A Tale Of Two Gods

9Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10“he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11“And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Revelation 14: 9- 11 NKJV

Which God do you believe in and worship?  Do you believe in the God of wrath of the God of deliverance?  Make no mistake, scripture assures us of both of these sides of our heavenly Fathers nature.  So, which one do you follow?  I was raised in the idea that God was a vengeful God who dealt harshly with those whom He was displeased with.  Just look what happened to Sodom, Noahs neighbors and the Egyptions of the old testament.  Is this the very same God who even today calls upon HIs children to receive His grace which He has provided.  Is He a God of wrath AND grace and forgiveness?  Are there indeed two Gods we need to be aware of?  Like I said, I was raised in a church where the wrath of God upon those who did evil was preached as doctrine.  To a child growing up in such an atmosphere, you realize real quick that if you don't tow the line of righteousness that there will be real consequenses.  Later on this mindset morphs into other things.  If you run into a bad life situation, then you must have sinned and seek Gods forgiveness.  Whatever that life struggle you are encountering, you must have done something to upset God and He is now somehow withholding His grace and love from you.  It is through our own behaviors that God has abandoned us.  It is no wonder that many a christian today has difficulty understanding the true nature of God.  What is this true nature?  Well, to put it simply, God is love.  God is love to His creation and God is love towards His children.  It is not Gods ultimate desire that we would be punished and perish, but that we would return to Him {John 3: 16-17}.

7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4: 7 - 10 NKJV

I asked the question of which God is it that you worship.  Do you worship the God of wrath or the God of grace and salvation?  Well, the truth is that they are one in the same.  Yes, the God of fire and brimstone is that God of everlasting love and forgiveness.  That God who rained destruction on Sodom is the very same God who today invites you into His presence through His Son Christ Jesus.  How could a God who chose to destroy His own creation and His own children make the claim that He is indeed a God of love?  This is one of the questions about God which I have wrestled with.  However, knowing Gods true love nature we see that it is not that God chose to destroy His creation but that WE CHOSE to turn ourbacks on God.  It was not Gods choice, but our own by which God chose to reveal the other sid eof His nature.  To put it another way, Gods ultimate desire is that His children would return to Him and receive Him once again.  It was never His intent that He would unleash His anger upon us.  If this were true, then who would be worth saving?  Would anyone be saved?  The fact is that we were all born into our sin nature, so nobody enters into this world as blameless {Romans 3:23}.  Knowing this, does God hold this against us and instantly judge us as guilty?  NO!  Despite the fact that we were guilty of sin, God has chosen not to reveal His wrath against us.  On the contrary, it is God Himself who bore the very weight of our sins in order that we would be saved {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Choosing not to sacrafice His children but instead taking our sin upon Himself reveals the nature of God which now welcomes us unto Himself.

~Scott~