-Children of wrath - not at all what God intended. Objects of His righteous anger, not doing what God wants but rather what I want even to the exclusion of all else, and indulgently so, so self-indulgent, giving free reign to my desires and my dying flesh and outcast mind. Whatever those want, they get. Enslaved am I to my desires and wants. In other words, if I want it, I get it, eat it, do it. And if I don’t, then I don’t. Perhaps I am able to maintain some discipline, reign in my wants, exert a level of self-control in certain areas of life, for a season, but even then I am most likely pursuing something I want. I am master of my domain, my wants rule, and rarely if ever would I - on my own - land on wanting with pure motives something which God might actually want. This is the way we were, the way we all lived at one time, including those of us who are now in the company of those who are following Christ. Paul even includes himself. We were all in the same boat, enemies of God, unable to please Him or make peace, unwittingly (for most) incurring His displeasure and His anger and doomed to eternal destruction.
-The wrath of God is not some figment of a deranged imagination. No fantastic concoction of primitive, unenlightened minds, this. Neither is it consigned to the allegedly-backward less-evolved theology of the Old Testament. Jesus talked about it (Matthew 7.13; Mark 9.43-48; Luke 12.5; John 3.36, 15.6), the New Testament authors wrote about it (Romans 1.18, 2.5; 2Thessalonians 1.9; Colossians 3.6; Hebrews 10.27; 2Peter 3.7; Jude 7; Revelation 20.10, 20.15, 21.8). It is the real deal, revealed from heaven against all the deeds and ways of man which fall short of God's standard of perfection. Yes, it is real, frighteningly so, it is eternal, it is horrific, and it is to be avoided at all costs if at all possible. And no, this is not at all how God designed it, not ever what He wanted or intended. Which is why He did something about it...
No comments:
Post a Comment