When my kids were still at home, there were certain buttons when pushed just right that would unleash my wrath. I learned it from my Mama. My mama had buttons when I was growing up. When I pushed them, you could almost see the steam come from her ears. I bet you have a trigger for your wrath. Something specific that just sets you off and makes you turn into a raging lunatic.

Did you know God has a trigger for his wrath? And the bad news is, we each have our own special way of pushing it. God’s wrath arises when the buttons of sin are pushed. We know that, but do we understand it? Do we really understand WHY God is so enraged by our sin? I could never understand this until my children became young adults and I stood from a distance and watched them struggle with sin. I didn’t want them to hurt like that. I didn’t want them to get stuck in that bondage. I didn’t want them to create that future regret they would have to carry with them. What they were doing wrong wasn’t about me and my rules – it was about them. It was about their future.

God knows what sin does in our lives. He knows the pain it will create. He knows the separation it will bring. He knows the regret we will one day carry because of it. It’s not all about his rules, it’s about our future. Sin has consequences, and those consequences are not God’s desire for his children.

Each one of us have a divine purpose and good plan for our lives. God has seen that plan from the very beginning and specifically handcrafted each one of us to perfectly fulfill our unique purpose. It pains him to see us get stuck in bondage along the way and forfeit the goodness he has for us. He wants so much better for us, but he will not force it on us.

Our sin causes us to miss out on God’s aligned goodness. It creates a separation between us and him. Sin grows a divide – and that divide is the distance between how we’re living and how we COULD BE LIVING. That distance is NOT God’s will for us. We’re creating messes he didn’t design for us. We’re causing wounds that will affect us and those we love. And this sin in our lives is making us go further and further down the path leading to a way of living that falls far short of God’s good plans for us.

That’s what sin really does. And that’s why God hates it so much. It enrages him that his beautiful creation gets tangled up in temporary pleasures that will hurt her. It enrages him that his masterpiece would get caught in a trap and be held in bondage. It enrages him that the life he has planned for his chosen one would be traded down for a lesser than, settled version that misses the mark set for her.

It’s his button. And eventually, that button being pushed over and over again will unleash his wrath. Scripture calls it God’s cup of wrath. It’s good for us to decide right now we really don’t want that!

We last left off in our study of the book of Revelation with the Antichrist and the mark of the beast. Yuck – not a fun topic, but a necessary one. What we learned is this Antichrist is a fake imitation of our Jesus. He’s a knock off version backed by Satan, sent in the time of Tribulation to fool the people still left on Earth. He will show up with miraculous signs and people will love him. Worship of this Antichrist will become the means of survival. To eat, you must get his mark. To get his mark, you must worship him.

And to this, we are told in Revelation 14: 9-10, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath.”

God’s wrath is poured out on this world. It comes in 7 bowls described in chapter 16. As each bowl of wrath is poured out, utter destruction comes upon the Earth.

Horrible malignant sores break out on everyone who had the mark of the beast. Then all the water in the sea and the rivers and springs become blood and the sun scorches everyone with it’s fire. This is God’s wrath. It’s a preview of Hell. Demonic spirits are unleashed and a great earthquake strikes. The whole earth as we know it is destroyed.

This is what sin caused. And God wanted absolutely NONE of that for his people.

In fact, between each separate bowl of wrath poured out, we see an opportunity for people to turn from their sins and come to God. But when they don’t, the next and even worse bowl of wrath comes.

So, what’s the difference between the cup of God’s wrath we read about in chapter 14, and these bowls of wrath in chapter 16 that destroy the world as we know it? Well, a bowl is just bigger. A bowl contains many cups. It’s the larger portion that’s been collected. The bowls of wrath contain the cups of God’s wrath and the result is judgment and punishment.

Now, here’s the absolutely amazing news. THAT BOWL ISN’T FOR YOU!

If you have accepted Jesus, these bowls of wrath will not be coming your way. You don’t have to fear this. God never wanted any of that for you, and simply because you’ve accepted the invitation of Jesus, you will not endure his wrath. And here’s how I know … JESUS DRANK YOUR CUP OF WRATH FOR YOU!

THIS CUP – That’s the cup of God’s wrath. It’s my cup of wrath I deserve. It’s your cup of wrath you deserve. It’s everything our sins have caused. And now Jesus is drinking that cup of wrath for us.

Because of Jesus, the coming wrath of God does not apply to me. Will it apply to you? Or has your cup already been handled by Jesus?

Revelation is indeed a book of revealing. And what it’s revealing over and over again is the depths of the price paid for us by Jesus and the undeserved grace that has saved us. I’m saved from my deserved portion of God’s wrath because Jesus drank that cup for me. And he drank it for you too – all you have to do is turn to him and receive his invitation.

Thank you, Jesus, for drinking my cup of God’s wrath brought on by my sins. I can never thank you enough.

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