In this lesson, I want us to notice two things by looking at the cross, and to see how they have the power to set us free.
When we look at the cross we see that God’s wrath is satisfied.
Sin is entirely opposed to God’s holy character and where He finds sin, His wrath, anger, holy hostility is aroused! We were all born in this condition of being under God’s wrath, that is being the “object of wrath” or “the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Then our sin multiplied God’s wrath, so that God, figuratively speaking, aimed all His arrows of wrath directly at us and fired!
But Jesus went to the cross, and in this way, He stepped in front of the arrows of God’s wrath. Look to the cross just now, and as you see Jesus hanging there this is what you see:
Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, he dragged me from the path and mangled me, and left me without help. He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.
Lamentations 3:10-13 NIV
Jesus Himself said He was drinking the cup God would give Him (Matthew 20:22), referring us back to the “cup of God’s wrath” spoken of in Jeremiah 25:15.
And what does this mean for you? It means that Jesus received all of the arrows of God’s wrath, and there are none left for you! It means that Jesus drank every last drop of the cup of God’s wrath, and there’s not a drop left for you! It means Jesus rescued you from God’s wrath!
“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 NIV
There’s an interesting illustration of this in the Old Testament. A man by the name of Haman plotted to kill all the Jews including King Xerxes' wife, Esther. The king was so furious that he had Haman hung on a gallows. And as Haman was raised up on that pole, hung up for all to see, the Bible says:
“So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king's fury subsided.”
Esther 7:10 NIV
Yes, the king’s wrath was entirely abated when that man was hung up on the pole.
Of course, Jesus is nothing like the scheming Haman, Jesus is pure and holy, undefiled and without sin (Hebrews 7:26). And yet, Jesus became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) for you, and when He was hung up on the pole (the cross) He took God’s wrath completely. As He hung there for all to see, “the king’s fury subsided!” If you are a believer in Jesus, God is not angry at you for your sin. No, He was angry at His own Son, who carried your sin, instead of you!
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.”
John 3:36 NIV
Question 4. What are your thoughts about the wrath of God being entirely spent on Jesus so that none of it is left for you?
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It’s beautiful to read about it in this way. I’m grateful because I know there was no other way for me to have a relationship with God and I would have stayed in my old lifestyle. Jesus took it all so I can now look forward to seeing God one day, I don’t have to be afraid of that day.