God’s Infinite Mercy Through His Infinite Wrath

Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Isn’t it interesting that Paul speaks of God’s wrath so early in his letter to Rome?  I think that shows that God’s wrath has a primary role in Paul’s theology, and therefore it should have the same role in ours.

What is God’s wrath? The Infinite omnipotent anger of God. God intensely hates and responds with anger to all sin and rebellion. God hates every threat to what He loves. The best illustration I can think of to capture this in my mind is a to picture a huge tsunami coming violently towards the beach. That is full of wrath is it not? Very much so, but it is still finite. How much greater is the infinite, unending wrath of God? Wow.

God’s wrath is also shown in that God hates sin. Psalm 5:5 says, “God hates all who do iniquity.” Psalm 11:5 says, “God hates the one whose soul loves violence.” I came to faith in Christ when I was 20 years old. Therefore it is right for me to say that for the 20 years prior to my conversion God hated Adam Powers with His wrath. That is not an overstatement. God hated me because I lived in sin and loved violence in my heart. At any moment my foot could have slid and God could have taken me out, and it would have been just and right for Him to do so, because every time I sinned, I wanted to. Does God still hate me? No. I still sin now that I am a Christian, but God does not hate me because He chose to show me mercy. I now no longer come to God as Judge, but as Father. When I sin now, He is displeased. I will face the consequences of my sin and His Fatherly displeasure because of it. But we should notice that the aim of God’s discipline is to show love to His children, not wrath. (Hebrews 12)

I want to talk of two things here:
a) God’s wrath, the gospel, and mercy.
-Daniel Fuller said, “God delights far more in His mercy than in His wrath. So in order to show the priority of His mercy, He must place it against the backdrop of His wrath. How could God’s mercy appear fully as His great mercy unless it was extended to a people who were under His wrath and therefore could only ask for mercy? It would be impossible for them to share with God the delight He has in His mercy unless they saw clearly the awfulness of the almighty wrath from which His mercy delivers them.” This quote says that God delights in something. How often do we forget this? Our God is an infinitely happy God that delights in things! He loves and takes pleasure in things! And He loves when we delight in the same things He delights in. Just as a white garment is clearly seen against a black background, so too God’s mercy shines most brightly when it is displayed against the background of His wrath. How is this so? Think about the cross. God’s mercy was displayed most fully by being revealed in the most wrathful act of history! Have you ever thought that without wrath, no one would have mercy? Wrath placed Jesus on the cross. The cross brings us mercy. Infinite wrath brought us infinite mercy!  When we see this mercy, we delight in it. When we see the awe-filled wrath of God, we gain a greater awareness of what we have been saved from through God’s mercy. Out of all the ways that God could have displayed His mercy to the world, He chose to do it most fully, through displaying His wrath! Just as God brought us mercy through wrath, we would receive nothing but wrath from God if it wasn’t for the cross. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that was aimed at us!

b) God’s wrath, and evangelism:
-This is a short point but it is necessary to touch on. Wrath not only leads us to see mercy in a great and God-centered way, it leads us to a bold evangelism. 2 Cor. 5:11 says, “Knowing the fear (or terror) of the Lord, we persuade men…” Do you see what a knowledge of the wrath and terror of God produces? A bold evangelism! When you know the wrath of God, you know what all men stand under if they do not repent of their sins and trust in Jesus. How could you claim to love anyone and not tell them of these things?! For Paul, a knowledge of the wrath of God led him to boldly proclaim the gospel to all men.

Does it do this for you?

The Attributes of God: Week 6

The Attributes of God – Week 6: God’s Omnipotence
-Remember: An attribute is something that God always was, always is, and always will be.

First Question:
-What is Omnipotence?
a) Webster (Dictionary, page 809) – “having virtually unlimited authority or influence.”
b) Grudem (Systematic Theology, page 216) – “God’s omnipotence means that God is able to do all His holy will.”
c) Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology, page 80) – “God through the mere exercise of His will can realize whatsoever is present in His will or counsel.”

