Sin’s Sorrowful Impact on This World

The Doctrine of Suffering

Jeremiah’s agonizing expressions recorded in Lamentations remind us that sorrows abound
in this world. People all around us face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pain. Life’s
natural course involves losing people and things we love. Our human fortitude wanes. Our
comfort zones are constantly tested. At times, we feel paralyzed with anguish. Jeremiah personally
experienced the consequences of Judah’s unrepentant rebellion against God. The heavyhearted
prophet expressed the raw physical and emotional pain he felt when God’s judgment fell on his
beloved city, Jerusalem.

God Keeps His Promises

 The Doctrine of Covenants

Covenants play an important role in the Bible. Most simply, covenants are promises God
makes to an individual or group. Some covenants, such as God’s covenant with Israel
through Moses, were conditional – dependent on the people’s response. God promised
abundant blessings if the people obeyed His commands. Other biblical covenants stood on
God’s unchangeable commitments to fulfill His promises. God’s vow to make Abraham’s
offspring into a great nation and land rested on God’s resolve to form and deliver His
people.

God’s Holy Hatred of Sin

 The Doctrine of God’s Wrath

Most people today ignore or reject the thought of God’s wrath, preferring to believe that God accepts anything and everyone equally. Like everything God is and does, God exercises His wrath in perfect balance with His entire nature. God loves everything that is good and right. Therefore, He opposes everything that threatens what and whom He loves. God’s wrath represents a deliberate response of His justice, holiness, and love against all that dishonours Him. Whereas God’s love flows intrinsically from His nature, His wrath represents His holy response to the ravages of sin. God does not exercise wrath in gleeful retribution or to “get even.” God’s holy anger stands as a protective and purifying expression of His divine love. 

The Bible offers many manifestations of God’s wrath: the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the plagues of Egypt to name a few. Nahum and Zephaniah warned of God’s wrath and impending action against unrepentant evil and idolatry. Judah, Israel, and foreign nations alike encountered God’s just judgment of their sin. Today, God’s wrath is being revealed against sin and ungodliness. In the future, God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth as He removes Satan and evil forever. Every person is born with a sinful nature and deserves God’s wrath. Anyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice receives eternal salvation because He absorbed God’s wrath on their behalf. 

Despite Satan’s attempts to hide this truth, God’s wrath against sin cannot be dismissed or ignored. Without an understanding of God’s just response to sin, Jesus’ cross and the gospel do not make sense. Failure to recognize this truth minimizes the gravity of both personal and corporate sin and universal accountability to God. We cannot maintain a right view of God without understanding the seriousness of His wrath. Psalm 90:11 says, “If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.” 

The truth about God’s wrath helps us comprehend the amazing beauty and wonder of Jesus’ cross. God’s own Son came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, and died a sacrificial death for sinners. In His infinite perfection, Jesus absorbed the full force of God’s wrath against the sins of countless people who trust Him for salvation. For every believer, God’s wrath has been fully satisfied – the debt of sin has been paid in full. As those spared from God’s wrath, believers should be particularly motivated to share the gospel with others. Multiplied voices in heaven will proclaim: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments” (Revelation 19:1-2a).

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 24

Jesus, the Coming King

The Doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ 

Old Testament prophets saw end-time events from afar. Jesus’ first and second comings merged like two mountain peaks viewed together from a great distance. The Old Testament presented God’s entire timeline. The New Testament explains Jesus’ first and second comings as two distinct events. From where we stand today, we clearly differentiate between the two. We know that Jesus first came to earth to pay for mankind’s sin. Jesus Christ will come again to judge the earth and reign in great glory. 

“Her Sin Has Been Paid For”

 The Doctrine of Salvation 

Salvation means deliverance from danger, distress, destruction, or harm. This concept incorporates being saved, rescued, preserved, and even victorious. Throughout the Bible, especially the Old Testament, the word “salvation” often depicts deliverance from physical danger. For example, God brought Israel from slavery in Egypt and Judah from exile in Babylon. Ultimately, the Bible’s examples of physical deliverance point to humanity’s greater need for spiritual rescue. Salvation, in the spiritual sense, refers to deliverance from sin’s penalty, power, and presence. 

Questions to Ask

 • Do you believe in God?

Yes

• What kind of God do you believe in?
• Why do you believe in God?
• Do you identify with any organized religious group?
• Do you think your religious beliefs are true i.e., factually accurate such that if others disagree, then they're mistaken?
• Do you think that morality--what's good and bad--is fixed and objective, or is it just a matter of opinion, and people with completely different moral views can be equally right at the same time?
• Do you think it's possible to know the truth about God or religion, or is that just a guess or a leap of faith?
• What do you think happens when you die? Why do you think that?

No

• Why don't you believe in God?
• Who do you think Jesus is? What are your reasons for that?
• Do you think that the material, physical world is all there is, or do you believe in immaterial, non-physical things? Why, in either case?
• Do you think that morality--what's good and bad is fixed and objective, or is it just a matter of opinion, and people with completely different moral views can be equally right at the same time?

Bowing Humbly Before Our God Most High

 The Doctrine of God the Father 

The opportunity to gaze into Isaiah’s encounter with the living God offers us a profound privilege. We love thinking about God’s nearness and the intimate relationship we enjoy with Him. He is Immanuel – the God who came near to us. He remains actively present in our everyday lives. When we pray in Jesus’ name, God listens and acts on our behalf. As God’s beloved children, He inclines His heart and ear to us with lavish compassion and grace.