August 14, 2018
… At least some (MANY!) people believe this. But is it true? Let’s find out. Does God really only smile at sin and the sinner, or does He also frown? We don’t have to go very far into the Bible to find the answer.
Genesis 1:26-27 tells of the Creation of man, Adam and Eve. He said of this and all His Creation, “…it was very good” (1:31). I think God smiled as we would have. HOWEVER, Genesis 3:1-24 brings forth the frown: “He drove the man (meaning Adam and Eve) out, and at the east of the Garden of Eden He placed the cheribim and a flaming sword … to guard the way of life.” There it is! Smile turns to frown. So, because of sin, man/woman did not remain in His Paradise.
How do we describe God’s character? The liberals offer us the word “love” – to them, meaning acceptance no matter how-in-the-HELL man lives! Well, God is loving, compassionate, forgiving … but as we saw in Genesis above, He is also full of justice in executing judgment and condemns sin.
Our “love brethren and sisters” point us to Exodus 34:6-7. “The LORD … the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger [so He DOES get angry, just SLOWLY!], abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin…“ We can all agree that God’s basic nature is love; but within this “love” is the potential to exercise wrath. This fact is demonstrated from Genesis to Revelation. How can we miss it?
I only quoted verse 7 partly. Let me finish the verse: “…but who will by NO MEANS clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children…” I’m sure some liberal translators of the Bible will eradicate this last part, deeming it as HATE SPEECH! Punish the wicked? That’s not politically correct is it? No, but it is Biblically Correct.
Psalm 11:7 says, “The LORD is righteous; He loves righteous deeds…”
“Do I not hate them (the wicked), O LORD, who hate you … I hate them with perfect hatred…” (Psalms 139:21-22).
“God is a just judge, and God is ANGRY WITH THE WICKED EVERY DAY”(Psalm 7:11). Many Scriptures support the truth that God is “love” AND “wrathful,” or, rather, that His WRATH is part of His LOVE. Psalm 30:5 declares, “He loves righteousness and justice.” Two other Psalms tell us that “righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psalm 89:14; 97:2).
You see, sinful man wants God to love them but NOT JUDGE them. Never will happen, folks. Because God is perfectly just/righteous, He MUST deal with “sin.” Habakkuk 1:13 tells us, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrong.” That settles the whole question, doesn’t it?
– Gen. Jim, POW