Reaction

See God’s reaction to evil

Proverbs 6:12-19

You cannot fully understand the cross unless you understand why it was necessary.

See God’s hostile reaction to sin. The writer of Proverbs lists things that ‘the Lord hates’ and that are ‘detestable to him’ (v.16a) – arrogance, lies, murder, evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family’ (v.16–19, MSG).

God is love. God is also just and holy. The kind of sin listed here causes enormous damage to our lives, the lives of others, and to society. Take, for example, a person ‘who stirs up dissention’ (v.19). Think how much damage can be done by one person bringing division in a family or in the church, neighborhood, or nation.

God’s hatred is not like ours: it contains no element of spite, pettiness or hypocrisy – but it is the reaction of the altogether holy and loving God to sin. His anger is his loving and holy hostility to evil.

When we realize the extent of God’s hostility to sin that led to the cross, the only real response we can make is to turn to God in prayer to ask for forgiveness and help.