1) What is God's wrath?
Two Hebrew words are translated "wrath" or "anger", one of which (charah) is closely related to another word which means "burning". One Greek word (orgé) comes from another which means "to swell", and the other Greek word (thumos) means a personal venting of anger, with its word origin having to do with immolation and sacrifice.
The implication is that God's punishment is unpleasant as fire, and His anger is as a passionate flame within Him. His anger, however, is not an uncontrolled outburst like that of sinful men, but a settled indignation which is based upon His internal disposition; in short, it is justified, even patient (like fruits swelling with juice, not bursting). His wrath is driven by an absolute passion for righteousness, and will punish in order to satisfy justice ("Vengeance is mine; I will repay").
God's wrath is God's righteous response toward sin.
Just as those who do good reap their reward, those who do evil reap their punishment. Rewards are called as such because they are pleasurable. Punishments are deemed so because they are not.
God's wrath is to cause us displeasure, or withdraw His blessings from us, in response to our sinful response to Him. This may be manifest either as suffering in this life, or in eternal death.
2) Explain that God's wrath is justified against each one of us.
All mankind is fallen; that is a fact, whether we believe it or not. The only reason we would fail to recognize that God is fair in punishing us is because we are so deep in our sin that we don't recognize our sin, and think we are good, or at least not bad. How do you tell a drunk man that he is drunk?
The premise, of course, is that God is just in the first place. To reject that is to reject the Bible. And to reject that God's wrath is against all of mankind is also to reject the Bible. Accepting both means coming to the conclusion that I, personally, deserve eternity in hell.
But is my sin really so bad that it would earn me endless pain? Is that fair? Let us examine this issue from God's perspective.
We understand justice in the sense of "an eye for an eye", and rightly so (Exodus 21:24). It is only fair that what we deal to others is done to us in return. But how does our sin incur eternal wrath? Jonathan Edwards explains this reasonably:
But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and beauty. To have infinite excellency and beauty, is the same thing as to have infinite loveliness. He is a being of infinite greatness, majesty, and glory; and therefore he is infinitely honourable. He is infinitely exalted above the greatest potentates of the earth, and highest angels in heaven; and therefore he is infinitely more honourable than they. His authority over us is infinite; and the ground of his right to our obedience is infinitely strong; for he is infinitely worthy to be obeyed himself, and we have an absolute, universal, and infinite dependence upon him.
So that sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations, must be a crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving of infinite punishment.- Nothing is more agreeable to the common sense of mankind, than that sins committed against any one, must be proportionably heinous to the dignity of the being offended and abused; as it is also agreeable to the word of God, I Samuel 2:25. "If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him;" (i.e. shall judge him, and inflict a finite punishment, such as finite judges can inflict;) "but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?" This was the aggravation of sin that made Joseph afraid of it. Genesis 39:9. "How shall I commit this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This was the aggravation of David's sin, in comparison of which he esteemed all others as nothing, because they were infinitely exceeded by it. Psalm 51:4. "Against thee, thee only have I sinned."-The eternity of the punishment of ungodly men renders it infinite: and it renders it no more than infinite; and therefore renders no more than proportionable to the heinousness of what they are guilty of.
There you have it. In simple terms, we must remember it is God we have sinned against. Those three letters should not be taken lightly. God is morally innocent, pure, and holy. He has done nothing wrong. He does not deserve the tiniest bit of wrong done against Him.
His honor is absolutely worth defending above all things. If not, what is? Is the pleasure of mankind to be considered the greatest treasure? God forbid! I'm not made to worship my own limited experience! I was made to chase infinite glory, and that glory must stand firm!
The Law given in the Bible gives us an idea of how righteous God is and how terrible our sin is, so that we shut our mouths (if the Law doesn't shut us up, Judgement Day will) in acknowledgement of our just punishment. But to write more specifically on God's holiness and the nature of sin would take another article, or even several.
To conclude, it is but fair and just and necessary that God avenge the dishonor done against His name with everlasting fire, to demonstrate the enduring and immense nature of His priceless beauty forevermore.
3) Explain that God's wrath is worthy of worship.
Again, the premise is that God Himself is worthy of worship in all His attributes. The Bible even specifically praises God for His wrath:
“Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people's land."
(Deuteronomy 32:43)
A common obstacle to worshiping God for His vengeance is a faulty emphasis on God's love and grace. In this case, both love and justice are misunderstood, for they are integrated in God.
The misunderstanding with God's love is that it has to be man-centered. But man-centered love is, in fact, not truly love. All good things finds its source in God, and God's faithful upholding of His own character is the reason good things are good. He is the definition of what is good, and to destroy that is to destroy love altogether, because to love is to give what is good.
Also, man's being is totally dependent upon God, thus God has to be perfectly independent, needing no man to exist before He could love.
The misunderstanding with God's wrath is that it is like the selfish anger of sinful men. If God is truly selfless, wouldn't He do everything in His power to ensure man does not suffer, rather than avenge His "ego"? But God's selflessness cannot possibly depend on man to function, because only He existed in eternity. Was He selfless then? Yes; within the Trinity, the persons of God loved each other selflessly, glorifying each other.
We cannot equate God's love for His own glory with narcissism. The Father's love is for the Son, and His vengeance is on the Son's behalf. Yes, God will also judge the world for harming the church, but that's only because we're in Christ, and Christ matters. If that undying, passionate love is worth worshiping, then the result of that love, wrath, is reasonably worth worshiping as well.
Therefore, God's love is a furious love, which does not fail to repay anyone who wrongs His object of love. God's wrath is a selfless wrath, eager to defend those who are worthy and glorious and beautiful. They do not contradict, and instead go hand in hand.
This is fearful; it provokes a reverent fear. It is so much frightening to be up against a man with a family to defend than a man who doesn't; the man who has a family would rather die fighting than let anyone harm his beloved. Animals are so much vicious when defending their young.
We are rightly fearful that the Father loves the Son so much He would put us to death for offending Him. We have sinned; we are on the wrong side. We are doomed. We lament, heaven cheers.
And then there's common grace. Like, wow. However passionate God is for His glory, He sure shows great patience and grace. It's incomprehensible, even. We often think it's weird for God to hate sinners, but it's actually His kindness that should surprise us. We are sinners. Why would He treat sinners kindly, even if for but a moment before their doom?
Then there's salvation of the elect. I don't even feel like talking about it, because I fear I will understate its immensity, again. It's just too wonderful, too unbearable, especially in this context.
God's wrath is not only glorious in itself, but provides the background for the salvation of God's people to shine brightly. We were children of wrath, and now we are new. And when we consider that it was Christ who received what we deserved, what a motivation to cut off our sin! What fear! What gratefulness! Do we dare oppose our Savior for whom God has slain many people in the first place, even after receiving such grace from Him? Do we really have the heart to go on sinning after the immense price paid for us to save us from doing so?
God forbid!
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