The Wrath of God

 The Wrath of God

Growing up I had one of two reactions to the thought of the wrath of God-either that it totally contradicted the image of the God of love or it caused me to utterly fear God's punishment for my transgressions and therefore to fear ever meeting Him in the first place. Which reaction was more prevalent in my spirit, I can't say because when I look, they are pretty much equal. This dichotomy of what the wrath of God means logically threw my understanding of God into swirls of chaos. Which was it?

Did God love me beyond all telling, or was He sitting there with a giant computer going, "Oh, great. She really messed up this time. Add another two hours to her fire time"? Obviously the two could not coexist. God could not be all-loving and yet have this terrible desire to throw every sinner into the fire for eternity. Either one or the other, but it couldn't be both.

It wasn't until this weekend that the real meaning of the wrath of God came into focus for me. As usual, the Holy Spirit intersected two seemingly disparate pieces of input into my existence, got me to thinking about them, and then sat back and watched for my epiphany to occur.

The first piece of information came in viewing a DVD by Father Robert Barron called "Untold Blessings." In the second of three parts in this presentation, Father Barron talks about the wrath of God as it relates to sinners. However, he doesn't preach hell-fire and brimstone, which is what I always associated God's wrath with. Instead, Father Barron equates the wrath of God with God's incredible, passionate desire to set things right again.

It has been said that God hates sin but loves the sinner. On one level this made since to me (since I am a sinner and I hope God loves me in spite of that), but on another level, once sin is in a sinner, how can the two be separated? Doesn't a sinner who has sinned deserve punishment for every misstep he's made? And isn't that what the wrath of God points to-that if you sin, you will be punished and therefore, you'd better watch your step because one wrong move could spell damnation for eternity?

No, actually. That's not what the wrath of God points to at all. The wrath of God is God's extreme desire to set things right, His anger that His children have been hurt by the sins they themselves have committed. In short, He is angry with the sin, not with the sinner.

The second piece of this understanding came this afternoon when my children and I went to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." In the movie (as I'm sure in the book too although I've never read it), a young boy out of spite and hurt agrees to turn his brother and sisters over to the White Witch (think Satan with long hair and icicles).

It soon becomes apparent to the boy, however, that he's made a terrible mistake. He sees the witch for who she really is, and he tries to escape. Through a series of events, he is indeed reunited with his brother and sisters after talking with the magical Lion king, Aslan.

All now seems well, until the White Witch shows up to claim her prize. It is written that once a traitor has betrayed someone, he is now hers forever. The young boy is trapped, caught in a net of his own willfulness and hurt. Aslan, the Lion (a symbol for Christ) assesses the situation and requests a private conference with the Witch. When they re-emerge, a deal has been struck although at first, we are not privy to the details of the deal.

Soon, however, Aslan voluntarily leaves camp. The two sisters follow him, and then as he approaches the Witch's camp, the two girls hide and watch. It is on the Stone Table that Aslan gives himself in place of the boy. Aslan is beaten, sheered, tied up, and then sacrificed by the Witch. Thinking she has now defeated the only one who could conquer her, she sets out full of vengeance and hatred to destroy the rest of the residents of Narnia who are not on her side.

However, she never counted on the resurrection of Aslan (much the way, I'm sure, Satan didn't see the resurrection of Jesus coming either). When Aslan returns, he makes his entrance on the high arch of a cliff overlooking the scene where his troops are being slaughtered by the Witch and her minions. Aslan takes ones sweeping look and lets out a roar that shakes the entire countryside.

Call it what you want-anger, passion, wrath-Aslan is downright furious at what evil is doing to his people after he sacrificed himself on their behalf, and in short order he rectifies the situation. Evil is vanquished, and the residents of Narnia who have been slaughtered in the battle are restored by the potion the smallest daughter was given that very much resembles blood.

It is a clear symbol that all it takes is one drop of the Blood of Christ for those who have fallen asleep to death to be resurrected with Him.

So, the wrath of God? Yes, it is very much a reality. In fact, He loves us much like a parent whose child comes in two hours after curfew without having called. The parent is understandably angry, but the anger is really more a result of the overwhelming fear of what could have happened to the child. So it is with God. He's angry because He loves us so much. However, He is not angry with us, He is angry for us-standing in the breech between our stupidly choosing evil and what evil wants to do to us because of our stupid choices.

In this context, God's wrath not only meshes perfectly with His love, it also suddenly becomes not scary but comforting. That He would love me so much that when I sin and Satan comes to drag my soul away into his bitter, hate-filled world, Jesus Christ steps in the middle and says, "No, take Me instead"-knowing full well that Satan cannot pass up a deal so sweet. In doing this, Christ ransomed my life by giving His own. Now when Satan tries to take me out anyway, the passion of Christ and of God Our Father is aroused and sets about to banish evil from whence it came. This is without a doubt the most poignant image of God's love for me that I could ever conceive of witnessing.

The wrath of God? It makes me feel more protected and loved than I ever thought possible. In fact, it's now one of the most joyous, emotionally overwhelming concepts I've ever encountered. Who would've thought?

by: Staci Stallings