Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Attributes of God - God's Justice and Wrath

Episode Date: August 4, 2021

Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis: Attributes of GodIn this episode Jonny discusses the Justice and Wrath of GodWatch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. In this series we're studying the character of God and in this episode we are looking at God's wrath and justice. Let's Dial In. The attribute of God that we will look at in this episode is not just under-communicated, it's often neglected altogether. It's swept under the rug, stuffed in the closet, hidden from plain sight and from plain hearing of many within and outside of the church today. And although it's hidden or suppressed, it is an attribute of God that is no less a member of God's perfections than his grace, love, and mercy. Many may celebrate

and champion God's love, but unless they understand his wrath, as we will study in this episode, God's love will inevitably always be cheapened. Many might applaud the goodness of God, but if God is not just, how can God be good? Rob Bell in his book Love Wins says this, many Christians believe that Jesus rescues you from God, but what kind of a God is that, that you would need to be rescued from him? How could he be good? How could this God be trusted? He continues by saying, Jesus did not use hell to try and compel heathens or pagans to believe in God so that they wouldn't burn when they died. He talked about hell to very religious people to warn them about the consequences of straying from their God-given calling and identity to show the world God's love.

This might sound good, but the question is, is it true? Today, a number of preachers, along with Rob Bell, have become almost apologetic regarding the wrath of God, if not altogether silent. And in order to magnify the love of God, many, including yourself, may be tempted to downplay or even erase altogether the idea of God's wrath. But surely to omit God's wrath is to taint his amazing love. Additionally, whatever your view of God is, it is an inadequate view of God if it doesn't include a category for a God who is wrathful and just. This is the God the world needs to hear about. Maybe you've heard that only grace-motivated change is biblical, but how do you reconcile that with the way Jesus himself or the apostles preach? Yes, it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. But the only ones who truly experience that

kindness are those that realize they need it. Potentially you've heard God's justice mentioned before in a gospel presentation when someone has said something like, you need to understand the bad news before you understand the what? The good news. But I don't know if God himself likes that phrasing. Is God's justice really bad news? Do you really want a God that doesn't hate sin? Do you really want a God who is indifferent to the wickedness and evil in the world, potentially the evil that you yourself have experienced? No, God's justice, his wrath, is not bad news, but it's assuredly problematic for sinners outside of Christ. Now, if the biblical doctrine of the wrath of God is true, then it is the most important fact confronting every single one of us at this very moment. More than any

political or economic reality, this is the most important reality facing every individual because their eternal destiny depends upon it. Today, there are a number of misconceptions regarding God's justice and wrath, and they run rampant in culture and in our own minds. I'll highlight three of them. One of those misconceptions is that we have to apologize on God's behalf for his justice and his wrath. Many of us maybe feel that we need to help God out, lend him a hand, and we go on a PR campaign for God. We think that we're doing God a favor, but we're not doing sinners any favors who are currently under God's wrath by failing to mention it. A.W. Pink says some would consider God's justice and wrath as a

blemish on the divine character. But he says, what does scripture say? And as we turn to scripture, we find that God has made no attempt to conceal the facts concerning his wrath. He is not ashamed of his wrath or his vengeance or the fury that he has towards sin. The wrath of God, Pink says, is as much a divine perfection as his faithfulness, power, and mercy. So far from apologizing on behalf of God for his wrath, we need to apologize to God either for doubting what his word declares to be true, or even when we have tried to palletize the God of the Bible by suppressing the reality of his wrath. So the first misconception is that God's wrath is something we need to apologize on God's behalf for. And the second

would be that God's wrath or justice is merely God losing his temper. But this couldn't be any further from the truth. I like what J.I. Packer says. He says, God's wrath is not him losing self-control. It is the holy revulsion of God's being against that which is contradictory to his holiness. God's wrath is not capricious, meaning that God is moody. It's not arbitrary, meaning that it's random. It's not bad-tempered or conceited or a lack of self-control, or a selfish fit of emotion. God's wrath towards sin is because it is contradictory to his nature, and God himself hates everything that is evil. A third and final misconception regarding God's wrath and justice is that it diminishes the love of God.

