SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD? -- NOT SO MUCH

(NOTE: I recently had a conversation with a friend who said that Christians made it impossible for him to accept Christianity. I had to agree with him, and told him that for me, I ignore the salesmen, and look past them to the product. And from that perspective, the product needs no selling. This is the perspective from which I view Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit)

At some point we all make a decision to accept the manure that lands in our lap, or we choose to do something about it.

When we are at that point in our lives, we all too often find that pile of manure was deposited there by judgmentalist Christians (that is my term for fundamentalists who leave the fundamentals in the bathroom toilet). At that point, the only reasonable voice we hear may be the one we have long been told is neither reliable nor reasonable—the still small voice in our spirit that is God’s presence in us, the Holy Spirit.

Our government is based on a principal that the majority rules, and so this pollutant has infiltrated the church. But with God, that is not the case, the only voice that SHOULD matter is His, through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. He wants us to live by faith in Him, and that faith means we should listen to His voice alone. Fear, on the other hand, sends us careening around the planet looking for a majority consensus to tell us we are doing okay, or at least okay enough that God is not going to smack us down and grind us to powder. I know all about this, I have been there, and sometimes still stop there for a while, hoping that I will somehow find someone to tell me I am okay.

Many, way too many, Christians live in this fear based belief system without being aware of it. It is what we have been taught by our traditions. It is a belief that says, “God’s gonna git ya” unless you follow the rules. The “sinners in the hands of an angry God” philosophy.

So, why don't we just take a close look at this “Angry God” to see if this true…

This angry God, while we were still His ENEMIES, while we were still AGAINST Him, sent the ONLY SON He ever sired to be the recipient of His judgment and wrath, so that I WOULD NOT HAVE TO, so that YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TO. And Jesus stretched out His hands WILLINGLY so that He would be the recipient of that wrath. WILLINGLY! INTENTIONALLY! AS PLANNED for eons. WITHOUT HESITATION. I fully believe the Bible shows us that Jesus fought to make sure he lived through all of the torture prior to the cross so that He could willingly be nailed to the coss. He did this for every one of us.

Angry hands? not so much.

The images of this "angry" God in the hours prior to the crucifixion are clear...JESUS praying, sweating drops blood, before God in Gethsemane; at once pleading to let the moment slide by and committing Himself to it; Jesus silent before the Sanhedrin…before Pilate… in the face of Roman whips and Roman fists; Jesus struggling along the path to reach the summit of Golgotha; Jesus, suspended in agony on the cross, in anguish crying out, “WHY have you forsaken me?; Jesus, God in the flesh, outstretched hands clearly demonstrating the true nature of Gods “anger.”

Angry hands? Not so much

And then He said, “IT…IS…FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!” God’s anger was fulfilled.

He was buried.

And then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, HE ROSE FROM THE GRAVE. He is ALIVE.

Because HE LIVES,

I can face tomorrow.

BECAUSE HE LIVES

ALL fear is GONE

Because I KNOW

HE HOLDS the future,

MY life is worth LIVING

BECAUSE HE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Gaithers)

And because He lives, I need never fear an Angry God.

An angry, judgmental world? Certainly.

Gods angry hands? Not so much

A world that is hell bent for election on rebelling against Him? YEP, and as often as not that includes me.

And what is it that awaits me when I recognize the error of my ways? If it is God’s anger, it is an anger that takes the form of the atoning and cleansing blood of Jesus and the forgiving and restorative grace of God that surpasses even his perfect mercy.

Angry hands? Not so much

His hands…

…reach out to me,

…lifting me and

…consoling me.

Are they angry hands?

NOT SO MUCH as a speck of anger is in hose hands. The nail scars are ample proof of that.