INTRO: “Consider Jesus”
…But what is it about him I’m to consider?

Romans… Beethoven’s 5th!!

Romans 1:16-18 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” ¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

…Romans starts in THE right place—the place that “Calibrates” everything else!

— Romans begins with “The Gospel” …the gospel is a ‘worldview’; it is the ‘good news’ of God’s purpose; it is the definer of man’s great need! …It is “The Great Salvation” spoken of in Hebrews

— There is an intentional association of words given in these verses that Must Not be Marginalized!! “Gospel” => “Righteousness” => “Wrath”

Although God’s punishment of sin serves as a deterrent against further sinning and as a warning to those who observe it, this is not the primary reason why God punishes sin. The primary reason is that God’s righteousness demands it, so that he might be glorified in the universe that he has created. He is the Lord who practices ‘steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord” (Jer 9:24). —Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

Romans 2:1-5 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. ² We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. ³ Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵ 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.

… God IS RIGHTEOUS …and His ‘Reaction’ to “Unrighteousness” is the word— “WRATH”

PRIMER ON THE WRATH OF GOD

Old Testament

• God’s ‘Judgment’ in the Garden
• God’s “Wrath and Anger” are clearly highlighted in the Historic Record preserved for us.

2 Kings 22:17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.

Psalm 38:1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!

Isaiah 13:9-13 Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.
¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make people more rare than fine gold,
and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the LORD of hosts
in the day of his fierce anger.

In the Old Testament more than twenty words are used of the wrath of God… The total number of references to God’s wrath exceeds 580, so that it cannot be said to be an occasional topic. …If we are to be true to the Old Testament we cannot lightly discard or overlook the teaching that God is personally angry in the face of all evil. It is one of the facts of life that God is always hostile to evil. Wrath may be his ‘strange work’ (Is 28:21), with the implication that mercy is more congenial. But it is his work. We do ourselves a disservice if we shut our eyes to the fact. …The conclusion to which all this drives us is that in the Old Testament the wrath off God receives some emphasis. It is invariably aroused by human sin and, if people are to be forgiven, then the fact of that wrath must be taken into consideration. It does not fade away be being given some other name or regarded as an impersonal process. —Leon Morris, “The Atonement”, p. 153, 157

NEW TESTAMENT

Matt 26: 38-39 “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Isaiah 51:17 Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, the cup of staggering.

If we speak of propitiation we are thinking of a personal process. We are saying that God is angry when people sin and that, if they are to be forgiven, something must be done about that anger. … hilaskomai, is in common use in Greek and it means the turning away of anger. —Leon Morris, “The Atonement”, p. 152

Why Does This Matter?
…Because, when you go to “Consider Jesus”—what is it about Him that YOU Deem Important?

…Paul’s Word Association in Romans Messes with Our Learned Priorities! Gospel => Righteousness => Wrath

Hebrews 2:9-17 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. ¹⁰ For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹ For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹² saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” ¹³ And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” ¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (ESV)

It is important to see that ‘the wrath of God’ is a significant category in the New Testament. The process of salvation must accordingly take into account this aspect of the human predicament as well as other aspects. Concepts we have looked at so far, such as the new covenant, redemption or even reconciliation, do not adequately cover the overcoming of wrath. The propitiation words do not occur very often, but in view of the widespread occurrence of ‘the wrath’ and the like they must be given serious consideration as we reflect on what Christ’s death has done for us. —Leon Morris, “The Atonement”, p. 166

The blessings of ‘such a great salvation’ (Heb 2:3) are so richly diverse that they cannot be neatly defined. Several pictures are needed to portray them. Just as the church of Christ is presented in Scripture as his bride and his body, the sheep of Gods flock and the branches of his vine, his new humanity, his household or family, the temple of the Holy Spirit and the pillar and buttress of the truth, so the salvation of Christ is illustrated by the vivid imagery of terms like propitiation, redemption, justification and reconciliation. —John Stott, “The Cross of Christ”, p. 165

Propitiation & Righteousness

Rom 3:21-26 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

hilaskomai, is in common use in Greek and it means the turning away of anger. —Leon Morris, “The Atonement”, p. 152

In Pauline thought, man is alienated from God by sin and God is alienated fro man by wrath. It is in the substitutionary death of Christ that sin is overcome and wrath averted, so that God can look on man without displeasure and man can look on God without fear. Sin is expiated and God is propitiated. —David Wells (quoted in “The Cross Christ”, p. 173)