"God is Not Angry" 6-11-23
Overview
God Is Not Angry: Examining the Bumper Sticker
Is the claim "God is not angry" true? Answering that requires careful theological groundwork. One of God's essential attributes is His immutability—He does not change in essence, character, or will. As the psalmist declares, the heavens "will perish but you endure… you are the same, and your years have no end" Psalm 102:25-27. The Lord Himself says, "For I the Lord do not change" Malachi 3:6, and James affirms there is in Him "no variation or shadow due to change" James 1:17.
Because God is unchanging, His response to sin is also unchanging: sin angers God. Scripture tells us plainly, "God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day" Psalm 7:11, and "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness" Romans 1:18. So the bumper sticker cannot mean that God is indifferent to sin. He is not.
What, then, has happened to that wrath? Scripture pictures God's judgment as a cup of foaming wine that the wicked must drink Psalm 75:8. In Gethsemane, on the eve of the cross, Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done" Luke 22:42. That cup was the cup of God's wrath against sin—and Jesus drank it down to the dregs. He did not leave a swallow at the bottom to splash back at us when we fall. "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" Romans 5:8-9.
This is the heart of reconciliation: "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them" 2 Corinthians 5:19. Reconciliation here is not a change in our hearts that wins God over; it is God's own movement toward us, the laying aside of His wrath because it was placed on Christ. Received by the faith He gives, this means God now looks at His people through the cross—not with eyes of wrath, but with eyes of love. So resist the temptation to live in fear that God is out to "get you." He is not indifferent to sin, but for those who are in Christ, the wrath has been spent. God is not angry with you.
Transcript
Do you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the fifth chapter of the Book of Romans, 3s
if you're using a Pue edition, you're going to find that in the New Testament, page 136, 7s
Romans the fifth chapter. 13s
Have you ever wondered if someone's angry at you? 17s
Maybe there's a chill in the air, or maybe communication patterns change, or it just doesn't feel right. 21s
Never wonder if somebody's angry at you? 32s
Sometimes in those situations it can be true. 38s
Then indeed a person is angry at you. 41s
Other times you may have totally misread the situation. 43s
Maybe their mind was elsewhere, or they're hurting about something else that has nothing to do with you. 48s
Ever wonder if somebody's angry? 57s
You ever wondered if God is angry with you? 62s
We continue today, our summer sermon series, bumper sticker theology. 71s
bumper stickers communicate a lot of things, right? 75s
And we're all summer long looking at one sticker each and every week. 78s
An examining, what's the theological message here? 84s
In light of Scripture, is it accurate or is it not? 88s
So here's the sticker I want to examine with you this morning. 92s
God is not angry. 98s
God is not angry. 104s
Is that true? 112s
Is it true? 115s
To examine that we need to do some prelude work. 118s
We need to leave put down some pavement here before we get for our text for study. 121s
And let's start with the attributes of God. 129s
There are many attributes of God. 132s
There's his omnipotence, his omniscience, his omnipresence, his grace, his sovereignty, 134s
on and on the list goes. 141s
And one of those attributes of God is his immutability, his immutability. 143s
Immutability is simply that God does not change. 153s
He doesn't change in his essence, his character or his will. 158s
He's immutable. 166s
He doesn't change. 168s
For example, in Psalm 102 we read this. 170s
Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. 177s
They will perish but you endure. 185s
They will all wear out like a garment. 189s
You change them like clothing and they pass away but you are the same. 192s
And your years have no end. 198s
Or melancholy three. 203s
For I, the Lord do not change. 205s
James writing of the Lord says this, there is no variation or shadow due to change. 211s
God is immutable. 221s
His character, his will, his essence. 225s
He does not change. 230s
We read this in Psalm 7. 236s
God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day. 242s
Romans 1. 254s
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness. 256s
Of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 264s
Sin, angers, God. 272s
He is immutable. 278s
He does not change. 280s
Sin, angers, God. 282s
So when you see the bumper sticker that says, 287s
God is not angry. 290s
What does that mean that God is indifferent to sin? 295s
Certainly not. 300s
That would be absolutely contrary to Scripture. 301s
Sin, angers, God. 307s
God does not change. 311s
He is immutable. 313s
So does that mean that if that bumper sticker is on your car, 314s
go home and take out the hair dryer, put it on the high setting for 10 minutes, 319s
and then use the credit card or the rubber spatula underneath it to peel that off. 324s
Does that mean that you should take the towel and soak it in the white vinegar 329s
and put it on the bumper sticker for the 10 minutes in order for you to peel off? 333s
Do you need to take the sticker off? 339s
Because God is angry. 342s
What do you think? 345s
My first call was in Eastern Washington, 353s
Richland, Washington, to be exact. 357s
I was an associate pastor at a congregation actually quite similar in many respects to this congregation. 361s
The senior pastor was Pastor Palmer Getty. 369s
We were traveling home late one evening from some meetings in Spokane back to Richland. 373s
It was about a two and a half hour drive. 379s
Pastor Getty was driving his old blue Chevy truck. 382s
He loved that truck. 388s
This suspension was telling the age of the truck as we travel. 391s
We traveled along. 398s
We were having good conversation at one point. 399s
He turned on the radio to a country western station. 402s
