Karl Barth tells the story of a man who, in the midst of a blizzard, wandered unknowingly across a frozen lake. There were places where the ice was thin. One misstep and he would have fallen through. But he was unaware. It was only after the storm had subsided that he was able to look back and realize how perilous his state had been.
'God is as serious about wrath as He is about salvation.' That's the thought resonating in me as I work through the early chapters of a summer long study of Romans. Normally, I would skim over references to wrath, reasoning God has already dealt with that. But I'm trying to let Paul speak what he intended to say rather than simply endorse long held views. Ro1:18 says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of men..." Ro2:5 refers to "the day of God's wrath." And Ro2:12 reminds us, "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will also be judged by the law."
The typical Christian today seems oblivious to what we have been saved from and how perilously we have each wandered. God's love does not negate His wrath. To borrow from Zechariah, we are all as 'burning sticks snatched from the fire.' Which means that to the extent I lack for joy or gratitude, I have lost sight of all that God in His grace has saved me from and even now by His grace is working to lead me into.
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