“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”
Revelation 6:16
How can a God of love and mercy also be a God of wrath? That is a question that puzzles so many people and unless it is properly understood it can lead to a distorted image of God’s character.
The doctrine that is called Divine Simplicity helps us to understand how love and wrath, mercy and judgement can exist in the One Perfect Unity that is our God. Every attribute, or character trait of God is completely perfect. God is not a little bit of love, a little bit of wrath, a little bit of judgement and a little bit of mercy. He is completely love, wrath, justice, mercy, and everything else that makes Him God, all at once, and all at the same time.
Think of a mother’s love. Her wrath against anything that harms her child is a demonstration of how much she loves her child. We understand the ferocity of her love. We don’t call her a wrathful woman if she kicks a dog that is attacking her child. In fact, we would call her a very neglectful and uncaring mother if she allowed a dog to attack her child but did nothing to stop it.
God’s wrath against sin is the demonstration of His ferocious love for mankind. God created us to have an intimate relationship with Himself. Sin has spoiled that relationship. It separates us from His presence. His presence is completely holy. Unless we have a proper understanding of holiness, we will never understand sin and God’s hatred of it.
Holiness is like the sun. We love to see the sun. It gives us light, and it gives us warmth. But get too near and it will burn you to a crisp! God’s holiness is completely pure. No sin, not even sin the size of a full stop (.) can come into the holy presence of God without being totally destroyed by the fire of His purity. We have to be separated from it for our own eternal existence.
God loves mankind so much that He wants us to be in His presence forever, but He knows that if we come with any sin in our lives we will be destroyed. That is why He hates sin, even the tiniest most inconsequential misdemeanour. He loves mankind, but hates the sin that separates us from Him.
God offers to everyone the one and only way to be free from the sin that separates us from Him, and that is through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. God’s perfect love and perfect wrath met at the cross and both were satisfied. Jesus took the wrath of God against sin upon Himself. It was a once and forever sacrifice that opened the way into the presence of God for any who will accept him as Saviour and Lord.
We can never do enough good things in this life to bridge the gap that separates us from God. Our goodness, generosity, kindness, etc., will never be enough. We are born sinners – separated from God. The only way to bridge the gap is to be born again. The only way to be born again is by the working of God’s Spirit in us when we repent and turn away from doing things the way we think they should be done, and accept that we need to do everything the way God tells us they need to be done in His Word.
If you are reading this post, God is giving you the opportunity to come into His presence through the salvation that He alone can give. He tells us in His Word that the time is coming when He will establish His Kingdom here on earth. Before this can happen, everything and everyone who refuses His salvation and offer of loving relationship with Him will be cast away from His presence forever. Nothing impure or unholy will be left to mar the delight of God being among His people once again. While there is breath in our bodies we can turn to Him, cry out for forgiveness and know that nothing will ever separate us from His love again. If we refuse to hear, to soften our hearts and bow our will to His we are heading for the sun. We may enjoy the ride for a while, but ultimately, we will be burnt to a crisp.
“For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2
