Sinners in the Hands of God (03/19/2009)

Warren Sentinel "Weekly Pulpit" (03/19/2009)

In 1741 Jonathan Edwards preached one of the most famous/infamous sermons ever preached, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” I refer to it simply to illustrate one of the great divides that exists within Christianity. On one side are those who think of God as the “Angry God,” and on the other side are those who think of God as the “Loving God.”

Those in the “Angry God Camp” tend to focus more on God's righteousness and wrath. Those in the “Loving God Camp” tend to focus more on God's mercy and forgiveness. Both tend to look down on the other and even call the other unChristian.

This, sadly, is true of many who affirm the statement that “Jesus … will come to judge the living (quick) and the dead.” That Jesus will be our judge is, I believe, a hopeful – hope-filled – statement that God is both loving and just. Though sin offends and angers God, God is not defined by that anger. God, scripture teaches is love.

Many have been taught that humanity is separated from God by sin. This I agree with. And that since God can not be in the presence of sin (often illustrated by a chasm between humanity and God) that the only way to be in God's presence (to be saved) is by the atoning death of Jesus (often illustrated by bridging the chasm with a cross). This I agree with and disagree with.

God CAN be in the presence of sin and sinners if God CHOOSES to be. One need only turn to the third chapter of Genesis to see this. In the midst of their disobedience, God seeks Adam and Eve out and gives them an opportunity to come out from hiding and to admit their failure. One need only look at the history of the Israelites to see that God dwells in their midst even as they remain a far from sinless people. The incarnation itself (the full divinity and humanity of Jesus) is also proof positive that God can and does choose to be in the presence of sin and sinful people.

God is love and God is just. While this may seem like a paradox, it is not. I think theologian Justo Gonzalez puts it well in “The Apostles' Creed for Today” when he writes,

“Clearly, such love and justice are so far above our own love and our own justice that we cannot comprehend them. Hence, the endless arguments among Christians, some contending that God's love demands that all be forgiven, and some insisting that God's justice must be fulfilled and that therefore there must be eternal punishment. On this score, perhaps all we can say is that our limited understanding of love does not permit us to understand how God's love can be fulfilled in conjunction with infinite justice, and that our limited understanding of justice does not allow us to understand how God's justice can be fulfilled in conjunction with infinite love. … Ours is a God of such love that is perfect justice, and of such justice that it is perfect love.”