A Surprsing statement
God’s judgments contain hidden graces. That is probably a surprising statement because we tend to think about judgment—and especially God’s judgment—as painful, terrifying, and devasting. Of course, God’s judgment is terrible. As Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” We should behold God’s awesome power and holy character and tremble. Like Isaiah, we should see the absolute majesty of God and say, “Woe are we, for we are people of unclean lips.” However, the prospect and pronouncement of judgment from God is also something that contains hidden grace—at least on this side of heaven. There will come a day when God’s judgment will be final, but until that day, each of God’s judgments contains an element of grace and an invitation to repentance. Let me show you a few examples of what I mean.
The First Judgment and the Seeds of Grace
Consider the very first instance of judgment in Scripture. Acting in rebellion to God’s command, Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God, making good on His word, brings death upon the man and the woman (Gen. 2:16-17). Yet, in the midst of His judgment, God also introduces several elements of grace. First, He promises a Savior who will come to bring victory by crushing the head of the serpent who had led them into sin (Gen. 3:15). Second, He clothes them by sacrificing an animal and covering over their nakedness, shame, and sin (Gen. 3:21). Third, He reminds them of their nature [dust to dust] and the curse that they will endure along with all creation [labor, pain, thorns] (Gen. 3:16-19). Fourth, He exiles them from the garden lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever in their sinful states (Gen. 3:22-24). In this way, death and curse are also graces for they prevent mankind from living forever in a state of separation and suffering apart from God, and they prod man to look forward to the salvation that God will bring from death and the curse by the work of a Promised One to come. While this judgment is severe and pervasive, it is also an invitation to look for the salvation that God has prophesied and an invitation to believe that God will perform what He has promised. Adam believes and so names his wife Eve (the mother of the living) because he knows that Life will come through her in the form of a Son who will sacrifice Himself to defeat sin, death, and the devil (Gen. 3:20; Heb. 2:14-16). God’s judgments contain hidden graces
A Strange Sermon from a selfish Prophet
Another example from the Old Testament comes in the book of Jonah. Jonah is sent to Nineveh with the task of pronouncing judgment upon the Ninevites (Jonah 1:1-2). We all know how Jonah initially runs from God and experiences a series of judgments of his own (Jonah 1-2). Jonah eventually makes it to Nineveh to proclaim the message that God has given him. What is this message? “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4) What a strange sermon! I don’t think that most people would enjoy hearing the preacher stand in the pulpit and repeat that! However, this is precisely the point at which the people of Nineveh wake from their spiritual stupor and respond in repentant faith (Jonah 3:5-9). But why and how would they know to repent? They repent because the announcement of coming judgment is itself a grace and an invitation to repent and find mercy. Here it is again. God’s judgments contain hidden graces.
And They Still Did Not Repent
Let’s venture on final example from the last book of the Bible. Revelation is a scary book of the Bible on multiple accounts. It is notoriously difficult to interpret, it contains fearsome descriptions of Jesus in all His power and holiness, and it promises some of the most severe judgments that one might imagine. Without getting too deeply into the weeds, let us simply note that God issues a variety of earthly judgments that are designed to highlight the sinfulness of man and God’s power in judgment. In two places, John calls attention to the fact that despite God pouring out these judgments on mankind, “they still did not repent” (Rev. 9:20-21; 16:8-11). Consider what John writes in Revelation 16:9, “Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.” This would be a strange thing to say unless it is understood that the enactment of judgment carries at least an implicit (and often explicit) call to repentance. Man doesn’t deserve a chance to repent, but God’s nature even in the midst of earthly judgment carries with it goodness, grace, and compassion. God’s judgments contain hidden graces.
The uncomfortable Wrapping of Grace and Gospel
What is the payoff for all of this? Let me mention two. First, sometimes God’s grace seems severe, but it is always good. We may often chafe at God’s judgment on sin and His discipline towards His children, but even in His severity, God is working to get our attention and bring us to repentance. Second, the gospel conforms to this pattern. It is a bad news—good news proclamation. The negative of the gospel (“the wages of sin is death”) is necessary for people to see the glory of salvation (“but the gift of God is eternal life”). We do no favors when we fail to share the bad news of the gospel. We aren’t being loving, compassionate, or kind when we hide the judgment of God upon sin. Instead, we are soothing guilty consciences with the salve of denial and eclipsing the glory of God who loves us in spite of our sin and “demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God’s judgments contain hidden graces.
