Why we Should Talk More About the Wrath of God

The distinct linguistics of a carefully worded gospel presentation hit my ears and leave comforting thoughts of love, acceptance and hope for a better life. 'Jesus loves you and died for sins,' rings the ever familiar call as the crowd is warmly invited to put their faith in the Saviour.

The greatest demonstration of the love of God - as
He willfully crushes His Son (Isaiah 53:10)

It strikes me that the gospel we so often present is based more on familiarities than on the Bible. We recite the words of men before us, making John 3:16 the most important verse in the book and love its central theme. I think that is we present the gospel how the Bible presents it, we would spend less time talking about things we are comfortable and familiar with. In Scripture the the promise of being able to “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16) is built upon the threat of “how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3)

It really isn't all the impressive to be loved, because, though at times you may feel differently, you experience all kinds of love from friends, colleagues and family members. To say that 'God loves you,' for most people puts Him on par with their mother. As humans we love easily, so apart from the particularly downtrodden, speaking of the love of God presents nothing particularly extraordinary. If we want our hearers to understand the extraordinary love and grace of God, they must first understand God's wrath against human depravity.

The reason God's love is extraordinary is because “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Romans 3:11-12). Because of our extraordinary sin, and the fact that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18), it is most extraordinary that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The cross has to be viewed against this backdrop of depravity and judgement. If there is any good thing in you, the gospel isn't really all of grace – some part of you is worth saving! If you want the gospel of love to be understood, you must present the gospel of wrath. God's love and grace can only be seen against the backdrop of who we are and what we actually deserve.

The hellfire preacher of the street corner neglects the goodness of news we present. Wrath without grace is not good news. It is not an accurate representation of the message of the Bible any more than a flowery grace-filled gospel with an uncrushed Jesus is.

When you call men to repentance, you can't leave them in fear of judgement or they've missed the cross. 

When you call men to, remember that you can't understand love until you've understood God's wrath against sinners.

Present the gospel as the Bible does – with this two pronged pincer of judgement and promise. So in the future, rather than tickling ears with a flowery reading of John 3:16, unleash the whole message of the whole passage. The Bible never needed our help, our cliches or our poise. Read as it is – the message of God's love for those He will judge!