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!

Thoughts from Camp - Day 19 - Joseph

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

Where is Jesus in the Old Testament? What relevance do these stories have? These are the questions I hope to be addressing and answering this week on the blog. Today we tackle Joseph and his not-so-secret Jesus-like qualities!

Joseph is born loved by his father, who demonstrates this buying him an ornamented coat. His brothers see this, and are jealous of him. Loved by his fathers and hated by his brothers, Joseph has a dream about being greater than his brothers. They hate him all the more.

Why are details about this man's life relevant? Because one day a man named Jesus would come, sent by His loving Father. He too would be hated by His brothers. He would be despised and rejected by the Israelites - all 12 tribes - each descended from the brothers of Joseph.

Joseph goes to join his brothers in a field, and when they see him coming, they agree to kill him. Reuben, being a merciful brother stands up for him. They grab him and throw him into a pit. Judah sees some passing Ishmaelites sells him to them. The brothers then take his coat, cover it in animal blood and lie to their father, saying he is dead. Their father, believing them, mourns the death of his son.

Joseph, for all intents and purposes is dead. His brothers have all decided to kill him. He is as good as dead, and thrown down into the ground. In his father's eyes, he really is dead. Joseph's symbolic death is foreshadow to the actual death of Jesus. Both men are taken and thrown down into the ground. Both will rise up out again.

Joseph is sold to a man named Potiphar and does a great job as a servant. Potiphar's wife sees Joseph one day and asks him to sleep with her. Joseph refuses, fleeing the house, but she lies about him and has him thrown into prison.

Joseph is a pure man. He overcomes temptation. This is an obvious Christ-parallel since almost no other Old Testament character is portrayed with so few flaws. But this pure, innocent man is wrongly condemned, and through deception is sentenced to something he didn't deserve. 2000 years later, another man would do the same.

In the prison, Joseph interprets two dreams for two men who work in Pharaoh's household. He sees the future for both of them - for one, deliverance from prison. For the other - death.

Jesus too, was a prophet. He didn't interpret dreams, but he certainly knew the future. And not just the death of others, but frequently spoke of His own coming death.

Pharaoh had a dream while Joseph was still in prison, and Joseph's former cellmate recommends him to Pharaoh. Joseph is pulled from prison and asked to interpret Pharaoh's dream. His response is, “I can not do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

In many ways, this is the heart of Jesus' message. 'You can't do it, but God will give....' We can't bring salvation on our own, but God gives freely.

Joseph interprets the dream and predicts a famine. Pharaoh, seeing Joseph is wise, places him in charge of managing his household. Before long, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy grain, and after sending them back for Benjamin, reveals himself to them.

Interesting, isn't it? The men who condemned and 'killed' him are now coming to him for salvation. Joseph provides physical salvation from starvation and Jesus provides spiritual salvation. Jesus died for the very men who crucified Him, and Joseph provides for the very men who sold him to Egypt.

Jacob his father comes to Egypt and begins to live there. Joseph continues to sell grain to Egypt until he has all of Egypt's money. So then he asks for livestock, and trades grain until he owns all of Egypt's livestock. Then land is the price for grain, and he becomes the owner of all of Egypt's land.

Some day, Christ will return and the Father will hand over all things to Him, making Him the all in all. What Joseph became on a national scale, Jesus will some day be on a global scale.

And then the story of Joseph ends off with this classic quote, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good"

See Jesus? He's here. The Bible only has one story. The book of Genesis, inspired by God, tells the life story of our Saviour through the analogy of a historical figure.

Thoughts from Camp - Day 17 - Peter's Vision

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

So we talked about Peter's vision today, and how Jesus fulfilled the law, and that the gospel went out to the nations. Heavy theological stuff for ten year olds. But guess what? They have brains, and they know how to use them, and they comprehended and could articulate the purpose of the Old Testament and the superiority of Jesus' covenant.

But that's not what I'm learning today, so that's not what I'll write. Here's what I'm thinking for today - why do we think discussion time is a useful teaching method? Here's the thing - we are all born without a knowledge of God. We don't gain a knowledge of God naturally, it has to be taught (or better yet, absorbed from Scripture reading). And then we sit down a roomful of teenagers and ask them what they think about God. Or better yet, we throw out Biblical questions - 'why do you think Jesus had to be man?' And these young teens who will some day be young men and women start throwing out their opinions from the limited Bible knowledge they have. Useful? Only to draw out the little knowledge that has already been placed in their heads.

Why not teach? Why not show? A person with both knowledge and passion is an unstoppable force in the church. An opinionated person just fits in with the rest. So why develop these? We need Bible study and proper teaching. Not question time so we can hear opinions. This is a topic I will be fleshing out more extensively over the next few weeks, and I'm sure you can look forward to a more comprehensive blog post about it in the fall.

