For God so loved the world… (John 3:16, NIV)
No generation has been told more often, “God loves you,” yet no generation has struggled more to experience God’s love. That’s because our ideas about God’s love have become sentimental.
Since we’ve lost touch with the truth of God’s wrath, we’ve also lost touch with the knowledge of God’s love. Tim Keller illustrates how this happens in his book, Is Hell For Real?
If an area is cleared of its predatory or undesirable animals, the balance of that environment may be so upset that desirable plants and animals are also lost. In the same way, if we avoid difficult or ‘harsh’ doctrines within the historic Christian faith, we may find to our surprise that we’ve gutted pleasant and cherished beliefs too. The loss of the doctrines of hell, judgment and the holiness of God does irreparable damage to our deepest comforts…
[tweet_box design=”default”]If you reject the doctrine of God’s wrath, don’t expect to grasp the love of God.[/tweet_box]
If you reject the doctrine of God’s wrath, don’t expect to grasp the love of God. You’re living at the level of sentimentality. But once you grasp it, your eyes will open to what was happening at the cross—the Divine wrath being poured out on the Divine Person—and you’ll know that God loves you: “The Son of God endured this for me!”
Maybe you thought, “God’s wrath shows how much God hates me.” Maybe this truth has even caused you to hate and to fight against God. Can you begin to see, through the cross, that God’s wrath shows how much he loves you?
What do you see of God’s love for you in the cross?
If you reject the doctrine of God’s wrath, don’t expect to grasp the love of God. You’re living at the level of sentimentality.