He who rejects Me and does not receive My words, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him on the last day.

— John 12:48

5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

6 who will repay to each according to his works:

— Romans 2:5-6

16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

— John 3:16-18; 36

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Revelation paints a vivid picture of God’s final judgment of sin and of sinners who refuse His gift of salvation. With righteousness and finality, God will pronounce judgment on Satan and all who oppose Him. At last, sin’s curse and damage will end. God’s wrath flows from His intense hatred of sin and uncompromising love of righteousness. He brings judgment as a purifying expression of His divine love. God exercises His wrath to protect and uphold what His holiness demands. In final judgment, God brings the ultimate justice we long for.

Every person enters this world with a sinful nature, commits sin, and deserves God’s wrath. Jesus Christ offered Himself as God’s sinless substitute, absorbing the wrath due every sinner who trusts in Him for salvation. Without understanding God’s justified wrath against sin, we cannot understand why Jesus had to die. The truth about God’s wrath only elevates our wonder at Jesus’s amazingly sacrificial love for us.