Thoughts On The Wrath Of God

Utilizing The Darkness

While watching these storm clouds roll in, this verse (in some paraphrased form) came to my mind. When giving it further thought, it leads me to think of His second coming, when He will indeed come in the clouds full of wrath and judgment reserved for the uncircumcised of heart. And perhaps we think too little of His coming again, since we rarely live in light of it. Our actions show where our anticipation is, often being in relationships with people, events we've been planning, and lives we've been living. Our hope is too often placed on things that come before His coming, that have little to no true impact on our lives, and too scarcely do we consider the sinners place beneath those clouds of coming condemnation. 

Our problem is that we too easily rest on Christ's work. I do not mean to sound as though Christ's work was lacking, but rather, our response. Indeed, we rest in light of Christ's atoning work, but this should not be the case. Rather, instead of sitting back in the Lazyboy and saying "Jesus paid it all! Now I get to live life!" we ought to complete that statement by concluding "All to Him I owe!" 

Should a Christian worry about their standing before God when He comes again? Yes. Not in the since of condemnation, but in the brutal reality that we have not done all we could have with the time He has given us. Just as a child standing before their father, feeling they could have cleaned the room so much faster, and so much better overall. Sure, the deed is done. But it was done so halfheartedly, slowly and almost uselessly, that its value to the Father is little. And this "deed" for most professing Christians is most often simply living. That is to say, they believe that their work here for the Father is very general, and involves mostly whatever they want to do. Sure, they'll not always enjoy going to church or reading their Bible, but it gets done, and so that's okay. And yet it isn't! If our security in Christ was to be of such a mindset that leads us to sit back and think about what we want, do what we want, and see Christian, selfless living as a thing we get to schedule ourselves, then this security is nothing but laziness. This sort of "security" is not found in God's Word, however, but rather the opposite. 

"Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you." - 2 Peter 1:10-11

Now hang on a second... Where did this come from? If we believe in eternal security, and the complete work of Jesus Christ, how can this possibly fit? Especially when you put God's sovereignty into the mix. Shouldn't that lead us to not care whether or not He chose us? Shouldn't that make us lazy?

Indeed, our God has paid it all, giving us eternal security in Himself, and He is sovereign, controlling all things. But here is the shocking revelation: we aren't! We are not God, and we do not decree whether or not we are saved. How then do we know if we are saved? Good works. James makes clear that these are inevitable, but more importantly, if they are lacking, our faith is useless, and dare I say, worthy to be questioned. If we are not striving to be useful to the Master, following what He says and desiring to be pleasing to Him in all we do, we are not His, as the sheep know His voice and will follow it, not merely acknowledge its validity. Because, as Peter says, there are things we must practice, not merely acknowledge. We must not merely acknowledge that we are supposed to love God above all, but we are actually supposed to live in light of that. Not merely telling our neighbors good things, but actually doing good things for them. 

And so we are called to make our calling and election sure by abounding in good works. The more we are abounding in the work of our Master and Father, being so focused on Him that our pain and loss are forgotten, the clearer the "entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior" will be to us. 

But the sinner will not have this joy. Not only is there the constant pain of an unfulfilled purpose, but the results of sin, being death and loss, suffering and pain. There  is no satisfaction, and great deal of guilt and fear. And rightfully so. Despite all their confidence in themselves, their causes and the world, when the power of nature begins to be seen over us, they (like the disciples) cower in fear. As big as people think themselves to be, they are dwarfed by the reality of our inability to control. And when those dark clouds carry the Lord, who is the Judge, these will be in utter panic and despair, having only sin as their fallback point, which in the end will only condemn them further into hell. 

And so we must remember, not only that the world will bear such a feeling (and reality!) of hopelessness, but that we are to be diligent in making certain that we are saved, not constantly asking God for salvation (since that is once for all time), but reminding ourselves that this salvation comes through Christ, and Christ being in us evidences itself through good works. Lest we be ashamed when He comes, bearing the same fear and guilt those standing around us have. What will we be doing when He comes? And how diligently will we be doing it? Whether sin or righteousness? Will we be ashamed, or will our confidence be in this same Lord who descends, because He has made clear His own righteousness through the Spirit and His Word? 

Thoughts to think on...