Listening to it a little bit. 407s
He said, do you like Western music? 408s
Do you like country western music? 412s
It's a popbird to be honest with you. 415s
I don't. 417s
Now that is melod over the years to a degree. 418s
But I said, it's not really my favorite. 423s
I can sure it off if you want. 425s
I'm not going to keep it on. 426s
Keep it on. 428s
So we're traveling and as it goes, conversation topics come up and there's times of silence. 429s
You know the normal stuff. 435s
But I didn't realize it, but during one song my hand was keeping the beat on the top of my leg. 439s
Pastor Getty said, ah, ah. 447s
I knew you would fall in love with country western music. 450s
I couldn't help, but think of that trip and his comments. 455s
When I came across, oh, Pastor Getty, if he could somehow know he'd be so happy about this. 461s
When I came across this to put in the sermon for today, lyrics of a song from George Jones and Tammy Wynett. 471s
It goes like this. 485s
God's going to get you for that. 490s
God's going to get you for that. 494s
There's no place to run and hide for he knows where you're at. 498s
God's going to get you for that. 506s
God's going to get you for that. 507s
Every wrong thing that you do. 509s
God's going to get you for that. 516s
That's a temptation, isn't it? 525s
It's the temptation to live in fear, to live in fear of God. 528s
He's going to get us. 535s
It's going to get us for all of our sin. 537s
It's going to get us because sin angers God. 541s
An attemptation is to live in the fear. 549s
But wait. 559s
Some 75, it speaks of the cup of the Lord. 563s
Some 75 says, for in the hand of the Lord, there's a cup with foaming wine, well mixed. 571s
He will pour a draw from it and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the drakes. 579s
Now that image of the cup, it pops up every now and then in scripture. 587s
That's the cup of God's wrath. 593s
That's the cup of his judgment upon sin. 596s
It's the cup of punishment, the cup of wrath. 600s
Fast forward to loop chapter 22. 608s
It's just before the cross. 612s
Jesus tells his disciples, he's going to go ahead and pray. 615s
He's in the garden of Gessemony. 619s
The cross is nine. 621s
And Jesus prays this. 623s
Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done. 625s
What cup is he talking about here? 637s
He's talking about the cup of the wrath of God. 639s
The cup of God's judgment upon sin, the cup of punishment. 643s
This cup of suffering. 649s
And Jesus goes to the cross and he drinks the entire cup of the wrath of God. 652s
For all of the sin of all time, for every human being, Jesus drinks the cup of wrath. 663s
Now we're ready for the text. 681s
Look at Romans, the fifth chapter, verse 8. 684s
But God proves his love for us and that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. 691s
And what was he doing on the cross? 700s
He was drinking the cup of wrath. 702s
The spotless lamb of God, drinking the cup of wrath for our sin, 705s
drinking the punishment of God for our sin. 712s
The perfect spotless lamb of God dying in our place and drinking the cup. 717s
It goes on in verse 9. 723s
Much more surely than now that we have been justified, 725s
remember what that word means, to be made just as if we never sin. 730s
Much more surely than now that we've been justified, 736s
by his blood, will we be saved through him from the hear it comes? 739s
Wrath of God. 749s
Nine again, much more surely than now that we've been justified, 752s
by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God, verse 10. 757s
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, 764s
much more surely having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 773s
Second Corinthians, the fifth chapter, says, 780s
In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, 782s
not counting their trespasses against them. 790s
Reconciling the world, it's the same word there in second Corinthians 5 794s
and in Romans 5 of God in Christ reconciling the world. 801s
Now understand that reconciliation is not an act of our heart 809s
that affects the reconciliation. 816s
The word used there in second Corinthians 5 and Romans 5 820s
that word for reconciliation is God having a change of his heart towards us. 824s
When Jesus Christ went to the cross and bore our sin, 837s
the Lord Jesus Christ drank the cup of wrath for us 843s
and the wrath of God for sin was laid aside because it was put on the Lord Jesus. 849s
Daniel Stembert puts it this way. 865s
I'll paraphrase it. 867s
When Jesus Christ drank the cup, he didn't leave a few drops 871s
so that he could throw his wrath at us. 875s
He then follows up by saying, 878s
when Jesus drank the cup of the wrath of God, 880s
he didn't leave a swivel on the bottom so that he could toss some wrath at us 884s
to keep us in line. 890s
Now the wrath of God was laid aside because it was placed on Christ. 892s
So that when God looks at us, he sees us through the actions of what was accomplished on the cross. 903s
And God looks at us, beloved, as a forgiven people, 916s
not with the eyes of wrath, but with the eyes of his love, 926s
because the world, second Corinthians 5, 935s
the world was reconciled to him through Christ. 938s
And that reconciliation is received by the faith that he gives to us. 947s
That great declaration, that great reconciliation of the world, 957s
personally received through the faith that he gives. 967s
When the bumper sticker then is seen, 980s
God is not angry. 986s
How do we understand that? 990s
That he's indifferent to sin that he could care less? 994s
Absolutely not. 998s
Absolutely not. He's immutable. 999s
Sin angers God. 1003s
But then what happened with that wrath? 1008s
What happened with the judgment? 1012s
What happened with the punishment? 1015s
It was laid on Jesus. 1017s
God's going to get ya? 1030s
No. 1034s
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners, 1040s
Christ died for us. 1049s
Much more surely than, now that we have been justified by his blood, 1053s
we've been saved through him from the wrath of God. 1059s
God is not angry with you. 1073s
He's not angry with you. 1087s