Sorting Out Idolatrous Views of God

Nothing dissipates the urgency of the gospel’s proclamation like idolatry. If God isn’t angry at sin—if He’s not a God of justice as the Bible reveals—then humanity doesn’t need the cross. And those are the days in which we are living, where much of humanity has a form of godliness, but they deny His power (see 2 Timothy 3:5). Nowadays, when it comes to the world’s image of the Creator, the word “wrath” is anathema. In other words, God is happy with the wicked every day. He that believes not will see life because the smile of God abides on him; and every time the wicked sin, they are storing up God’s favor.

It’s because of the prevalence of idolatry that the Law of God (and its purpose) is so important. It puts God on the throne of judgment in the eyes of a sinful world. Psalm 89:14 states:

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. (ESV)

Suddenly, God is not smiling. He is furious. And that prepares people for the message of forgiveness in Christ. It shows them that the cross is more important than their next breath.

Arguably, the greatest evidence we have that God is angry at sin is the cross. The Bible says of it, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed” (Romans 1:17). How angry is God at sin? Look to the battered and bruised body of the Son of God. See the blood stream from His wounds. Hear His cry of anguish—“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)—as the fury of a holy God comes upon Him to satisfy the demands of eternal justice.

Mr. Boring

Let’s look for a moment at a very ordinary, somewhat boring man. He is so boring that he has no friends. If you passed him on the street, you wouldn’t pay him the slightest attention.

The lack of any attention makes him angry at the world, to a point where, one day, he takes his gun and shoots it into a crowd of children in a kindergarten playground, killing a number of children. The man is no longer boring. He is the headline of every news outlet. As a massive manhunt begins, Mr. Boring is suddenly of great interest to the entire world.

When the law finally finds him and makes its approach, he calls out, “Can’t we forget this? I made a mistake.” And the answer is “no.” Of course not! What he did can’t be forgotten in the slightest until the demands of justice are satisfied. He is therefore shut up in jail—awaiting the strong hand of the law.

And that’s the state of the entire human race. We are “shut up” under the Law (Galatians 3:23), awaiting the fearful hand of justice. Death is an officer of the Law, delivering a summons because we have an appointment to keep with the Judge of the Universe for willful violation of His Law. And nothing but the suffering death of the perfect Lamb of God can satisfy the insatiable Law of God. We can have mercy because “steadfast love and faithfulness go before you” (Psalm 89:14, ESV).

Just as Jesus drew His last breath, He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The debt to the Law had been paid. Those three short words are the most profound ever uttered in the universe because of their unspeakable implications. We can now live forever. Legally.