A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


Showing posts with label God's Wrath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Wrath. Show all posts

October 1, 2023

God's Righteousness and His Wrath: The Fullness of His Character


This may not be a popular post, but it has been on my heart to write about these two very important aspects of God for quite awhile: His righteousness and His wrath. Because I see so much unrighteousness at nearly every level in the world -- from the personal nature of mankind to the global manifestations -- I am left wondering how much longer will God tolerate the wicked passions of His creation? What do we really understand about His righteousness? About His wrath?

The Church is very good at teaching us about that first part of God's character: His righteousness, which is very often portrayed as His Mercy. That is the picture that most Christians have of Jesus and the Father. In the words of Bible teacher Derek Prince, "God's mercy offers His righteousness, which He imparts to those who receive by faith the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf."  True, because of His mercy towards us, He offers His righteousness, but it must be received and accepted by having faith in Jesus. And God has been showing me there is so much more to this concept, and His character.

In an effort to win new converts, we often say to unbelievers, "Jesus died for my sins. Through my faith in Him, I am forgiven of all my transgressions -- past, present, and future -- and God has poured out His love on me.  That's what He wants to do for you, too."  We are pretty good at expressing that beautiful Truth. But we need to take a good, hard look at ourselves and ask the question, "Are we suppressing the whole truth of God's character?" 

It is good [and right] to express to new believers that in the Gospel of Christ, "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith [springing from faith and leading to more faith], for it is written 'The just shall live by faith' ". We often cherry pick this beautiful verse to uplift our spirits when we're feeling down, but do you know the verses that precede and follow Romans 1:17? In verse 16, the Apostle Paul tells us, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek". I've included the Amplified version of this verse because it actually tells us what God is saving us from! He isn't just giving us some free gift because He loves us. He wants us to know why we need to be saved and what it cost Him!

So, in verse 18, we get our answer: " For [God does not overlook sin and] the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness suppress and stifle the truth". If we are not revealing the significance of the verses that surround the gospel and the power of God for salvation, then we are doing a great disservice to those we are trying to reach, and we are not honoring the full character of God. 

I want to return to Derek Prince's quote and give you the continuation of his thoughts on God's righteousness:  "Christians who question the reality of God's judgment on sin should ponder afresh the significance of the crucifixion. Even Jesus could not make sin acceptable to God, but had to endure the full outpouring of His wrath." So, yes, Christ's substitutionary death at Calvary is the ultimate sign of God's mercy on a sinful world. But often, the Church fails to point out that it is, at the same time, the ultimate revelation of God's wrath, poured out on Jesus when He became identified with man's sin. How many times have you heard Christians refer to the attributes of God's lovingkindness, mercy and grace; and how many pictures of Jesus are hanging in Church sanctuaries and classrooms of the gentle Christ with the lamb around his neck? Do you ever see pictures of an angry God, or of Jesus at the head of His heavenly army, coming to slay the wicked of the earth?  

Instead, we are used to seeing Christ nailed on the Cross, head bowed, but with no marks upon his body. Many Christians will point to the Cross as the true manifestation of God's character, and only see Love. But have you ever seen the depictions of what historians and medical experts say Jesus's body really looked like after He was whipped and scourged before going to the Cross? They speak of horrendous damage to His human body; blood oozing from the capillaries and veins; the skin of His back hanging in ribbons, and the entire area as an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. 

Yes, the fact that Jesus went to the Cross for us is an expression of God's Love; a love so extraordinary that we cannot even imagine it. But we should also be reminded that what is shown to us at the Cross is more than God's love and mercy for us. The Bible, itself, tells us that God does not overlook sin, and the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The Cross is the revelation of God's wrath ... not even His precious Son escaped it. The Cross is a picture of Jesus enduring the outpouring of God's wrath that is due every man for his sins against the Lord; all the wrath that has been storing up since Adam, and will continue to be stored up until Christ returns.  Yes, His love has given us a way to be saved from that wrath through faith in His Son, but that wrath is still in play and will be poured out upon the wicked (those who reject Christ) when Yeshua returns in triumph at the end of this Age.  

The Apostle Paul is careful to make sure that we understand the dual aspect of God's character which includes both Righteousness and Wrath.  He says in Romans 11:22, "Therefore consider the goodness [or kindness] and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."  Now, I'm here to tell you that Christians don't want to hear that!  This is getting into really uncomfortable territory and forces us to consider that God's wrath has not been taken off the table, so to speak. Once we've seen and felt and experienced the goodness of God through our salvation, we don't want to hear that there's any more possibility of punishment -- or discipline, or wrath, or whatever you want to call it.  You will hear some say, "Well, they were never saved in the first place." But -- and I don't mean to offend you -- but that seems like a pretty convenient caveat, doesn't it?

