Question:222, Will God’s anger be forever and who are the recipients of His anger?
Answer: Most people do not like the idea of an angry God. We naturally tend to create our own god in our own image. Our idea of God is generally similar to a grandfather who allows his grandchildren to do whatever they want without ever suffering any consequences for their choices. But the most famous verse in the Bible John 3:16 and following verses clearly rejects that type of god. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life…. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God…. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:16-36). This passage clearly makes a distinction between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not believe. The believers receive eternal life and those who do not believe are condemned and will receive the wrath of God.
The wrath of God is not to be confused with human wrath. Human wrath is essentially an attempt to get revenge on a person who has offended you. “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). The Apostle Paul gives us a clear picture of why God’s wrath is different from human wrath and why it is necessary. “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 1:20). Paul is telling us that those who do not repent of their sins and place their trust in Jesus will face God on judgment day and will experience the wrath of God.
Matthew gives us a sobering picture of what the wrath of God will look like on Judgment Day. “Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…. Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:32-46). Therefore, God will be angry with the wicked (unbelievers) forever.
However, for those who have repented of their sins and placed their trust in Jesus Christ, the wrath of God is no longer aimed at them because Jesus experienced the full measure of God’s wrath on the cross. Jesus became our propitiation. That word occurs four time in the New Testament. Romans 3:25, 1 John 2:2, I john 4:10 and Hebrews 2:17. It means that Jesus satisfied God’s wrath. By placing our trust in Jesus, God has declared that all of our past, present and future sins have been covered by Jesus on the cross and we are declared to be righteous because all of Jesus’ good works have been transferred into our account. All of us rightly deserve to experience God’s wrath but Jesus took our place, so we can now be at peace with God. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). We have been adopted into God’s family; we are declared to be His children. However, because of His great love for us, He does discipline us. Hebrews 12:5-11 tells us that God puts all of His children through difficult times for their own good. He tells us that it, “seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Being a child of God does not exempt us from pain.
God’s wrath will continue forever in hell for those who have not placed their trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But, for those who have repented and have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior the wrath of God has been completely removed, appeased by Jesus on the cross. He experienced hell on the cross as our substitute. Hallelujah what a Savior!