Sunday 16th March
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (NIVUK)
Although Paul is reassuring the believers that ‘no Christian will be left behind’ and that is the focus of his words in this letter it is striking how matter-of-factly he outlines the basic Christian position concerning Christ’s death and our union with Him. Within twenty years of Jesus’ death statements such as this can be made, with little explanation, and understood by believers. One hopes that each of us can understand the basic gospel message of Jesus’ death for us and union with Him as easily as Paul assumes these first Christians could.
It is equally accepted by the early Christians that God’s wrath is real and that we avoid it because of that same union with Jesus. To remove the concept of wrath from the Christian faith is to empty salvation of meaning. It ceases being ‘good news’ and becomes merely an optional religious vocation. Understanding what we are saved from humbles us and directs our faith upwards. A wrathless faith does not. We rest in Jesus’ death for us and rely on our union with Him in all things. Let us encourage and build one another up with that ‘good news’ each day.