In the Greek translation of the New Testament, Paul actually cautions new Gentile converts who think that their profession of faith and salvation renders them immune from God's wrath forever:  "Stop having such a superiority complex; but be fearing...".  He then goes on to remind them of both God's kindness and severity, in the cutting off of the natural branches, the Jews... "for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either". But we know the way to eternal life, and should not fear God's wrath if we continue in His goodness. That's why I'm always cautioning the faithful to not compromise with the world and its sins. Remain faithful to God, and He will remain faithful to deliver you!    

The Church has been living in a self-declared "Age of Grace". But it is time the Church and all Christians who fear Him to present the full character of God. It is quite evident that the world is spiraling out of control and the depths of sin have become abominable.   We must declare that there can be no doubt of the wrath of God against all the wickedness of men—against sin. It was seen at the Flood; in the destruction of Sodom; and on the Holy One who was made sin for us. It is also revealed that He is coming in judgment, taking vengeance. The wicked will be cast into the lake of fire. The love of God alone, will not rescue us on His Day of Wrath. It will be God's own righteousness that He sees in us [through our faith in Jesus] that will save us and deliver us from the wrath that the world has brought upon itself. "The just[ified] will live by faith"!  

I know this is not a subject that is easy to hear or receive. We would rather live in the message of God's Grace, Mercy, and Love. But we must live our faith in Truth. God has shown us both His Righteousness and His Wrath. We should be able to accept that a Righteous God cannot tolerate sin, because that would demean His moral, good, and guiltless nature. And therefore, He is entitled to His wrath against those who would walk in sin against His creation. To look upon one part of His nature, while denying the other, is to both misinform and deceive. Instead, praise Him for the fullness of His character and His heart to draw all men -- both the justified and the wicked -- to Him. He never gives up on us!

Romans 11:33    Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!


 

June 20, 2023

An Updated Look At How Far We've Come Towards "The Days of Noah"


Every once in awhile I like to see which of my 2466 posts throughout the life of this blog are drawing attention. I was surprised that within the last week or so, an article I wrote on August 1, 2014 has drawn an inordinate amount of scrutiny. The post was titled How Much Longer? (As It Was In The Days of Noah). I am actually amazed to see how relevant it still is today, and just how much further down the road to Jesus's return we've traveled in the last nine years.

So, I think there is benefit in revisiting the truth that the Holy Spirit counseled me to write that day. And I want to share the new observations that must be added to those previous reflections. As the Bible says in Isaiah 28:9-10, To whom will He teach knowledge, and to whom will He explain the message? ... For it is precept upon precept, line upon line; here a little, there a little. We must be wise and vigilant in listening for the clues He reveals to those willing to trust His voice. Here is what I was discerning in 2014 ... I hope you can recall what we were witnessing then, and begin to discern what I'm saying about our current situation in the addendum to this post....

August 1, 2014. OK, this post should put me squarely in the "crazy camp", but I just have to be honest ... There are days I wake up and wonder, "How much longer can this world survive?"  And, what will our lives be like when everything is torn asunder?  You see, for the last several years, PLW --(stands for Peace-Loving Warrior, the meaning of my husband's name) -- and I have been blessed with the time and the spiritual desire to dissect the Bible and discern its message for us in these times.  The world is groaning and the time is near ...

It's not just the political world with its scandals and corruption; nor the endless wars that seem to reach into every corner of the globe ... they are not simply "rumors of wars" anymore. People are killed and tortured, having their heads cut off; and much of it in the name of religious ideology. Planes full of innocent people are bombed out of the sky, and women and children are used as human shields in an attempt to drive a whole nation of people "into the sea". 

But I'm also aware that the lust for oil is at the heart of many of these conflicts. If you dig deep enough under the propaganda, you will usually find a trail that links you directly to a massive oil reserve.  This includes all the pseudo-scientific data on global warming (or is it cooling these days?); there is always someone, or a group of "someones", who have become millionaires by peddling their brand of "caring for the globe".  In the meantime, nations send thousands of their young men to die -- not really for patriotic and sovereign reasons, but as a strategic move on the chess board of oil consumption.

It's not just mankind that is in turmoil. The very earth is threatened. We have huge sinkholes appearing all over the globe; the latest in the spotlight is at a place in Siberia called "the end of the world". Then there are the scientists at NASA who are warning about powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun that could potentially destroy earth. And even "Mother Nature" seems to be a little confused; weather events happen out of season, and the violence of storms seems to be mounting. There is a growing concern over the New Madrid fault line in our nation's heartland, as well as the heating up of the earth's core at Yellowstone National Park. And let's not forget that the "Ring of Fire" is showing signs of activity. This an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, and could potentially affect the Pacific rim of several continents.