But far from diminishing the love of God, only a proper understanding of the wrath of God. But far from diminishing the love of God, only a proper understanding of the wrath of God can lead to beholding and receiving his love. Martin Lloyd-Jones says this, it is only as I realize God's wrath against sin that I realize the full significance of his providing a way of salvation from it. If I do not understand this, I do not understand that. And my talk about the love of God is mere loose sentimentality, which is indeed a denial of the great biblical doctrine of the love of God. Also within this idea is that the God of the old is wrathful and the God of the New Testament is full of love and mercy. But this neglects obvious passages in the Old Testament

where God's love is proclaimed and also neglects the reality that Jesus himself talks more about hell and justice than anyone else. There are 162 references in the New Testament alone which warn of hell, and over 70 of those references were uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But all of scripture is God-breathed.

Red letter Bibles have given us the impression that the words in black are less authoritative and less sufficient. But no, all of scripture is inspired by God. And in the New Testament, you see both a magnified perspective of God's love and of God's wrath at the cross of Calvary. Now, those were some misconceptions regarding the wrath of God's love and of God's wrath at the cross of Calvary. Now, those were some misconceptions regarding the wrath of God, but now I want to talk about four realities regarding God's wrath.

Number one is that God's wrath is provoked. Psalm 7 verse 11 says, The Lord is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every single day. Now, God is love, but God's love is not provoked. It's not something that you do that makes God feel love. It is something that is intrinsic and natural to his nature. God loves because he is love, not because you loved him. Now, God's wrath is different than God's love in this. God's wrath is not inherent to his character. It is a response to evil. If there were no sin in the world, there would be no wrath in God. God, for all of eternity past, was not running around furious and fuming and frustrated. No, because there was no sin, and where there is no sin, there is no wrath.

This is why God's wrath is referred to as a secondary attribute. God responds to me in wrath because of my sin. God responds to me in love because of who he is. But God's wrath, we understand this, is provoked. And the question is, by what? And the answer is simple. God's wrath is provoked by our sin. Our sin provokes God's wrath. God is not simply annoyed or irritated, but is angry and full of fury over all unrighteousness. At the end of the day, we need to consider what is the greatest human problem. It is not that man is lost and need to find our way back on a spiritual journey. It is not that we are wounded and need to be healed.

At the core of the human problem is that we are sinners under the judgment of God and the divine wrath of God hangs over us unless and until it is taken away because's wrath is provoked. Number two, God's wrath is a present reality. The wrath of God is not something that unbelievers will one day face merely. It is also something that they are currently under. Ephesians 2 says that we are born children of wrath. And John 3.36 says that those who do not believe in Jesus as God are currently under the wrath of God. So unbelievers are not just expecting the wrath of God.

They are currently experiencing the wrath of God. How so, do you ask? Well, God's wrath is seen in the present through events and natural disasters. Not always, but at times we see God's wrath in the present with a story like Ananias and Sapphira where people reap what they sow. But it's not just disasters and hurricanes and tsunamis, but we also see God's wrath

as he abandons people and nations. God exercises his wrath in the present by allowing people to unreservedly and unrepentantly continue on in their own wickedness to pursue their lust, their dishonorable passions, and to a debased mind. We see this in Romans 1, that God is not waiting to punish people for their sin. They are already being punished for their sin, and their own continued and deepening craving for sin is itself an expression of the wrath of God. We see this idea in Acts 14, verse 16, where it says,

In the generations gone by, God permitted all of the nations to go their own way. Did you hear that? In the generations gone by, God permits nations to go their own way, to continue to pursue sin down the slippery slope, ultimately to a final destruction. But God giving them over in the present is his own form of present wrath. C.S. Lewis says in the book, The Problem of Pain, the lost enjoy the horrible freedom that they have demanded and are forever enslaved. This is the reality of God's wrath in the present. But it's not only in the present. Number three, God's wrath is also a future reality.

The wrath of God against sin manifests itself finally in eternal hell, where men and women remain outside of the life of God in misery, slaves to their own sin, lust, and desires for all of eternity. Unbelievers are under the wrath of God in this life, and they will remain under the wrath of God in the next life in a place called hell. Hell is also a real place that the Bible talks about and warns of. It is not on the corners of scripture. We need to understand this. We try to maybe suppress the reality of hell.

