Day 5: Avoiding the Wrath of God
Scriptures:
Romans 3:25-26 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.
2 Peter 3:9-11 God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change. But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a raging inferno, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment. Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life?
Song: My Worship
Happy Fifth Day of Thanks Everyone!
Today, I give thanks for being saved from the wrath of God by the death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
A few months ago, a friend asked me to present at her Wednesday night Bible study group. Since I had been studying the book of Revelations and presenting it to my 6 am prayer group, I asked God if I could continue to minister to his children from that book of the Bible. The title of my bible study message was, “Does your Worship Match the level of God’s Forgiveness?
During the first part of the Bible study, I begin to present what the wrath of God looked like, according to what the Book of Revelation says that the tribulation saints and those who are not saved will suffer. If you’d like to know what that pain and suffering looks like, to start, you can read chapters six through nine of the Book of Revelations. It’s quite devastating and involves murder and blood shed, famine and starvation, plagues of pestilence, fire, burning sulfur, widespread economic destruction and collapse in addition to torturing scorpion-like locust, amongst other things.
I spent the next part of the bible study explaining how those of us who are “saved,” blood-washed, born-again Christians get to completely avoid the wrath of God. According to the Bible, Jesus was sent to the earth to atone for the past, present and future sins of the world. When people have faith in Jesus and accept Him as their Lord and Savior, they are literally cleared from the debt they owe for every sin they have committed, are committing and will commit. The Bible says that the wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Thus, when we accept Jesus, we get clearance from the wage of our sin (ie. death) and get a completely clean slate. (Whew!) Isn’t that amazing? Jesus, the perfect son of God, endured the wrath of God on the cross of Calvary and bore every single one of our sins so that we may be forgiven, reconciled to God and spend eternity with Him. (Romans 3:25-26)
When Jesus comes back to rapture his church (i.e. the people who believe and have confessed that Jesus is their Lord), He will be bringing us to heaven to join with the angels and elders (Revelations 7:10-12) in worshipping God but also to pray for those who get left behind. Those who get left behind, are going to experience the Tribulation period, where much of the wrath of God that the Book of Revelations talks about so clearly, will manifest.
It pains my heart to know that so many folks that I know will not choose to be raptured with me to heaven, in spite of my warnings, but will have to suffer through the tribulation to finally realize that Jesus has been given all power of judgement by God, the father, and truly is the Son of God. I’ll be sure to send prayers up for all of them when I’m in heaven, because I know for sure I won’t be here on the earth experiencing the wrath of God with them. If Jesus took on the wrath of God for me, there is no need for me to have to or want to experience that wrath.
Given the title of the bible study lesson, I’m sure you can guess about what the last part of the bible study was. If you just realized that you escaped death by mere seconds, what would you do? I don’t know about you, but I’d put my gratitude on display, big time. The final part of the bible study was not just about reflection, it was about how does someone who says he or she is grateful behaves or responds to the giver of the gift. You, who are reading this reflection, how do you respond to your Savior for saving you from death and taking your place? Do you act entitled and forget that you have been saved? Or, do you spend every day of your life thanking the Savior for His gift of life to you?
As I give thanks for avoiding the wrath of God today, I invite those of you who are reading this reflection and don’t know this Savior, Jesus, to accept Him into your heart and give Him Lordship over your life. It doesn’t matter if you’re not perfect and stained. It doesn’t matter what you did in your past or even a few seconds ago. It doesn’t matter if you can’t instantly give up old habits or addictions immediately. Jesus says that He came to seek and save the Lost, so, in all your imperfections, you fit the bill perfectly. If your excuse is that you want to get yourself together first. Trust me, you will never be able to completely get yourself together without God’s help (through His person, the Holy Spirit).
If you want to accept the Lord as Savior, repeat this prayer, believing every word of it in your heart: “Jesus, although I am a sinner, I renounce my past life and sins and accept you as Lord and Savior over my life now. I believe that you are the Son of God, that you came to this earth and died for my sins, taking my place, restoring me back to the Father. After you died, you rose again and are seated at the right hand of the Father. I believe you are coming back again for me. But, until you do, I ask that your Holy Spirit, which you left to comfort me, will guide me into all truth and show me how to live better every day. Allow me to also read and understand your word so that I can draw even closer to you. Amen.” If you repeated that prayer, you are now a son or daughter of God and get to avoid his wrath too.
Congratulations on the clean slate! Hit me up and let me know that you have accepted the Lord as your savior. Now, one of the things to have on your priority list is to find you a bible-believing church that will walk out life with you, teach you how who you are as a child of God, to read and understand the bible, and show you how to grow in the ways of the Lord. You won’t regret it! (P.S. If you need help finding a church to go to, reach out and I will help you.)
Love Ya,
Have a Great Day of Thanks.