Where am I going with all this doom and gloom?  Let me start by saying that this wasn't the original design for mankind OR the planet.  Everything God created was originally good.  You don't have to be a Believer to comprehend this fact, because those with even the simplest understanding of the Scriptures know that things were perfect here on planet Earth until Satan infiltrated the Garden and set into motion a war for all ages.  I just don't think that Christians fully understand how that war has been waged.

Let me attempt to explain my thoughts ... When Satan tempted Eve to disobey God, the judgment was swift and prophetic by the Creator of the Universe:  "I will put enmity (hostility, friction, hate) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring." That statement has been misunderstood by centuries of Christians and Church leaders.

Satan has known God's plan from the beginning [in the Garden]: to dwell among His creation in personal relationship. And it has been the Devil's desire to disrupt that relationship at all costs. He knew God would eventually have to send His Son to redeem us from the ways that he, Satan, would introduce.  If he could disrupt the genealogy and eventual birth of God's perfect Offspring with his own corrupt line, then the world and its inhabitants would worship him, Satan.  That's where Genesis 6:1-4 comes in. The fallen angels, who followed Satan, came to earth and corrupted the daughters of men, introducing the unholy DNA into the human line.  They are the "giants" (or in the Hebrew, Nephilim) we see in verse 4.  But God protected a line of men from his destruction of mankind (Noah and his descendants), and through their line, He sent His perfect Son to reclaim us.  But Satan has not forsaken his plan, and that's why Jesus says in Matthew 24:37, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

Just as God proclaimed back in Genesis, there has been an all-out war throughout time between God's children and Satan's children.  It is now at the boiling point, and it affects all of God's creation; from mankind, to the ecological and geophysical systems, to the stars in the heavens.  Satan's plan to deceive mankind and infect them with a corrupted gene pool has been known by every civilization throughout history.  Genesis records the Giants in the land of Canaan, while Babylonian, Greek and Roman mythology refer to the "Titans" and the "Olympians", who were "children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth)."

Early petroglyphs show ancient societies bowing down to "star people" or "star men", and the mythologies of our American Indians celebrate long-ago stories of visitations by hybrid entities.  Today, we hear stories of "alien abductions" and unbelievable stories by women of having their eggs removed and harvested.  These kinds of scenarios have become popular in our entertainment culture; think of the movies E.T. and Close Encounters of A Third Kind, and the new TV show, Extant, starring Halle Berry as a woman astronaut who comes back from space impregnated by an alien.

Do you think all of this -- from the Genesis 6 story, to Greek and Roman hybrid gods, to centuries-old drawings on cave walls, to sci-fi entertainment -- is just the product of over-active imaginations?  Do you think they are just myths and legends that have managed to maintain a common theme for thousands of years?  Or could Jesus have been giving us a hint of what was to come, when He said "As in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man"?

 It is my humble opinion that secular humanity and lukewarm Christians who reject the theory of the impregnation of human women by fallen angels, are willingly buying into the Satanic deception that is presented on the History Channel's Ancient Aliens.  On this hugely popular show, they actually present the hypothesis that aliens will show up one day, claiming to be our creators. And they will have only our best interests at heart; they will rescue us from the wars and destructions of earthly humans.  All we have to do is become one with them ... Isn't that the same thing that Genesis 6:1-4 tells us?  There was a huge deception of the human race then, and there's another one coming soon, using the same lie that Satan has perpetuated from the beginning.  And God told us as much ... that there would be enmity between man's offspring and Satan's!

You see, there truly is hostility between those of us who are born again into the Spirit of life that is Jesus Christ, and those who fall for Satan's Deception.  The Second Coming of Jesus is Satan's final downfall and defeat.  He is going to do everything he can in the short time he has remaining to convince humanity that we want to become one with him... up to and including taking his Mark. 

I know I have laid out a long and complex theory, but I am so worried that there will be Christians who will be tempted to believe Satan's temptations.  After all, Adam and Eve knew God intimately; they walked in the Garden with Him --- and they still fell for the lies!  Please don't dismiss this theory because you have not heard it in the sanctuary of your mainstream Church.  Satan has managed to control the revelation of Scripture, and the soft-sell Gospel of Prosperity and Grace comes nowhere near warning us of what time it is on the Prophetic clock.  Do your own research!  I do not expect you to take my word for it.  Read the books of Daniel, Revelation, Jude and the Book of Enoch, which is referenced in the Book of Jude, and which was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  There's a reason this book has been revealed for this time!

