Anger of God

We have to see the mess we are in before we can appreciate the God we have. Before presenting the grace of God, we must understand the wrath of God. Many don’t understand God’s anger because they confuse the wrath of God with the wrath of man. The two have little in common. Human anger is typically self-driven and prone to explosions of temper and violent deeds. We get ticked off because we’ve been overlooked, neglected, or cheated. This is the anger of man. It is not, however, the anger of God.

God doesn’t get angry because He doesn’t get his way. He gets angry because disobedience always results in self-destruction. What kind of father sits by and watches his child hurt himself?

What kind of God would do the same? Do we think He giggles at adultery or snickers at murder? Do you think He looks the other way when we produce television talk shows based on perverse pleasures? Does He shake His head and say, “Humans will be humans”?

I don’t think so. Mark it down and underline it in red. God is rightfully angry. God is a holy God. Our sins are an affront to His holiness. His eyes “cannot look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1:13).

God is angry at the evil that ruins his children.

The question is not, “How dare a loving God be angry?” but rather, “How could a loving God feel anything less?”

Study Guide

Read Romans 1:18–20.

* When have you seen righteous anger?

* Describe in your own words the difference between God’s anger and human anger.

* Compare God’s discipline to the way a parent disciplines a child.

* What does it mean to you that a God powerful enough to destroy us, loves us enough to discipline us?

* What feelings or attitudes keep us from returning to God after we have suffered the consequences of our own sin?

* If we know that sin destroys us, why do we keep on sinning?

* In what ways does God’s anger lead us to His grace?

* In the last few weeks, how has God helped you resist temptation?

Taken from The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible