God’s Wrath, Human Rebellion, and the Only Way of Escape
- Jack Selcher
- Sep 3, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Summary
God’s wrath is His righteous response to humanity’s deliberate rejection of Him. Creation reveals God, yet people suppress the truth, exchange Him for idols, and descend into deeper sin. God judges by giving them over to their chosen rebellion, resulting in moral and spiritual bondage. Though people know their actions deserve judgment, they persist and encourage others to join them. The only escape is repentance and trusting Jesus for righteousness by grace through faith.
A Child’s Lesson and God’s Wrath
A five-year-old took a bathroom scale to show and tell. He said, “Standing on this makes my mom mad.” God’s wrath is His great displeasure with and resulting judgment on all who despise Him.
Suppressing the Truth About God
There is no excuse for despising God. His creation declares He is powerful and worthy of worship. People naturally put a lid on the truth. They want to live without restraint.
From Idolatry to Moral Collapse
When they reject what they know about God, they worship some aspect of creation. That is idolatry because something other than God receives their highest devotion.
Sin is a downward-spiraling whirlpool. First, people reject what they know about God. Then, they invent their god. Finally, they fall into the vilest sins imaginable.
God’s Judgment: Given Over to Sin
God judges them by allowing them to become slaves to their own rebellious choices. Those choices began as spider webs. They quickly became chains of addiction from which only God’s grace can deliver them.
When people refuse to say yes to God, they eventually cannot say no to sin. They become “the people of the lie” when they push God aside to worship something they think is worthier. The result is often the most sordid, unnatural sins depraved minds can conceive.
Using God’s Gifts Against His Design
Years ago, I discovered my youngest daughter standing on a small plastic table. The manufacturer did not design it to support her weight.
I was concerned about her safety. People’s depraved tendency is to use God’s gifts in ways He never intended.
Homosexuality is among the sins that Romans 1 lists. Many societies permit homosexual behavior between consenting adults. As of May 2025, thirty-eight nations have legalized same-sex marriage.1
But Leviticus 18:22 forbids homosexual practice. Biblegateway.com lists more than sixty translations of this verse. All of them forbid homosexual practice.
God judges by giving people over to their idols. He allows a mind that cannot discern or make wise decisions.
Note the list of sins undiscerning minds spawn (Romans 1:29-30). Greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, gossip, etc., control them.
Deep down, they know their behavior deserves punishment. Yet, they do not change their ways. They encourage others to join them on the road to death.
The Road to Death and the Way Out
Those on the road to death are united in their commitment to do their own will. The only exit from that road is to repent of self-seeking and to trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior before they become unable to say yes to Him.
God’s principles of judgment apply to everyone. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31 NIV) without Christ’s righteousness by grace through faith credited to our account.
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