Lie: The Cross is not About Wrath
Theology of the Devil • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning
My name is Zach Wells
Aggies win
Playoff Baseball
Missing Announcements
Dismissal
Apologetics
We are in week 6 of a series that we are titling “theology of the devil”
We are looking at the lies of the enemy and ways he tries to attack
The end goal of this series isn’t just to understand our enemy better though - it is to know his tactics so we might understand our God more rightly and the glory He is due
This week we are breaking apart the lie that the Cross is not about wrath
Pray
Pray
Message Introduction
Message Introduction
“to free from confinement, danger, or evil” to save, to deliver is the dictionary definition of RESCUE
There has been some miraculous stories of rescue throughout the years
In January 2009, there was one miraculous rescue story that I find so fascinating because I always wanted to be a pilot until I realized you needed perfect vision and I DO NOT have that
US Airways Flight 1549 departed New York LaGuardia Airport (where we land for out NY mission trip as a matter of fact)
150 passengers on board headed to Charlotte NC
Normal Takeoff
Birds strike the engine and they lose all power to their engines
They couldn’t make it to any nearby airport
So they headed for the Hudson River
Make high impact landing, but somehow the plane became a very expensive boat really fast
Cold water comes rushing in (middle of winter)
They started to exit out of the emergency doors and onto the slide rafts
All 150 passengers and all of the crew made it out of the plane and to safety
Rescue is GOOD, we all love a good rescue story and here is the reality in the room today…
WE ALL NEED RESCUE
There is no one in this room that can walk around claiming that they don’t need rescue
What do we need rescue from though?
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (ESV)
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
We need rescue from the wrath of God
As we read that verse in Romans we see that God’s wrath is poured out against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
Underneath us needing deliverance from God’s wrath is the idea that - We need rescue from ourselves (sin has fractured every area of our lives)
The world we live in has normalized sin
We don’t really call sin “sin” anymore
We just “struggle”
We just are walking through hard times so I can drink it away
No, the reality of our lives is that we have sinned and rebelled against God, and thus the natural response of a GOOD God would be for His wrath to be poured out, not to let sin go unpunished or unhandled
The Cross is Horrifying
The Cross is Horrifying
We see this when we look at the cross, God’s wrath being poured out on His One and Only Son because of the sins of the rest of humanity
To be honest, the cross is horrifying
No one looks at the Roman Torture device of the cross and not think of wrath/anger/punishment
This is a brutal device used for criminals
Although the cross is horrifying, it has a purpose
It wasn’t just a reckless murder that God ordained through human hands as some like to think
The cross is not God the Father committing child abuse
The cross gives us access to rescue from the wrath of God
Jesus took our place on the cross, that we might be covered by His blood shed, the wrath of God being poured out upon His Son, so then we would have victory through the resurrection 3 days later from the grave
The wrath of God is still on our shoulders if Jesus didn’t resurrect from the grave
1 Corinthians 15:14 “14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”
We have to know that we have a God who is SOVEREIGN and sees ALL things from eternity past and eternity to come
Near the end of Mark chapter 8, Jesus foretells His death and His ascension
Read with me starting in Mark 8:31
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Jesus knew that the plan for His life was to satisfy the wrath of God on the cross
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Here in this passage Jesus is at Gethsemane, and is praying to His Father
We see Jesus’ humanity here, but also a complete surrender to the will of the Father
The desire of the Father was to have His wrath satisfied, but He couldn’t just let the disobedience of sinful humanity slip under the rug or He wouldn’t be a righteous judge, and to be honest this wouldn’t be loving
At this point, we may think that an angry God led His Son to die on a cross, but we see in John 10 this just isn’t the case
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Jesus willingly took upon the wrath of God
He laid down His life under His own accord, but He also has the power to resurrect which is where we find our freedom
The will of the Son and the Father aren’t contradicting each other at all, they are the same EXACT WILL…
God wants His love and ultimately His Name to be displayed to EVERY nation, tribe, and tongue
The cross is about wrath because it is satisfying (cancelling out) the sins of the saints
For the cross to set you free from your sins it HAS to be about wrath
Now that we see the cross is about wrath, I want us to understand what God’s wrath actually means and looks like…
Truths about the wrath of God:
God’s wrath is just and fair
J.I. Packer summarizes: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” (Knowing God, 151).
We are to fear the wrath of God with reverence
God’s wrath is unchanging between the OT and NT
Here’s a tough one:
God’s wrath IS his love in action against sin/disobedience
God’s wrath is fully satisfied in Christ for those who believe in Him
God’s wrath is owed, justified, and clear all throughout Scripture
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Wrath, unlike love, is not one of the intrinsic perfections of God. Rather, it is a function of God’s holiness against sin. Where there is no sin, there is no wrath—but there will always be love in God. Where God in his holiness confronts his image-bearers in their rebellion, there must be wrath, or God is not the jealous God he claims to be, and his holiness is impugned. The price of diluting God’s wrath is diminishing God’s holiness.
D. A. Carson
The cross. What a terror. The cross of Christ. What a terror and glory. The worst brutality meets the mightiest meekness. Unfathomable horror meets unsurpassed beauty. The most righteous condemnation meets the most gracious pardon. The greatest justice meets the greatest mercy. The fiercest wrath meets the most bountiful favor. And such love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9–10)
Who would have ever dreamed a Roman cross, one of the worst, most fearsome devices of torture ever devised, would become a symbol of the greatest love ever expressed? For “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” and saved us “from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:8–9).
The cross isn’t about your moral and external betterment -> the enemy wants you to think this
Listen to better music, not go to those parties, clean up your speech a little bit
The devil doesn’t want you to have true intimacy with Christ, but instead wants you to distance yourself
As we close I want you to hear this, the wrath of God is not the main message of the gospel, but the biblical gospel cannot be understood apart from it. On the cross, God the Son bore the full weight of divine judgment, even as he volunteered himself—in eternity and time—to drink the full cup of God’s wrath (Psa. 75:8). As we learn from his prayers in Gethsemane, there was no other way for wrath to be removed, but through his death on the cross (Matt. 26:39, 42). For all those who trust in Christ, this punishment is removed. For those who refuse Christ, God’s wrath remains (John 3:36; Rom. 2:6). At the final judgment, God will separate those for whom Christ bore their wrath from those whom will bear the punishment themselves. Still, the eternal realities of heaven and hell can only be understood with a proper understanding of God’s wrath.
Finally, God’s wrath generates wisdom and praise when we understand the fullness of God’s justice and mercy. In Psalm 90, Moses finds understanding when he considers the wrath of God. And in Revelation, John recounts the smoke of God’s judgment upon the wicked. Remarkably, instead of inviting the forced applause, the wrath of the Lamb evokes endless praise in the people of God. Therefore, we will let the great multitude of God’s redeemed have the final word about God’s righteous wrath, as they teach us to embrace this doctrine and not reject it.
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” 3 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever” (Rev. 19:1–3).
I am just going to close with a powerful passage in Isaiah 53 that prophecies the good news of Jesus Christ
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
So the cross is about wrath, why?
Because it is the greatest expression of love towards sinners who don’t deserve it like you or me
Pray