We’d all kind of want to think of God as a loving, gentle God … and of course He is. But God is also a God of anger and ultimately of judgement.  And if we don’t get that, then the whole Christmas thing becomes pretty meaningless.

 

We Need Peace

It is fabulous to be with you again this week, leading up to Christmas. Now Christmas is this time of, well supposedly, peace and goodwill to all men. Peace can be hard to come by. So many lives are in turmoil, day by day, step by step, there’s conflict. In a sense, it’s the way of the world, yet so many lives are in so much turmoil – in the home, between husband and wife, in families, in the workplace.

I mean, people get "feral" in the workplace – and of course, in ourselves. Some people have a lot, some people don’t have very much, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. Some people believe in Jesus, other people don’t, yet still, they don’t have peace. Conflict rages on! Life is always bringing along things to rob us of our peace. Have you noticed that? It happens to all of us.

That’s why in these weeks leading up to Christmas – this Christmas that is supposed to be about peace and goodwill to all men and women and kids and everyone else. We are doing a series called, "A Peace Beyond All Understanding". I believe we need to unzip our souls and pour God’s Word into us and get some great teaching on the peace that Jesus came to give us. I believe that God’s plan for your life and God’s plan for my life is to give us a peace and a joy beyond all human understanding and that’s why we are doing teaching on "peace" in these weeks leading up to Christmas.

The whole problem of the human condition, the whole thing begins with our rebellion against God. You can read about it in the first couple of chapters of Genesis, when Adam and Eve – God blessed them, God put them in the garden, God provided for them and they rebelled – they did the one thing God said "don’t do". And you might say, “Come on, Berni, what’s this got to do with Christmas?" It’s got everything to do with Christmas because the moment that they rebelled and the moment that we first rebelled in our lives against God, we initiated a war between us and God and that’s what we looked at last week on the program. If you missed it, visit our website at ‘Christianity works.com' and you can listen to it again.

We need to understand the anatomy of that battle because it is that battle, that war that you and I initiated in our rejection of God that is the whole reason behind Christmas. We were looking at the Book of Ezekiel – now the Book of Ezekiel was written by a prophet called Ezekiel, not surprisingly, to Israel just a few years after they were exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. These were God’s people. God had promised them the land of Israel, He’d given them Jerusalem, He’d given them Judea, He’d given them all of this land and He’d blessed them and they turned their back on Him. They worshipped other gods; they worshipped other idols; they did abominations in God’s sight, so ultimately God’s judgement fell on them. He used the King of Babylon to bring his armies into Israel, he destroyed the land, he killed most of the people and those that were left went into exile as slaves in Babylon and Ezekiel writes to them – I’m just going to read a very short passage from the fifth chapter. If you’ve got a Bible, grab it. We are going to be spending a bit of time in Ezekiel and a few other books today.

Just to explain where we’re at, so we’ll recap. This short passage about God’s judgement of His people because they rebelled against Him:

This is what the Lord God says: “This Jerusalem, I’ve but she has rebelled against me again; against my ordinances; against my statutes, becoming more wicked than all the nations and all the countries all around her, rejecting my ordinances; not following my statutes.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Because you are more turbulent than all the nations that are around you and you haven’t followed my statues or kept   my ordinances, but you have acted according to ordinances of the nations that are around you. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “I myself am coming against and I will execute judgements among you in the sight of the nations. And because of all your sin and your abominations, I will do to you what I have never yet done and the like of which I will never do again.”

And so He then goes on to talk about all of His anger being spent on them and letting countries come against them to destroy them and wild animals and famine and then pests and God brings His judgement on Israel – why? Because Israel rebelled against God – Israel rebelled, God expelled!

Remember these were God’s people; God’s chosen people! Now some people reject God altogether and they have this sense of emptiness and something missing. Other people who believe in God; who believe in Jesus, hold part of themselves back, maybe they carry around some un-forgiveness, maybe they have some secret sin, maybe they have their own idols. Whatever, but we all need peace in our lives. Amen? We all need that deep, satisfying fulfilling peace and the biggest thing that robs us of that peace – the number one issue – is our rebellion against God; going our own way, as Israel did.

You and I are hard-wired for a relationship with God. Let me read you this short passage from Psalm 139 verses 14 to 18. This is what it says:

God I praise you for it was you who formed my inner parts. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works that I know very well. My frame wasn’t hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth; your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me when as yet none of them existed. How weighty are your thoughts O God, how vast is the sum of them.

