The Wrath Of Man, The Wrath Of Satan, And The Wrath Of God Unrestrained.

SCRIPTURE: Luke 22:52-53 "Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but THIS IS YOUR HOUR, AND THE POWER OF DARKNESS."

PROPOSITION: to use this text and others to show that Christ became the focal point for unrestained wrath at Calvary, and to show the difference between the wrath of man and the wrath of God, and also to show that those who come to Christ will never experience the wrath of God because Christ has absorbed it for them.

1.) How did Christ become the focal point for the unrestrained wrath of men and Satan and God?

A. During Christ's ministry prior to the crucifixion God restrained the wrath of men. but in the events that transpired before the crucifixion and during the crucifixion, God lifted his restraining power. "When I was daily with you in the temple you stretched forth no hands against me." This portion of scripture shows Gods restraining hand in the affairs of men. John 7:30 "Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come."

B. As God restrains the wrath of unregenerate men he also restrained the wrath of Satan, but "when the hour had come that the Son of man should be glorified" this restraint was lifted for unregenerate men and Satan, this was their "hour and the power of darkness"

John 13:2 "And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;"

C. God made Christ's "soul an offering for sin" and lifted the flood gates of his wrath and caused his waves and billows to crush the Son of God at calvary. He treated him as sin should be treated. Christ recieved a portion of all God's curses when he bore the weight of God's infinite wrath. 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

2.) What was the motivation for the wrath of unregenerate men?

A. Christ had lifted the cloke from off their sin and showed sinners that they were nothing more than sinners, He showed them that their character would take them to hell, and this was a dreadful thought for proud arrogant sinners. John 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."

Matthew 23:33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"

B. Their wrath was also motivated by envy, they wanted attention and praise for their outward displays of piety, and Christ's authoratative teaching stripped this praise from them. John 11:48 "If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation."

3.) What was the motivation for the wrath of Satan?

A. Satan desires worship. his desire has always been to "lift his throne above the stars of God" and "to be like the most high", he attempted to tempt the Son of God to "fall down and worship" him, but he miserably failed. Satan hates God and his people and this fills his heart with wrath. Revelation 12:12 "...Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

4.) What was the motivation for the wrath of God poured out upon Christ.

A. First, Gods wrath is not an uncontrolled passion, in this respect God's wrath differs from that of carnal men, and devils. Isaiah 27:4 "Fury is not in me..."

B. Second, the infinite worth of God's purity demands that he be a God of wrath. God's wrath was a proportionate display of his absolute holiness in judgement, God hates sin and therefore it is fitting that he would give a dreadful testimony to the supreme worth of his character by punishing the sins of the world that were imputed to Christ. We see in scripture, that it is only sin that awakens God's just wrath, but in carnal men and devils it is purity that stirs up in them the greatest degrees of wrath.

5.) How is it good news for us that Christ drank the bitter dregs of God's wrath.

A. It is good news because the wrath that Christ absorbed was intended for us. Christ stood in our place and took the punishment, and penalty for sin, he paid the debt in his life's blood.