The words look strange paired together, and the concept is surely strange if you consider it alone. These two words describe God in his seemingly contradictory roles: the role of the just judge, and the role of the compassionate redeemer.
They're found in Romans 3:26, printed on pg15. The character of God continues to astound me and gives a sense of wonder that he is concerned with the trivial matters of our lives.
He is the ultimate standard of good, the epitome of holiness, and the antithesis of everything that is wrong with our world. But he is also the seeker of the lost, the changer of lives, and the lifeline of those destined for defeat. He knows we can't ever be perfect enough, but because of his love, he provided a way to make a right relationship with him.
A metaphor that helped me understand how God was still holy, even while allowing his creation to struggle in sin, was that of a guillotine. When mankind sinned, our head was put into the wooden stock, having been sentenced to death. But the blade of God's wrath stayed in its place, waiting for us to repent and be saved.
But Christ was put into the stock instead, and down went the blade.
Dan
(PS thanks for your patience as I dealt with adjusting to a new life during 1st quarter- I'll try to blog more regularly)
Dan - great insight! Thanks for the metaphor if the guillotine! Yikes! - helps put a visual for me of how wrong my sin really is!!
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