THE WRATH OF GOD
PURPOSE:
To understand the nature of God’s wrath.
DISCUSSION:
1. What do you think of when you hear the word wrath? What does the word mean? Is the Bible inhibited in speaking about God’s wrath?
2. Why does the Bible speak of God anthropomorphically? What pitfall can this lead us into regarding God’s wrath?
3. What two biblical considerations meet the charge that God’s wrath is cruel?
4. What Bible passages does Packer use to support his contention that “before hell is an experience inflicted by God, it is a state for which a person himself opts”?
5. How does Packer describe Gehenna? How should our awareness of what it means to be separated from God affect our attitude toward non-Christians? our behavior toward them?
6. According to Romans, what is God’s wrath?
7. In what ways is the constant, universal disclosure of God’s wrath made?
8. How can a person be delivered from God’s wrath?
9. What are some important truths that we shall never understand if we do not face the truth concerning God’s wrath?
10. According to A. W. Pink, why should we meditate frequently on God’s wrath?
11. How do you meet the test of “readiness… to meditate upon the wrath of God”?
Optional: Read some or all of the Bible passages cited on page 149. What impression are you left with? What images are used to describe God’s wrath?
SUMMARY:
What is god’s wrath? What should our awareness of it motivate us to do?
