Dear Cornerstone Family,
Those who have the peculiar suffering of listening to me preach multiple times on a Sunday have often remarked how each sermon is different. You’d probably expect that some aspects of communication might change from sermon to sermon, and that is certainly true. More times than not, however, the differences aren’t just phrases or word choices but textual notes, cultural insights, theological elaborations, and practical applications.
For instance, in the noon service sermon last week, I took a rabbit trail into the attributes of God. I noted that God’s anger toward sin, though true of Him, is not an essential attribute of who He is but rather circumstantial. Let me explain how this works, and why this is important.
Holiness is an essential attribute of God. It’s essential because it’s always and necessarily true of God at all times and circumstances. We could point to many places to prove this, but Isaiah 6:3 is one such place, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of the hosts.” Notice, God is holy. Holiness is so central to who God is He can’t choose not to be holy. In short, God is not God without holiness.
The same thing can be said about love. When the Apostle John says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8), he’s making the point that God is in His very essence love. Jesus notes in the high priestly prayer, that love was the basis of His relationship with the Father before the world existed (see John 17:24). Why? Because love is essential to who God is.
Never do we see the Scripture speak of God’s anger in this way. Rather, God’s anger or wrath is the expression of the attribute of holiness toward sin. In other words, God’s anger arises or appears only under certain circumstances—when His holiness is confronted with man’s sin. This is why, of course, the Triune God is never described as sharing in or experiencing anger before the foundation of the world.
Now, this must be nuanced, of course, when it comes to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God pours out His wrath on Jesus Christ on the cross, but He is only able to do this because the Son of God added to himself a human nature and “became sin for us,” to borrow a line from Paul (2 Cor. 5:21). The Father could never have been angry at His Son if the Son hadn’t first taken the guilt of our sin on himself.
Finally, this is also why—and this is very important—God’s anger can be averted. Unlike His love, God’s anger can be quenched if the sin that provokes His anger is removed. This is what happened on the cross! When Jesus took the guilt of our sin on himself, the anger of God that was pointed at us turned to him. When Jesus offered himself up on the cross as payment for that sin, the anger/wrath of God toward our sin was satisfied. So much so that if you’re in Christ, God has no anger toward you. None. Zilch. Nada. It’s been completely removed. Because of what Christ has done, the only thing left God has for you is love.
So, let’s worship like that’s true.
Your servant,
Pastor Nate