The Earthquake At The Cross

Earthquakes are a sign of God's very personal wrath and anger all over the Bible. And the earth quaked when Jesus died on that cross:

"Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger." Isaiah 13:13

"For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel." Ezekiel 38:19

"O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us. You have made the land to quake . . . ." Psalm 60:1-2

"Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry." Psalm 18:7

"The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. On that day the Lord will punish . . . ." Isaiah 24:19-21

"He who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble . . . ." Job 9:5-6

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." Matthew 27:50-51

On that cross, Jesus endured the earth-shaking personal wrath and anger of God, so that we might enjoy the peace and stability of God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Darkness At The Cross

Darkness is a sign of God's very personal wrath and anger all over the Bible. And darkness consumed Jesus at the cross:

"Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him . . . with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness." Nahum 1:6, 8

"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land." Matthew 27:45

On that cross, Jesus endured the darkness of the personal wrath and anger of God, so that we might enjoy the light of God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

The Prophets And The Cross

The prophets are so helpful in understanding exactly what Jesus endured on the cross for sinners. 

Since Jesus was made sin (law-breaking and idolatry) on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), the favor of His Father was withdrawn from Him; He was not pitied or spared (Romans 8:32), the sword of the LORD was raised against Jesus (Zechariah 13:7); He was made a reproach and a taunt in the sight of all who passed by (Mark 15:29); He was punished in ANGER; and all God's wrath and ANGER was spent on Christ on the cross. Only then was the Father's anger turned away from us. That's penal substitution. That's the Gospel. No hope without it.

"You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws . . . I myself will withdraw my favor; I will not look on you with pity or spare you . . . I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword. Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath upon them, they will know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal. I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the LORD have spoken." Ezekiel 5:7,11,12-15

He Spared Not His Own Son

We are told that God the Father did not "spare" (φείδομαι) His own Son on the cross: "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all . . . ." Romans 8:32

What does it mean for the judging, angry God not to spare someone? The same word for "spare" in the LXX (Greek translation of the Old Testament) is used the following ways against God's enemies - hint, hint - it includes the personal anger of God toward them:

"He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague." Psalm 78:50

"And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them." Jeremiah 13:14

"He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion." Jeremiah 21:7

"Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them. Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the LORD - that I have spoken in my jealousy - when I spend my fury upon them." Ezekiel 5:11-13

"Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways . . . ." Ezekiel 7:3-4

"Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity." Ezekiel 7:8-9

"Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity." Ezekiel 8:18

Praise God that Jesus took THIS judgment that we deserve for our sins upon Himself on that cross, so that we will never endure the personal anger of God in hell! WE WILL BE SPARED BECAUSE HE WAS NOT SPARED!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

He Was Struck Down By God

Isaiah 53:4 teaches that God struck (מֻכֵּ֥ה) His Son on the cross: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."

Ezekiel 7 helps us understand what it means to be struck by God: His wrath poured out; His ANGER spent; His judgment; His punishment; no sparing; no pity:

"Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes [מֻכֵּ֥ה]." Ezekiel 7:8-9

On that cross, Jesus was made our sin and was struck down by God: The Father poured out His wrath on the Son; The Father's anger was spent on His own Son; He endured God's judgment and punishment; There was no sparing or pity . . . So that all those who repent and believe in Christ will be spared and pitied and never face the wrath, anger, judgement, and punishment of God!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

God's Personal Anger Had To Be Propitiated - No Hope Without It!

If you remove the personal anger of God from the striking of God, then the striking of God is a joy and delight.

If you remove the personal anger of God from the crushing of God, then the crushing of God is a joy and delight.

If you remove the personal anger of God from the cup Jesus drank on the cross, then the cup Jesus drank on the cross was a joy and delight.

If you remove the personal anger of God from the curse of God, then the curse of God is a joy and delight.

If you remove personal anger from the judgment of God, then the judgment of God is a joy and delight.

If you remove the personal anger of God from being forsaken by God, then being forsaken by God is a joy and delight.

If God spared His own son from His own personal anger on the cross, then the cross was a joy and delight.

If you remove the personal anger of God from hell, then hell is a joy and delight.

If you remove the personal anger of God from penal substitution, then penal substitution is no longer necessary, God is not angry, and the cross is unnecessary.

The personal anger of God is the very essence of what makes God's striking, crushing, cursing, judging, forsaking cup of wrath the cup of His wrath. There is no bearing of the wrath of God without it.

Praise God that Jesus Christ did bear the personal anger of God His Father on that cross and rise again on the third day so that we might be saved!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Galatians 6:14

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

"That's My King!" In Galatians 6!

Jesus Was Never Caught In Transgression
The Sinless God-Man Named God's Will His Obsession
He Gently Restored With Perfect Expression
He Bore Our Great Burden And Took Our Oppression
He Died And Then Rose To Save Without Question
So Trust In The Son And Love With Aggression
Bear Others' Burdens And Ease Their Depression
You'll Follow Christ's Law And Live Your Confession!

That's my King!

Jesus Watched With Perfect Sight
And All Temptations Crushed With Might
He Bore Our Burdens – Loved All Right
Was Counted Nothing – God Would Smite
He Died To Save From Wrath And Fright
Then Rose To Be Our Chief Delight
Now He Is Something None Can Slight
All Knees Will Bow – Boast In His Light!

That's my King! Do you know Him?!

Christ Is Worthy To Be Paid
Down Our Lives For Him Are Laid
The Greatest Teacher God Portrayed
He Sowed And Reaped And Worked And Prayed
Only Good His Life Displayed
He Died And Rose For Those Who Strayed
To Bring Them Everlasting Aid
In Him New Creatures We Are Made
Sow To The Spirit Don't Be Swayed
Do Good And Serve Him Unafraid!

That's my King!

Christ The God-Man Did All Good
He’d Not Grow Weary Like We Would
But Came To Do All Good We Should
Yet For Our Sins Died On That Wood
Then Rose From Death Like No One Could
Now We Do Good Because He Stood
So Don’t Grow Weary Love The Hood
Especially Brother And Sisterhood!

That's my King!

Christ Was Persecuted Like None You've Seen
On Flesh He Would Not Boast Or Lean
But By The Spirit Intervene
To Die A Death That Was Obscene
Then Rise To Save And Make Us Clean
Boast In The Cross Galatians Six Fourteen
You're A New Creation Christ's Pure Queen
The Israel Of God Pristine!

That's my King! I wonder if you know Him today?!

The Cross Of Christ Our Preoccupation
Our Boast, Our Glory, Our Fascination
The God-Man Was Our Propitiation
Stricken, Crushed, And Cursed Forsaken
There God's Cup Of Anger Taken
He's Made Our Sin By Imputation
Then Drank God's Wrath Our Full Damnation
But Rose For Every Tribe And Nation
By Faith Alone There's Justification
In Christ Alone We Have Salvation!

That's my King!

The Cross Of Christ Our One Great Obsession
Where The Son Was Made Our Every Transgression
Crushed, Cursed, And Struck With Violent Aggression
A Full Propitiation Without Any Question
He Drank The Whole Cup Of God's Anger Expression
Forsaken Not Spared From All Fury Procession
Darkness And Earthquake God's Wrathful Impression
A Condemnation Like No Other Oppression
Yet Rose From The Dead Making Life Our Possession
"This Is My Beloved Son!" God's Repeated Profession!

That's my King! That's my King!