Thoughts from Camp - Day 16 - Beatitudes

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

There is no hierarchy in the Christian faith. We often think of pastors and preachers as slightly above us normal folk on the Christian scale, and a man like Spurgeon far above them. There are different roles in the church, and different treasures can be stored up, but as far as being a Christian goes, you either are, or you are not.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives the beatitudes - the characteristics of a Christian. This is what every Christian looks like. These are the things that make us different than everyone else.

Poor in Spirit - That is, that we recognize our own spiritual condition. A poor person goes to a store and can not buy what they want. Why? They do not posess the money they are asked for. What God demands and what we have are not the same thing, and the Christian knows this, and lives with this reality. We are poor in Spirit - Spiritually bankrupt, and coming to God knowing there is nothing in our hands.

Mourning - This is mourning over sin, so if we all stopped reading this at funerals, that'd be great. We not only are aware of our Spiritual condition, but we are broken over it. We are upset over what we are. We feel remorse for our own depravity.

Meek - Again, this our condition, our mindset, towards God. Every Christian is meek. That is, they are humble enough to admit their poverty, and humble enough to mourn. Jesus told us that the healthy do not need doctors, but only the sick. If you believe yourself to be righteous, Jesus can not help you, for He came exclusively for sinners. So by this condition, all Christians are meek, for they have approached Him in much need. If you call yourself a Christian but do not believe in the poorness of your spirit, do not mourn for sin and are not meek, I challenge to see if you could ever have flung yourself upon the mercies of the Savior whose blood was shed for us.

Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness - Again, this is the mark of every Christian. As sons of Adam we are born spiritually dead - that is, dead in relation to God. We are born with no desire, no hunger, and no true knowledge regarding God. So when Christ makes us alive with Him, our hunger for Him is for the first time ignited. The Christian is alive in relation to God, and desires Him more. I asked a wise mentor once what it meant to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and he told me that it means fighting hard for the time spent doing things that satisfy your soul. That is, being diligent to exchange time spent doing things of temporary value for time spent in prayer and Bible study. Hours a day praying means losing hours a day doing something else.

Merciful - We now switch from conditions of the heart to actions. Christians give to others the mercy they received from god. Why? God has changed our hearts.

Pure in heart - not that the Christian is perfect in purity, but we strive for it. The goal of purity is what unites Christians together in fellowship, and what sets us apart from every other person in the world.

Peacemakers - Peace makers make peace. Its a really simple definition. This is what the Christian is.

Persecuted for righteousness sake - The prophets and apostles were all killed for their faith, and humanity has not become less depraved since then. Depraved men still hate God as they always have. If Jesus preached like most preachers today, they never would have crucified Him. The truth-proclaiming believer will only ever face opposition and disagreement. Such is the lot of the believer.

These are the marks of a Christian. Not a super Christian, just a Christian. This is what every true Believer looks like - these are our characteristics. True belief and desire to follow the Lord will result in life change, and this is what that life change will look like.

Thoughts from Camp - Day 15 - Zerubbabel

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

Dragged into exile. It had been foretold by Jeremiah, Isaiah and others. Israel had been sinful and wicked - they didn't care about the temple sacrifices. They oppressed the widow and the orphan. God promised to humble them and restore unto them a knowledge of Him. So after some time chilling outside of the Promised Land, the day came for the remnant to return

A decree went throughout the land - King Cyrus of Persia said that anyone who wanted to rebuild Jerusalem could go. So who else would head up but one of those unknown, unrecognizable but dreadfully important Bible characters. Zerubbabel was his name, and the first thing he did when he arrived was to rebuildd the altar. Why? Because God is holy, and sacrifice needed to be made for sin. That was a priority. Shortly after, they re-poured the foundation of the temple. The old men who remembered the old one wept. The young men shouted with joy, until no one could distinguish between the cheering and the crying.

A few bitter men write a letter to the king complaining about the Jews and the work halts for a bit. But isn't too long until they pick up where they left off and carry on. God's work carries on. Although it stopped for a bit God is sovereign (and good) and the work continued. The temple is eventually finished, funded by king Darius, and the stolen temple articles are returned from Babylon.

What do we learn from all of this? That God's prophesied plan in Isaiah and Jeremiah to humble His people worked. The men who had misused the temple had been invaded and the remnant that survived was now, after years, returning to try a second time at what they had blown the first time. Could they be stopped by a grouchy neigbour? Of course not. God is sovereign – his work will be done.

