Garment of Praise

English 241. Survey of American Lit class. Just a bunch of your average secular college students, a  couple of Christians thrown into the mix. Our assignment? To read “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards. Have you read it? It’s….powerful. People don’t like to talk about hell. People don’t like to think about it. In writing this post, I’m probably not going to be liked, but I’ll write it anyway.

To summarize it, it comes down to the fact that Edwards says that we are like spiders in the hand of God and he is dangling us over the fire of hell. There is nothing keeping us from the wrath of God except for himself. He is literally holding himself back from releasing His vengeance on us, and destroying us. Edwards says we were born with these “seeds” of sin inside of us, and that alone is enough to condemn us to hell. Although Edwards maybe considered a little “too extreme” and perhaps he was, I think he is right in a lot of areas that we need to recognize again in the 21st century. We’ve forgotten a lot about the character of God that we need to come back to. We focus so much on the love of God that we forget the wrath that He saved us from.

God has every right to blow us out like an overused birthday candle. He has every right to let us go and watch us fall into the pit of hell. He has every right to push us off the slippery slope of this thing we call life. We have done NOTHING that amounts to anything in His books. We have done nothing to deserve His favor or grace. Is our religion really just a “get out of hell free” card like many of us seem to make it be? Why are so many of us living lives of sin apart from God but claiming to know what he freed us from? Is living life contrary to Christ once you really know Him even possible? Do you even understand the sacrifice Christ has made for us? I don’t think I do.

 God had NO REASON to send Jesus to the cross. No reason. You say “It’s because of His love”  that He died for us, yes, that is true, but what motivated his love? What made Him love when we had done nothing but broken His heart? “Oh, but-He loved us.” You say. YES, He did, but WHY? Why did He have mercy on us? Why did He have grace? We’ve done nothing to deserve Him but we walk around pretending that we have.

America we need to get on our knees and beg for Christ. The sacrifice has been paid in full, but we must continue to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” Am I implying that salvation is on basis of works? Absolutely not!!!!! Am I saying that if you are truly marked by the spirit of Christ that you can lose your salvation? No, not at all. I am saying that we’ve taken advantage of the salvation of our Lord for far too long. We need to become broken in the arms of Christ and remember what he delivered us from. “When was the last time you wept over your sins?” as Paul Washer loves to ask. Well, when was it? When was the last time you became completely broken before God realising what a dreadful person you are and how much you don’t deserve Him. We take advantage of God. We take Him for granted. Repentance. Remembrances. Let us remember how much we need our Lord. How without Him we’d be destined for Hell. Let hell become real to you so that Christ’s saving power can become more real to you. God CRUSHED His son. He destroyed Him in order to save YOU.

View His love in the context of His justice. View His grace in the context of His mercy. Oh how great is His love for us that He would send His son to die a terrible death for a sinner like me. Brokenness has never been so sweet as when you realize your need for a savior. Let’s remember who He is. Just exist before Him with the knowledge of what He’s done for You. Let it change your life.