Text: Isaiah 53:1-12
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
There
is a popular phrase that is used in evangelism in American Spirituality these
days. It is the term, “saved.” It is common for an Evangelist to ask the
question, “Are you saved.” It is a
question to discern whether or not one is a Christian or not. However, this question begs us to ask the
next question, “Saved from what?”
Indeed, “Christians speak of ‘being saved, ‘but all too often don’t
follow the phrase to its logical reply: ‘Saved from what?’”[1]
If
I were to ask you this question tonight, “Are you Saved?,” I am sure that you
would reply that you are indeed saved.
If I were to ask you the next question, “Saved from what?,” I am sure
that many of you would say that you are saved from sin, death, and the
devil. This is indeed true. However, there is also one more thing that we
are saved from, and the answer might surprise you. What is that answer? The answer is that we are saved from God and
His wrath. Yes, saved from wrath.
What
is wrath though? Wrath is the outpouring
of anger and indignation. It is
punishment for a wrong. It is a verdict
against a wrong. It is rejection.
This
idea that we are saved from God’s anger, indignation, punishment, and rejection
is a contested and popular idea in our day and age. A recent popular evangelical pastor and
author named Rob Bell is pushes against the idea of God’s wrath. He recently stated,
“What is God like? Because millions and millions of people were
taught that the primary message is that God is going to send you to hell unless
you believe in Jesus. So what gets
subtly taught is that Jesus rescues you from God, but what kind of God is that,
that we need to be rescued from this God?
How could that God ever be good?
How could that God ever be trusted?
How could that ever be good news?”
On
the other side of the extreme there is a church called Westboro Baptist Church
that is led by Fred Phelps. It is a
fundamentalist church that can often be seen holding signs saying, “Thank God
for 911; God hates America; The Jews killed Jesus; or Thank God for Dead
Soldiers.” This church is the church
that has been in the news over the last couple of years due to their protesting
the funerals of dead soldiers.
With
both of these examples, we can see an obvious problem; we find ourselves at an
impasse. If we embrace the teaching of
Rob Bell, where God does not have wrath against sin, then God is not just. If there is no wrath against sin from God,
then there would be no demand for Jesus Christ to die on the cross. If God does not have an issue with sin, then
what’s the point of the cross? On the
other side, if God is totally wrath and He has no love then it would’ve been
pointless for Christ to suffer and die.
Furthermore, if God is only wrath, where is our solution? How hard do we have to try to get on God’s
good side and avoid His heavy hand of wrath?
So,
who is right? How do we solve this?
As
we look to scripture we see that God indeed has wrath and a verdict toward
sin. God is an all-consuming fire and it
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.[2] God’s attitude towards sin is one of anger
and indignation. God’s disposition isn’t
a warm fuzzy feeling towards sin. Sin
deserves to be punished. Paul says in
his letter to the church in Rome that the wages of sin is death.[3] The prophet Ezekiel says that the soul who
sins shall die.[4] In fact, one who has sin is under a
curse. This curse is God’s pronouncement
of guilt.[5] Sin makes a separation between you and your God;
your sins have hidden God’s face from you so that he does not hear you.[6] Yes, God does indeed have wrath.
You
may ask though, “Can’t God just ease up and chill out? Can’t God sweep this sin under the carpet,
and ignore the errors?” My friends, if
He did do this, He would no longer be just.
God cannot relax His character; He cannot withdraw His punishment of sin
for this would be unjust and unreasonable.
Otherwise stated, for God to be just, fair, orderly, and so forth, He
has to release vengeance on sin. To not
do so would violate His very character of being a Holy, Just, Supreme,
all-knowing God.
This
leads you and me down a difficult path.
How can we function with the knowledge of God being rightly angry with
us due to our sin? We can barely
function when a neighbor, a friend, or a family member expresses anger towards
us. How will our conscience ever be at
rest knowing that God curses sin? How
will we face the battles and struggles of life knowing that we are forsaken and
reject? How can we derive any assurance
and comfort from God in this life when He is holy and we are not? This leads us to fear, doubt, and
uncertainty.
The
good news of the old rugged cross, this cross that we are focusing on during
our Wednesday Night Lenten Services, is that at the cross there is a
declaration that God’s wrath is not the final word for you and me. You see, at the old rugged cross we have the
end of God against us and the beginning of God for us. Yes, at the cross, as our reading from
tonight says, the Lord crushed the suffering servant. Yes, Jesus was put to grief, His soul made an
offering for sin. This was the Father’s
will, to crush the Son. Did you hear
this? In Christ, God’s wrath was spent,
not withdrawn. It was the Father’s will
to crush Christ, to spend His wrath, judgment, and vengeance upon Christ. God does not withdraw His wrath thus becoming
unjust but He spends it and unleashes it all upon Christ, our substitute. Jesus, doesn’t cancel the wrath of God, but
He absorbs it. Christ on the cross
experienced the full fury, wrath, and damnation from the Father and He did it
for you! This is the power of the old
rugged cross for you. Because of the old
rugged cross, God’s wrath was satisfied upon Jesus for us, which means when we
have Christ we don’t have to fear.
Because of the old rugged cross, the curse of sin has been
satisfied. No longer do our consciences
have to be troubled spiritually speaking; Christ drank the poison for us and
was damned for us. Because of the old
rugged cross, God will never leave us nor forsake us. His face is towards us with favor and love
because Jesus appeased and satisfied justice.
My
friends you have been crucified with Christ, buried with Him in your baptism,
established in Him, and saved from the wrath of God.
The peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] R.C. Sproul, “Saved From What?” http://www.amazon.com/Saved-What-R-C-Sproul/dp/1433513420, 11 March
2014.
[2] See Hebrews 10:31, 12:29.
[3] See Romans 6:23.
[4] See Ezekiel 18:4.
[5] See Galatians 3:10 & Deuteronomy 27:26.
[6] See Isaiah 59:2, 64:7.
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