The Bible presents us with difficult pictures of God. In chapter 2 of Luke’s Gospel we learn about the birth of Jesus. God’s messengers, the angels, announce that Mary will have a son who is the Son of God. Then they announce his birth as the Saviour, the promised one, the Lord. However, this great Son of God is born into the most difficult and impoverished circumstances.
We all know and delight in the words from 1 John 4.8 “God is love”, though we seldom read John’s letter to grasp what John means. If we read a little more of that letter we also find that:
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4.10 (English Standard Version)
And, there is the problem: John is also telling us that God is angry with mankind, and with the sin of mankind. A ‘propitiation’ is a sacrifice given in the place of a person. The ‘propitiation’ is an adequate sacrifice, it is an adequate, and acceptable replacement. John is telling us that Jesus took the full force of God’s anger so that we don’t have to face that anger ourselves. How can God be love and be angry at the same time? Does God’s anger cancel out his love?
First, we must be careful not to assume that God’s anger is the same as our anger. When we get angry love often does go out the door. When Jesus warns us about anger he treats anger as if it were murder (Matthew 5.22); even yelling at another person in anger is an action worthy of divine punishment. However, God’s anger seems to be more measured and under control. God is slow to anger, and is also forgiving (Exodus 34.6). That is not to say that it doesn’t have serious, life threatening consequences – God’s anger does result in death! We see that clearly in many of His dealings with the people of Israel, and particularly with Jesus, the Saviour, the promised one, who takes the full force of God’s anger against the sin of Israel, and all humanity, on himself. Jesus, the beloved Son, experiences first hand total alienation from His loving, but angry Father “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We hear in this cry of desolation the slow, measured, controlled anger of God worked out once and for all – for all who accept that Jesus was forsaken in their place.
Here we see our Heavenly Father’s anger and love working together. God’s anger at sin and rebellious humankind is focussed on Jesus, as God expresses his love for rebellious humankind, by suffering that rejection in the person of His own beloved Son. God’s love saves us from God’s anger!
