The Wrath to Come

The coming wrath... This is a tough one to think about, and I'm not sure I have a ton of hard opinions about that coming wrath anymore. I used to cling to a few Bible verses that I thought painted a "complete" picture, or complete enough, of what this coming wrath will be like. But anymore, after walking with the Lord, becoming a dad, learning that ancient literature is quite a bit harder to read than your average 21st century novel... well I'm just not sure what I know anymore beyond a few things:

1. Yahweh created all things (Genesis 1)
2. In Jesus all things are held together (Colossians 1:17)
3. *No one comes to Father except through Jesus, and only those whom the Father gives to him (John 6)
4. By God's grace alone is anyone chosen (Ephesians 2:8-9)

*See helkyo-what-is-it-for-god-to-draw-man-to-him

So what can I say about anything outside those 4 points? Not a lot that's concrete, but definitely some anecdotes, and those might be helpful.

It's uncomfortable to think about God's wrath I think because a lot of people, Christian or not, have this idea that "we are all God's children" and so we analyze that statement from the position of a son or daughter. But biblically, this is just not even close to accurate... Yahweh disinherited the nations at Babel (Genesis 10-11, Deuteronomy 32) and created a new inheritance for himself. NOT all people are God's children... I don't know where this preschool theology came from but it's been a disaster to the general public's view of legitimate Christianity. John says in this Matthew passage that God can make children from stones - so just being born a human doesn't grant you the status of child of God.

I think people would generally do well to imagine themselves, not as God's children, but as an offender of God's children... Now let's think about wrath for a second. If anyone hurt my daughters, especially someone not already in my good graces, you had best believe that "wrath" will be an accurate word to use to describe my response. If you come for my family, for my children, that'll simply be the end of you. With that minimal perspective in mind... God's wrath kind of is a bit more palletable I think.

How would it be, if someone I didn't know walked into my house and declared themselves my son, my friend, etc. No one gets to declare themselves apart of my family, there's a process to joining a family... Yahweh, as the creator of all things, is the one with the authority to declare these things. He has simply NOT said that all people are his children - what he has done is sent an invitation out that anyone can hear, and those whom he does choose are given the ability to respond to it. The hearts of the men and women who hear the call and are changed are the ones who can refer themselves as a son or daughter of the King.

So, if someone who is not God's child thinks that God has no right to exhibit wrath against the ones harming his kids... well... I'm not sure what argument anyone can have there... if you break into my house and harm my family you're in for a rough time - if you harm the kids of the creator of EVERYTHING, I can only imagine "wrath" would be just the beginning.

Follow-up post coming: the-wrath-to-come-pt-2