See:
-Genesis 18:14 / Jeremiah 32:27

-Jeremiah 32:17-18 / Matthew 19:26 / Luke 1:37

-Ephesians 3:20 / Job 11:7-9

-We cannot say that what God does not bring into realization, is not possible for Him.
-We can say that God can do more than what He brings into realization.
-God is not limited in doing only what He actually has done.
-God can do more than He has done.

Second Question:
-If God is all powerful, is there anything that He cannot do?

-Numbers 23:19 / Malachi 3:6 / James 1:17 – God cannot change

-1 Samuel 15:29 – God cannot change His mind

-2 Tim. 2:13 – God cannot deny Himself

-Titus 1:2 / Hebrews 6:18 – God cannot lie

-James 1:13 – God cannot tempt or be tempted

-Is it correct to say that God can do anything?  No

Third Question:
-How does God’s omnipotence affect me?
a) It is a mark of God-likeness in that we choose to carry out our own wills.
b) God’s will is never frustrated; therefore I can have peace and confidence in the face of suffering. All suffering that comes to me is by design. It all comes down to, ‘do I trust Him?’

Fourth Question:
-How do we see God’s omnipotence in Jesus?  Jesus’ miracles, teaching, and life.  Also, God shows His omnipotence through Jesus, on the cross.  Often God’s power is displayed through foolish things in the worlds eyes.  God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

The Attributes of God: Week 5

The Attributes of God – Week 5: God’s Jealousy
-Remember: An attribute is something that God always was, always is, and always will be.

First Question:
-What is jealousy?
a) Webster’s dictionary (page 626) – Intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness; vigilant in guarding a possession.
b) Grudem’s Systematic Theology (page 205) – “God’s jealousy means that God always and continually seeks to protect His own honor.”

See:
-Exodus 20:5

-Exodus 34:14

-Deut. 4:24

-Deut. 5:9

-James 4: 4-5

-Isaiah 48:9-11

Second Question:
-Is God’s jealousy a form of pride?  No, God alone deserves all honor, this is why He does all things.

Third Question:
-Paul tells us to imitate God in Eph. 5:1, should we imitate God’s jealousy by seeking to protect our own honor?  Absolutely not, we are never to be jealous for our own honor, in fact we must become less, God must become more (John 3:30). Our own jealousy is almost always wrong and sinful.

Fourth Question:
-Then what does it mean to be jealous for God’s honor?  How can we deepen our jealousy for God’s honor?
a) 2 Cor. 11:2 – we are to be earnestly protective and watchful over each other. (Heb. 3:12-13)
b) Numbers 25 – example of Phinehas, living out a gospel transformed heart.
c) Psalm 69:8-9 – we hurt when God’s honor is hurt.

Fifth Question:
-How do we see God’s jealousy in Jesus?  Ezekiel 36:22-23 and Romans 3:24-26 = God sent His Son, not for the sake of Israel, but for the sake of His name, or for the sake of His honor.

The Attributes of God: Week 4

The Attributes of God – Week 4: God’s Independence
-Remember: An attribute is something that God always was, always is, and always will be.

First Question:
-What is Independence? “Not subject to control by others; self governing. Not required or relying on someone else.” (Webster’s, page 590)

Second Question:
-What does it mean for God to be independent? God is not controlled by others. God is not required to prove His case to anyone. God is not relying on anyone else for anything. God is self-sufficient. “God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything.” (Grudem: Systematic Theology, page 160) Some people call this attribute of God ‘Aseity’ from the latin ‘a se’ meaning, “from Himself”.
-See:
a) Acts 17:24-25 = How are we to “serve God” if He does not need us and is not served by us? (We are receivers, God is the provider)
b) Job 41:11
c) Psalm 50:10-12
d) Rev. 4:11
e) John 1:3
f) Romans 11:33-36
g) 1 Cor. 8:6
h) Exodus 3:14
i) Psalm 90:2, John 17:5, 24 = We were not created because God was not lonely.

