The Wrath of God Manifested
By Mason French
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
How is the wrath of God revealed? When Christians see the wrath of God on display, they make a great mistake in trying to explain it. They try to explain that the wrath of God is the devil working. Christians need to understand a grown-up world—a world where God is acting upon a world of sin. God’s anger is not like man’s wrath. As man does, he does not foam at the mouth and say horrible things; He sets up a rule in the laws of nature. He shows what sin looks like, and it is awful. We try to see a world of pain and heartache and not consider God. We tend to paint a picture in people’s minds that God is a God of love, compassion, and merciful, which is true. He is also a God of action that deals with man in a sinful world.
Many believe that God cannot do anything about the pain and suffering. Well, what do you think has caused all the suffering? God is dealing with sin by allowing terrible things to occur. We should look and be thankful that God is showing us how evil sin is. Maybe you wonder about God letting all this corruption and pain to go on? Remember, he allowed wicked men to beat and crucify His only Son, Jesus Christ. If you want to get an idea of how bad sin is, look at the cross. God allowed this to happen to deal with the problem of sin. He was taking away the power of the devil’s work (I Jn. 3:8). With the death of Christ and His resurrection, man would have a way for eternal life through Jesus. Of course, man must come to Christ and follow His instructions to get eternal life. (Matt. 7:21-23).
When God created man, he allowed man to procreate; it connected humanity so that what any individual did or got would affect others. A virus starts, and others are going to catch it. Remember, one man’s sin (Adam, man’s representative) brought death to all (Rom. 5:12). It does not matter who you are; you will die a physical death. Remember, “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Death is the result of sin (Rom. 6:23). Physical death is not the problem; spiritual death is. Sin separates from God (Gen. 2:17). Adam and Eve died spiritually the very day that they ate of the forbidden fruit. From that time forward, man has a nature of sin. Jesus is the only man that does not have that sinful nature (Heb. 4:15). Jesus had a unique body in man’s form (Heb. 10:5; Phil. 2:6-7). He is now the new Adam as a representative (I Cor. 15:22, 47; 2 Cor. 5:17).
None of us will beat physical death, but we can escape spiritual death. To do this, you must be born again, as Jesus told Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1-5). How are we born again? Well, do what the Word of God tells you to do (I Pet. 1:23). Now start digging into the Word. Without Jesus, we are doomed; with Jesus, we can beat spiritual death. Think about it!