Isn’t that a beautiful passage, of God’s involvement right from our conception when we were in our mother’s womb? Our substance, our frame wasn’t hidden from Him. He is the one who has made you and me what we are, and when we reject Him. When we reject the one who created us, the one who loves us, we declare war on God and ultimately, we kindle His anger and judgement. We get all proud and we set up our own throne, our own rule, our own kingdom, our own life and God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

And that’s the beginning; that’s the essence of our turmoil and our discontent. Unless we understand that, Christmas doesn’t make sense and today we are going to particularly look at God’s anger. It’s not a picture of God we like to think about, but the anger and the judgement of God is kindled by our rebellion and strangely, it lies at the heart of Christmas.

 

Angry God

We are looking today at the anger of God. “My goodness, Berni, it’s almost Christmas time and you’re talking about an angry God, what’s the matter with you?” Well, we’ve got to understand God’s anger and why He gets angry with us, for us to understand Christmas. It’s a good question: “Why does God get angry with us?” If you have a Bible – we are working our way through the Book of Ezekiel – go to chapter 14 of Ezekiel.

This is a book that was written by the prophet Ezekiel to Israel, at a time when God’s judgement had fallen on the nation. When the Babylonians had come and destroyed Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, killed many of the inhabitants – these are God’s chosen people – and taken the remnant as slaves into Babylon. The people are going, "well, my goodness, what’s going on?"

Ezekiel the prophet is explaining God’s judgement to God’s people and this is what he says in chapter 14:

Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me and the Word of the Lord came to me, “Mortal, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and they’ve placed their inequity as a stumbling block before them. Shall I let myself be consulted by them?

Therefore speak to them and say this: “Thus says the   Lord God: “Any of those in the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place they’re inequity as   a stumbling block before them, and yet come to the prophet, I the Lord will answer those who come with their multitude of idols in order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols.

Therefore, say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn away your faces from all your abominations, for    any of those of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who separate themselves from me, taking their idols into their hearts and placing their   inequity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to a prophet to enquire of me, by him, I the Lord will answer them myself.

I will set my face against them; I will make them a sign and a byword and I will cut them off from the midst of my people and you will know that I am the Lord your God.”

They’re pretty strong words! God is saying, here are these elders of the house of Israel coming to the prophet to enquire of me, because of course, the prophet speaks on behalf of God, and these guys have got idols and not only are they worshipping idols, but it’s a beautiful phrase and it’s a telling phrase, "they have taken their idols into their hearts". Idols are other gods that the other nations worshipped and so these leaders of Israel have put their idols before God.

Do you remember the Ten Commandments; the first one? Let’s just quickly go to it – Exodus chapter 20, if you have a Bible. This is what it says:

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water or under the   earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the inequity of their parents to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Jesus said it Himself, when someone asked Him, He said:

The first and the most important commandment is to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and the greatest commandment.

God reached out to His people through Moses, through a promise and a relationship that you can read about in Leviticus chapter 26 – it’s called the "covenant". it’s like a marriage promise. God said:

If you love me and you obey me, you honour me, I will bless you abundantly, but if you rebel against me, I will punish you, so that you know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.

Because God is God!

God has made us – has hard-wired us to have a relationship with Him and this anger; this judgement; this punishment – is not some petulant, tyrannical god. This anger is born out of His great love for us. He wants our hearts. Look at chapter 14 of Ezekiel again, verses 4 and 5:

Therefore speak to them and say to them, “Thus says   the Lord your God, “Any of those of the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place their inequities as a stumbling block before them, and yet come to the prophet, I the Lord, will answer those who come with their multitude of idols in order that.

Listen to this:

In order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel. All of those whom are estranged from me, through their idols.

And further down in verse 11, he says:

"So that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me, nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions, then they shall be my people and I will be their God,” says the Lord.

God’s anger isn’t like our anger. Our rejection of God is kind of like an adultery – God wants us. He’s made us to have a relationship with Him but we reject Him and push Him away. In adultery, in human terms, marriages often tear themselves apart, but God’s not like that. People tear each other apart but God’s anger is different. God’s anger has a purpose in mind – "I will be their God and they will be my people". God’s anger is redemptive anger, it’s meant to bring us back. God’s anger isn’t like ours – we reject and don’t forgive – but God’s anger has a purpose to bring us back. God is true to God. He’s a God of justice and a God of love and He looks on our hearts. He’s interested to know, have we put other things before Him in our hearts? Because God wants to be first in our hearts, He wants to be our God; He wants us to be His people and when reject Him, we kindle the anger of God.

