Peace Or Wrath?

     When the angelic choir lit up the Bethlehem sky above the shepherds, their timely announcement was a divine prelude to what was to come forth at Jesus’ baptism for ministry. They declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” It didn’t mean that all was going to be peaceful and that God suddenly decided to overlook the sins of the world. God doesn’t change and He doesn’t change His mind.
       Instead, it spoke to a new possibility. Through Jesus’ earthly ministry, He would make it possible for sinful mankind to be redeemed and saved from their sinful ways. But it wasn’t a carte blanch for everyone. No, as always, every person would have a choice. It was the same choice seen in the Garden—the choice between God’s kind of abundant life versus the knowledge of good and evil. It was the same choice seen in the Law of the Old Covenant—to follow God’s ways or the ways of this fallen world.
          The announcement heralded a new version of that same choice—a choice between the abundant life in Christ the great Shepherd and Savior versus a deceived and destructive life in Satan, the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). “The thief [Satan] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus Christ] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10.
       The Gospel message isn’t that God is no longer angry with mankind because of Jesus’ work. The message is that out of God’s mercy and grace, He has made it possible for mankind to be reconciled to Him (Rom. 5:10-12). Paul explains the announcement of peace this way: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-3).
          Yes, peace with God is available, but that is not the full story. We also must remember that His Word tells us in no uncertain terms that there is an appointed Day of God’s wrath. The wrath of God shall be revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness of men and ungodliness (Rom. 1:18). A person who rejects God’s offer of peace through Jesus, a person with a hardened heart, is treasuring up wrath in the Day of wrath (Rom. 2:5). Colossians 3:5-6 tells us that those who walk according to the sinful ways of this world (children of disobedience) shall experience the wrath of God.
          The End-Time Lesson: There is an appointed time for this wrath. Revelation 6:17 tells us that this wrath will come at the start of the Day of the Lord, the 7th and last Day in God’s plan of redemption. Jesus referred to this wrath as the snare of that Day (Luke 21:35). Thankfully, the angelic announcement reminds us that peace is possible. That is why 1 Thess. 1:10 says that believers are delivered from the wrath to come.
         This was the ultimate purpose of that timely announcement in Bethlehem. God’s will is that all be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). His will is that none have to experience His wrath against evil. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). But because mankind has a will, we have a choice.
          When Jesus stood before His hometown folk and made a timely announcement as well, He read from Isaiah 61:1 to describe His earthly ministry of making peace with God possible. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” He quoted the first part of the next sentence, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,” but He strangely stopped there.
         Why? Because the rest of the sentence refers to the Day of vengeance of our God. That is, God’s wrath against evil. It would come after Jesus’ earthly ministry—much, much later, almost two thousand years later.
         It is important that we preach the rest of the passage—the message that peace, comfort, and victory are available through Christ. But if we ignore the fact that God’s wrath shall come, we are subtracting from God’s Word. People need to be warned. They may ignore it as they did in Noah’s time, but we must be faithful to tell the whole story: peace versus wrath—which will you choose?