I mean I'm sure many of us have heard it all our lives right? The gospel I mean. Man separated from God. Man needs to be made right with God through burnt offerings. God sends Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, to die for our sins and get the wrath of God... in order that we can have relationship with the Father and have everlasting life..and for the time being we need to make disciples for His kingdom. Sounds familiar? To most of you at least.
But hold on.
I think we take it too lightly.
The wrath of God is a BIG DEAL! it's some scary stuff. read this.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. 8 And they will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, their faces aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold, And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts In the day of His burning anger. 14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, they will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. 15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through, and anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished (Isaiah 13:6-16).
That's how powerful Yahweh is. I think we diminish His glory and power way too often in this individualistic, self-directed generation. We forget that the Creator of the universe has this authority over our lives. Even though God may seem a wrathful God in the Old Testament..and which He is. He is also very gracious as well..because time and time again the Israelites disobeyed Him..and He could have zapped them so He pleased..but He showed soooooooo much grace as well.
Here's where the gospel comes in then it gets crazy nuts for the New Covenant believers.
JESUS becomes the ATONING SACRIFICE for our sins. He's betrayed. He's humiliated. He's mocked. He's scorned. He is abandoned. He is tempted. He is in pain from all the floggings and physical abuse. I mean I can go on and on...and those who have seen Passion of the Christ might be able to visualize more details as well. And then he was nailed on the cross for our sins, but get this..that was NOT the end of it. He had to endure the full wrath of God ...which the verse in Isaiah above can maybe just a little glimpse to what that might means. Why? to save US? us messed up, filthy, human beings?? who tend to intentionally choose to disobey? and this is a gift?? man oh man.
What's nuts is that 2000 years later...lives still literally transform by Him. by the power of His Holy Spirit..and he gives gifts to His children and manifests Himself in their lives and answers their prayers..and gives them community.
Whoa take a breath.
I hope this convicts you, to fall deeply in love with Him if you have not already made the decision to accept Him in your life. Because it's really nuts. and Oh man...He's so jealous and affectionate for us..how can we not help but cry sometimes at this love story!
No comments:
Post a Comment