Eternal Love or Eternal Wrath?

"But the steadfast love of the LORD
Is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children's children,
To those who keep His covenant
And remember to do His commandments"
(Psalm 103:17-18)

In contrast to the fleeting nature of man, God's love is eternal. His righteousness will be given from generation to generation.

But notice the conditions. We like to read that God's love and righteousness are eternal. God will never stop loving. God will never stop being righteous.

But both of those have conditions.

God's love is eternal "on those who fear Him."

His righteousness is given "to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments."

God is love. But God is also just. Perfect love and perfect justice. And we wouldn't want it any other way.

God's justice compels Him to punish sin, which is anything contrary to His nature. Because of the sin in our nature and our lives, we are completely separated from the holy God. From birth, we are under His wrath, because He has to punish sin. (John 3:36).

But God, who is also perfect in His love, desires to have a relationship with His creation. So He made a way for His wrath to be justly satisfied.

His Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross as a sacrifice. He took the wrath of God upon Himself so that the righteousness could be credited to our account (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God didn't have to do that. He didn't have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. He could have left us under His wrath and sent us all to eternal punishment in Hell. But He loved us and wants us to be with Him forever.

So, to benefit from God's eternal love, we have to "fear Him." Respect Him for who He is and take His word for what it says. He really does hate sin and will punish it. He really does love you and wants you to be with Him.

The only way to remove the wrath and replace it with eternal love is through believing what God says is true. Trusting, accepting, fearing, obeying, believing - they are all related words that show the evidence of doing what God wants you to do.

Are you under God's eternal wrath? Or under His eternal love?

Forsaken and Forgiven

We've all experienced the feeling of being forsaken. Someone has left us.

Maybe it was after a parent died.

Maybe it was when the last child left the nest.

Maybe it was after a spouse walked out the door for good.

Maybe it was when a close friend stopped calling.

Those events happen in real life. The pain, the discouragement, the loneliness and even the fear that are experienced are real feelings as we grieve the loss.

But when we think of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, even our closest relationships don't measure up to that intensity.  All of eternity. Always united. Never an argument. Never a time of separation. Working together perfectly. Communication and fellowship without any hindrances for all of eternity. We've never had a relationship like that.

And that relationship was broken.

Jesus said on the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34).

The holy God who cannot look on sin, turned His back on His own Son as He bore the sins of the world. He forsook His own Son as He hung on the cross with your sins and mine (Col 2:13-14; 2 Cor 5:21).

And yet that abandonment did not last. There's no record of how long it was that God turned His back on Jesus. But we know that it didn't last forever. It was limited to a certain length of time.

The end of Eph 4:32 says, "...forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."

We read that and think of the great forgiveness that we have received through the death of Christ on the cross. But I think that is just a part of the story.

God, in His eternal, holy love for His Son, could not turn away from His Son forever. As Jesus hung on the cross, with the weight of the sins of the world, God's love moved Him to forgive us, so that the relationship between Himself and His Son could be restored.

Jesus was bearing the guilt of all of our sins. In order for God to be able to return to a loving relationship with His Son, He had to forgive us.

Rather than making us the center of the redemption story, that perspective puts us as recipients of a side benefit. Redemption did bring about the possibility of a relationship between sinful mankind and a holy God.

But even greater than that: Redemption restored the relationship that was broken between God the Father and God the Son.

Wow.

What if...?

Yesterday I heard a song on the radio that asked the question: "What if we lived today like God were real?"

That's been going through my mind for the last 24 hours.

What if I lived today as if God were real?

My first reaction was, "Of course, He's real! That's what the Bible teaches. I don't doubt that God exists."

But that wasn't the question. What if I lived today as if God were real?

What difference would it make in my life?

If I really believe that God is real and holy, I would abhor sin. I wouldn't delight in watching it on TV, in hearing others talk about it, on dwelling on it in my mind, or practicing it (1 Peter 1:15-16).

If I really believe that God is real and just, I would tell others about Christ dying for their sins. Sin will be punished, but Jesus took that penalty upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21).

If I really believe that God is real and forgiving, I would forgive others. I have been forgiven such a great debt that I can forgive the sins of others against me (Ephesians 4:32).

If I really believe that God is real and patient, I wouldn't get upset when things don't go my way. I would have a listening ear when others need to talk. I would not expect them to do everything right all the time (Galatians 5:22-23).

If I really believe that God is real and sovereign, I would submit to His will each day. I wouldn't complain about unfair treatment. I wouldn't get upset about a change in plans (Genesis 50:21-22).

So what would your day look like if you really believed that God were real?