God's love

1. God’s love
verses
God’s wrath
JanEgil Gulbrandsen
Feb. 2014
gulbrandsen@islandnet.com
Updated
March
2015

2. • Let’s start with this first statement:
• “God is love”
• (We read it in 1 John 4:8, 4:16 and many other
scriptures)
• “Is” means it is who he is and what he is
• Nothing more – nothing less
• It is his nature
• It is all he is…

3. • He is agape love
• (agape is a type of love that “loves in spite of”- in
spite of what man do with God’s love - or if man
should choose to reject his love all together)
• It is unconditional love
• ( in other words: there is no conditions required
to receive his love. You can not sin your way out
of his love)
• If he were to turn his love into anger, hate and
rage just because he did not get his way, it would
only be a conditional love.

4. • But God is pure love
• (not a little bit of love and a little bit of
something else)
• God is not love and….
• (love one moment and hate and anger the
next)
• Agree?
• Yes

5. • Everything God does is rooted in love
• As a good father he has to “raise” his children
• That can include discipline and correction
• He “protects us” from danger – but not all
children like to be “protected”
• But it always comes from a point of love
• Every book and chapter in the Bible is rooted
in the fact that God is love

6. • Listen to this simple little storey:
• You look out the window and see your 4
year old child playing with a dangerous wolf
• You almost panic, but you feel an intense
love and passion for him - you run outside as
fast as you can
• You valiantly attack the wolf – you jell and
scream to chase him away
• Now the child freaks out
• He thinks you are angry at him

7. • The wolf runs away
• You have just saved the life of your most
precious treasure – you beloved child
• This is how God’s love is for all of mankind
• He loves absolutely everybody with an
endless love

8. • God always love the sinner
• But he hates sin…
• Not because he is “so holy” and get offended
and can’s stand it…
• (yes – he is holy)
• But because of what sin does to his creation –
man.
• Sin does not effect God – it effects you

9. • Sin can be in me Rom. 7
• But it does not define me
• It is not “who I am”
• (I’m a Saint – not a sinner)
• You can teach a dog to walk on his two back
legs, but it will never be his nature
• We have received a new nature

10. • Like God said to Adam ad Eve:
• Don’t sin. (Don’t eat of the apple)
• Because it will kill you.
• It happened spiritually immediately.
• And bodily some years later…
• (but now the last Adam (Jesus) has reversed the
fall… )
• Now man can get “new life” spiritually – and
immediately… By believing in him.
• And live forever…

11. • God does not have any anger toward man
• And the reason is very simple:
• He put all his anger on Jesus that carried all
the sins of the world
• So in conclusion:
• God is nothing but pure love toward mankind
• Always!

12. • But what about God’s wrath?
• King James Bible mentions God’s “wrath” 36
times in the New testament?
• Does not that prove that God can be mad and
angry and hateful and revengeful toward
man?
• No.
• We are now going to look closer at what this
“wrath” really means.

13. • The word “wrath” used in the New Testament
comes from the Greek word “ORG’E” (G3709)
• This word has 4 categories of translation:
• 1) Natural anger or temper (in a person)
• 2) Movement of the soul, like in: natural
impulse, strong passion, intense or valiant
emotion, desire (even the word orgy and
orgasm comes from this word)

14. • 3) anger, indignation, wrath
• 4) punishment by authorities (governments)
• The King James translators chose to use the
words from category 3 – anger, indignation and
particularly “wrath”.
• It could just as well have been translated with the
word definition from category 2 - Movement of
the soul, like in: natural impulse, strong or valiant
passion, intense emotion or intention

15. • The root word or derivation of “ORG’E”
(G3709) is the Greek word “OREGO” (G3713)
• (a derivation means: a new word from the
basis (root) of another word)
• Like a verb to a noun – ex. To write – a writer
• So what does the root word of “org’e” or King
James’ “wrath” mean???
• This is what Strong’s dictionary writes:

16. • “ To stretch one’s self out (or to long for) in
order to touch something – to reach after or
desire something”
• Do you see the difference?
• God’s “wrath” is not anger toward man
• It is God reaching out to men in order to
touch them with his love
• Why: because he desires to restore fellowship

