By: W. Kroll
In a depressed mood, author Thomas Carlyle once said, “God sits in
heaven and does nothing.” It may seem that way sometimes, but don’t be
deceived. God is busily moving all of human history toward a “Day of Wrath”
(see Job 21:30; Prov. 11:4; Zeph. 1:15; Rom. 2:5). Such a day is required
because God is just. He cannot allow His laws to be broken and His
righteousness flaunted without responding in judgment. Besides, how could a
loving God not be filled with wrath towards those things that hurt and destroy
us, His prized creation? Don’t be fooled; wrath will come!
But don’t misunderstand God’s wrath. God is not just a peeved deity – a
kind of cosmic, ill-tempered Mr. Zap who indulges in violent displays of anger
when we do not do what we ought. Wrath is God’s way of saying to man, “Look,
you must face the truth. I created you for Myself. If you decide that you don’t
want me, then you will suffer the consequences.” God will not withhold His
wrath because His moral integrity insists that disobedience be punished and
obedience be rewarded.
The day of God’s wrath is not to be taken lightly. Ted Turner,
multimillionaire TV mogul, told folks at a Baptist church luncheon, “I’m looking
forward to dying and going to hell because that’s where I’m headed.” If he knew
anything about his destination, he would not be so eager to go there.
Jonathan Edwards described hell as “that world of misery, that lake of
burning brimstone, extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the
glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and
you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of.
It is foolish to take God’s wrath lightly! It is equally foolhardy to
think that money can keep us from His wrath. Proverbs 11:4 says, “Riches do not
profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” Hell is an
eternal separation from God (which the Bible calls “death,” as in Revelation
20:6). The only way to be delivered from such death is through righteousness,
or a right relationship with God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Wealth cannot buy that relationship. It comes only when we trust Jesus as our
Savior and Lord. Only Jesus can save us from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10).
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