The notion of an angry God has no place in light of His grace and desire to declare us innocent.

I want to give you a gentle reminder of one of the salient points made by Paul in Ephesians chapter 1.

Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.

Eph 1:4 (TPT)

God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are unified in their love for all mankind. Jesus did not have to appease an angry Father whose desire for justice was such that it required Him to pour out His anger on Jesus at the cross. The Trinity was always in perfect unity, and Jesus was always held in the loving embrace of His Father. Jesus’ love, grace, and mercy were in concert with His Father.

Why is it that the Church has typically taught us that Jesus had to suffer the acute wrath and rejection of His Father during the atonement? It is true that Jesus did suffer, but He did not suffer God’s anger or rejection. That’s a lie that we need to repent of. Christians have done a consistent job of presenting an angry God that most unbelievers shun the message and shun “believers.”

To quote Jonathan Edwards in his book “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked… You are 10,000 times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.”

Jonathan Edwards

Appalling! This is a travesty of a description of God. A very different God “Who so loved the world He gave His unique Son…” (John 3:16). God can and does get angry with sin, evil, the devil, and all his works, but He chooses to love sinners and chooses to win them back into relationship with Him by showing kindness and grace.

Do you realize that all the wealth of his extravagant kindness is meant to melt your heart and lead you into repentance?

Romans 2:4 (TPT)

Think about it. How differently could you live your life if you began to think of God as being very kindly disposed toward you? How would you characterize that kind and loving God to others? If we did, we would have a veritable revolution of transformed people.

Contemplate and pray Paul’s prayer

“I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.
I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones!
I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!”

Eph 1:17-20 (TPT)