One of the most common thoughts today is that a God of love couldn’t be a God of wrath. Most people would rather hear only about His love and grace. While there is nothing wrong with this, we need not forget the whole counsel of God. God’s wrath is minimized because man’s sinfulness is played down. People want to ignore it, and they hope that by ignoring it or denying its existence it will somehow just go away. The thought that people we know personally might someday go to eternal hell is so overwhelming and so disheartening that we would much rather not think about it at all, much less teach about it. The temptation to remake God into our own image so He conforms to our own cultural ideas is a popular ideology today. The thing is, however, this teaching plainly conflicts with the biblical description of God.
In this wicked generation, we hear little or nothing about the wrath of God. God’s Word, however, has a lot to say about it. God’s wrath is displayed in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, God poured out His wrath upon Noah’s generation, Sodom and Gomorrah, the sons of Aaron, King Saul, Israel, and the surrounding nations. He unveiled His mighty arm by punishing the wicked. In the New Testament, He muted Zachariah, ended the lives of Ananias and Sapphira for lying, struck down Herod, and left Elimas blind. And then there is the most powerful demonstration of the wrath of God anywhere recorded: the crucifixion of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God is a God of wrath.
Also, in the New Testament, the apostle Paul states, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).Even Jesus spoke about God’s wrath more than He spoke of God’s love. Jesus warned about a “fiery hell” and eternal “destruction” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. God has made no attempt to conceal the facts about His wrath. He is not embarrassed or ashamed to speak of His wrath. There is no blemish in God, yet there would be if wrath was nonexistent.
Whosoever does not believe in a God of wrath does not believe in the God of the Bible. We further read that “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” in Ephesians 2:3. Just who are these people? The Bible’s own answer is that they are those who fulfil the desires of the flesh and mind.
So, those that are disobedient to God can expect to be on the receiving end of His wrath.
I’ve heard it said by so many that a loving God wouldn’t send anyone to hell. But are they thinking about what that actually means? If God allowed sin to continue forever, in what way is that loving? Yes, God is allowing wickedness to exist for a time because He wants to give everyone a chance to repent. He is very patient and longsuffering. God’s patience allows people time to humble themselves and turn to Him before judgment comes (2 Peter 3:9). The pattern of long periods of mercy, patience, and holding back judgement by the Lord is evidence of His love seen throughout the Bible and that same love that remains to this day.
The Bible is full of warnings about the judgement and wrath to come. Do you think you are exempt from God’s judgement and wrath? Put all your trust in Jesus and what He has accomplished for your soul, and you will come to have assurance that Jesus will deliver you from the wrath to come! Hebrews 10:31 tells us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”