We can have all sorts of idols. I say, “I don’t worship idols!" – wealth, position, status, sex, self, career – in and of themselves all of those things are not inherently bad. In fact, most of them are a blessing from God, but when we take one or more of those things into our hearts, above God; displacing God. That becomes an idol and that kindles the anger of God because we have declared war on God and there will be no peace. That brings the wrath of God and the wrath of God – let me tell you – is a fearsome thing. If you doubt me read the first twenty four chapters of the Book of Ezekiel and see what God did to His people when they rejected Him. It is the central problem of humanity and there will be no peace on earth when we reject God and we kindle His anger and His wrath but God does have a road map for peace and we are going to see that now.

 

God’s Roadmap for Peace

Well, we have been looking today on the program, at the fact that when we reject God, we effectively declare war on Him and we kindle His anger and His wrath. When people rebel against a good and a perfect and a loving and a holy God, there are consequences. In a sense that’s the bad news but the good news is God’s love – His heart for a relationship with us.

The whole of the Old Testament is Israel’s struggle with God. In fact, "Israel" literally means "to struggle with God". God made a covenant; a promise with them that you can read about for yourself, in Leviticus chapter 26. He starts off by saying:

I love you and if you follow me and honour me, I’ll bless your socks off. My heart is for me to be your God and for you to be my people, but if you don’t honour me I will punish you.

And He lists the punishments and those punishments are the exact same ones that have come to pass here, that we read about in the Book of Ezekiel that we have been going through. The whole of the Old Testament serves to tell us something about ourselves. We can never meet God’s standard; we can never be the perfection that we need to be, to be accepted by a holy God. But if God’s heart-beat is that "I will be your God and you will be my people", how’s it going to be realised if we can’t hold up our end of the bargain. How is God ever going to realise His dream?

Well, He sets out in the Book of Ezekiel – if you have a Bible, flick over to chapter 34 of Ezekiel. He sets out in the Book, a road map for peace; a real road map for peace; a new approach; a new covenant; one that doesn’t depend on what you and I do. This is what it says, Ezekiel chapter 34 beginning at verse 25:

I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish   the wild animals from the land so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. I will make them and the region around my hill, a blessing and I will   send down the showers in their season and they will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field shall yield fruit and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be   secure on their soil and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yolk and save them from the hands of those who have enslaved them (that’s the Babylonians).

They shall no more be plunder for the nations nor shall the animals of the land devour them. They shall live in safety and no one shall make them afraid. I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the insults of the nations. They shall know   that, I the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am   your God, says the Lord God.

Isn’t that beautiful? What a beautiful picture of God’s peace. Three things: firstly, safety. Safety from wild animals and safety from other people attacking them. Secondly, the blessing. The rain showers, the land will yield its fruit and there will be abundance. And the third thing, knowing that God is with them. .Isn’t that peace, knowing that we’re safe; being blessed by God and knowing that God is with us? This is a beautiful picture of the heart of God, of His peace and of His blessing and He talks about it again – just flick over the page, if you have a Bible – in chapter 37 beginning at verse 26.

I will make a covenant of peace with them.

See, it’s a promise of peace.

It shall be an everlasting covenant with them and I will bless them and multiply them and I will set my sanctuary among them for ever more. My dwelling place shall be with them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I, the Lord God, sanctify Israel when my sanctuary is among them for ever more.

See, God is promising an everlasting promise and unlike all the other gods that the other nations worshipped, that are on the top of hills, God is saying, “Now I will put my presence right in the middle of my people." The heart of God is to be in close, tender relationship with you and me, even though we rebel. He knows the problem of our rebellion. He dealt with Israel for over a thousand years, between when He took them out of Egypt and when Jesus came, but the problem is, on the one hand you have the old covenant, "if you do good I’ll bless you, if you do bad, I’ll curse you," and that reflects who God is – it reflects His justice. And you have the new covenant, "heart of love and forgiveness," but how do you deal with the fact that you and I can’t uphold our end of the bargain? How does God deal with that fundamental problem of the human condition – our sin and our rebellion and our declaration of war against God? The answer is Christmas; the answer is Jesus and we’ll look at that next week on the program. The apostle John in chapter 1 verse 14 says:

And the Word became flesh (the Word is Jesus) the Word became flesh and tabernacle among us.

Just as God promised. The tabernacle of God; the sanctuary of God; the very presence of God revealed to us right in our midst and He came to pay the price of our sin. You and me, we have rebelled just like Israel – we are in enmity to God, we’ve declared war and kindled God’s anger but God’s heart is that He will be your God and mine and we will be His people and that’s what Christmas is about; that’s why Jesus came. Jesus is God’s declaration of peace and we will look at that on next week’s program.