Ezra shows up shortly after, he comes to teach people the law. He reinstates the Levitical priesthood so that the physical building Zerubbabel built has something going on inside. Shorlty after, he finds out everyone is being immoral in their marriages (interracial mingling - a Torah no-no). He tears his garments. He prays. And here's something cool - when he prays, he counts himself in with all the sinners. He, an innocent man, confesses the sin of a country he's a part of. A true leader with integrity counts themselves with those under them. Then, Ezra confronts the people about their sin, and they admit they have a problem. They do their investigating to figure out who is married to a person of what nationality. Then they deal with sin. Marriages are broken (not ideal, but better than the sin they were in). Families are flipped upside down. The nation had been dragged into exile for immorality, and this time they were literally willing to have their worlds turned upside down to avoid having sinful hearts before God. God is holy – we need to deal with sin.

Nehemiah, who gets his own book of the Bible but never his own Sunday School teaching slot, leads the third group of exiles back. He helps to rebuild the wall and put nation back on feet. And once they are a real nation living behind a wall, he works to stop the oppression of the poor and makes sure everyone is fed, and living in a real house. If you read the prophets, a lot of why Israel was judged is because they mistreated the widow and the orphan. And here, Godly Nehemiah knows what's up. God is loving – He cares for the oppressed.

Thoughts from Camp - Day 14 - Jonah

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

I stared down at my Bible and blinked again. Nope. That was it. Four verses. Half the story of Jonah, as it had been told to me, was contained within the first four measly verses. Now, to be fair, Jonah isn't a very big book. But I still feel like I have spent more time in my life than necessary hearing that flimsy narrative retold. But here's the part that gets me is that the rest of the book is hardly touched. I don't think I've ever heard someone tell me any of the details in chapter 2.

So when I told the story today, I told the whole story. The whole book. Not just the narrative parts. And more than that, I encouraged them to go back to their cabins and read it for themselves in case I missed something. But here's what I'm wondering and learning today - why do we reduce the Bible down to historical narrative. The Bible contains much history, true, but as a book, the Bible tells only one story. If the details you are highlighting to your Sunday School class aren't helping to grow them in their understanding of the redemption narrative, why are you teaching them? Leave cute children stories for Kindergarten - let the church be for the sanctification  of the saints.

Read your Bibles, teachers. Don't repeat the words of teachers before you who haven't read their Bibles. Because we are so often missing so many fantastic, Messianic, gospel-centred messages. The story of Jonah only matters because it is a shadow of another prophet who would one day descend to a grave for three days and emerge preaching repentance. So maybe spend less time worrying about the excitement of a ship caught in a storm and spend more time noting the fact that Jonah's disobedience and desire to condemn the world is a perfect antitype of his repentance-preaching counterpart, who loved the Gentiles Jonah didn't want to go to.

Thoughts from Camp - Day 13 - Elijah Fire

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

Elijah prayed that God would turn back the hearts of Israel. That they would recognize that He was the true God. Elijah had challenged the prophets of Baal to a competition - whichever God sent fire was the true victor. Why? Because the Israelites were wavering between opinions. They knew of God, had a Tabernacle and remembered what He did in the days of Joshua. But they also had a wicked king and seemed to prefer worshiping Baal. So Elijah really just wanted them to pick a side.

And here's the climax we all missed hearing about in Sunday School - after fire falls on his sacrifice, he gathers all the prophets of Baal together, and kills them all. Personally hacks them to pieces. Some people would suggest, 'what you believe is right for you, what I believe is right for me.' I'm not sure Elijah was sold on this concept.

And there's a reason for this. A reason why he had to kill them. When Adam broke the law of God, He deserved death. When anyone breaks the law of God, they still deserve death. This hasn't changed since Adam. The prophets had not only denied God, they had turned all of Israel against God. So Elijah, commissioned by God, was giving them what they deserved - giving them justice. Now we don't get to decided who gets to live and who gets to die, that's God's job, but in this case God had given Elijah permission to take some of God's authority.

There's a message in all of this. And that is simply this - as Elijah said, 'If the Lord is God, follow Him.' And if He is not, follow Baal. That is God's call to us. If God is God, follow Him. If He's not, don't waste your time. God's not interested in half-hearted service. He's not interested in people who come to church on Sunday but don't care about Him the rest of the week. He's not interested in people who ask Him into their heart but whose lives aren't changed.

What God is looking for is people who's lives are totally and utterly committed to Him. People who spend their lives in service to Him. Who spend their entire lives seeking to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, strength and mind. This is the kind of service He demands. He's not interested in people who waver between opinions like Israel did.

If God is God, follow Him. If Baal is God, follow Him.

Kevin Deane

Camp Mini-Yo-We

Muskoka, ON