Discovering the light of the character of God which shines out of darkness through the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Did you know that the plan of redemption has a broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of man? It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth; but it was to vindicate the character of God to the world. Just before His crucifixion, Jesus said: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me” (John 12:31-32).
The "prince of this world" is Satan (also known as "the god of this world"; 2 Corinthians 4:4). When Jesus says Satan will be "cast out", He means driven out into the open, out from behind his lies and distortions about God's character and methods. At the cross, Satan would be seen as the murderer he is and thus would be cast out of the hearts of all those who love and desire to follow Jesus.
The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven accessible to men, but before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. It would establish the perpetuity of the Law of God, including all His Commandments, Statutes and Judgments written in the Book of Moses (the Law/Torah) and the Prophets, and would reveal the nature and the inherent results of sin (i.e., "The transgression of the Law"; 1 John 3:4).
In the book of Revelation, we see an angel flying in the midst of heaven “having the everlasting gospel” which is to be preached “to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). Jesus spoke of this gospel saying, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).
The Greek word, ἄγγελος (aggelos) and the Hebrew word, מֲלְאָךְ (malak), translated as “angel”, simply means “messenger.” This angel flying in the midst of heaven represents the last message given to the whole world just before the end comes. This message will speak with a loud voice saying:
“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”(Revelation 14:7)
To “fear God” is not to be afraid of Him. It is to be awe-inspired of who He is to the point that you put all your trust in Him.
That second verse is written in a writing style called Hebraic Parallelism where the second half of the sentence explains the first half. Notice that "them that fear Him" are "those that hope in His mercy." Therefore, to "fear God" is to believe and trust in His everlasting mercy! Thus, to “give glory to Him” is for us to simply accept His everlasting mercy in order that we may show this mercy freely to others.
Here we see that loving our enemies, blessing those that persecute us, and praying for those who use us reveals that we are children of the Highest (or, "the Most High", that is, God/the Father). Why? Because God Himself loves His enemies and blesses those those that persecute and use Him; for "He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." In the book of Exodus, we learn that God’s glory is revealed through His character:
Being good, kind, gracious and merciful is the true way to “proclaim the name of the LORD.” The Hebrew concept of “name” is “character.” Proclaiming His name (character) in word and in action is giving glory to Him. This is accomplished only through righteousness by faith which is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.
God's Law is the transcript of His righteousness - His character of love - which is to be in our hearts:
The angel in Revelation says we give glory to God by reflecting His character because “the hour of His judgment has come.” This hour of judgment is when God is cleared of all the false charges that Satan has lied about since the beginning (John 8:44).
Through Satan’s deceptions, the darkness of misapprehension of God has enshrouding the world. Fallen humanity has lost the knowledge of His character thus it has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. Instead of believing that God is always "kind to the unthankful and to the evil", we have believed that God is a stern judge and that His justice demands the unleashing of His wrath to destroy us from off the face of the earth. Just read what renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has to say:
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” (The God Delusion)
Most people, including Christians, have adopted and believe in a paganized system of religion which teaches God’s wrath must be appeased in order for Him to forgive us. This false belief then goes on to teach that, because God loves us so much, He killed His innocent Son instead of killing us, thus bringing satisfaction to His wrath and justice. However, the truth is that Jesus actually died of INJUSTICE committed by man influenced by Satan (see, Exodus 23:7; Deuteronomy 27:25; Proverbs 17:15,26).
Also entwined in this false idea concerning justice and mercy, it is taught that Jesus didn't come to save us from sin as Matthew 1:21 tells us, but actually came to save us from an angry God. This is exactly what Don Carson teaches on page 40 of his book, Romans:
“It is commonly held that we need to be saved from our sins, but the sobering truth is that we need to be saved from God Himself, for His anger is personal and active.”
Now, of course Mr. Carson would agree that sin is an issue that we need to be saved from, but his point is that sin is only an issue because it angers God (the Lawgiver) and now He must discipline, or even kill, the guilty party with legally imposed punishments, therefore, we really "need to be saved from God Himself, for His anger is personal and active."
