Jesus: Our Wrath Bearer

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 A combination of various events recently have led me back to look at the issue of sin.  Learning about the holiness of God as opposed to the total depravity of man is mind blowing.  It is a hopeless situation. Psalm 24 tells us that only the man who has clean hands and a pure heart can stand before the King of Glory.  No human has ever attained that level of perfection, except Jesus.  Man can never dream of an eternity in God's perfect Heaven. All we can do is cry out to God as the Psalmist does in Psalm 51:

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions."  

BUT, Jesus!  Jesus is the answer. Jesus made the way. Jesus is the only one who can fit the description in Psalm 24. 

The wonder of it is in I John 4:10: 

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

    Propitiation is a big word with a fairly simple meaning.  One way I found it explained was "Wrath-Bearer." This imagery is awesome to me.  Sin is such a rebellion against God's holy character that it must receive the full brunt of His righteous wrath.  This is not a whiny-child type of anger we are talking about.  This is not a temper tanrum.  This is the Holy, righteous God of the universe, full of indignation and holy anger at the breaking of His laws. The image is of Jesus on the cross with every single sin of all of humanity on Him, holding back the gates of Hell and sheilding us from that horror that is the wrath of God.  

    As the "Wrath-Bearer," Jesus took on the entirety of God's wrath against every sin ever committed or yet to be committed against a Holy, Righteous God.  Against Himself, who had never sinned.  Oh, what a Saviour!

    Now, because of the events of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to experience that fellowship for all eternity.  But there is more.  Jesus gives us His righteousness!  Now, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21:

    "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. "

    The Holy Son of God bore the wrath of my sin, and now God sees the righteousness of Him when He sees me! God sees His perfect Son, not my ugly, sin-filled heart.  

    Do you remember that old hymn that says, "Clothed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne!"  Such true and beautiful words to gird up our faith!  

    Coming to grips with our sin is harrowing to our soul.  We must come to a point of complete brokenness as we realize that we our situation is hopeless.  Only then can we humbly receive the righteousness of Jesus and take our place with the saints before the Throne of God.  

    If you have never come to this place of brokenness, I urge you to look at what the Bible says about sin.  Jesus made a way and the gift of eternal salvation is there for you. Contact any of the leadership at Promise Ministries Church, myself, or another Christ-follower if you would like more information or have questions. 

    If you have already received the gift of eternal salvation, we must continually remember the magnitude of the gift we have received.  We must never forget that place of brokenness, and we must continually live in gratitude and praise for that gift that Jesus gave us: His own righteousness.  We can never repay such a debt.  The very least we can do is live a life of gratitude for this enormous gift.  More than a quick, "Thank you, Lord" when it crosses our mind.  This must be reflected in how we live.  Every action and word is changed when we first ask ourselves, "Does this reflect the righteousness of Jesus to those around me?  Am I walking worthy of the calling to which I have been called?" 

I pray we are walking worthy this week, praising Jesus -- our Wrath Bearer-- for His robes of righteousness!

💓 Heather Sparks💓

    


    

    


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