Well, does the Bible really speak clearly about it? In fact, yes, it does. Jesus himself says in Luke 12 verse 4, I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body. And after that can do no more, but I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you fear him. This is the words of Jesus. Additionally, in scripture, we see in revelation 21, eight, but as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters,

and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Second Thessalonians 1.9, they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. Hell is a future reality for Now, it's important for me to highlight one thing. In both cases of God's wrath, both future and present, God's wrath isn't just on sin. It's on sinners. So maybe you've heard that God hates sin but not the sinner, but this is not necessarily biblically true. In fact, there are a number of passages in the Bible where it says that God hates sinners. Yes, God also loves sinners and extends his grace to people at this very moment, and he pleads with them through his ambassadors to repent. But it is not

sin that is punished forever in hell. It is sinners who are punished for all of eternity away from God in hell. So God's wrath is a future reality. And fourth and finally, God's wrath is something that he is slow to bring about. God is slow to execute his very real anger towards sin. Exodus 34, 7, it says that God is slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, yet he will by no means spare the guilty. In Psalm 103, the psalmist says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Why is the psalmist so adamant about blessing and praising the Lord?

Well, he says, because the Lord is slow to anger. We see this also in 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, This is the reality of who God is. God is not seeking to slam the door of his grace. He wants people to come to repentance because God's greatest joy is in redemption, in reconciliation, in the reality that hell bound sinners lost in their own iniquity can come to him and be saved. So the question is, how can God's wrath be removed? In the garden, Jesus prayed, father, if possible, let this cup pass, but not my will, but your will be done. Jesus says, let this cup pass. What cup is he talking about? Well, he's talking about the cup of God's wrath. And Jesus drank the full measure of God's wrath towards sin on the cross of Calvary. The love and the wrath of God are both amplified and manifested

as Jesus hangs naked on a tree, where God the Father's full wrath towards sin was poured out on his one and only son. This is what makes the gospel amazing and the love of God astonishing. Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. Calvary will truly never pierce your heart or my heart until we grasp what Jesus bore for us, for you on that tree. Your passion for Christ is in direct proportion to the degree that you understand the wrath that Jesus bore on the cross. One writer says, It is only as I realize God's wrath against sin that I realize the full significance of his providing a way of salvation from it. And today the Father extends his love to you not because Jesus died for you, but rather Jesus died for you because the Father loved you and wants sinners to know that Jesus himself on his body on the cross bore the full

measure of his wrath towards sin. 1 Peter 3.18 says this, Christ Jesus died once and for all, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Every year I'm around a lot of different students, and many people often ask me, why do so many students leave the church at 18 years old? And maybe you've wondered this as well. Why do so many people leave when they're no longer in the environment of their family and their home church? Well, I think it's pretty simple in many cases. They've never believed in Jesus because they have never seen any need for Jesus. And they have never seen any need for Jesus because they have never realized the full depth of their sin. And they

have never realized the full depth of their sin because they have never realized the extent of God's holiness and his justice and his righteousness. And they have never known anything about God as a judge who hates sin and is angry at sin and is punishing sin now in the present and will for all of eternity. I often wonder how many times have students been pleaded with, as it says in Hebrews 10, 26, that if they go on sinning willfully after they have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. But verse 27 of Hebrews 10, a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume them.

Students need to understand this and the church needs to understand this. God's wrath is real. Finally, how do we live knowing that God hates sin and he punishes sin? Well, if you're not in Christ, you need to repent, believe, and flee from the wrath to come. The worst lie of all is the lie people tell themselves. I have nothing to worry about regarding the wrath of God. My God is a God of love. Well, that's what Satan wants you to think. You will stand before God. And if you've condensed God only to his love and have suppressed and denied his wrath, your God is a God of your own imagination and not the God of the Bible. So if you're not in Christ, repent and turn to Jesus.

And if you are in Christ, praise God that he has delivered you from his wrath. And then, far from hiding or denying or suppressing the reality of God's wrath on a PR campaign for God. You are, and I am, to urgently and earnestly plead with sinners to be reconciled to God, because God does hate sin, but he extends his love and mercy and grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Stay dialed in.