Third Question:
-If God does not need us, why did He create us?
a) Isaiah 43:7
b) Eph. 1:11-12
c) Isaiah 62:3-5
d) Zeph. 3:17-18

Fourth Question:
-Do we see God’s Independence in Jesus?  How so?  God accomplished our salvation independent of us, througb His Son.  He did not ask our permission to choose and save us, He did it!  Our works did not contribute anything toward it either.  God’s works, through His Son, idependent from our works saved us!  Amen!

The Attributes of God: Week 3

The Attributes of God – Week 3: God’s Ordinary-ness
(John 14:1-11)

-Have you ever noticed the way people talk to their babies or dogs? For some strange reason, CEO’s and brain surgeon’s acts in ways that they would never act at work. They become so unlike there normal selves in doing this. I do this as well. When my dog Calvin has to go outside I tell him “Calvin! Wanna go outside!? Yes you do! You’re a good doggie, let’s go outside!”
-This is pretty standard baby talk and dog talk, but would we ever talk like this to each other? Would you ever say “Ethan, wanna go outside? Ethan’s a good boy!” We would never do this! In fact, if you do this in some places you will get kicked out, couples who talk to each other like this know that for a fact.
-Why do people talk like this? We talk like this to a dog or to a baby, to get down on their level. We are condescending to talk in a way that communicates to them. We do this so we can connect with them.

-What does it look like for God to condescend with us? JESUS! Jesus is God’s way of condescending to our level, our human level. We could never understand God, so God made Himself understood through His Son.

-Two things to look at in John 14:1-11:
a) Philip’s question
b) Jesus’ reply.

-Philip’s Question
(14:1-8)
-The disciples have trouble with Jesus’ words in v1-6, would you have had the same trouble they did?
-Jesus begins talking of the Father in v7, and Philip asks his question in v8. What was Philip asking for?
-Do you long to see God in this sensational way? Is this wrong? What are the dangers of looking for God in the sensational? Why is it so easy to get caught up in the sensational?

-Philip’s question reveals two things about Philip, and about us as well:
-First, Philip was asking for a Moses experience. Remember Moses asked to see God’s glory and God shows Himself to Moses. Philip, in asking his question is really asking, “Jesus, if we could just have a supernatural experience where we could actually see the Father, that would be enough for us!” This is not a bad question, Moses asked for it, and God granted it. Philip’s problem was that God had already given him much more than Moses, he just didn’t know it.

-Second, we see from this that Philip’s cry for the sensational is the cry of our generation. As Philip longed for the supernatural so do we more than we know! Sometimes we get so caught up in this pursuit, that we miss what God is doing right before our eyes, in the ordinary. There are moments when God does do miraculous things, but how does God act normally? In the ordinary, day to day life of people.

-I think we look for God this way, because our culture. So many things in our culture, are driven by this desire to be extraordinary, or sensational. This is because people think something has to be absolutely amazing to grab people’s attention and keep it. How are some ways this desire has crept into the Church? (Our desire to entertain people, our desire to make church appealing to everyone, our desire to lift sensational experiences above God Himself…)

-Jesus’ Reply:
(14:9-11)
-Think about Jesus’ answer. What was He telling Philip? What was Jesus telling about Himself?
-Philip had eaten, drank, joked, walked around with God in human form for three years! What Philip was looking for was right in front of his eyes!

-Jesus’ reply teaches us two things:
-First, Jesus came into the world unnoticed by most. The greatest revelation of God, of all time, went by unnoticed by most. Israel expected a Messiah who would take them out from under Roman oppression, but Jesus came as the “suffering servant”. We too miss what they did. We live with the greatest revelation of God in all time, the Bible. Yet because we are so use to reading it, has it lost it’s wonder or power to us? If Jesus is God in human form, than we do not need to look further than Jesus to see what God is like. If Jesus is God in human form, than we do not need to look further than Jesus to see what God thinks about this or that in our daily lives! But the sad truth is, is that Jesus is simply to ordinary for us, we would rather seek God in the sensational than follow Him in the ordinary.