These false ideas of God abound because fallen man looks at God’s “judgment” and automatically thinks “condemnation” coming from an angry God. Good thing God comforts us by saying:
Mankind is to discern (judge) how God’s wrath/anger, justice, and vengeance is different than ours; “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20).
So what is God’s justice? How does He judge?
This verse is also written in Hebraic Parallelism. Here we see that God’s justice is mercy (not condemnation) and His judgment is truth. This means God's justice is restorative. It's not about "getting even" with an offender, but reconciling with the offender and transforming them into a friend. If, however, the offender is persistent in his/her rebellion, God will not interfere with their free choice and will reluctantly give them over to their own self-destruction. Notice how the Psalmist makes this point clear:
As you will see, this website is dedicated to presenting the truth concerning God's character and the role of His wrath and justice during such events as the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues of Egypt, the military conquest of Israel etc. as being messages of mercy, not retributive vengeance on those who choose to hate God. They willingly rejected His protection and walked away from His presence and were left to their own self-destruction.
The foundational key to understand this is to learn that God’s Law is set in motion by DESIGN and, if disregarded, man reaps the INHERENT CONSEQUENCES, just as jumping out of a plane at 35,000 feet without a parachute naturally results in death. There is no need for God to inflict death upon the sinner because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); or, as the Weymouth New Testament says, "For the wages paid by Sin are death." It is sin which kills the sinner, not God! Our loving Father has been giving us these messages of mercy in order to save us from OURSELVES. Christ did not come to save us from being killed by God, but to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) because “sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1:15).
God’s Law is not a list of arbitrary rules that demand imposed punishments. His Law is the law of design— the very foundation upon which life operates, and anything outside the boundaries of God's Law (design) inherently leads to death. His unchangable Law is built into the very fabric of His creation, thus, as the angel said, we are to "worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water"— in other words, the Designer.
Jesus has assured us …
Jesus is not the Father, but He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15); “the brightness of His [God’s] glory [character], and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). When we behold Jesus, we are beholding the character of the Father. This is why He came here— to reveal the true character of God.
The night before His death, Jesus prayed to His Father saying:
Jesus glorified His Father by manifesting (revealing) His name (character). This was the work He finished before His death. He proclaimed the everlasting gospel (good news) that God is always, “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6), and that He is always "kind to the unthankful and to the evil" (Luke 6:35). This is the work (the ministry of reconciliation) we are to finish before the end shall come (2 Corinthians 5:18). We are to proclaim this everlasting gospel (Matthew 24:14).
Paul says this revelation of God’s character was given through Christ “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom [character traits] of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10). The goal of the everlasting gospel is that God’s people vindicate His true character in word and action through the indwelling Spirit (presence) of Christ in them (Romans 8:3-10; Galatians 4:6). Jesus said:
The "darkness" Jesus is referring to is the confusion, the misapprehensions, concerning God's character. Jesus is the light of God's character that is shining out of this darkness:
As the only Begotten Son of God, Jesus is the only Being that could show us the Father's true character. If we have any questions concerning the character of our heavenly Father, all we need to do is behold Jesus. And by beholding Jesus, our heart (affection) and mind (understanding) will become changed into the same image:
As Jesus is “the Light of the world”, we too are to be lights amidst the darkness of confusion:
Take note that being lights to the world is not to receive an award or to escape some pending punishment, but for the sole purpose of revealing God's character; and when others see this character, they too will glorify our Father in heaven.
When this everlasting gospel of God’s true character of love takes root, the whole earth will witness what God’s grace has done in and through the believer. This Last Message of Mercy will be proclaimed with such great power that it will enlighten the whole earth:
Won’t you come and learn of God’s true character? Won’t you be a light that shines His glory out of the darkness and cry out, “Behold your God!” to a world headed toward self-destruction (Isaiah 40:9)?
The choice is yours.
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Kevin J. Mullins · Jul 24, 2025
Kevin J. Mullins · Jul 05, 2025
Kevin J. Mullins · Jul 01, 2025
Length: 2:59
Does the death of the sinner come from an outside force (God) or is death built into the sin?
Presenter: Greg Boyd
