No wrath for Christians

Hey, thanks again for sending in questions related to our recent sermons. As you know, we’re in the series Jesus in every genre. And this last week we talked about the prophets who often talk about God’s wrath. So we’re looking at how the wrath that we see in scripture really points us to Christ because he took the wrath of God in our place. One of the things I said in the sermon is that Christians are free from the wrath of God forever.

That is what Jesus took for us on the cross. His sacrifice was enough. He paid enough. Nothing else needs to be paid. And so Christians do not ever experience God’s wrath.

So the question is the unpleasant things that happen in life, how are we to understand those? And of course, that’s result of someone else’s sin, that’s result of living in a fallen world, that’s all kind of factors, but it is never wrath. And even if it is God’s direct intervention in our life, some kind of discipline that comes out of his love, that’s not in any way punitive that we need to pay for our sins, because that has already happened. God is only favorable to us as Christians. Martin Luther, the reformer in the 15 hundreds wrote it like this and this is one of my favorite quotes of all time.

But Martin Luther records for who is able to express what a thing it is when a man is assured in his heart that God neither is nor will be angry with him, but will forever be a merciful and loving father to him for Christ’s sake? This is indeed a marvelous and incomprehensible liberty to have the most high and sovereign majesty so favorable to us that we are made free from the wrath of God forever. It is greater than heaven and earth and all creatures.

His discovery in his own life that he was free from the wrath of God and never had to worry that God would be angry with him ever again, for Christ’s sake, transformed the world. When that broke out of Martin Luther’s heart, he began preaching that what happened in Europe and then spread to the rest of the world has freed so many people from the guilt and shame that they might carry, has freed people from any condemnation that they feel. Romans eight, one, of course, says, there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And we really are that free. There really is zero condemnation.

There really is zero wrath. God really is that favorable to us always. And as Martin Luther says, it is an estimate liberty. He said it better than I. Hey, at least, you know, we always do these in one take.

Thanks for sending in the question and we will see you next time.

If this happened in the first 10 seconds, you would never have seen it. But in the last 10 seconds, do you not want to throw down the children’s musical? Oh, yeah, sure. I mean, it’s up to you. No, I just forgot you’re in charge, so you tell me.

Go.