17. • Why did the King James translators chose to use
word like Gods wrath, Gods anger and
indignation?
• Could it be to make people afraid of God ?
• And true this, to control the people
• And to maintain the power of the church
• King James’ instructions to the 47 translators was
clear:
• Maintain the power structure of the church (the
church of England) – and the state (the King)

18. • God is love
• And with a correct understanding and
translation of the Greek scriptures,
we can see that
• Gods “wrath” is not punishment – it is love
• It is like the dictionary says: God is reaching
out to touch man
• We are talking about reaching the unbeliever

19. • How can we know that this “wrath” is for
unbelievers only?
• Because the scriptures are totally clear on
this:
• Believers are not effected by God’s “wrath”
• I will give you 7 examples:
• John 3:36 “The wrath of God will abide on
him that don’t believe the Son”

20. • Rom. 5:9 “Being now justified, we shall be
saved from wrath – trough Him (Jesus)”
• 1 Thess. 1:10 “Jesus delivered us from the
wrath to come”
• 1 Thess. 5:9 “For God has not obtained us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation
• Col. 3:5-12 “Earthly nature (sin) leads to
Gods wrath. You used to walk in this way –
now you are Gods people (saved)

21. • Eph. 5:6 and Col. 3:6 says the same ting:
• The wrath of God comes on the “children of
disobedience”
• Strong's dictionary explains that this Greek
word apeitheia (G543) also can mean
“rejection of the will of God”
• It’s root word is erymology (G543) which
simply means “unbelief.”
• So the two scriptures really read:
• “The wrath of God comes on the children of
unbelief”

22. • So what is this “wrath” – this violate passion
and movement of Gods soul?
• Is it God reaching out to someone in an
intense way for something he longs to poses?
• When is this “wrath” taking place?
• Romans 2:5 talks about “the day of God’s
wrath”

23. • It is still some day in the future…
• It is called “the great day of the Lord”
• Judgment day
• Could it be that “hell” is not God’s anger and
wrath towards men, but a place where he
expresses his passionate (agape) love for the
ones that (so far) have rejected him?
• For those who choose to reject him, it is “hell”
and torment

24. • One of the early church fathers, St. Isaac (the
Syrian) – 7th century - said it this way:
• Those who are punished in Gahanna (Hell) are
scourged (a whip or a lash)by the scourge of love
• The early church (the orthodox church) had a
much different understanding of what hell was
• The “modern hell” theology of the catholic
church really “took off” in the 14th century with
“Dante's inferno” ( a theatre play on hell)
• Now they (the church) could really scare “the
hell” out of people…

25. • But is not hell a place for the wicket separated
(away from) God?
• Not so.
• Psalm 139:7-8 says: “Where can I go from your
Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
• I go up to the heavens, you are there
• I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there”.
• God is in hell and everywhere else…
• His presence there is intense as fire…

26. • In Daniel 7:9-10 we read about “God on a
throne of flaming fire and a river of fire
running from his throne”
• Remember God in the burning bush…
• We also know that the Holy Spirit came with
“tongue's of fire” on the day of Pentecost
• God is described as fire in the following verses; Gen 19:24, Ex 3:2, 9:23,
13;21-22, 19:18, Numb 11:1-3, 4:24, Ne 9:12, Ps 66:10, 104:4, Is 66:15,
among others places.
• Fire is obviously God’s trademark

27. • This is where his presence is…
• Could it be that “hells fire” is the same thing –
an intense presence of God where he is
“reaching out to someone”?
• Because “God’s desire is to see all men saved”
1 Tim. 2:3-4
• Will he have his way?
• Hell is forever…
• Because God is forever…

28. • God is light and fire
• (remember in the old days they used fire as
torches or light)
• Could it be that “hells fire” is the same thing –
an intense presence of God where he is
“reaching out to someone”?
• Because “God’s desire is to see all men saved”
1 Tim. 2:3-4
• Will he have his way?