How on earth can it be that:
God so loved the world… (John 3:16)
And yet:
…the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)
In part 1 we heard how people explain this tension away by denying one side or the other… or simply redefining what the Bible’s words mean.
The problem comes when we hear both “love” and “wrath” as emotional words, without listening to what the Bible says about them.
But the Bible speaks about these things in two different ways.
God’s love is personal.
God’s wrath is judicial.
God loves all people and so he gives his Son (John 3:16).
On the cross Jesus removed the sin of the whole world (Isaiah 53:6; John 1:29).
John 3:36 then uses very precise language:
- Those who “believe” in the Son “have life.” This life is restored relationship with God through Jesus (John 17:3): The language of relationship.
- But those who don’t “obey” the Son “don’t see life, and the wrath of God remains on them.” This is legal condemnation (John 3:18): The language of a courtroom.
This distinction in language is also true earlier in the chapter, where it explains v. 16:
- God genuinely loves all people from his heart. We see this in his motives. He sent his Son “not… to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17).
- But God’s wrath is a legal pronouncement, not a feeling of hatred toward all people. John’s Gospel is very careful to use judicial—not personal—language when talking about the consequences of unbelief: “whoever does not believe is condemned already… And this is the judgment…” (John 3:18, 19).
God’s wrath does not show that he hates people who don’t believe in Jesus. Instead, John says the opposite:
“everyone who does wicked things hates the light…” (John 3:20).
So, John 3 tells us that God’s love and God’s wrath are both true at the same time, because they are not two feelings or emotions within God. It is the cross that shows us this. But how exactly? And is it consistent with the rest of the Bible? That’s what we’ll look at together in part 3.
In the meantime, if you want to hear more today, listen to this: God does NOT reward good behaviour! — Why?
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