The Same God on Every Page

The wrath of God is an unpopular subject. A lot people, including many Christians, prefer to think only of God's grace. Some say that God was angry and vengeful in the Old Testament, but he changed his ways when he sent Jesus, whom they think was only meek and mild. But this false dichotomy undermines the gospel by which we are saved. The Old Testament is full of God's mercy, and the New Testament is full of God's wrath. Together, they paint one coherent picture of the God with whom there is no shadow due to change (Jas 1:17). And that's good news for you, me, and the people of Cameroon.

Merciful From the Beginning

A careful reading of the Old Testament shows that God was merciful from the start. In the garden of Eden, after sin entered the world and in the midst of God pronouncing judgment on Adam, Eve, and Satan, we read the promise that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). In this grievous moment, God was already promising to be gracious. Adam and Eve trusted in God's grace when they had children, obeying his command to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen 1:28). Even though God had pronounced death, which certainly did come, Adam and Eve trusted God to keep his promise and provide the woman with a seed. And this promise was ultimately fulfilled when God "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame" through Christ's sin-atoning death on the cross (Col 2:13-15). 

God's mercy was evident toward the ungrateful, idolatrous Israelites as well. After they were delivered from Egypt, God was meeting with Moses to give them his Law, by which they (and we) would learn to please him and love one another. God had just split the Red Sea and delivered them, and what were they doing in the meantime? Making a golden calf to worship! God would've been right to strike them down then and there. But instead, through his appointed mediator Moses, God showed them mercy. Sure, he disciplined them with a plague, but after that he reiterated his promise to give them the land he swore to their fathers; he even listened to Moses' pleas to remain with the people (Ex 32-33). What incredible mercy! And time doesn't allow me to write about his patience during the time of the judges or his promises to deliver his people from captivity after 70 years in Babylon. Just like you and me, the Israelites were constantly earning God's just anger, and he was constantly pouring out mercy and grace.

Wrathful Until the End

The New Testament continues to reveal not only the grace and forgiveness of God, but also his wrath. His wrath is clearly seen in the ministry of Jesus, who called his contemporaries to “repent, for the kingdom of God is near” (Mk 1:14-15). After 400 years of silence from God, Jesus came to inaugurate God’s kingdom on earth, and he presented his hearers with a choice: either repent of their sin and enter into the kingdom, or remain on the outside and face God’s wrath.

The wrath of God was what sent Jesus to the cross. The apostle John wrote that those who do not believe in him are already condemned (Jn 3:18). But Jesus took God's wrath upon himself when he hung on the cross. His propitiatory death removed the wrath of God for all who are united to him by faith! He came to die in our place so that God’s righteous wrath could be satisfied and we could be reconciled to him and welcomed into his holy presence. 

The death of Jesus removed God’s wrath for all who believe, but the New Testament tells us that all who do not believe will be judged. The apostle Paul wrote that there will be wrath and fury for those who don’t obey the gospel (2 Thess 1:7-10). The book of Revelation describes the terrifying scene of Jesus’ return to the earth. John writes that Jesus will come on a white horse wielding a sword and that he will “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” Those who have not trusted him will cry out in fear and long for the rocks to fall on them rather than stand before him in all his terrible holiness. (Rev 6:15-17, 19:11-16). All people of all nations have sinned against the holy and just God, and he will have his vengeance. This is made clear from Genesis to Revelation, and we do well to not overlook the sobering revelation of God’s wrath in the New Testament; our salvation hangs in the balance.

Good News for the Nations

Even as I write this, I tremble at God’s holiness, even though I have been saved by grace through faith. How can such a terrifying reality be good news? Here’s how: it means that God does not change. The consistent revelation of God’s character in the Scriptures gives confidence that he can and will keep all his promises. If the Bible revealed two pictures of God, we wouldn't know which God we were dealing with (or better yet, how he would deal with us) from one day to the next. The trustworthiness of God is why the gospel is true. Everyone who believes in the Son will be saved, and we know that promise is true because he does not change. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is what gets me out of bed in the morning, and it’s why I want to get on a plane. The people of Cameroon need to hear of this faithful, promise-keeping, never-changing God. They need to trust and treasure him. There is no hope to be found anywhere else.