Happy Serene and Accepted

05.16.14

1 Thessalonians 5.9 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. NIV

Here it is, Friday, May 16, 2014 at 4.42 in the morning and I read this (see above). I don’t know where you stand on the tribulation: pre-trib, post-trib, a-trib; it doesn’t matter, God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus didn’t come to this earth to beat up the lost but to save them. So why do we focus on the wrath of God on the wicked and just assume that when God does what God does, He’s also going to do what He does to His people? Pastor Cap Marks says, God isn’t coming to beat up His bride.

Now, that isn’t to say there aren’t those who think that God’s bride needs beat up. There are those who think the Bride of Christ, the Church is a bunch of hypocritical WASP’s deservng of the worst condemnation thinkable up-able. But God doesn’t think that. At all.

Wrath is something that exists, and wrath is something that is going to come upon those who reject God’s invitation. But we can’t think of wrath improperly – we must understand that wrath is God’s righteous response to those who cannot and will not accept His dinner invitation (Revelation 19.9).

One thing wrath is not, is a temper tantrum; God is not out of control. But God is also not going to go lightly on those who spurn His grace and have done despite (Hebrews 10.29 KJV) to the Spirit of God calling upon their lives. One must remember however, that wrath is not the focus of our relationship with God; it’s love. Love is not stupid, love is not blind. Love is not short-sighted to those who are kind. But God’s response to those who reject Him is real and it is the reality we term: wrath. And wrath is not pleasant.

Wrath is simply God’s response to those who reject Him and inherit the consequences of that choice. And His people, disciplined as they may be, are not recipients of His wrath. We do God a tremendous disservice, to those who don’t understand, when we blame Him for punishment, when it’s really discipline. There is a vast difference between the two. Wrath is for the deserving; discipline is for the devoted. And God did not appoint the devoted to suffer wrath.

God desires all of us to be saved and to find our place at His feast. There are those who simply won’t accept that invitation no matter how nicely it is tendered. There are those who are going to go through wrath because they chose to, not because they just didn’t know. But the Bride of Christ is not among the wrath-ed; she is appointed a place of honor at the Feast as every bride ought to be; a place of indescribable happiness, serene peace, and humble acceptance: He chose me!

Father, Help me to represent You rightly today. May I not soft-pedal the reality of wrath but may it also not be a threat to those who may come to know You because of how Your servant knows You: loving, forgiving, accepting, and eager to have as many as possible who will take their place at Your table for eternity. Amen.