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What is your SPF?

Words of Faith Final

What is your SPF?
Words of Faith 7-8-2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2021
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Romans 1
    [18] The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

       Wrath is not a favorite topic anywhere, especially when talking about the all-powerful Creator of the universe.  Wrath is definitely something that we do not want to be in the path of.  Yet, Paul begins the teaching of the Gospel of life by talking about wrath.  Why?
       The truth is that we can never understand the love of God unless we first understand the wrath of God.  In fact, the Good News is not particularly good unless we first understand the bad news. If someone tackles you and throws you to the ground, it is simply an intrusion to be angry over, until you realize that the tackler saved you from an oncoming train.  The wrath of God is the oncoming train.  Jesus, God made flesh, is the tackler.
       So, what is God angry about?  So angry that He would give His Son to die for you?  The simplest answer is that God is angry that humans exchanged the truth of His love for a lie.  Things are messed up because of sin. God is really angry about it, primarily because sin hurts His people that He created and because He is a holy God.
       Simply put, the wrath of God is the anger of God against all that is wrong in the universe.  In the Greek, here, we understand that God's wrath is not an agitated outburst of violence or an explosion of temper. It is not the kind of anger that quickly blazes up and then just fades away.  It is not the sort of anger that arises solely from emotion.  
       The wrath of God is decisive anger.  It is the sort of anger that comes from a thoughtful decision.  It is an anger that arises from the mind much more than from emotions. It is righteous indignation that is both just and good.  It is an anger that stands against the sin and evil of the universe, including the violence, slaughter, immorality, and injustices of men. It is an anger that abhors and hates sin and evil because God loves people so much.  
       The wrath of God is an anger that delivers a just vengeance and equal justice. It is an anger that feels deeply that evil and corruption must be opposed and erased from the face of the earth if there is to be a "new heavens and a new earth."  His promise of a new heaven and new earth depends on His wrath, which is expressed in judgment.  
       John the Baptist spoke of the wrath of God when He saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing. He said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath (Matthew 3:7)?
       The Lord Jesus expressed the wrath of God when He encountered man's hardness of heart-- He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored (Mark 3:5).        
       Put another way, the wrath of God is like the most intense radiation imaginable.  What is required to survive is a "covering" with an SPF of 1 billion. Those who have no such covering for their sin will be exposed to the full intensity of the wrath of God.  Nothing can survive such exposure.  Jesus, however, has provided a covering greater even than SPF 1 billion.  Much of what Paul will talk about in the book of Romans deals with this "covering" provided by the blood of Jesus received by faith.
       One might say: "I don't believe in the wrath of God."  In space, it is irrelevant whether you believe in the radiation there or the vacuum of space.  What you believe about facts is meaningless and does not change them.
       One might say: "I believe in the love of God but not the wrath of God."  You cannot have one without the other.  The wrath of God is actually an expression of His love.  It is His righteous anger at the corruption of sin which hurts His people and creation.  Still, whether you believe in the love or wrath of God is irrelevant to its reality.  Both are real.
        When Jesus hung upon the cross, something happened.  He applied a covering for you if you will accept it by faith.  We don't know exactly how because even the sky grew dark, but Jesus cried out as God poured out His wrath. Jesus took that wrath to cover you.  He absorbed the radiation, and because of that, you can live.  Because of that, the train will not hit you. Trust that.  It is the only thing worth trusting. What is your SPF?  

        Lord, I give thanks for Your wrath, for it is an expression of Your love.  I give thanks for Your covering which shelters me from Your wrath by faith.  As Your wrath is revealed, I pray that many will receive, by faith, Your grace, and peace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2021 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.