, even after Jesus died on the cross and then was raised from the dead three days later (Matt. 5:17).

So if the law has not been done away with, guess what else has not been done away with or ‘removed’ from this world? God’s wrath. One more time, class- It’s the ‘wrath of God’ that we are ‘saved’ from...IF...we truly turn to Jesus with all our hearts. If we don’t, we will perish (Luke 13:3,5; 1 John 5:18).

IF God’s wrath was no longer a matter of concern today, then what was John the Baptist talking about when he mentioned ‘fleeing from the wrath to come’ even suggesting some ‘axe had already been laid to the root of the trees...and everyone who failed to produce fruits of repentance would be cut down and burned’? (Matt. 3:7-10). Jesus even chimed in later on a similar theme, in Matt. 7:17-19)

If God’s wrath is no longer existent today, then why did Paul mention about ‘making room for God’s wrath’ when confronted with evil’ in Romans 12:17-21?

What ‘remains’ on people who don’t ‘believe in the Son’, according to John 3:36?

What ‘wrath’ was Paul referring to when he warned us to ‘be not deceived with empty words...for because of these things...the wrath of God comes...” in Eph. 5:5-6 and Col. 3:6? And what ‘wrath’ was Paul writing about when he indicates how this is all being ‘revealed’ in this current time which is coming upon “all ungodliness and unrighteousness” in Romans 1:18?

You might also take a look at 1 Thess. 2:13-16, where Paul was commending those who had received the word of God but were also persecuted for it and suffered at the hands of their own countrymen...while pointing out it was God’s ‘wrath that has come upon them (those who did harm) to the uttermost’.

Are you curious yet as to what exactly is... this ‘wrath’ and/or what it 'looks like'?  You would be correct in assuming it is not a ‘good thing’ for sure. But when we read in both OT and NT, God has never changed. He uses the same ‘instruments of His indignation’ to ‘carry out His wrath’ (Isa. 13:4-6; Jer. 50:25; Habakkuk 1:6-10,12; Psalms 78:49-50). They are the same ‘destroying angels’ that Paul instructed the church at Corinth to ‘hand over’ that man to who was committing gross immoral sin’ there within the church at the time. Paul seemed pretty serious of the need to deal with sin (breaking God’s laws) before it spread throughout the whole community of believers (1 Cor. 5:1-7)

Friends...we are living in similar times that young King Josiah was when it was revealed to him why his people had been suffering for several generations at the hand of the ‘enemy’. The ‘law’ had been lost; and we will visit that story tomorrow, Lord willing.