If you’re not too familiar with the Old Testament, reading Zephaniah this week was probably quite intense. I’ve read it before and it was still intense. Some of the words that stuck out to me were:
- destruction
- distress
- anguish
- trouble
- darkness
- wrath
- gloom
Why did it seem like God was so angry? I thought God was a God of grace and mercy. Should we be worried that God might decide to turn against us like that?
1 John gives us the answers to those questions. Here is the sad reality: sin requires punishment. Sin is a serious problem that God does not take lightly because He can’t. God is perfect. God is without sin. God is righteous and just. God is also the Judge. And good judges are fair and right. If you do the crime, you do the time.
However, God provided a way out. Yes, we all sin. Yes, we all deserve God’s punishment. But! 1 John 1:9 reminds us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And why?
Because Jesus experienced distress, anguish, trouble, darkness, gloom, and, yes, even wrath so that we wouldn’t have to.
Praise God!
