THE
BAD NEWS IS
Romans
1:18
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
Romans 2:5
But because of your
stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath
against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous
judgment will be revealed.
Romans
2:8
But
for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow
evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Sadly, atheists and functional atheists (those who simply live as though God doesn't exist) see these warnings as threats and, well, "I'd rather stand in hell than bow in heaven." So be it.
THE
GOOD NEWS IS
Romans
5:9
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
1
Thessalonians 5:9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We,
as Christians do not need to fear that God is angry with us. When we
fall away or disobey, He is saddened and longs for us to return to a
life of peace which can only come through a healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus. His anger is a
non-issue for us because He sees us through the ‘lens’ of Jesus.
We can relax. We can lean back into His arms and experience the
warmth of His enormous love for us. Every single morning we can
start the day by putting on the breastplate of God’s approval
(righteousness). We can obey Jesus, not out of fear of punishment if
we don't obey, but because it is a pleasure to serve the One who
loves us unconditionally. We can show our love for the One who
promises to never leave us, to never give up on us.
How very reassuring for you. Of course you will go to heaven and
ReplyDelete"lean back into His arms and experience the warmth of His enormous love for us."
Although I must say that this fantasy sounds a bit, well, corporeal to me. Wasn't it supposed to be a pure soul affair?
Anyway, Rod (sic!), you notice the homoerotic overtones of that fantasy? I hope it makes you more tolerant towards the gay, lesbian, trans and bi community. We're all human, and some of us guys really long for some strong arms and the warmth of an enormous love.
"because it is a pleasure to serve the One who loves us unconditionally"
Beg to differ: unconditionally does not quite describe His love, Rod. There are 613 mitzvahs to follow, if I'm not mistaken, or, if you follow the younger tradition, you have to repent, and accept junior as your savior. Or something like that, too many different versions to describe them all here.
Resting in His strong arms, and feeling His enormous, well, love, comes with quite a few strings attached...