The Wrath Of A Loving God Series

The topic I would like to deal with this afternoon is one that is rarely preached on, and this is very surprising because this aspect of God’s character is mentioned hundreds of times in both the Old and New Testaments. This subject is so important to study so we can have a correct understanding of not only the Gospel but God.

The Anger and Hatred of God

It is politically and religiously incorrect today to talk about a God that is angry and full of wrath. It is so much more comfortable to talk about a God of love and forgiveness. My experience has been as I have shared the Gospel with people is that there are SO many people that worship a God of their own imagination. People often take one of two extremes in approaching God.

1. God is a God of Wrath. There are many that approach the scriptures, especially the Old Testament, and come away with a belief that the God of the Bible is cruel, unloving, and harsh. Many make this the reason why they just cannot believe in the God of the Bible.

2. God is a God of Love. More people believe in this God than the first. This God is like a cuddly teddy bear, or like a Grandfather that overlooks the faults of His grandchildren and spoils them to their hearts content.

This may or may not surprise you, but if one of these two “gods” are the God you believe in and serve, you are not worshiping the One True God of scripture. You are worshiping an idol. Both of these alone are missing something. They both show a complete ignorance of scripture, and a total misunderstanding about the nature of God! You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe about God. He is not just a God of wrath. He is not just a God of love. He is BOTH! If you miss one of them, you miss God!

So many people want to believe in a loving God that is comfortable for them that will allow them to do whatever they want. They want to believe that they can live wicked and evil lives, and then at the end be allowed to enter the presence of God in Heaven. But God cannot just let sinners into Heaven. This would compromise His holiness. These people that ignore the wrath and anger of God are in store for a very rude awakening on the Day of Judgment; a wrath filled awakening.

I want to give you a warning right now. You may hear things in this lesson that may be uncomfortable to hear. You may hear things that are different from what you believe about God. You may hear things that are completely new to you.

The Bible is so clear that God is a God who is full of anger, hatred, indignation, and wrath. He is spoken of as abhorring things and viewing things as an abomination. All of these terms describe His anger.

Some Examples:

Isaiah 30:27 - "Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire"

Jeremiah 21:5 - "I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation."

Nahum 1:6 - "Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire And the rocks are broken up by Him."

Isaiah 34:2 - "For the LORD'S indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them; He has given them over to slaughter."

Psalms 7:11 - "God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day."

I could go on and on showing that God is an angry God. He is full of wrath and hatred. There are over 200 references I could give you in the Old Testament to show you the anger, wrath, and hatred of God. But you may be saying to yourselves. “Yes, you are right, but all of the verses that you mentioned are in the Old Testament. God is different in the New Testament!” I must inform you, God is the same in the New Testament. He is angry and full of wrath.

Romans 1:18 - "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness"

Romans 2:5-9 - But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek"