Each evening, my team has different things that we do to spend time with one another. Saturday nights are sermon nights so we can get fed since we spend most of our time pouring out into each other and into people we encounter every day. A couple of Sundays ago, I was introduced to Graham Cooke, a British pastor. He has a series on the "Art of Speaking Brilliantly." And on the first Sunday that we listened to this series for team time, Graham Cooke explained how God poured out all of His wrath on Jesus at the cross.
The most important word of this particular statement is all. Not some, not a little, not most, but all. And we forget that in this world. We forget that God did pour every single ounce of wrath out on his Son for us. But you know what it means when it says this? It means he poured out ALL his wrath out on His Son, which means…he has no wrath left to pour out. If he has no wrath left to pour out, then that means he's not mad at you. Or me. If God didn´t pour out all his wrath on His son, then what would have been the reason for the cross?
So many times have I worried that the Lord is mad at me for something that I did or didn't do. I'd ask myself questions like: Did I do this right? Should I have done this better? Is God mad at me? Am I not a Christian anymore because I made this decision?
And all these questions put someone in a position where God is like an angry Greek god that's waiting to strike whenever I mess up.
I had forgotten that the Lord is good and his love endures forever. (2 Chronicles 5:13)
I had forgotten that He had poured out his wrath at the Cross, just so He would have none left for me.
I had forgotten that Christ dying on the Cross had immediately placed us in a new covenant with Him.
And I realized that me thinking God was mad at me was me having an unshakeable desire to please God so much that I would think He was mad at me if I did something against what He wanted of me.
But I was looking at it wrong. I was asking questions that God had nothing to do with, because He makes everything work together for good. (Romans 8:28) Another important word: everything. He doesn't make some things work together for good, but every single thing, good and bad.
I had forgotten about grace and what it means to the Lord and how He has given it to me freely.
The same applies to you.
