I hate Coke ads. (And more philosophical thoughts.)

So I've been thinking lately... Yes. It's true.

Ever feel like God is watered down? Sometimes I feel like people like to sell him, like a bottle of Coca-Cola. "He loves you", "he'll never abandon you", "he'll hold you close and never let go", "he puts the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart".

And I have to laugh here because I find myself doing this all too. And it's not as if God isn't all these things. But he's got WRATH. And I think that's kind of scary for people. Wait, not for people, for me. He's a jealous, angry kind of guy. (We sing these qualities very nicely into our worship music however-"He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am tree"- OH NO.) Well, you know what? I think I need to hear about God's wrath. I need to know that God isn't a pansy. lol. I'm half-joking here, half serious.

Cause here's the thing. People need to understand that God isn't a brick. He gets angry when we do things that are wrong. And the entire message of Jesus dying for our sins is nothing without the understanding that Jesus died on the cross to take away God's wrath on the world.

If we think that God is perfect and humanity is sinful, then we know that God cannot possibly be reconciled to humanity because God hates sin. He loves us, he just hates sin. (And yes, there's a HUGE difference) Hence, the Old Testament is filled with bloody sacrifice and fighting and slaughter and war. All this in an attempt to somehow find God in the midst of our own sin. And this is probably the saddest thing to read about. And so, here's where the love story starts to become clear. Jesus comes down to Earth and never sins. God's wrath is not upon him because he is perfect in every way. And then, committing the most selfless act humanity has ever seen, Jesus lets humanity nail his wrists and his ankles into a piece of wood, hang from the wood in front of a mocking crowd, suffocate to death, and have enough love to act as the perfect sacrifice for the people who have done this to him.-Wow. And as the curtain of the temple is torn into two, God is finally able to reconcile himself with humanity. Because by confessing our sins to Jesus, we realize that He acts as our sacrifice, as my sacrifice, to cover the sins that would normally evoke God's wrath, and instead, clean me up, so that I am now under grace and can discover God's love. AMAZING.

There's nothing better than realizing from HOW MUCH we have been redeemed. So yes, please don't water down God. Cause he's pretty cool just the way he is.