Beyond Sunday
Beyond Sunday is a podcast where we dive into what our Church is up to, what's happening in society, go deeper into topics from Sunday mornings, and hear leadership talks from Pastor Greg Griffith. This is a podcast of King of Kings Church in Omaha, NE. Learn more at kingofkings.org.
Beyond Sunday
S1Ep5 - God's Wrath — The Fire We'd Rather Ignore
Pastor Greg Griffith and Marcus Nathan tackle the hard roast of God’s wrath — the side of holiness we’d rather skip. They unpack why facing it matters, and how the cross turns wrath into mercy for those in Christ.
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Thanks for listening!
You're listening to Coffee Break Theology a King of Kings podcast.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to Coffee Break Theology, where we tackle deep truths in digestible doses.
Speaker 3:Nice. That's Greg, I'm Marcus, and today's brew. It's bold, hot and not the easiest to swallow. We're talking about the wrath of God, yep.
Speaker 2:This isn't the cheeriest topic, but it's absolutely essential, because if we don't understand God's wrath, we'll actually never be able to grasp the depth of His love, or?
Speaker 3:the beauty of the cross, grasp the depth of his love or the beauty of the cross? Did you know that there are more references in scripture about God's wrath, about his anger and fury, than there are about love and tenderness? No, I didn't. I read this and I was like, oh, that's okay. Like I said last week, this might sound weird, but I'm actually. This is one of my favorite topics theologically. It really is. I'll explain a little bit later why that is. But what are we talking about today? God's wrath? When we say that, what are we actually saying? That's a good question to ponder here. But let's be clear God's wrath is not like human anger. Human anger is basically temper tantrum. It's fickle, it's based on emotion. God's is not like that. He isn't self-indulgent, he's not foolish, he's not impulsive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's right, and it's a reminder that God's wrath is holy and it's just because it's a response to sin and so it's rooted in his righteousness. Actually, from the Psalms, Psalm 711, it says this God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and if you just know that about God, that doesn't sound very fun. But God's not cranky, that's not what it is. It's because sin destroys what he loves.
Speaker 3:They're opposite of each other what he loves and what's trying to take that away? His creation, his people, that's what he loves. Wrath is God taking sin seriously? And if sin is serious, like we discussed a couple weeks ago, then we should want a God, a holy God, who will take it seriously, discussed, a couple of weeks ago, then we should want a God, a holy God, who will take it seriously.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's so important, is like we actually want and need a God who has wrath in him, since we have sin in our world. Luther said it this way God, god must punish sin, or otherwise he wouldn't be holy. Right, and so we confess in a small catechism. In the explanation of the 10 commandments, we say God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore, we should fear and this is that fear like, be afraid of Fear his wrath and not disobey him.
Speaker 3:Let's be honest when we talk about God's wrath. That makes people uncomfortable. It does we like the God of hugs, not the God of judgment?
Speaker 2:But ignoring his wrath, it doesn't make it go away. Romans again. Paul writes this to the Romans. He says this the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Speaker 3:And if we downplay his wrath, we shrink the cross Right. If sin isn't serious, why did Jesus have to die? We talked about that last week.
Speaker 2:Exactly. See, the cross is where God's wrath is fully laid out Right, and it's where God's love meets his wrath. Isaiah 53 says meets his wrath. Isaiah 53 says he was pierced for our transgressions. The punishment that brought us peace is now on him.
Speaker 3:Nice. But there's good news, there's hope. Yeah, if you're in Christ, god's wrath was poured out, but not on you. It was poured out on Jesus. I know I deserve his wrath now and into eternity. I should expect nothing less Right. However, christ took the punishment for me, and only that is the reason I get to spend eternity with God in covenant relationship Between us, and God's wrath is the cross of Christ. We're protected from that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's the beauty of it is, I think, about the cross right. It is where we see the whole wrath of God, but yet also, in this way, we do see because of that, like the arms are the hug that we are waiting to embrace with God, and so that's so great. Luther talked about this as what he called the great exchange, and this is where Christ takes our sin and the wrath of God. We will never experience the words of Christ as Jesus followers. We'll never experience the words of Christ from the cross Eloi, eloi lama sabachthani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That's the full wrath of God because of us. We'll never experience that loneliness as Christ followers.
Speaker 3:That's crazy. Romans 5, 9 says Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's why we have to cling right. We cling to the cross through what we call word and sacrament, and that's where we receive the rescue, day in, day out, over and over, again and again.
Speaker 3:So we talk about God's wrath. We've been saved from it. But let's bring this to today. Is God still wrathful today?
Speaker 2:Well, here's the question Is God still holy? And he is, so he still is just. But remember this God doesn't desire destruction. Christ didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but rather to save the world through him, and so that's where we have our repentance. Peter writes about this in his second letter, 3.9. It says the Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Speaker 3:Beautiful. So here's one of the big reasons why wrath is one of my favorite theological topics. Wrath isn't the end of the story. It's the alarm that points us to the cross. It should call us to respond with appreciation. We appreciate the goodness of God, which we don't deserve. We appreciate the patience of God because he doesn't owe us that. We appreciate the discipline of God, which he uses and does that to conform us to the image of his son. He makes us more like Jesus, to the image of his son. He makes us more like Jesus. So thank you, god, that even though I deserve wrath, you poured that onto Jesus instead, which in fact won reconciliation for me. That's why I love talking about wrath, because that's not actually the whole point of the story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, god's wrath isn't eternal, but his mercy is. Luther said that, and for us, as believers, the wrath is what Jesus bore, so we never have to. So here's our takeaway today God's wrath shows us the weight of our sin Our sins are serious but also it magnifies his mercy.
Speaker 3:So don't run from the fire, run to the cross. Yeah, that's where God's wrath was poured out and his love poured in.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that. That's so good. So next week join us on Coffee Bake Theology, where we're going to explore justice Until then.
Speaker 3:Take comfort in this Paul says in Romans 8.1,. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2:No condemnation, Only grace and that's worth raising your mug to.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to Coffee Break Theology. Be sure to tune in next time. Coffee Break Theology. Be sure to tune in next time and remember to check out our other podcast series available on every major podcast listening service.
