For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
(Rom1:18) Translation: ESV
My neighbour is an experienced retired dog trainer who is raising two puppies in our apartment complex. He has been training them and nurturing them but one day, one of the pups stopped responding to his instructions. Nothing the dog trainer did seemed to work, and it even attacked him when he got close to pet it.
The misbehaving dog would bark at late hours of the night, and the neighbours raised noise complaints to the apartment management, threatening to take action against the trainer. Hearing of this, the dog trainer called for a meeting with his neighbours to come face-to-face with them to confront the issue.
“We can’t sleep at night!’ one neighbour cried. “When your dogs bark, it makes our dogs bark and it’s complete chaos! Why haven’t you put the dog down yet?”
“I have done everything I can and will keep trying,” the seasoned dog trainer replied. “How could you ask me to put my dog down? Do you ask fathers to put their misbehaving sons down?” he questioned back.
“Of course not! That’s inhumane,” the neighbour quipped back. “A real father would never do that.”
To that, the man said nothing, leaving the answer hanging in the air.
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There is something very striking in this verse, and we owe it to ourselves to look at it more closely if we are to form a better picture of God’s character and heart.
As Christians giving testimony, the first thing we tend to go for is the love of God, right? It feels easier to convince someone to come to God through the love of God. So the question is: why does Paul start off with the Wrath of God?
When I first read the letter to the Romans, I pictured a Zeus-like figure standing on a cloud, raising a thunderbolt towards the earth. I thought that if God is a god of love, then here Paul must be saying that he’s a god of justice, too.
But from verses 18-32, there is no mention of God dealting punishment, no scene of retribution, no act of vengeance. Instead, we get a confronting sequence of how humankind turned away from God. And what is God’s response to this? ‘God gave them up to impurity, ‘God gave them up to dishonourable passions’, ‘God gave them up to a base mind”.
Not the reaction we expect, huh? All the Father did was give us up to our sin, which seems so powerless, so helpless, or is it indifference? Did God give up on us?
If we consider what the Lord did on the cross, then we quickly realise that He didn’t. Quite the contrary, there is nothing that God wouldn’t give to save sinful man.
So why does He not do something about man’s sin? He did, but not in the way that we thought He would. Instead of eradicating evil, He endured and suffered all the consequences of sin just as the dog trainer endured the scorn of the neighbours. And God endures until the time is fulfilled, when His patience will pay off, and the way of rebirth opened up through the coming of Jesus Christ.
Can you feel God’s wrath that also contains His patience and love?
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I confirm in my heart that You did not give up on us and that Your wondrous love is greater and more stubborn than our sin. The Apostle Paul shows us that You’re not a vengeful God, and I testify in Jesus Christ that you are a fair and loving God. In Jesus Name we prayed, Amen.