The wrath of a divine and perfect judge

I was reflecting on how we receive and exalt the attributes of God's character such as love, kindness, grace, forgiveness, etc. with much readiness but when it comes to things like God's judgement and His wrath, we get all tongue-tied and try to make up excuses for God by saying things like, "Oh, no lah, that was God in the old testament. Now, there is grace." or "Ermm... Yah, I also don't know why He has to destroy the whole of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sounds like tough love."

We skirt around the issue, wondering how a God who is kind and all-compassionate could also wipe out entire cities and send plagues that devastate and even take lives. And then we think, "Thank God he is not like that anymore." And we have this hazy impression that somehow God has mellowed over the years and become more tolerant of our wrong doing.

DO NOT BE DECEIVED ANY LONGER! Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever! If He detested sin in the old testament, He does not tolerate it any more in today's world! If He was a God who judged His people then, He will come to judge us also! Make no mistake, the God of love is also the God who will judge us according to how we have led our lives and give according to each person what he has done!

Matthew 16:27, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."

Romans 2:6-11. "6God "will give to each person according to what he has done." 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism."

What is our response to this then? Does God judge so that He can frighten us into submission and obedience? Well, for those who refuse to believe in Him, there is certainly much to be afraid about! But the true purpose of God's judgement is really to reveal the morally perfect character of God. Would God be perfect if He treated ungodliness the same as godliness? Would He still be morally praiseworthy and perfect if He did not make a distinction between what was right and what was wrong? No! Moral indifference would be an imperfection of God, not a perfection!

We tend to understand God's wrath and His judgement in terms of our own human imperfection whereby when one gets angry, he loses control. He becomes irrational and impulsive. We forget that God is perfect. His wrath is judicial - meaning He gives to us only what we deserve! God is only angry where anger is called for. It is a necessary reaction to the sin and immorality in our lives.

I realise that our faulty understanding of God's wrath stem largely from the fact that we treat sin too lightly. We give excuses for sinning. "It's just a small thing, everyone is doing it. What's the big deal?"

Learn to see sin the way God sees it, as extremely detestable. Ask God to reveal to you the corruption of sin in your life, so that you can appreciate God's totally uncompromising stand towards it. Ask God to give you a holy fear for Him. It is only when we learn to worship Him in reverence and godly fear that we can serve Him acceptably. Decide today to live a life that will stand up to the judgement of Jesus when He comes again!