-Second, God is ordinary, because He came in Jesus. The Son of God becoming man is the greatest truth of Christianity. Inside that truth we can see God’s heart. Jesus knew His disciples. Jesus knew everything there was to know about Philip. Jesus told me Philip “Don’t you recognize me Philip? I know who you are, I know all about you. How is it that you, while walking with me, don’t know who I am?”

-True friendships are more than big moments. Birthday’s, amusement parks, big games, are great, but true friendship is grown in the ordinary quiet moments of life. God wants to be known in the ordinary as well. He loves revealing Himself in all His glory, we saw that last week, but God also treasures the times His people treasure Him during all times, even the ordinary times.

-This truth is hard to hear: God in the ordinary does not intrigue most of us. We long for the sensational and hunger for the extraordinary. But God longs to meet us in the ordinary. If we miss God in the ordinary, we may miss Him altogether.

The Attributes of God: Week 2

The Attributes of God: Week 2 – The Happiness of God
-Remember: An attribute is something that God always was, always is, and always will be.

-What do you think Happiness is?
-What comes to mind when you hear that God is happy?

One thing to focus on:
-What makes God happy? (What does God delight in?)

-Psalm 115:3 – What does this mean? The implication of this is that God has the right and the power to do everything that makes Him happy.

-Psalm 33:10-11: What does this mean? If God can do anything He pleases, than that means that what God wants to happen, happens. Nothing God desires to do is stopped by anyone else. If none of His purposes, plans, or desires can be stopped, God must be the happiest of all beings. Why? Because He is the only being that can always do what He pleases.

-Step back for a moment: What would life be like if God was not happy? What if He could not always carry out what He desired? What if He were always gloomy, or depressed, or anxious, or frustrated? We could not honestly tell Him that we want to be near Him could we? We would live as if our only aim was to not bother Him.  Praise God that He is not this way right? Amen!

-So we have seen that God can do whatever He pleases to do, but we have not seen what exactly it is that God does to make Himself happy. What does God do to make Himself happy?

-We can answer this question by asking another question: “What does God pursue in everything He does?” If we can answer that, we would know what He enjoys the most.

-So what is the driving force behind everything God does? His GLORY! What does that mean? God does everything to make much of Himself. Where do we see this? (Isaiah 43:6-7, Psalm 106:7-8, 1 John 2:12, Isaiah 63:14, Romans 15:8-9, Psalm 90:2, etc.)

-Because God pursues His glory in everything He does, we can know that His glory is what makes Him happiest. God delights in Himself more than anything else. God’s passion for God is unmistakable. God puts greater value on His glory than on anything else. He delights in His glory above all other things. His glory is what makes Him happy.

-Does you know how the Westminster Confession begins? “Q1: What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Could we not also ask “What is the chief end of God? How would we answer that? To glorify God and enjoy Himself forever.”

-One question comes from this:
-How can a God that is so in love with His own glory, be a loving God?
“If God is to love you what must He give you? He must give you what is best for you. The best thing for you in all the universe is God. If He were to give you all health, best job, best spouse, best computer, best vacations, best success in any realm, and withhold Himself, He would hate you. But If He gives you Himself (God) and nothing besides He loves you infinitely!” (John Piper)

-Where does Jesus fit in to God’s happiness? The cross. Did God enjoy seeing His Son die? No and Yes; No in the narrow view. Imagine the Father looking down on the Son during His birth, life, and death, watching the people He created kill His only Son! (See Isaiah 53:3-7). It crushed the heart of the Father to watch His Son come here and die!
-But in another view this did make God happy right? Take a step back to the wider view, the grand scheme of all history. (See Isaiah 53:10, Acts 2 and 4).

-Why was God happy at the cross? Because He knew that He would be glorified by all the people from every nation coming to back to Him through the Son, and he also knew that those people would be fully satisfied by that glory. This means that God’s happiness shines most brightly, in and through His Son.

-In what ways is the happiness of God practical to us every day?