Finally, I would point you to all the excitement and research in the area of transhumanism.  At the center of this new technology are experiments with genetic manipulation.  Isn't that just another name for what happened in Genesis 6?  The game plan hasn't changed... it's as old as the Creation.  I just want you to be ready to stand against the lies of the Enemy.

June 20, 2023.  It appears to me that very little has changed since 2014. If anything, all that I wrote about then has accelerated to new heights of disquiet and discernment in my spirit. Perhaps others are beginning to see the signs as well, and that is why they are searching the internet on this subject, which turned up my nearly decades-old post. As I re-read it, I clearly heard from the Holy Spirit as He pointed out all the ways the Enemy is advancing his growing deception among mankind.

My first thought is that the political scandals and corruption in the world have not abated; and in fact have accelerated, along with the lies instigated against the world's peoples. Furthermore, the powers that be don't even try to hide their sins. Good has become evil, and Evil has become good. Trust in the media no longer exists, and it's becoming really hard to know what to believe. If you don't have faith in Jesus, I'm not sure how you navigate in this world.

In 2014, WWIII was whispered about. Today, it is loudly predicted and with certainty. In 2014, world governments lusted after oil. They still covet it, but now they've added the appetite for rare earth minerals to their duplicity. Here's what you need to know: Rare earth elements are essential for permanent magnets that are vital for wind turbines and Electronic Vehicle [EV] motors. Electricity networks need a huge amount of copper and aluminum, with copper being a cornerstone for all electricity-related technologies. It appears that the world leaders are hell-bent on moving away from their dependency on oil and gas, and are promoting what they call the "clean energy" of electricity, wind, and solar. It's all about advancing their climate agenda, folks. So, just as oil continues to be a harbinger for foreign wars, we can add the hunger for rare earth minerals to the list of elements that could provoke a global war.   

Just as in 2014, the volcanoes along the Pacific Rim are making themselves known again. And who can deny the weather abnormalities we are currently experiencing? I believe we are coming closer to the manifestation of Romans 8:19, For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.   

I hope that none of the afore-mentioned has caught you by surprise; I hope that you have eyes to see, and ears to hear. But even more, I hope that you have a Biblical worldview that can ascertain that all of this is about an eternal war between God's children and Satan's children. It is essential that we see the Genesis 6 incursion as the continuation of the war Satan started in the Garden of Eden. God declared that He would cause open hostility (enmity) between the seed of Satan and the Seed of mankind because of their disobedience. Satan would stop at nothing to corrupt the DNA in man [which our Creator has given us] in order to defeat the ultimate victory against him that Jesus will deliver on our behalf. 

In the Genesis accounts, Satan was cunning in tempting Eve, and zealous in using fallen angels to set forth his plans to seize Heaven from God's grasp, and claim for Himself the rights to create. In a sense, mankind never saw their fall coming; they were like lambs led to the slaughter. But today, it seems as if men have decidedly chosen to join forces with Satan in the war against God; knowingly embracing Evil to create pandemics [and the subsequent effects of treating them], AI gods, and ways to change the DNA of our children. 

In Genesis 6, Satan hoped to corrupt the gene pool by enticing the fallen angels to help create a race of Nephilim children that no longer were made in the image of God. If he could populate the earth with these hybrid beings, the perfect, Holy son of God could not be born through that bloodline. Today, we see Satan grow his involvement in genetic manipulation far beyond his accomplishments in 2014. As the scientists, and genetic and social engineers pursue transhumanism -- which is the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology -- we can see fruit of those labors in our current issues with Artificial Intelligence. Where is God in this?

We also have doctors, scientists and pharmaceutical companies promoting the gender dysphoria crisis that is corrupting the bodies of our children, so that they no longer resemble what God created ... God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27). [NOTE: Be looking for my post called God Is Gathering the Millstones!].

Not much has changed since 2014, and the truth is nothing has changed since the Garden of Eden and man's creation. Satan has managed to always bring deception upon those in the human race who do not choose to belong to God. When Adam and Eve chose to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they opened the door for man to know, to understand, and to pursue Evil. It gave Satan the opportunity to whisper his lies and to lead mankind into temptation to sin and disobey their Creator. God did not tolerate the consequences of those sins, and His wrath had great consequences for mankind. Do not think that He will tolerate the depth of depravity that we see today. 

As I stated in 2014, the game plan hasn't changed. My question today, in 2023, is how close are we to the "no turning back" mile marker of history? We must be about doing the Father's work now, more than ever, -- just as Jesus did! Do not be silent in the face of all this Evil! Declare the Goodness of God, but do not forsake declaring His intolerance of Evil. We can still make a difference! Satan fears our power and authority ... join El Shaddai in revealing His Truth! Do not fall for the Enemy's Lies and Deception! 

Romans 2:5    But because of your callous stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are [deliberately] storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.