(This message series is inspired and excerpted from He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobsen.)
The Antidote for Sin
“If you love deeply, you’re going to get hurt badly.
But it’s still worth it.” – C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands
What do you know about God’s wrath?
“Whenever we see God acting to consume sin, we internalize the anger against ourselves. But that isn’t where the wrath is primarily directed.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18 ESV)
It’s not people that God seeks to destroy but the sin that destroys his people. In that sense God’s wrath is far more curative than it is punitive. Its primary purpose is not to hurt us, but heal and redeem us.” (p. 119)
The Cup Jesus Did Not Want
“‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.’ This is the substance of Jesus’ agonizing prayer prayed over and over again in his own Garden on the eve of his crucifixion. The words are interesting. What cup is he talking about? Certainly he could simply be using ‘cup’ as a metaphor for the difficult circumstances that lay ahead of him. But Scripture also speaks about God’s wrath being in a cup that is consumed by those who have been devoured by sin. Perhaps a verse from Revelation expresses it best.
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, [10] he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (Revelation 14:9-10 ESV)
Could this be the cup that Jesus resisted that evening? Could the thought of being the object of his own Father’s wrath be so unbearable to contemplate that he sought another means to effect salvation? I don’t know that it is so, for Scripture does not say it in so many words; but I think it is likely.
If it is God’s wrath that consumes sin, and if the redemptive plan was to consume sin in sinful flesh, then it could be that Jesus drank from that same cup. This would have made the physical tortures of the cross pale in comparison. In those hours he hung on the cross, he drank from God’s cup so that the wrath of God might consume sin in the Son.
Thus God’s wrath is not just punishment for sin, it is also antidote to it. By destroying sin it opened the door to a future world without it.” (p. 121)
Drinking The Cup
“What if you had a young child who was diagnosed with a rare blood disease? As the doctors tell you about it, they tell you that the disease is almost unheard of in children. Though they have a form of chemotherapy that could cleanse your child’s blood and restore him to health, the drug is too strong for the child’s undeveloped body to withstand the dose necessary to cure him. In other words, the cure would kill him before it healed him.
But there is a way around that, they say. They could administer the chemotherapy into your blood. Though it would make you deathly ill and possibly even kill you, the therapy could produce antigens in your blood that could then be transplanted to your child’s body and cleanse him of the disease as well.
Would you do it?
Most parents wouldn’t hesitate for a second. Neither did God. This was his opportunity to destroy the power of sin and liberate those who had been captives to it all their lives.” (p. 121)
Can you think of a time when your love for someone caused you to act on his or her behalf even though it was at great personal risk?
“Even in giving us the freedom to trust him or trust ourselves, God already knew that he would suffer the most for that choice. Somehow to him, the glory of fellowship with his created ones outweighs any price he had to pay to experience it.
By enduring to the end, sin was fully conquered in him. Its spell over humanity was broken and no longer does anyone have to be consumed by sin itself, nor God’s wrath against it. The antidote had not only worked in him, by doing so it had produced in his blood a fountain of life as well. Transfused into any person who desires it, his blood can cleanse us of sin and reunite us with God himself—fulfilling the dream that
he had when he first decided to create man and woman and place them in the center of his creation.” (p. 123)
How does seeing God’s wrath as the antidote for sin rather than it’s punishment, affect your view of God and the cross?
“This Cup’s For You”
“Only a few hours before as he shared a final meal with his disciples, Jesus spoke of the cup he would provide for us.
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [20] And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:19-20)
Having drunk of the cup of wrath our sins deserved and having used that to condemn sin in sinful flesh, now he offers us a different cup. This cup is filled with his blood that has been purified and teems with life and grace.
Now he invites you to come and drink of his cup as the antidote that can cleanse not only the sins of your past, but sin itself that wars in your heart and holds you captive to its desires. He has broken the bondage if you will come and drink of him.
Unlike the fall in Eden that subjected every one of us and the earth itself to the captivity of sin; this gift freely given, must be freely received. God’s desire for us to enter into relationship with him is still based on our choice. Though he pursues us with an undying love and offers us to drink of the fountain of life, he will not make any of us come. This is your choice pure and simple.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV)
Think about the difference between the cup Jesus drank and the cup he offers us to drink. How does that touch you?
For Your Personal Journey
Do you see God’s wrath directed at sin, or directed at you? It is one thing to say God loves the sinner and hates the sin, but sometimes we feel that God is out to get us as well. Wherever you see that in your thinking, ask God to help you change your mind and see things the way he does. He wants you to know that everything he has done in your life is to bring you into the fullness of his love. Where you don’t understand that, ask him
to show you.
Leave a Reply