(This was a summary of Desiring God Chapter 1)

The Attributes of God: Week 1

Lord willing, for the next 15 weeks I will post a study on the attributes of God.  Here is the first of those.

-Beginning Assumptions:
-The Bible is God’s Word, if God says it, we are to believe it.
-Anytime you read the Bible you make conclusions about God. How you make those conclusions determines everything! “We want to come to conclusions about God’s character based on what the Bible says, not based on what we think God is or what we want Him to be like or what we heard about Him, no matter what the cost to us!” (Benjamin Joffe)
-Right thinking about what the Bible teaches about God, man, and salvation really matters. Bad theology dishonors God and hurts people. Churches that sever the root of truth may flourish for a season, but they will wither eventually or turn into something besides a Christian church.
-The Work of the Holy Spirit is essential for grasping the truth of Scripture. (1 Corinthians 2:13-16)
-Thinking is essential for grasping Biblical truth. (1 Corinthians 14:20, 2 Timothy 2:7)

-Intro:
-Why we are doing this study. When praying through what to study I asked this question: What do I want you to gain by this study? My answer was instant and simple: My desire is that you would trust and love God more. Therefore, if you are to do that, you must know God better.

-What do you think it means to know God? (John 17:3, 2 Pet. 1:3)
-Two things about “knowing” God:
a) Knowing is more than knowledge, it is intimacy.
b) We can never exhaust anything about God.

-What is an attribute? Something that God always was, is, and always will be. A characteristic, quality, trait, distinguishing mark God has. These attributes govern all that God does, why? God never acts contrary to His own nature. Because of this, we can see each one of God’s attributes in everything He does if we look hard enough. (Example: The cross – love and wrath)

-Communicable vs. Incommunicable?

a) Communicable = The qualities God communicates to us, or the qualities God shares with us.
-Examples: Wisdom, love, joy, patience, etc.
-Important note: Although God shares these with man, they are not the same in God and man. These qualities are shared with us, and at the same time they are never fully shared with us. For example, we can be loving people, but we can never be as loving as God is (1 John 4). We can be wise people, but never as wise as God is (Isaiah 55:8-9).

b) Incommunicable = Those qualities God does not communicate to us, or those qualities God does not share with us. Only God has these, and no one else can ever claim to have them.
-Examples: Independence, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Infinity, Eternity, etc.

-Is there an attribute that is greater than all the others? Is there any attribute that governs all the others? Most people think that God’s love is His dominate attribute. We must say that there is not a dominating attribute, why? If God is fully love, and at the same time fully jealous, and at the same time fully patient, can we say that God is more love than jealous? Can we say that God is more jealous than patient? No, we cannot. God is fully all of these things all of the time.

-How is studying the attributes of God practical? Each attribute has implications for our daily life.
-For example, what is something practical we learn from studying God’s wisdom? In hard times, God’s wisdom may not always be clear to us; but we trust that God is wise, He in His wisdom brought about the events of our lives together for a specific purpose.
-Another example: what is something practical we learn about God’s unchanging-ness? God can always be trusted because He never changes, He never gets moody, and always keep His word.

-All of these attributes have their maximum fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Who do we look at to see God’s character? Jesus. In the cross of Christ we see all God’s attributes displayed. Wrath, love, grace, justice, mercy, sovereignty, goodness, holiness, compassion, wisdom, power, etc. When we study God’s attributes apart from Jesus, it becomes obscure, and can seem impenetrable. When we look at all of God’s attributes through His Son’s birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, it shows us beauty to the highest degree.

-List of attributes we will look at:
Week 2: God’s Happyness
Week 3: God’s Ordinary-ness
Week 4: God’s Independence
Week 5: God’s Omnipresence
Week 6: God’s Omnipotence
Week 7: God’s Compassion
Week 8: God’s Holiness
Week 9: God’s Knowledge/Wisdom
Week 10: God’s Beauty
Week 11: God’s Grace and Mercy
Week 12: God’s Love and Wrath
Week 13: God’s Jealousy
Week 14: God’s Justice/Righteousness
Week 15: God’s Unity